Antiquarian Anna Weidell loves nothing more than to tell stories. Every knick knack in her warehouse of wonders, Anna’s European Antiques, has more to it than meets the eye.  Take a box of dyed and varnished straw — one of many made by French prisoners of war in British captivity during the Napoleonic Wars. What looks like an engraved vase tucked away in the corner is actually a hollowed-out military cartridge used in World War II. Meanwhile, a leather bucket on one shelf was once used by French villagers to put out fires in the late 1700s or early 1800s.  Every time Weidell visits a European market, she makes a list of what to get and inevitably ends up finding none of the items on that list. In the case of a recent trip to England, she came home with brass and oak fly fishing reels and lawn bowling balls made of lignum vitae. “There was a gal with a whole truck of them. … I ended up with, I don’t know, 50 pounds of these balls because if three are good, then 14 must be great,” Weidell laughed. Weidell’s always on the lookout for paintings, trophies and cocktail shakers, but bread boards hold a special place in her heart. Credit: Michael Ritucci/Park Record Credit: Michael Ritucci/Park Record Credit: Michael Ritucci/Park Record Anna Weidell’s warehouse is chock full of wonders, from clogs to candlesticks. “They’re used every day. It was part of the family. It was a daily ritual. It represented meals together, cutting the bread, baking the bread,” she explained. It’s a bittersweet feeling when Weidell rehomes a cherished antique. “But for me, it’s one of many. For other people, it’s their only thing,” she said.  Weidell has traveled all over Europe, from Croatia to Scandinavia, but her main haunts are England, France, Spain and Italy — the same four countries that made her fall in love with Europe in the first place. Her fascination stems from a three-month backpacking trip she took with a friend in college through those four countries. Enamored, Weidell convinced herself that her heart belonged in Europe. She began as an au pair in France for a year, then got a job teaching English in Madrid for two years.  Weidell then moved back to her native California and worked for Hewlett Packard. After she met her husband, Jeff, in 1985, they began visiting Europe yearly, and her collecting journey began. This barrel was once used by workers at a French winery as a water bottle. Credit: Michael Ritucci/Park Record “I told my husband, ‘Well, if I can’t live there, I’m bringing it back,’” she said. Weidell’s annual trips began to serve a greater purpose when a friend gave her the idea for Anna’s European Antiques. “She said, ‘Wouldn’t it be great, Anna, if you just get a space, and you go shopping all year long and just fill up the space, and then when it gets kind of full, you open?’” Weidell recalled. She did just that after retiring and moving to Heber City in 2021. The store opened in 2023. The store opens when she wants or by appointment. It operated about 30 days in 2025. The pop-up model allows Weidall plenty of time to enjoy her retirement and replenish her wares — which can be quite a job in and of itself. In the case of a 2,500-vendor market in Newark, England, Weidell explained that it’s a lot of “schlepping your suitcase in the middle of the fields” where the market is set up.  When she can’t transport something in one of her five suitcases, Weidell has to ship it — a process of boxing and commercial invoicing that’s “not for the faint of heart.” From shoving silverware into a suitcase to social media stewardship, operating Anna’s European Antiques has been a process of constant learning for its owner. “It’s funny, when I look at my girlfriends, and this one doesn’t know how to use her phone, and this one doesn’t know how to spreadsheet,” Weidell joked. “You know how they tell you when, as you get older, to prevent Alzheimer’s, you should be learning? I’m like, ‘Maybe three things would have been good. But this whole 50 things? … It’s more learning than I ever wanted to do.’” Anna Weidell’s favorite thing about antique store stewardship is telling the stories of objects to customers. Credit: Michael Ritucci/Park Record But interactions with customers make the process worth it. Families killing time and BYU students on their days off treat the warehouse as a museum, picking Weidell’s brain for her extensive history knowledge. “Little girls, they get really into, ‘What’s the oldest pen you have?’ It’s kind of cute,” Weidell said. In response, Weidell will show them a box of little English sterling pencils adorned with hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs and used for bridge in the 1920s. While some antique store owners would get frustrated at window shoppers or have heart attacks if young kids frolicked among their historic items, Weidell simply appreciates that her work is being appreciated. “Part of the idea of this place is to let people enjoy it,” she said. Anna’s European Antiques’ next pop-up is 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 2-3. The post Antiquarian brings Europe to Heber City appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less