Saturday Business Spotlight: Birdsong Books & Vintage
[August 23, 2025] Since
2009, Jean Tweet has been running Birdsong Books & Vintage, a cute
antique shop located at 111 Governor Oglesby Street in downtown Elkhart,
specializing in vintage items.
The shop is located in the former home of Nellie’s Café. Tweet purchased
the café in 2006 and had extensive renovations done before opening the
shop.
On the top of the shop’s windows, you can still see the sign for
sandwiches from when Nellie’s Café was open. Tweet said some people
still stop in and ask if she sells sandwiches.
Tweet first started selling vintage items in the antique mall at
Williamsville then later was able to purchase the building in Elkhart.
Tweet’s interest in collecting vintage items can be traced back to her
childhood when she was drawn to old stuff and loved digging through her
grandparents’ attics. Tweet began collecting items when she was a
teenager.
Among the items
you will find at Birdsong are shelves full of fiction and non-fiction
books, vintage clothing, vintage fabric, vintage tins, vintage
postcards, old photos, paintings, toys and kitchen items.
Tweet said fabric
collectors are often drawn to the vintage fabrics she has for sale.
Birdsong also has
vintage holiday items for Halloween, Christmas and Easter in the back
corner of the shop. Christmas decorations include trees, ornaments, old
Christmas cards and Santas.
[to top of second column] |
As you walk
through the store, you will see many different types of books, which
Tweet said is her main focus. She has several historical books about
Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War plus classics like Jayne Eyre, Of Mice
and Men, a Mark Twain collection and many others.
In addition, Tweet has many vintage children’s books. Tweet is
originally from Racine, Wisconsin where the Golden Books Factory was
located, so there a quite a few old Golden Books.
Toys include a vintage Fisher Price Little People garage. Cars and the
little people are part of the set. Blocks and pegboards can be found
near the back of the shop.
Other items include vases, plates, glassware, teapots and bowls. There
are even a few pieces of furniture such as chairs and tables.
On the vintage
clothing rack are dresses and blouses. Several vintage purses are in
that same section. Vintage aprons hang on a movable wall divider. An
antique baby stroller is on a nearby table.
Globes are on a
couple of shelves, and an old map is on the wall to the left of the
entrance.
Before becoming a shop owner, Tweet was a violinist in the Illinois
Symphony Orchestra for fifteen years. When she started having vertigo
spells and found the loudness had begun to bother her, she stepped down
from the symphony. Tweet is still involved in music on a smaller scale
as she teaches violin.
Something Tweet
enjoys about owning a vintage shop is that it is often quiet and
peaceful in her shop. Tweet said she does not advertise a lot but tries
to keep interesting items.
When someone from North Carolina visited the shop, he told Tweet it was
like an antique store without boring stuff.
Tweet’s shop is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3
p.m.
Head over to downtown Elkhart and stop at Birdsong. With so many vintage
items for sale, you are sure to find something special.
[Angela Reiners] |
