Whalestooth antiques

Whalestooth Antiques was founded in 1971 in Doe Bay on Orcas Island by Albert and Ruth Tillman. The history of selling antiques and recycled items dates back to the Great Depression. Al Tillman was born into a poor family in Los Angeles, California. When he was just a toddler he would go out to the dump with his father and they would drag home old water heaters and fix them up to sell. When Al was eight he started taking his red wagon around the neighborhood and to the dump to dig out old junk that he could clean up and sell to earn money for food and the occasional visit to the movie theater. Later, when he returned  from service in the Pacific Theater, he would propose to his high school crush, Ruth McIntyre. They quickly made buying and selling antiques into their hobby and in the 1960's opened their first antique shop in Pasadena, California, called Tin Tub Antiques. Al would go on to manage antique shows and events across Southern California. In 1971 they purchased a Summer retreat on Orcas Island, Where Ruth's father had moved in 1939, and Al and Ruth opened Whalestooth Antiques. Today, Al and Ruth children and grandchildren run Whalestooth Antiques and the farm.