Jack’s Outback Rendezous #1 Jack’s Outback Rendezous #1

One of the most fun places to visit in Cambridge, NY, is Jack’s Outback, located at 30 West Main Street. It is a shop full of wondrous treasures from days gone by, and its proprietor is one of the nicest guys you ever want to meet. Jack Metzger has run his antiques and collectibles shop in Cambridge since 1992.

Jack’s Outback is not just another antiques shop; it is a journey into the area’s past with Jack being your skillful guide and passionate storyteller. Leaving Jack’s Outback with a piece of the past gives you much more than a unique item to grace your home; you get also a deeper understanding of our ancestry in a wonderfully human and dignified way.
Call Jack at 518-677-2929, visit the shop and experience for yourself the magic at Jack’s Outback.

Jack’s Outback is going to be a feature of Cambridge Buzz, with weekly postings of interesting artifacts found in his store and information about them. Every once in a while we will have an item that even Jack can’t figure out what it is or how it was used. We will elicit your help in uncovering the mystery!



Oak Box- turn of the century oak box with brass hinges and mint condition color litho of the Rice Seed Company, located here in Cambridge, NY. Jack says this is an important example of a pioneering lithographic technique! There are more artifacts from the Rice Seed Company at the Rice Mansion Inn for the interested antique hunter.

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Salesman’s Window Sample circa 1870. Beautifully, hand planed beading with mortise and tenon construction and square head nails. The ingenious latch system is hand hammered. "When you slide the window open, you can see where the sun through the window has bleached the wood below, compared to where the frame has protected it from its rays. That is nature’s stamp of authenticity!" Out of the history of our country’s sales force, Jack says, "I am really excited to have this piece of Americana".
Visit Jack's Outback, at 30 West Main Street, Cambridge NY, 518-677-2929

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Foundry Pattern for Manhole Cover. This is an exact wooden replica of the cast covers you see covering manholes in the road. Jack says, “For me I enjoy it for its beautiful sculptural form.” It is amazing to think of the skill and precision that goes into pattern making, where most things cast in metal (or plastic for that matter) have to first be precisely fashioned from wood (often by hand) to make the mold.
Visit Jack’s Outback, 30 West Main Street, Cambridge, NY 518-677-2929.

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Hand Cranked Mop Wringer Jack has always been enamored of hand cranked items. Jack says, “Here is one took me a long time to figure out what it was.” This all cast iron, finely geared, mop wringer has a patent date of 1909. “Everyone was going patent crazy at the turn of the last century. Imagine someone coming up with the idea to have a mop and a wringer system attached to the same handle. It is a beautiful piece of mechanical art.”

At Jack’s there is a story behind every artifact. Go Visit Jack’s Outback, 30 West Main Street, Cambridge, NY 518-677-2929.

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This weekly Rendezvous with Jack gives us an opportunity to take a step back in history to a time when the objects in our lives were most often wrought from the resources that came from the community we lived in and by the hands of people we knew and invested in their livelihoods.


Horse Hair Strainer/Sifter Circa 1870. Jack says he can't guarantee it, but from what he has heard from others, this could be a Shaker made piece. If it is not, the rich detailing surely is Shaker inspired. The strainer itself is made of horsehair finely woven, the body of split Ash, and is fastened with small hand cut brass tacks. The golden patina of the hand rubbed oil finish and the tasteful decorative details makes Jack exclaim, "Now this is a sweet piece!"

Go Visit Jack’s Outback, 30 West Main Street, Cambridge, NY 518-677-2929.

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Church Offerings Jack’s wife, Mary was going to ask the Monk’s up at New Skete what actually is the story behind an “Anticipated Mass.” If any of our readers know what is meant by an “Anticipated Mass,” please hit the Comment link below and enlighten us!

Jack is not sure if this church, a wonderful example of area folk art, was made as a birdhouse or not (a home for the Holy Ghost perhaps?). Jack acquired this piece over the border in Vermont. It was constructed in the 1930’s with a galvanized metal steeple and many other interesting details. It sure is a darling, handmade work of love and devotion.

Jack’s Outback… where searching for antiques can become a religious experience.
Go there, visit Jack’s Outback, 30 West Main Street, Cambridge, NY 518-677-2929.