Past & Present started in 1981 as a little cottage industry specializing in the replacement of lost, discontinued, and inactive silverplated flatware. Over the years the business has grown and evolved to include not only silverplated flatware, but also the replacement of inactive and discontinued sterling, stainless, pewter, Dirilyte flatware, china, crystal, antiques, collectibles and Christmas collectibles. An inventory that began as a few thousand pieces of flatware in a garage has become literally millions of items that now fill a 60,000 square foot warehouse.

Most of our sales have been through mail order, in response to ads we run periodically in Better Homes & Gardens, Bon Apetite, Cooking Lite, Eating Well, Gourmet, House Beautiful, House & Garden, Sunset, Texas Monthly, Victoria, and Yankee Trader magazines. But we also make personal contact with our customers at the many antique and collectable shows that we atend throughout the year (see the "Events" page). Very seldom is a customer dissatisfied with her order, so we have a very strong base of repeat business. We have completed grandmothers' patterns of china, crystal and flatware before they were passed along to a daughter or granddaughter, and we have helped keep those collections complete over a period of many years. We have helped to build or expand collections with a daughter's or granddaughter's Bridal Registry.

We have made many friends at the antique and collectable shows we have attended over the years. Many people have brought us items they wanted to sell, and invited us into their homes to show us what they need. When we don't have exactly what a customer needs in stock, we do our best to locate it for them. We truly appreciate the high standards of craftmanship and the uniqueness of the merchandise we carry, and we enjoy sharing that appreciation with others. We love to see, and help set, a beautiful table.

We are located in California's great Central Valley, in Visalia, and we are always happy when customers come to our warehouse to visit. If you are ever in the area, you are cordialy invited to stop by and say hello. Only please call first to make sure we are not away at a show. Our address and phone number are on the "Contact Us" page