Hippo Hardware & Trading Company

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Hippo Hardware & Trading Company Our Mission is to recycle the past to make a more livable future. Our focus is on hardware, lighting, plumbing, and architecture from the 1850s-1960s.

When Hippo Hardware originally formed, the word "recycling" hadn't been invented. The notion of selling things that many people threw away was considered strange at best. Hippo Hardware began out of a vision for creating a business that could simultaneously provide a much needed resource for home owners, artists, and craftsmen while at the same time create a fun, supportive working environment for all of it's employees. At Hippo we rejoice in all sorts of fun projects brought in by employees and customers alike. In the past we've wired a blender into a table lamp, made door knobs into coat hooks, and searched for oven cord to finish a young girl's science project. Hippo Hardware contains four major departments: Lighting, Plumbing, Hardware, and Architecture. Also sprinkled about the store we have many things like antique coffee grinders, old picture frames, vases, and car repair manuals. We do have a UL certified lighting shop to wire any purchases you make or to repair a light you already own. You can think of us as a fancy junk store or a messy antique store. The spirit of Hippo Hardware is to rejoice in the individual, the unique, and the original.

10/25/2026

Put a bird on it.

This is one of the cutest padlocks I've ever seen.
10/24/2026

This is one of the cutest padlocks I've ever seen.

10/23/2026

I love these antique receipts spikes so much. We’ve got them both in store and on the web at hippohardware.com

Though I'm known to change my answer, when people ask me what my favorite corner of the shop is... it's usually where we...
10/22/2026

Though I'm known to change my answer, when people ask me what my favorite corner of the shop is... it's usually where we keep our oil and gas/electric fixtures. It's fun to look back on the way that lighting has changed over the years.

At the shop this week, conversation turned to the in Dedham, MA. It's the oldest known wooden structure in North Americ...
10/20/2026

At the shop this week, conversation turned to the in Dedham, MA.

It's the oldest known wooden structure in North America. Tree ring dating shows that it was built between 1637 and 1641. This was between the time that Harvard was founded and Galileo Galilei died.
Wild.

(photo from fairbankshouse.org)

Do you call them roses, or rosettes? Either way, we've got 'em. 1040 E Burnside- Portland, OR Open Wed-Sun from 10-5
10/19/2026

Do you call them roses, or rosettes?
Either way, we've got 'em.
1040 E Burnside- Portland, OR
Open Wed-Sun from 10-5

If you've been here a while you've probably seen this before, but Jackson asked me to show it to you again. It's a vinta...
10/19/2026

If you've been here a while you've probably seen this before, but Jackson asked me to show it to you again.
It's a vintage Wolverine sanitary plug.
This would be a great Hugh Jackman approved addition to any vintage bathroom.

Some early lights were built with hidden electrical outlets. They were helpful for homes that just didn’t have very many...
10/17/2026

Some early lights were built with hidden electrical outlets. They were helpful for homes that just didn’t have very many outlets available and were often used for things like powering holiday decorations or small appliances like vacuums.
This one is hidden with an extra little tassel and plug.

We can’t UL certify the outlet in these fixtures but we still think they're pretty neat!

Towel rings a twinning.
10/16/2026

Towel rings a twinning.

I call this piece “Camera Shy Denis and the Giant Pair of Pants”
10/10/2026

I call this piece “Camera Shy Denis and the Giant Pair of Pants”

Address

1040 E Burnside Street
Portland, OR
97214

Opening Hours

Wednesday 10am - 5am
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm
Sunday 10am - 5pm

Telephone

+15032311444

Website

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