No touching
We were just in Winterthur. 90,000 objects of antiquity collected by Mr Dupont and foundation. No touching! You would not want to weather, age, or damage a “collectible.” Next stop, New Castle, antique store, priced items for sale. Touching required. I get to handle priced antiques before they go priceless. Gee some of the stuff is pretty much what we saw and were forbidden to handle moments ago. Go figure.
Two years
Two years ago, covid pandemic, we ventured out – to the antique store. Cautious! Precautions! What did we see? What do we collect? Old cameras – a few. Spinning wheels – ha! Sewing machines – a few, done! Blue willow china – more please. Christmas carolers – oy, expensive! Santa – where you find one. Ornaments – ok, but of course. Beer steins – at the right price. When is enough enough? I guess it is the lure of the bargain, finding something of value for less. It’s like a lottery. Sometimes you win. Or, maybe you never do. All I can say is that I am happy to be in the game. Yeah, yeah, I take pictures in the antique store. Of course! It’s free to look!
Slow down
Though she tries, Colleen has been unable to filter me. Hey! Who doesn’t like the holidays? We like them though they are stressful and lots of work. Really? Ummm… well… we have lots to do. I am, sometimes, beside myself. Slow down! Let things unfold slowly and naturally. And, yet, we have a good time, too. That, there picture would be Charles Dickens great grandson performing a one man show of Christmas Carol. For real! Yes!
Strange things happen during the holidays. Masks were still in – style. And, the non sequiturs? Don’t ask, I take odd and strange photos, too. The pink juicer has been our unicorn for years. Buy it?!
It was the year of the gnome. What do our cats know from Xmas? Our youngest. It used to be, that you dressed up all formal for Xmas. No more. PJ’s are just fine! Cuteness is independent of fashion. Have I worn a tie since I retired?
Custom and practice
I prepare posts in advance. It allows me the space to compose and create and pick photos from my catalog. A few posts got away (published in advance) on Nov 30. My bad. I did not pay attention to the publish date. Jules told me a long time ago, too much was a waste. So, I did not and do not post multiples per day since her admonishment. Ha ha. Another, non sequitur. We hang out in antique stores. This one is somewhere in Missouri. Yes, Dorothy, we have traversed Kansas too. It’s somewhere around St Louis. I won’t go into details about how I know. And, you cannot tell (where we are) either. Old phone? With dial or without!? I bet there are many folks who have never seen this kind of phone. I shoot typewriters, too. This is the model I typed all my college term papers on – usually at about 3AM in the morning. Remedies? What will they put in a bottle. And, some have patents as well?! Geez! Toilet cream makes me laugh. No, I have never used it. But, in the misunderstanding of terms, it makes for a great juvenile joke among pre-teens. Yeah, there’s a little Peter Pan in me, still.
Do over… again
We have been on an extended road trip. I chased fall color and cover bridges. Colleen chased fiber. Fiber? As in wool and fleece from sheep. Sheep? Yes, there are a myriad of rare sheep with fleeces she covets. ?? Polworth? Teeswater? It’s an endangered breed in the US. TMI!! We made it to the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Fair. It went on as scheduled despite Covid. Yes, we got big rain. There were prizes at the auction – another spinning wheel! Ha ha. (I/Colleen won one.) There was the fleece barn, Colleen’s candy store. Llama, pajama, an interloper! Yarn?! Tons. It was more knitter’s fair than weaver/spinner. There was a line (out the door!!!) to purchase this year’s (yarn) color. There was the one room school (revisited). We – Colleen and I – almost went to one. We did sit in this style school desk in elementary school. So, why not – recreate the image of where we met. Again. And, yes, it is my regret – I wish she’d have grabbed on and held me close those many years ago. What a difference fate could have dealt. Such a good time, too many pictures, wistful, and hoping for a do over – life.
Stuff
At a certain age they tell you to downsize. You can’t take it with you. You are allowed to look. How about a Welsh chicken coop cupboard? Never seen one till now. I didn’t know I wanted one. This was a monster piece more than 10 foot wide. Put your dinner in the coop and you don’t have to go out later to catch it. Rabbit, chicken, it’s been done before. They wanted $thousands.
A small town. I can’t remember which. Go there. There is native American art. It’s a town of few stores. Few enough people find it. The prices are high. Why not? There’s simply very little traffic.
Garish porcelain? I neglected to image an oyster plate. We learned they come from France. The valuable collectable ones go for $hundreds. Now you know too. I don’t want one. I don’t much care to eat oysters. Green Hoosier glass? It’s not depression uranium glass. No value. About $9 on eBay. Just looking. I don’t have room on the shelf. I guess I’ll build some.
Selling “Stuff”
Oyster cans. Empty! Yup! Empty as in they have been eaten (the oysters) and can is empty. Empty! How much will you pay for an empty can? $59? Huh! Ha! Really!? Nope. Just looking thank you very much. There are plenty of empty tins to be had for a lot less. Personally, I prefer the product to the container. Wouldn’t you?
Seen on the bottom. At least take off the original sales sticker before you try to stick it to me. Ha ha. Idiot! And no, it’s not a sugar shaker. Dumb and dumber…
Dumping. We haven’t seen green glass Sunbeam glass. Someone must have come across a lot of it and dumped it upon the market across several stores on this particular day. I remember the brand. The bread was not memorable. The glass was forgettable. Nope. It’s amazing what they made and tried to sell.
Cold Lunch
Roy Rogers school lunch box – it was red as I recall. This isn’t mine. I ate cold lunch in the 8th grade. I missed the hot lunch application deadline. American cheese between two slices of white bread with Miracle Whip. Every day! My choice! Don’t ask. Later on when I was a grown up, I asked the kids in my medical office to go to the corner deli and bring me a sandwich. Eagerly they awaited my request: Ham and Swiss on bread – a slice of white, a slice of rye on top. Then, I’d always sadly shake my head and say they brought the sandwich upside down.
Three turtle wicker basket. I’ve never seen this. Old typewriter? The letters are mounted on wire loops. That’s old. For decoration. The tag says it doesn’t work. Ha! Who’s typing anyway?
Antiques – lately
Cart before the horse or horse first? Do my pictures inspire the post or do the posts inspire my pictures? I edit. I cull. I choose. But did I take the pic with the post in mind. It goes both ways. I wondered. My original premise was to cull my vast collection. I’m lazy. I have digitized more than 100k color slides. That would be the number of slides, not the kilobytes of memory per pic. By now some date back decades. I’ve got them on my hard drive but Lightroom takes forever to load the images. Oh well. I’ll remain contemporary for the moment.
We go around and see lots of old stuff. There are always surprises. Naked Poetry? Yes, the title stopped me in my tracks. Growing up the NY Times had ads for Naked Lunch. More hype than reality. But for teen age boys, it sure did get the imagination running. I’ve told you the story – (well, again) – of my friend in Elkins who could read but not spell. He came back from the magazine rack all excited that they were selling a copy of “Pregnant” (Pageant). Oh well. I’m old. I just try on shoes without measuring. But I sure remember the shoe size measure device when I would buy shoes as a kid. Do not throw out any metal tins. They all seem to be collectable.
Santa
I know. But I had a post for Xmas. So, I’m squeezing this in at New Year. Happy! I’ve been in a lot of stores around Thanksgiving. Santa shows up before turkey. Turkey is for eating. You sell Santa for the holiday. Happy! … that would be all the holidays. This new year will be different… and better.
Santa
I was wandering another antique store. I’m trying to stay away. (No more sewing machines, please!) And it’s Xmas. And there are a lot of old Xmas decorations. And among them are a lot of Santas. Ya gotta love it!
Odds and Ends
So, my journey through stores makes me pause to wonder. People own stuff that they don’t throw away. Instead they sell it and there’s someone out there who considers trash treasure.
Yup, I got up this morning and thought about getting an old Elvis record. So many years later there are still Elvis impersonators who make a living at it.
Dogs can’t read. I can promise I won’t poop in your yard.
And what may I ask is a turkey grabber and how do you do it? Grab it where? Dead or alive? Don’t bother to answer. I did not buy it. And I don’t get it either. Or would that be that I didn’t get it?
They made it. Someone bought it. And now they want to sell it to you. You gotta love free trade…
For Fun
I don’t own these… We do antique stores. Marching around and peeking in the booths… well you see my point?
I have a couple of old typewriters. It’s sentimental. I got the first when I dropped Dave off in Wisconsin for his freshman year of college. The Goodwill has really great stuff. Ha! Old typewriters! It sat in his dorm room all year and he paid a fortune to have it shipped home to me. The second was an impulse purchase. It is the exact model Underwood I slaved over to complete my term papers. Correct type and erasers, oh my! Old typewriters are not so old. They have been around for a while and of course of no more since the computer age. Tra la! La!
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