Collecting

Where we discuss our stuff

Hi everbody! I really enjoy collecting and talking with other people about their collections. Come in and share your collections, your reasons for starting a particular collection, and tips on buying, storing, and keeping your collections clean. As Judith has said in the New Thread Suggestions thread, if you have at least three of something, you have a collection.

I can't see any reason why anyone might feel the need to flame in this thread, but if someone feels the need, may I suggest taking it to the Inferno? I look forward to hearing from each of you and if we should occasionally stray from the topic, that doesn't bother me at all.

2. anise - 1/2/2001 7:31:35 AM

One of my oddest collections is my butter knife collection. When I was younger we were pretty formal at the dining table and the butter knife was my most favorite utensil. My collection is nearing two hundred pieces; each one different. I would love to start a shiva collection, but I haven't seen any of those since I was a child.

I have never heard of anyone else who collects them. What would you consider your oddest collection and how many pieces do you have?

3. mgleason - 1/2/2001 8:32:52 AM

Hi, Star-Anise - great idea for a thread

I used to collect buttons as a child: fabulous novelty buttons carved in different styles, some even semi-precious, and many were antiques. Before I moved to FL, however, I donated my collection to a cousin who'd also caught the bug. She's very serious about it.

Now I limit myself to books, to which I am addicted. I don't collect in the antiquarian sense, really; I just buy the ones that match my interest, although some are pretty old. I have a large number of tomes on various facets of English history: the great houses and castles, biographies and diaries of the famous and infamous, costume design, social history, period novels, etc. They bring me great joy, but we're actually contemplating building a bigger house with a huge library, as they are literally everywhere in this house. I've got twenty floor-to-ceiling bookcases, and that's not nearly enough storage space.

4. Fielding - 1/2/2001 10:15:49 AM

I collect enemies.

5. mgleason - 1/2/2001 10:17:06 AM

Do you keep 'em close?

6. Fielding - 1/2/2001 10:21:02 AM

There are many things my father taught me here in this room. He taught me: keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.

7. don s. - 1/2/2001 10:21:05 AM

Anise, what a coincidence! I used to collect sticks of butter! I still have a trunkful down in the basement. The jewel of my collection was a stick of Challenge unsalted that used to belong to Whit Bissell.

8. Raskolnikov - 1/2/2001 10:46:41 AM

I have started collecting movie posters in the past couple of years. I started out collecting posters for my favorite movies, but after hanging them on my wall I realized that the vast majority of recent movies that I like have horrible poster art, and make for boring decor (Wild Bunch, Conversation, LA Confidential, Dark City, Swingers, etc.). I then moved to movies I liked which have interesting poster art (Out of Sight, Iron Giant, Rocketeer, Raiders of the Lost Ark, 2001, Excalibur). Now I have reached the point where I am stymied by budgets. I have bought almost all the more inexpensive posters that have decent art, and I am now looking back further in time, to more expensive posters. I was a fraud victim on an eBay Star Wars poster, and have unsucessfully bid on a dozen Chinatowns, but beyond that I'll probably have to start looking to the 50s and 60s, where the posters I want cost upwards of $500. As such, I think my collection will be growing very slowly in the future. My wife will kill me if I spend $1000 on an original "Kiss Me Deadly" at the expense of a dozen home repair projects.

9. labwabbit - 1/2/2001 12:35:34 PM

I have the largest collection in the world.

It is a collection of things I don't collect.

10. JJBiener - 1/2/2001 12:39:58 PM

I have the world's largest collection of sea shells which I keep scattered around the beaches of the world. --Stephen Wright

11. labwabbit - 1/2/2001 12:45:42 PM

I've been known to collect dust.


My moss collection is doing well too.

12. Raskolnikov - 1/2/2001 12:48:26 PM

You must not have a Rolling Stone collection.

13. theDiva - 1/2/2001 12:48:33 PM

Anise

This sort of smarting off is generally de rigeur for newly-created threads. The wags will settle down soon.

Oh, and I collect broken hearts.

14. JJBiener - 1/2/2001 12:50:02 PM

Diva - Oh, and I collect broken hearts.

What woman doesn't?

15. theDiva - 1/2/2001 12:51:16 PM

This is true...

16. altitude /w attitude - 1/2/2001 12:54:26 PM

I guess from now on I'll refer to the 'stuff' as the "labwabbit collection." It is a huge assortment of stuff that I have that I don't collect.
At least 3 of something? Kids, grandkids, cats, books, plants, Bibles, New England village pieces, sea shells, old 33 1/3 record albums, 45's, tapes, cd's, Coca-Cola stuff, and candle holders.
Only have 2 boats, 2 cars, 2 trucks, 1 boat trailer, 1 travel trailer, and 1 motor cycle, so they don't qualify. They are an assortment of the things I don't collect.

17. Electric Slide - 1/2/2001 12:55:40 PM

I have a collection of Woody Guthrie pictures that I'm very proud of. I used to work for the Smithsonian and got access to their Alan Lomax/Folkways files and made 8x10" BW copies.

I have most of the Hardy Boys books that I grew up with. I've added many of the new editions. My kids think they suck but I still go to the attic and look at their covers.

I used to own two Martin guitars. I still have my D-28, but sold the 12-string Martin for two pounds of Mexican grass and second-hand conga drums in the mid-1970s. I know it sounds like a terrible deal but the guitar had a hole in it and lots of cigarette burns--I got it that way for $90 earlier in the decade. It still sounded great.

18. labwabbit - 1/2/2001 1:00:05 PM

Oh, and I collect broken hearts

I know...


;>

19. labwabbit - 1/2/2001 1:01:26 PM

Rask

I'm afraid my "Rolling Stone" collection is a primary storage space for dust.

20. JudithAtHome - 1/2/2001 1:15:17 PM

anise:

I don't know if they are considered a collection but I have about 2 dozen butter knives I've amassed over the years. The reason I don't refer to them as a collection is because they are utilitarian; we use them at parties and get-togethers involving appetizers...everyone has their own small knife and pickle fork! (I serve lots of paté and olives!)

21. JudithAtHome - 1/2/2001 1:16:12 PM

Oh, and for those of you who collect dust, at my house that is referred to as "patina".

22. labwabbit - 1/2/2001 1:26:09 PM

Oh, and for those of you who collect dust, at my house that is referred to as "patina".

That explains the collection of small knives and pickle-forks?

23. altitude /w attitude - 1/2/2001 1:27:52 PM

The stuff just sort of accumulates. I like it so I keep it. That is my 'labwabbit collection.'

I collect Coca-Cola stuff 'cause I like Coke. It is more of a fun collection than anything of great value. A few signs, an 'antique' Coke bottle from Bangor, Maine, Coke glasses, a Coke syrup bottle from an old drug store, repro trays, an old Coke can opener from my Dad's camp, and some other stuff that people have given me.

Sea shells, beach glass, and beach rocks 'cause I love the ocean. I never buy them, they must come from the beach. I've been to Long Island, Maine, Florida, Washington, Oregon, and California.

I collect books for the same reason as mgleason. I buy what matches my interest. Most of the non-fiction I keep, the fiction I usually pass on to someone. I have given away boxes of books. It is because of my deprived childhood. When I got married I owned 5 books. Boxcar Children, Surprise Island, Heidi, Smiling Hill Farm, and a Betty Crocker cookbook. I have about 100 issues of Mother Earth News. Around 75 cookbooks.

The Dept. 56 New England Village stuff is totally decadent. I like them. Completely self-indulgent. I like looking at them, touching them, setting them up. I only take them out at Christmas, but wish I had space to look at them year round. My favorite pieces are the Emily Louise (a boat) and the lighthouses. This is also not a serious collection. I collect what I like, it is not an investment.

I also have some collectable plates. Any one know where I might be able to get rid of them?

24. JudithAtHome - 1/2/2001 1:39:41 PM

lab:

That explains the collection of small knives and pickle-forks?

No, that explains the DUST all over my house.

25. altitude /w attitude - 1/2/2001 1:41:26 PM

JAH

lol

26. DocBrown - 1/2/2001 2:38:18 PM

My Hero is Harold Lemay.

I don't suppose anyone would be interested in my collection of DeLorean parts and memorabilia? That's as far as I have gotten, myself.

27. labwabbit - 1/2/2001 2:56:21 PM

J@H

Paté - patina. Guess I got confused.

(g)

28. labwabbit - 1/2/2001 2:58:11 PM

DB
My uncle owns 2 DeLoreans. He would just as soon...well, there isn't a hell of a lot in the world he wouldn't do before getting rid of them.

29. mgleason - 1/2/2001 3:05:59 PM

Ah, I forgot that I also 'collect' one other thing: black velvet Holiday Wear and Christmas sweaters. Soon I will have the world's largest collection.

30. msgreer - 1/2/2001 3:15:05 PM

mgleason

No kidding my dear. You are the queen of Christmas clothing. All in very good taste I might add.

31. DocBrown - 1/2/2001 3:17:01 PM

Labwabbit,

You're kidding! Two DeLoreans? Does he ever show them or attend the conventions? If so then he and I probably know each other. I am fairly well known in those circles (by my real name).

However, more than half the people who own DeLoreans just leave them parked in their garage, hoping they will be worth a million dollars some day. In this case I probably do not know him. Either way your uncle has a pretty nice collection going there.

32. mgleason - 1/2/2001 3:26:01 PM

Ha, Msgreer! As you know, I even have Christmas shoes! It really, really annoys my sister-in-law, so I glory in this stuff all the more. I also have quite a bit of Hallowe'en clothing (and shoes!). 'Don't you have enough clothes?' she'll ask. Um, no, and I fail to see WTF it has to do with you. (I don't actually say that, but I say snotty things like, 'It's so difficult to find enough things on which to spend my money...,' and sigh deeply. It drives her insane.)

33. ChristinO - 1/2/2001 3:35:26 PM

As a kid I collected Bicentennial Quarters for a little while and horse statuettes----I think it was Breyer's or something like that. I had a huge stuffed animal collection and hundreds of sharks' teeth that my grandmother and I collected along the Carolina beaches.

I still have the sharks' teeth and some of my stuffed animals but otherwise I never considered myself a collector. Until this thread came along and I started running through the inventory of my apartment.

I currently have a mild lust for candelabra---I have three wrought iron floor stands and a couple of plaster pillars and I don't know how many single and sets of candlesticks--- A small post card collection consisting primarily of pin-up art from the 40's and 50's, the covers of steamy pulp books like Trailer Tramp and Marijuana Girl, vintage produce boxes and various and sundry artists works that I really like.

I'm building a collection of children's books that I loved when I was a kid as well as a fairly decent selection of Southern folk tales. I was collecting Victorian erotica but I got bored with that so it's not likely to ever be a large collection. Books in general are a grand passion for me but it's primarily pulp fiction and not boast-worthy. Likewise my music collection. I just buy what I like. I'm not particularly dedicated about obtaining particular recordings and such.


It's reassuring to me to be able to look at my overflowing mountains of stuff and be able to say that I'm a "collector" rather than a pack-rat.

34. don s. - 1/2/2001 3:38:13 PM

Yeah, I fall more into the "pack rat" category. Except for the butter thing. I also collect small slices of butter which I keep on a special "pat rack."

35. JudithAtHome - 1/2/2001 3:38:26 PM

Christin:

I like that designation, too...I hadn't thought I collected much until I realized I had so many things of the same "group", like the black tin I showed you yesterday.

36. JudithAtHome - 1/2/2001 3:39:51 PM

DonS:

I hope you've packed them carefully, retaining the original shape.

37. labwabbit - 1/2/2001 3:49:10 PM

DB

I know he attended several "conventions", at least the type where he met with other owners around the continent. He does show them at various events from time to time I hear. He presently resides in Arizona. You'll be able to locate him quite easily, as he has the biggest, most elaborate, motor-home I have ever seen, (or heard of before I seen his). About 15 years ago I got to sit inside his first one. (No, I didn't make the motor sounds with my mouth) Never dared ask to drive it. He drives them rarely. I believe he had them transported to Az. He also has a 59, 66, and 70 Vettes. I believe he owns one, maybe two Rolls. I KNOW he owns a beautiful 57 Chevy, complete original, and puff,(My personal favorite...what a beautiful machine). I offered him 50k for it once, but he said that wouldn't buy me the seat covers. Ah well...

38. ChristinO - 1/2/2001 3:54:01 PM

Don,

Do you still have the first foil you ever unwrapped from your first meal dining out?


Judith,

That can is wonderful! If I ever see any that look interesting I'll pick them up. There are always loads of yard sales in my neighborhood and because it's older homes there tend to be a lot of vintage items. I'll keep my eyes peeled.

39. JudithAtHome - 1/2/2001 4:02:15 PM

Christin:

If you see any vintage red tins, those are my passion, too...I lean toward the truly "odd". I have a great medicinal tin from the turn of the (last) century and it is for "Worm Candy", a treatment for children with intestinal parasites...has a cute little moppets face on the front.

40. ChristinO - 1/2/2001 4:12:28 PM

"Worm Candy" has a whole new meaning now that you can get Gummy Worms. I'm always amazed that my brother and I never got worms as kids. My mom was pretty vigilant, but I know we ate a fair amount of dirt in our formative years. We spent a number of years out in the back of beyond playing with various and sundry barnyard animals and in and around planters fields and running wild in the woods. The worst we ever had to deal with was the occasional tick. We never even got poison ivy. I firmly believe it's why we're so seldom sick now.

41. DocBrown - 1/2/2001 4:23:31 PM

Labwabbit,

I knew three guys with DeLoreans in Arizona, but all of them moved out of state last year. I have probably met your uncle. If he came to last June's DeLorean Car Show in Cleveland then he will definitely remember my wife and myself. I bet I will see him in Houston next June.

Automobiles are probably the most fun collectables in human history. I hope to have space for a dozen or so someday.

42. JJBiener - 1/2/2001 4:30:22 PM

Christin - Books are my passion as well. We have several used book fairs in the area and I usually go to all of them. I used to come home with boxes and boxes of books, but I am more selective these days. My favorites these days are cookbooks, preferably ethnic cookbooks. Also anything having to with music or the music business.

You said you collected children's books, so I have to tell you of a near miss I had. I was at an auction 15 years ago and they had several boxes of books for sale. A couple of boxes had been sold before I got there. I was talking with the woman who bought them and noticed that one of the books was an old, old Tom Swift book. I was big Tom Swift fan as a kid in the late 60's. This book looked to be from the 20's. It was Tom Swift and the Radio-Telephone. I would have paid more for that one book than she paid for both boxes full, but she wouldn't part with it. I guess it just goes on the list of ones that got away.

43. JudithAtHome - 1/2/2001 4:53:37 PM

Speaking of which, I had a first edition of On The Road which I gave away to a young man who had just discovered Kerouac. It was so surprising to me how he felt about Kerouac this late in the day that I was happy to see him own the book. I had lost my enthusiasm for him myself and it gave me more of a thrill to see him made happy by the gift than to keep it.

44. JJBiener - 1/2/2001 4:56:37 PM

Judith - I have to be in the mood for Kerouac, but when I am there is nothing quite like him. I hope the young man appreciated the gift. I suspect he did.

45. ChristinO - 1/2/2001 4:56:52 PM

JJ,

I'm a total book slut. I love cookbooks and collections of short stories particularly horror. I went on a big Robert McCammon spree when I found out he was retiring. I had a copy of They Thirst for years but now I have no idea what happened to it and can't find a copy of it anywhere for less than $200 which is just too much to spend on it. It's one of the best vampire novels ever written, but I know I'll find another one eventually. Or maybe I still have my copy in some box in the garage somewhere.

I recently picked up a bunch of children's ghost story collections from the Ozarks, Appalachia and Bayou regions. I've got all of Shel Silverstein's books, a great Mother Goose and the Annotated Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I have a couple of the hard-cover OZ books but not a complete set, various and sundry tales like Savage Sam, Tom Sawyer, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, How to Eat Fried Worms, Eloise. I pretty much pick up anything that I recognize from my own childhood. These books I do try to get in hardcover or in particular prints if I can. There are a bunch of titles that I may never find, but I keep looking. My mother sent me a box of books that we had as children and I spent the entire day going through them. It was wonderful.

My nephew won't be old enough for any of these for another couple of years but his dad reads to him anyway. They've done Arabian Nights and Peter Pan among other things. I'm not sure what they're reading right now though. The Claw also gets innundated with lots of Beatles tunes since they're the ones my brother knows by heart. He's been singing "Her Majesty" to him since he was tadpole sized in the womb. I'm trying to promote "I'm So Tired" as the bedtime song. The Claw just likes it when you read or sing to him. He doesn't care what it is.

46. bubbaette - 1/2/2001 4:59:16 PM

My favorite collection is wind-up toys. My newest addition from this Christmas is a red "robot" dog who flaps his ears up and down, opens and shuts his mouth, and shoots sparks while he waddles around. I also got a smaller robot who just walks. My favorites are the tin wind-ups, but I have quite a few plastic wind-ups too. I have most of them on display in my office.

I collect pink depression glass to add to the collection I inherited from my grandmother. It goes with a rose pattern tea set that my dad gave her from when he was on leave in Japan during the Korean war. I have a few other nice dishes from my grandmother -- one that dates to pre-revolution.

I have a collection of dolls of many countries packed up in the attic. Several of these are also from my grandmother -- she collected dolls from the countries she visited. Two little japanese babies are my favorites. I also have play china sets that I use when I display them, though I don't have room right now.

I collect pennies in my desk drawer and in a pitcher on top of the fridge. I used to collect books but moved too many times. There came a time when I was packing up all these books for the umpteenth time when I decided to get rid of most of them. Now when I read a book I pass it on to someone else unless it's a really really good one that I want to read again. Of the books that I kept, my favorites are a complete set of Mark Twain.

47. cmboyce - 1/2/2001 7:09:46 PM

Great thread idea! I am a collector, more or less compulsively. I think it fair to say that I collect collections. I used to worry about this some, but I've found that as long as I maintain a few current interests that are real cheap, I don't feel as compelled to buy expensive stuff I really don't need at all. Before our daughter was born, I had a job as an assistant to a big-time Americana dealer, and the temptations were extravagant. I gave in to the extent of starting an 18th-cent. Delft collection, and was eying Chinese pieces (to go with a few from some years earlier), but come parenthood, it was really impossible to keep on. Now, the two active collections are business cards and coins—none of either bought. I have thousands of cards, in big binders of those plastic sheets of sized pockets. I feel like an idiot every time I've accumulated a big stash of 'em and have to file 'em, but I enjoy seeing their variety when I do so. Then it's back into the remote drawer where they live. This is cheap and cures the itch, at least somewhat.

[more]

48. cmboyce - 1/2/2001 7:10:03 PM

The coins are just a reprise of childhood collecting. I've no interest in rarities or mint pieces or anything like that. The only buy I've made was a $25 dollar plastic bag—the largest kitchen kind—that I could see had a Standing Liberty quarter along with mostly foreign coins. It proved to have an Indian Head penny as well, and a bunch of interesting items like coins from Vichy France, Nazi Holland and Belgium and the old German Empire. But for the rest, I just get off on finding old nickels in my newspaper change, etc.

I've got lots of other collections, too, though none are especially active just now.

Except books, always books, of course. I try to exercise restraint, because my wife gives me such a hard time about the stacks of 'em that are all over the place here, in our unhuge apt. But it's hard to keep the little buggers out, and it's a rare week that I don't get a half-dozen books. I sell 'em too, but taking a few bags of books into the Strand and exchanging them for 30 or 40 dollars just leaves me in the Strand with 30 or 40 dollars! {;^). (But if I didn't have to take a cab down there—the books being too heavy to carry to the bus—I'd maybe make a little money.)

49. paragate - 1/2/2001 8:12:50 PM

I've spent about ten years of after-hours time collecting LP record albums. Jazz is of particular interest but my tastes run to all kinds of music. Part of the fun is finding them cheap at garage sales, thrift stores, flea markets, record shows and an occasional auction. But Ebay is now the big marketplace. I think that Ebay is fast becoming the market which determines the true fair market value for any number of collectibles. Lately I've been doing more selling than buying to supplement my paltry teacher salary.

50. Electric Slide - 1/2/2001 8:16:51 PM

Teachers make a lot of money, considering they only work 180 days a year.

51. JudithAtHome - 1/2/2001 8:34:05 PM

Yeah, too bad they have to try and live the other 185. They'd be in clover otherwise...

52. paragate - 1/2/2001 8:43:27 PM

Don't know whether to laugh or cry. Ha,boohahaboohoo.

53. JudithAtHome - 1/2/2001 8:57:41 PM

Paragate:

If it were anyone but Slide, I'd say he was being ironically sarcastic but unfortunately, he probably really does believe teachers are overpaid for the amount of work they do. So I'd go with cry.

Meanwhile, back to the subject...

54. Electric Slide - 1/2/2001 9:40:42 PM

I can only speak for NEA teachers in Maryland who get an average of $38,000 a year for half a year's work. Many of them make $70,000 with great pension plans.

They get off snow days when it rains.

Almost every other week has some state/federal/religious/autumn/winter/spring break holiday or, the new scam, "teachers' training days."

Lots of half days so teachers can "grade" exams.

They're out of the classrooms at 2:50 a.m. with lots of "sick" leave.

And, what's worse, they get time off to demonstrate for Al Gore at the Supreme Court and threaten average joes, like myself.

55. Electric Slide - 1/2/2001 9:42:30 PM

a.m. should be p.m.

56. JudithAtHome - 1/2/2001 10:06:53 PM

Slide:

If your children are half as hateful as you are (which I doubt) there isn't enough money on earth to properly compensate a teacher saddled with them.

(sorry, anise...I guess you CAN singe people on this thread.)

57. JudithAtHome - 1/2/2001 10:28:23 PM

Okay, I felt so bad about that last post I came back on the computer to apologize for it. I shouldn't have said anything about Slides kids and I'm sorry I did so.

I just hate to see teachers maligned and especially from the standpoint they make too much money. I still secretly think Slide is being facetious.

58. arkymalarky - 1/2/2001 10:37:28 PM

I do too or I'd have ripped him a new one in the Inferno. It's too hard to do when I'm laughing, though. I've got to seek some kind of help for that demented streak in me. It's really beginning to worry me.

59. Fraaankster - 1/2/2001 10:40:56 PM

Hi Judith! I just got home and found yer e-mail. I'll respond after dinner.

Don S.,

Anise, what a coincidence! I used to collect sticks of butter! I still have a trunkful down in the basement. The jewel of my collection was a stick of Challenge unsalted that used to belong to Whit Bissell.

ROTFLMAO !!! I'll be laughing about this one for a week. :-)

...Did they go up in value after his death ? ;-)

Slide,

I can't think of a more noble profession than teaching ... What can be more important ? And given what most have to put up with, and the fact that many -- at least those that I'm associated with -- buy a great deal of items/teaching aids for their classrooms out of their own pockets, I happen to think they are underpaid in most cases.

Er, back to the topic at hand: Hmmmmm. Collectibles ? Let's see, I certainly seem to collect bad memories by the truck load ... at least that's what my therapist says. I just can't or won't let go of them.;-)

I have a framed serigraph by John Lennon somewhere wrapped in plastic, and several collectors plates of the Beatles somewhere that are supposedly worth more than I paid for when they were first offered in the Parade ( Sunday newspaper supplement ) 12 years ago. I think I gave away most of them ? I have a Marshall Faulk Rookie of the Year plaque.

...Shit! I don't really have anything. :-(

60. JudithAtHome - 1/2/2001 10:44:02 PM

Sure you do! You have excellent taste in clothes. And you have 2 new friends.

61. Fraaankster - 1/2/2001 10:46:51 PM

Judith,

I had to shed the Shaggy look for you. And yes, I do have two new friends. How stupid of me to forget so.

62. JudithAtHome - 1/2/2001 10:48:27 PM

Frank:

We'll do our best to appreciate in value for you!

:-)

63. Shosha - 1/2/2001 10:49:24 PM

Anise,

I'm so delighted to see this thread up and running! My primary collecting interest is Judaica. I have always been amazed how extraordinary beautiful much of it is, despite the prohibition against graven images. In my neighborhood there were many girls who were given heirlooms, from grandparents-in-law who had found a way to safe-keep them through the war. Somehow the style clashed or space was limited or just because it was well known that I cherished it I was given a lot as a child. My favorites are silver: spice boxes for Shabbat, ornamental pointers give at Simhat Torah, Purim greggers and Kiddush cups and embroidered matzah covers for Pesach. My most prized piece was given to me from my grandmother it is a Hanukiah (for oil) from 1760. It was given to me last year on my 20th birthday and a bit of my family history was finally divulged along with it.

64. don s. - 1/2/2001 10:55:00 PM

God bless you, Fraaaaank. I cracked myself up with that (I have no idea where it came from). I was waiting for someone to give me the validation that I so crave.

Will you marry me?

65. Fraaankster - 1/2/2001 10:56:51 PM

I continue to laugh hard at the post by Don S. I almost choked on the steak I am eating at the moment a second ago. The neighbors must think I'm nuts.
That guy should be writing for a sitcom -- I mean it!

Arky,

I hope things have improved.

66. Fraaankster - 1/2/2001 10:58:18 PM

Don S.,

If I married you, it would only be for that incredible sense of humor.

67. don s. - 1/2/2001 11:00:16 PM

I'll settle for that.

68. Fraaankster - 1/2/2001 11:04:27 PM

Uh-oh! You've backed me into a corner....Hmmmmm, what to do, what to do ?

(...Do I settle for a Vendela type woman with an IQ of a tossed salad, or a guy who will have me in stiches ? )

69. don s. - 1/2/2001 11:06:57 PM

So... you're into tossed salad?

sorry. couldn't resist.

I should stop now.

Anyway, let me know how it turns out......

70. concerned - 1/2/2001 11:16:32 PM

I collect certain forms of nineteenth century paper ephemera such as Carte de Visites, old stereoviews, fashion prints and bound magazines, as well as the occasional old map or book.

71. Fraaankster - 1/2/2001 11:21:57 PM

Don S.,

So... you're into tossed salad?

I'm into all kinds of kinky things, Don. In fact, speaking of collectibles, I use to collect old condoms, but I soon found there wasn't much of a market for them...I did get a good bid on E-bay once for one that supposedly came from a Noah Berry tryst with Fay Wray.

Man, those things attracted dust! ;-)


Okay, okay. I'll stop with the silliness.

72. don s. - 1/2/2001 11:39:12 PM

No! Don't stop!

sigh

73. anise - 1/3/2001 12:31:57 AM

Anise, what a coincidence! I used to collect sticks of butter! I still have a trunkful down in the basement. The jewel of my collection was a stick of Challenge unsalted that used to belong to Whit Bissell.

If Fraaankster won't marry you, will you marry me? We would fit together so nicely. You with your butter pats and me with my knives.

swooning

74. don s. - 1/3/2001 12:43:16 AM

My cholesterol-clogged heart belongs to Fraaaaank.

75. anise - 1/3/2001 12:56:03 AM

My cholesterol-clogged heart belongs to Fraaaaank.

Damn!

Does anyone collect old sheet music? I started collecting those last year. I have one with Bob Hope on the front with some woman. It is from one of his movies.

My relish fork collection is small, maybe forty pieces.

I have thousands of books, but only about 100 of them are really old. I have a few of the orinal Hardy Boy and Nancy Drew books as well. Nancy Drew was my hero. I wanted to be just like her. Didn't happen though.

76. cmboyce - 1/3/2001 9:24:28 AM

My wife's first job in NY, c. 1970, was answering Nancy Drew's fan mail. She was Nancy Drew! (This does not carry over, however; she is an inveterate loser of keys, wallets, books, etc.)

I occasionally put a little entertainment budget into a lottery ticket or so, the entertainment consisting in imagining what I would do with the money. A recurrent fantasy is of collecting, of course. I'd like, with my 40 mil, to assemble a range of collections. A many-roomed apt (and a summer house of some size) in which to house them, would contain a series of "period rooms"—one furnished in 18th-century decor and furniture, chiefly American and English, for the Delft collection and perhaps something in the 18th-19th century watercolor line; another 18th-century French, with prints of urban scenes from 17th and 18th century Europe. Modern furniture would appoint the workmanlike—make that ergonomic—quarters of such as the coin and b-card collections, along with much of my already existing collection of contemporary prints and paintings (by my friends, for the most part).

And of course, a library. I think about 3000 sq ft, half stacks half reading room, would about do it. :^)

77. cmboyce - 1/3/2001 9:31:06 AM

Unable to make a determination among the various possible collections of Asian ceramics, I've decided to go for small groups of all: 3-5 each of specimens from: neolithic-Chou, Han, Warring States (etc), Tang, Song, Ming, early Qing (but that's it, for Chinese); some Korean, a few of each of the several significant modes; Japanese in moderation—some of each of the various porcelain traditions, but I'm not a fan of the "artful sloppiness" branch of Japanese aesthetics. And some modern Japanese ceramics, also, probably for that ergonomic room.

If only the lottery gods would coöperate! There's so much to do!

78. JudithAtHome - 1/3/2001 12:51:04 PM

concerned:

I collect certain forms of nineteenth century paper ephemera such as Carte de Visites, old stereoviews...

My husband and I have a great collection of stereoptican cards with views of late 1800s-early 1900s Europe. I got them along with the viewer at an estate sale. Then, 3 years ago when we were back in Hawaii for a visit, my brother-in-law gave my husband their grandfathers collection of cards with views of the Orient and Hawaii from the same time period.

We keep them on the lower shelf of a table in our living room so children who visit can use the viewer and get a feel for what entertainment was like before video games and TV...they are always careful with them and kept quite entertained by the novelty of it all.

79. labwabbit - 1/3/2001 1:05:01 PM

Yesterday, I created memories.
Today, I collect them.
Tommorrow, I hope I may give them away.

80. concerned - 1/3/2001 1:34:58 PM

Re. 78 -

JAH -

I think they're pretty neat. Actual 3-D views of people and places from as long ago as 150 years. I've got one, for instance from a refugee camp from the 1906(?) San Francisco earthquake showing families in tents in a wooded area.

My collection tends toward the 'human interest' and comic side of things. I also have an old stereo viewer, but I've heard of a technique to get the stereo effect without a viewer which is convenient. I involves refocusing your eyes somehow. I found out about how to do it on the www somewhere (I forget where).

81. JudithAtHome - 1/3/2001 1:49:17 PM

concerned:

I always check out the cards for sale in antiques malls and at shops I go to...you never know when you'll find a treasure. There is one I lust after in a case at the mall where I have my booth; it's late 1800s and of cotton pickers in the South. There are people picking the cotton, the wagons being loaded with the boles of cotton...it's charming and chilling at the same time. But the lady who owns it has a very high opinion of it..she has it priced far too highly for the condition it's in so I just admire it from afar.

82. JJBiener - 1/3/2001 1:54:26 PM

concerned - I've heard of a technique to get the stereo effect without a viewer which is convenient.

It involves the same technique used to see the hidden image in those stereograms that were so popular a few years ago. You have to look at an imaginary spot behind the images until the two images overlap and combine.

83. PsychProf - 1/3/2001 2:55:41 PM

Baseball cards.

84. jonesatlaw - 1/3/2001 4:42:41 PM

I have a small house, and thus small collections. I have a small collection of beer steins- all German. They range from a kiddie size one that can't hold more than 4 oz to a half litre stein with a marvelous Eagle on it.

As a youngster I collected beer cans and have most of my collection tucked away in an attic. I have a bunch of stuff just waiting for display in my playroom/bar if I ever acqire one. Much of it is from the local taver my in-laws once owned including a table with "soda fountain" chairs, a nice sized 50's softball trophy labeled "Hanscom Inn," enameled waitress beer trays, openers etc. related to a local brewer- Storz. I also have the necessary sports paraphrenalia for the walls. Tennis rackets from the 30's, a Ted Kluzurski model Louisville Slugger, my Charlie Brown-style baseball glove etc.
The crowning glory will be a framed enlargement of my wife at the age of three, her Dad holding up to the tap to pour a beer while she's dressed in a frilly little dress.

85. Jenerator - 1/3/2001 4:46:04 PM

Let's see, I collect sports cars and men.









Actually, I collect antique cherub poreclain and bisque figurines. I used to have a pretty extensive coin collection, but I lost interest. One could say I collect shoes, but those are more of a compulsion.

86. PsychProf - 1/3/2001 4:46:25 PM

Haha...KluzuRski...too many beers Jones...

87. jonesatlaw - 1/3/2001 4:49:04 PM

PP- sorry for the confusion- my brother and father in law are/were named Ted Zagurski- thus the interest in the bat.

88. jonesatlaw - 1/3/2001 4:50:18 PM

and my confusion. Ishth really not the beerz. HIC!

89. PsychProf - 1/3/2001 4:51:23 PM

Jones...I have his card(s)...

90. seadate - 1/3/2001 5:45:01 PM

Bathing Suits - Lots of them.

It's unseasonably cold around here, so I guess I'll don my flannel bathing suit this evening.

91. concerned - 1/3/2001 11:00:58 PM

My first collection:

I never told anybody the whole story before, but when I was about 7 or 8 years old, I used to collect bottle caps from sidewalks, liquor store parking lots, etc., and put them in a big wicker basket in my bedroom. Every week or so I'd take the basket out of my closet and lay the bottlecaps all neatly out in rows on my bedroom floor, differentiated by brand.

Anyway, one day, the basket of bottlecaps mysteriously disappeared from my bedroom closet. Probably a casualty of spring cleaning. But it was too late. I had caught the collecting 'fever'.

92. concerned - 1/3/2001 11:08:57 PM

Actually, although it wasn't exactly a 'collection', I once had a bunch of 78 rpm records before than, when I was 5 years old. My dad had fixed up a bunch of old record player parts to make a phonograph and gotten a a few dozen old 78's from one of my grandpas for me.

It was pretty cool, except for the fact that I kept most of them in a big stack in a shelf above my head. One day, the disaster occurred. I must have overbalanced the pile when putting a record back and down they almost all came, onto the tile floor. Later, with nothing to play, I started cutting wires in the phonograph to see what would happen.

Hey, I was only five years old....

93. concerned - 1/3/2001 11:21:28 PM

I once gave an 1856 bound Godey's magazine that was in good shape except for missing the colored plates to an antiques dealer, because I thought she might be interested in it.

94. concerned - 1/3/2001 11:38:02 PM

Speaking of collecting books, I not too long ago decided that I wanted to start a Punch Magazine collection. Punch Magazine, I read somewhere, helped define the current state of British humor.

So, I bid on a few bound volumes on Ebay and eventually won one that included most of 1854 and 1856-1857 and another that covered 1855, so I had an almost complete 'run' of four years in fair condition for only about 65 bucks. Usually a single year in good condition goes for around that in Ebay. Now, we are talking two good sized 'quarto' volumes here that would take 5 inches on a bookshelf.

I was going to go for more, but then I saw an online auction for a complete run of Punch Magazine from about 1844 to about 1925 for a ridiculously low starting bid and no reserve. Now, I was interested in getting ahold of the first couple decades of the magazine, maybe.
But 80 years! That would fill a very sizable bookcase! I don't know who won that auction, but I found myself unable to bid, just because I couldn't decide between the two, for me, undesirable alternatives of storing all those books or breaking up the collection and selling most of the volumes.

95. anise - 1/4/2001 12:03:17 AM

I have a few quirky collections. Well they are quirky to me. I collect marbles (in the hope of finding the ones I lost) and key chains. I started the keychain collection back in 1988. I don't know exactly how many I have now, but I am sure that each one of my butter knives could have a keychain attached. I even have the spaghetti-o keychain.

Eventually I will make cases for these collection, in the mean time, these small items will have to live in boxes.

96. JudithAtHome - 1/4/2001 9:36:47 AM

anise:

Hand made marbles from the early 1900s go for big bucks. As a dealer, I stumbled onto five beauties this old drunk was selling and I ended up getting over $700.00 for them. Marble collectors are true zealots; I sold a box of Popeye marbles with the original box and faux leather pouch for my uncle for $1,000.00 to a kid who had his parents drive him to my house all the way from Houston. And I sold just the box of some other marbles to a man for $300. So be aware you may have some valuable merchandise in those boxes you're filling.

97. anise - 1/4/2001 10:00:40 AM

Yeah, but I still haven't found the ones that I lost.

98. JudithAtHome - 1/4/2001 10:01:50 AM

Well, we seldom do....

99. mgleason - 1/4/2001 10:38:51 AM

Concerned, I have a few issues of Godey's and Punch, and it is a constant struggle not to acquire more.

100. Fraaankster - 1/4/2001 1:57:32 PM

Don S.,

My cholesterol-clogged heart belongs to Fraaaaank.

LOL!

Aaawwh, how touching. How much of that cholesterol-clogged heart be willing to part with that elegant tissue dispenser, otherwise known as the G-4 Cube ?

O-o-o-h shoot! The little gold-digger in me has revealed itself .

101. grannypatsy - 1/4/2001 11:34:18 PM

Gee, some things aren't collections to me: books, art and music for instance. I have several collectionms that have grown so large that they are now packed away in boxes with only a few on display. Eggs, wind up toys, owls, minerals......
I have a friend who is a cosmic chemist-no kidding she studies only extra terrestial rocks or meterorites. She has been on many scientific expeditions and has a wonderful display of large meteorites.I have one tiny slice of meorite but it includes an arc or the crust.

102. JJBiener - 1/4/2001 11:37:55 PM

anise - I collect marbles (in the hope of finding the ones I lost)

Nice. I am glad you decided to hang around. I like your sense of humor.

103. jonesatlaw - 1/4/2001 11:39:46 PM

I have another collection that bears mentioning, in part because of how it was acquired. I have a dozen or so hand painted china plates, not factory hand-painted, mind you. I have plates painted by long dead relatives from my maternal great-grandmother (whose plates are French, though she was German) some collected by my wife's paternal grandmother (whose plates are German, though she was Polish) as well as her maternal grandmother (who was Irish and whose plates are from Silesia, which was German and is now Poland). I am an only son whose mother was rather fond of china and told me incessantly about it. I swear I am the only man I know not in the business who knows anything about this stuff and now it is arriving on my doorstep. I have to admit they look nice on the plate rail in the dinning room, but feel like some camp movie interior decorator queen whenever the subject comes up. It will only get worse. I kid my mother about her dishes, telling her she has more than a kosher caterrer. She has five relatively complete sets of china, some of which is antique and hideous, some is lovely and some is what you expect of a fifties bride. Since my wife is immune to the china obsession, one day there will be quite a sale on china in Omaha.

104. jonesatlaw - 1/4/2001 11:43:57 PM

cmboyce- I'll make you a deal, if I win the lottery, you get to help my shop if you'll do the same for me. I like the outline of your project(s).

105. anise - 1/5/2001 12:23:36 AM

I like my egg collection because of the way I ended up collecting them. This collection started out as a rock collection, which lead to a geode collection, which lead to shaped agates, which led to agates shaped like eggs, and finally handpainted agate shaped eggs. I have absolutely no control over what I collect. I think collections look for homes and they notice that my door is always open.

106. Stumbo - 1/5/2001 12:38:14 AM

I own a complete collection of the American Math Monthly from January 1948 to April 1993. (When I was in grad school, some retiring prof posted a notice in the lounge that he was giving his issues away -- and greedy ol' me was the first to take him up on the offer. I supplemented that with my own subscription, until I finished up and no longer qualified for a discount rate.)

I also have tapes of 67 of the 86 episodes of Family, but that's neither here nor there.

107. JJBiener - 1/5/2001 12:41:00 AM

Stumbo - You are the Kristy MacNichol fan, aren't you?

108. Stumbo - 1/5/2001 12:58:03 AM

JJ:

I'm the only one here who is willing to publicly admit to being one. ;-)

(And -- minor correction -- it's "McNichol.")

109. JJBiener - 1/5/2001 1:13:34 AM

Stumbo - I thought I heard somewhere that she and Peter MacNichol were brother and sister. That's why I thought it was spelled with the 'a'.

110. Stumbo - 1/5/2001 1:30:09 AM

JJ:

Nope, no relation. (She does have a brother, Jimmy, who was also a minor teen star back in the 70's.)

111. grannypatsy - 1/5/2001 2:31:18 AM

Anise: I agree that collectables seek us out. I also have geodes, but eggs are slyer, they say look aren't I pretty? Then, of course, others notice your collections and you get on the egg or whatever gift list

112. anise - 1/5/2001 4:02:27 AM

A neighbor of mine has a real egg that was painted in the Ukeraine style. Very detailed. She tried to get me to hold it, but I was afraid I would accidentally break it. I don't think I ever want one of those.

It is pretty easy to buy presents for me. Just look around my house and choose any collection to add too. Or if someone is in a particulary sadistic mood they could always give me three of something I don't collect, tell me here's a new collection for you, and that would be that. That's how the keychain collection was started.

And the clock collection.

And the brass candle holder collection.

The bottle collection.

The old piggy bank collection...

113. RustlerPike - 1/5/2001 4:19:05 AM

Not to insult anybody, but I'm curious: what kind of person would choose 'anise' as a forum moniker? I mean, what alternatives were you considering? Rektum? Collon? Peanuss?

114. Fraaankster - 1/5/2001 4:41:54 AM

Rustler,

...what kind of person would choose 'anise' as a forum moniker ?

Prolly the kind of person that doesn't pronounce it the way one would pronounce the, excretory opening of the alimentary canal as Webster would put it.
I always thought of Anise, as a plant. Isn't it where licorice comes from ?

...And here I was set to name my first born daughter,Anisette.;-)




I better get to bed... a ton of things await me tomorrow, among them a funeral [sigh].
I hope I don't collect many of those this year ? :-(

115. anise - 1/5/2001 6:21:28 AM

"113. RustlerPike - 1/5/01 9:19:05 AM"

"Not to insult anybody, but I'm curious: what kind of person would choose 'anise' as a forum moniker? I mean, what alternatives were you considering? Rektum? Collon? Peanuss?"


Anise = licorice plant anus = RustlerPike Got it?

116. anise - 1/5/2001 6:23:45 AM

Sorry to hear about the funeral Fraaankster.

117. anise - 1/5/2001 6:26:33 AM

Since I can't edit my post and I'm sure the way it ended up, I wish to make sure that RustyPike understands what it says.

Anise = licorice plant

Anus = RustlerPike

118. Manon Dumay - 1/5/2001 8:05:44 AM

Ahem!

Since I am tired of the little kiddies who like to take a pretty name like anise and turn it into anus, I will be using my TT name.

119. theDiva - 1/5/2001 8:15:21 AM

Well, I collect herbs, have a lovely herb garden, and a wish list for plants to add to it. One of them, believe or not, is anise.

Here is what the Herb Society of America has to say about this lovely, fragrant, delectable plant.

Anise, aka Pimpinella anisum

Pimpinella anisum is an annual of the family Apiaceae; it is related to other plants prized for their aromatic fruits, commonly called seeds, such as dill, cumin, caraway and fennel. Anise is Near Eastern in origin. It has a history of use as a medicinal and a fragrance plant since ancient times.

Description: The plant may be from 18 inches to four feet in height under cultivation (average two feet), with finely divided feather-like leaflets of bright green; its name Pimpinella (from the Latin dipinella) refers to the twice-pinnate form of the leaves. It bears white flowers in the umbels up to 3 inches across. Seeds are greyish-green when ripe. All of the plant tastes strongly of anise.

Culture: Seed is sown in a warm, sunny location in spring where the plants are to grow; like many of this family they do not transplant well. Anise seed requires a temperature of 70 degrees F. to germinate. Thin to allow four inches between plants, and run a line of string along each side of the row to keep plants from flopping. Plants may flower as early as six weeks after sowing, but ripening of the seeds may take up to four months of growth, and requires summer heat (commercial seed is grown in Mexico and Guatamala). Seeds of homegrown anise should be dried three or four days in sunlight, then finished off in a 100-degree oven to kill off any insect life.

(more)

120. theDiva - 1/5/2001 8:15:36 AM

(con't)

Uses: The seeds are used to flavor cookies, cakes and liqueurs such as Anisette; also to season fatty meats, which use probably originated as a digestive aid. The Romans concluded their feasts with anise seed cakes for the same reason. The oil of the seeds is used medicinally for digestive problems and for bronchial complaints, and as a mouse bait.

Other plants called anise: Star anise is the fruit of a tree common to China and Japan, Illicium verum. It is star-shaped, each segment of the star bearing a shiny seed. The fruit has a very similar taste and aroma to that of Pimpinella anisum. The Florence fennel or finocchio (the vegetable form of fennel) is sometimes confusingly called anise in grocery stores, because of the resemblance in taste.

(end)

121. theDiva - 1/5/2001 8:16:19 AM

hmph! I, for one, like the moniker. I smile whenever I see it.

122. Indiana Jones - 1/5/2001 8:19:17 AM

Manon: I think both names are good, but this one is especially pretty.

123. Manon Dumay - 1/5/2001 8:30:51 AM

Thank you Diva.

Thank you too Indiana and please remember to pronounce it Maa noh. Merci. Did you see the url I left for you in the inquery thread?

RufflyPins...you will behave yourself in here.

124. theDiva - 1/5/2001 8:33:55 AM

you're quite welcome, darlin'.

125. Manon Dumay - 1/5/2001 9:01:33 AM

I used to be mouse bait? Oy! There was someone at TT that used to refer to me as finocchio. I liked it. But mouse bait?!

126. JudithAtHome - 1/5/2001 9:35:18 AM

Manon:

You haven't lived until someone at TT becomes obsessed with you and calls you Pilotfish. :-)

127. Manon Dumay - 1/5/2001 9:44:25 AM

Yeah, Cazart definately has the hots for you. I peek in over at TT. He is obsessed with you in a big way.

128. JudithAtHome - 1/5/2001 9:58:56 AM

You'd think someone that old would have a clue about tipping their hand that way...it's so obvious.

129. Manon Dumay - 1/5/2001 10:23:16 AM

He's old huh? I was at TT and noticed the two of you at it again. I left something silly. Not as silly as he is being, but silly. It seems to me that if he really disliked you that he would ignore you. That's what I do if I seriously disliked someone.

130. Fielding - 1/5/2001 10:31:48 AM

anise:

I thought you had the best moniker in the entire Mote. I'm very sorry that you have decided to change it.

Nonetheless, if you must change it, I'm glad that you selected a moniker that makes me think of the most beautiful woman on the planet, Emanuelle Beart.

131. cmboyce - 1/5/2001 10:36:34 AM

Jones, I just saw your proposition at #104, to which I enthusiastically accede. I hope you live in a state where they have the big Powerball jobbies and can win, like, 140 million! Then you/we can visit auctions all over the world. Follow "Asia weeks" around the globe!

132. JudithAtHome - 1/5/2001 10:38:25 AM

jonesatlaw:

I love that you are "china savvy"...it gives another dimension to my picture of you.

I have some hand-painted pieces that I've been too fond of to sell; my fave is a dessert plate with cherries and cherry blossoms on it and in very fine, fine gold, a gossamer spiderweb. It was so unusual, I couldn't bear to sell it.

133. cmboyce - 1/5/2001 10:50:57 AM

Juditha, that does sound like a nifty plate! It reminds me of a lovely painted plate I bought on impulse back in the dipsy days... gold rimmed pink border charged with stylized plants with green leaves and yellow buds. Very handsome. Regretably, though, I put the fucker in a dishwasher! Eeeyah! It came out white and pink! Not unattractive at all, but a mere ghost of its former self. I still have it and use it; it reminds me that I need to pay more attention! Oh, Rue!!!

134. jonesatlaw - 1/5/2001 11:22:55 AM

Judith- I love antiques and collectibles, and I think a part of it comes from having a somewhat quirky memory. It seems realtively easy for me to memorize and categorize things. When we were engaged, my wife was surprised to hear me naming the different china patterns she was looking at by sight. My mother has a demitasse collection to go along with her numerous sets of dishes, depression glass etc., and so I learned what she had in order not to duplicate things for gifts. I haven't had call to know any of this stuff for years now and can still recognize a ton of patterns in all sorts of china and glassware. The same is true of many of the other things that family members have collected. I am somewhat familiar with Navajo rugs, basketry and pottery from the western tribes, antique firearms, Victorian furniture and later styles, farm implements and kitchenware all because someone in the family collected it and told me about it.

This leads to one of my favorite pastimes at auctions, on E-Bay and TV antiques collectible shows- does the item "feel right" or is it misidentified, reproduced or faked? Doesn't cost anything and the thrill of the hunt is there.

135. jonesatlaw - 1/5/2001 11:24:30 AM

cmboyce- Yes we have Powerball! Keep the fingers crossed, it would be more fun than should be humanly possible.

136. ycmeehan - 1/5/2001 11:26:17 AM

anise:

I thought you had the best moniker in the entire Mote. I'm very sorry that you have decided to change it.

Nonetheless, if you must change it, I'm glad that you selected a moniker that makes me think of the most beautiful woman on the planet, Emanuelle Beart.

I was thinking the same, Fielding, that Anise was a good moniker. It made me think of my father, a lovely man with a fondness for drinking Pernod while playing at pétanque.
It's a tribute to Emanuelle's beauty and talent that we think about her, when we see the name, rather than about the operatic Manon.
I was just going to ask Manon if she knew something about springs when I saw your post.

137. ycmeehan - 1/5/2001 11:29:03 AM

Sorry about posting #136 here. I thought that I was in the Mote café.

138. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 11:29:54 AM

Interesting thread idea.

I'm with any number of our correspondents in collecting books and have roughly 4-5 hundred on my shelves at home and probably another 1000 in my parents home in India. When the books spill off my shelves here they get boxed and sent to that repository.

Though my tastes are generally omnivorous I do go out of my way to buy every book that crosses my path on Indo-Portuguese history and every Indo-Anglian novel. I also own about 50 Grantas and a fairly comprehensive collection of British travel writing.

I also have a fairly large and quite important collection of Indian "modern" paintings from the 50's and 60's. I have neither the space or the money to expand it, but every year I add a contemporary work by one of the artists. The dealers who focus on this stuff keep me appraised of what comes on the market and since I am very choosy and limit myself to just one I've managed to collect some precious works.

And then, I have a collection of just junk (my wife's term) that I've aquired over the years through theft/gift/souvenir-buying. There's a particular mood these prompt, a certain college-boy wackiness. I look at them all the time since they're all on my bookshelves willy-nilly. There's too much to list but the junk includes signs stolen from Masada and the London Tube, african carvings, pictures of Che and Borges and Lew Alcindor, a porcelain piggy-bank I've had since I was 6, a bust of Lenin, a baseball signed by Don Mattingly, a cricket bat signed by the Indian team, a blow-gun from the Amazon, a huge Chinese kite in the shape of a dragonfly, an old Indian arrowhead etc. etc.

139. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 11:34:51 AM

Currently, I'm thoroughly looking forward to aquiring a REALLY nice collection of the best in childrens books. This will be a collection which will grow as my son does and I've promised not to skip ahead. So, now we're getting the Dr. Seuss books one by one every couple of weeks and I'm enjoying it hugely. They're so great! I love the pictures even more now than when I was a kid. In fact, I've been wondering if there is a way to buy an original. If there is, I definitely want one.

140. theDiva - 1/5/2001 11:38:13 AM

Banks

where'd you get that Donnie baseball?

141. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 11:41:37 AM

He signed it for me in 86 on a day I cut school for the last game of the season. In that game he got two hits and beat out Winfield for the batting title.

Currently, I'm only really interested in building up my kitchen collection. So, I've been buying a few cookbooks and plates and pots and such. I cannot tell you how much I prize and enjoy my newest aquisition - a wildly expensive pepper mill. I'm growing old and domesticated I guess but there you have it.

142. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 11:42:55 AM

Today, I'm all dizzy with anticipation because I'm buying the Rick Bayless 'Mexico- One Plate at a Time' cookbook at Strand later this afternoon.

143. theDiva - 1/5/2001 11:45:07 AM

my GOD. Do you have a shrine built around it? I am in awe.

144. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 11:52:03 AM

Diva, it lies on my shelves along with my other treasures/junk.

I want something from Jeter. I've decided that he's my favorite ballplayer of all time.

145. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 11:59:48 AM

I also have some really cool (I think) posters which unfortunately i can't put anywhere since my apartment's wall space is dominated by paintings and bookshelves. Among them are two or three remaining propaganda posters from the USSR (my parents threw out the 50+ I bought in 84 and I'll never forgive them), a particularly beautiful one from a Miro exhibition at the Musee D'Orsay, random ones from the Tate, Victoria and Albert, the Prado and assorted museums in Mexico and Venezuela. And the prize. A full bus-length poster done by Robert Rauschenberg for the Rio Earth Summit in 19992. It's amazing, rode around in NYC that summer, and I'm pretty convinced I have the only pristine copy.

Of course, it will remain rolled up until a bus-length sized wall space opens up. Which will probably be never as long as I continue to live in the NYC area.

146. JudithAtHome - 1/5/2001 12:11:29 PM

Banks...I love your eclectiana!

147. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 12:18:54 PM

Finally, I realize that I have two other collections.

One is of autographs I gathered in my teens and before. They include about 100 of cricket players, Margaret Thatcher's, Mother Teresa's, and some other celebrities of varying notoriety. Then, there's a collection of all the tennis players I ball-boyed for at the old 'Tournament of Champions' at Forest Hills.

And then I have four old cameras from the 30's and 40's. I won them in a photography competition run by my old college newpspaper, and they look very nice sitting on one of our living room shelves surrounded by framed copies of old sepia family photographs.

148. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 12:22:43 PM

Judith,

Before I got the paintings I never collected anything with heft or great mass. Since i went to college I've lived in 10 different apartments/houses in several different countries so everything needed to be extremely portable. That's where this junk collecting started. I always wanted to tote stuff around which made my dwelling places MINE, and I guess that's what this agglomeration of knick-knacks does. I'm also glad that my wife allows me to clutter up one of of our precious rooms with it. It does comfort/amuse me in a very odd kind of way.

149. JudithAtHome - 1/5/2001 12:28:46 PM

Banks:

That's exactly how my husband and I got all the stuff we've amassed; being in the military and moving frequently, you really do want a feeling of the personal in the new place. Now that we are settled, we still have much of what we carted around and more...lucky for us we live in a smaller house or our living quarters would resemble the Smithsonian by now.

150. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 12:47:07 PM

I summon Loar out of the shadows.

This thread will not live up to its potential until you emerge, Loar. I am sure I'm not alone (I'm sure) in being very curious about the stuff you've gathered over the years, what with your eye and your tastes. Please do hold forth.

I also figure Irva to be a collector, but he's not even lurking I figure while Loar perhaps is.

151. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 12:49:16 PM

I used to collect CD's. But now with space being what it is I have a finite ability to stack 280 or so. Nowadays, when I buy one I give one away. It's surprisingly painless and even rewarding and 280 CD's is more than enough for anyone. In the past, I've mailed CD's to members of our forum, but now I pass them on to my needy cousins in college.

152. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 12:49:50 PM

Wow, 150 is repetitious. Must eat lunch.

153. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 12:49:58 PM

Wow, 150 is repetitious. Must eat lunch.

154. Uzmakk - 1/5/2001 12:52:24 PM

Collecting
how we get the money people owe to us

155. theDiva - 1/5/2001 1:08:45 PM

Banks

#144...he's certainly worthy. Have you tried e-bay, or do you want to obtain it the old-fashioned way?

156. PsychProf - 1/5/2001 1:14:20 PM

FOR BANKS

157. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 1:20:54 PM

Thanks, Prof. That's a weird list but interesting to take note of.

Diva,

Buy it on e-bay? How cheap and soulless. No, I want to steal it from his locker. Or his pocket. Or Lara Dutta's apartment in Trump Tower. Seriously, I'd never buy that kind of thing, it's the personal connection and the story that matters. If you're ever unlucky enough to be trapped in my study you'd find that I have lengthy stories attached to every useless-looking piece of junk I've got on my shelves.

158. Uzmakk - 1/5/2001 1:22:37 PM

I collect Latin Music recommended to me by Marjoribanks.

159. theDiva - 1/5/2001 1:26:24 PM

Banks

ha! I figured as much.

160. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 1:31:56 PM

Ooze,

Really? You've bought some of my recommendations? Which ones?

161. Uzmakk - 1/5/2001 1:38:11 PM

I have one waiting for me at a barnes and noble I haven't been back to in two months. No one seems to be able to bring up that Luka Bop on their computer. Am checking the title that they have for me.

162. Uzmakk - 1/5/2001 1:43:21 PM

Voz y Obra -- a Benny Moore compilation.

163. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 1:46:36 PM

Not Luka Bop. LUAKA Bop. The Cuba Classics volume II and III are excellent. I hope you like them when you find them.

164. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 1:47:18 PM

Oh good. The Benny More is excellent old-style Cuban popular music. I love that album.

165. Uzmakk - 1/5/2001 1:49:53 PM

And which one would Exitos Incredibles De Bailar be?

166. PsychProf - 1/5/2001 1:52:14 PM

"Luka" Brazi...

167. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 1:52:56 PM

II.

III is also called Diablo al Infierno. It's a bit quirkier but good. II is basically from the 60's and 70's.

168. Uzmakk - 1/5/2001 2:00:43 PM

Ever hear Herbie Mann and his Afro-Jazz quintet(or something like that). Picked it up used. Really liked it. Haven't listened to it in years.

169. JudithAtHome - 1/5/2001 2:03:06 PM

PP:

Doesn't Luka Brazi sleep with the fishes?

170. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 2:05:24 PM

I don't like flute very much, Ooze. But I have heard Herbie Mann's stuff over the years.

By the way, your hyphen above reminded me that there are some very decent albums by an outfit of old guys called the Afro-Cuban all stars. If you feel like it, try to get one at a discount place. Meaty, satisfying music.

171. Uzmakk - 1/5/2001 2:11:48 PM

Thanks, Banks.

172. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 2:12:49 PM

Though this is the wrong thread for it, let me announce that I have joined the BMG music club on-line and have purchased my requisite 7 CD's for one cent. Since I have nothing better to do this minute let me tell you what I've ordered:

1) "Andrés Segovia" - "My Favorite Works"
2) "Joshua Redman" -"Beyond"
3) "Eminem" - "The Marshall Mathers LP"
4) "Eric Clapton & B.B. King" - "Riding With The King"
5) "Frank Sinatra" - "The Very Best of the Reprise Years"
6) "Robert Johnson" - "King of the Delta Blues"
7) "Miles Davis" - "Cooking with the Miles Davis Quintet"

173. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 2:14:15 PM

If any of you want to join, please tell me first. I'll refer you and get 4 free CD's in the bargain. To sweeten the pot, I'll give you one, mailed with my compliments.

174. ChristinO - 1/5/2001 2:17:24 PM

Any fans of Cesaria Evora? She's my Christmas baking music.

175. Raskolnikov - 1/5/2001 2:19:31 PM

I have similarly used Columbia House to increase the size of my DVD collection. Their selection isn't the greatest, but it isn't hard at all to find a couple dozen films you would want to own for the $10 or so you pay on average. Just make sure you don't sign up using the standard plan. Better deals exist.

176. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 2:29:05 PM

I love Caesaria Evora, have four of her albums, and have seen her live twice. She's a riot live, what with being corpulent and barefoot and taking cigarette breaks at the back of the stage in between sets.

177. JudithAtHome - 1/5/2001 2:29:17 PM

Banks:

I'd like to join up on that music deal...what do I have to do? I checked out the site; do you need info on me or what before I join?

178. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 2:33:50 PM

Just an e-mail address, Judith. Your public one is fine if you have one, and if you don't you can e-mail me yours at marjoribanks@hotmail.com. They'll send you an e-mail telling you you've been referred.

Wow, this is going to be so cool. I wish I'd thought of it earlier. I could have run my own ads - 12 CD's for the price of 1 PLUS you donate some to your favorite subcontinental.

BTW, since the whole process is now on-line, you don't have to bother with those mailers and simply turn down the annoying monthly selections with a click of your mouse.

Thanks in advance Judith!

179. JudithAtHome - 1/5/2001 2:37:23 PM

Banks, use my public one....which, by the way, I need to change in Divas list...this is the one to use:

JudithAtHome@lycos.com

180. ChristinO - 1/5/2001 2:38:07 PM

I'd love to see her live. She's such an amazing presence even in still photos and her voice is blissful. I've been collecting female vocalists in the last couple of years in a way I never did before. Musically I used to mostly just buy what I'd heard on the radio or at friends' homes, but starting with Nina Simone about six or seven years ago I started to find voices that just intrigued me that I couldn't hear anywhere else but on the rare radio station or in out of the way places. Listening to the artists claimed as influences by other artists. Following this twisted back-trail of sounds and performances.

181. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 2:42:47 PM

Judith.

Supercool. I'll e-mail you too, later today.

CO,

You need to check out some fado music. Especially old Amalia Rodriguez or some of the newer lights like Misia. Hashke and I chatted often about our love for this wonderful style. Sigh. I so miss Pak Hashke.

182. ChristinO - 1/5/2001 2:46:41 PM

Yes, a great loss. Are most of yours and Hashke's discussions of this over in Music so I can browse back through them?

183. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 2:54:09 PM

Phew. No idea. It may have been in the old music thread of the Fray. Hashke liked fado a lot and it is from a discussion of it (as I recall) and a couple of other things (chickens!) that the El Foco Desnudo stories came.

fado is a moorish-influenced femal vocal style. It's songs of loss, lament and nostalgia accompanied by a guitarra and minimal instrumentation. really wonderful and atmospheric music if you're into that sort of thing, as it appears you are.

184. ChristinO - 1/5/2001 3:01:51 PM

It sounds wonderful! I'll definitely check it out. Thanks!

185. janjon - 1/5/2001 3:05:11 PM

Cesaria is wonderful - in small doses. (I'm talking about recordings here, not having had the pleasure of seeing her live.) Perhaps it is because I don't understand Portuguese and have never taken the time to read the translations, but I don't think it is just a matter of not understanding what she is talking about (except for the words "cafe Atlantico") that lead me to my conclusion. The orchestrations on most of her recordings are the same, and indeed her range, intonations and inflections are much the same, song after song.

That sounds like much more of a knock than I intend - she's terrifically unique and that voice has a presence. But...

186. marjoribanks - 1/5/2001 3:11:55 PM

No, you're quite right JanJon. One album of hers is pretty much the same as another with the exception of the stand-out Miss Perfumado. The timbre and arrangements are all very similar.

BTW, I've e-mailed you Judith.

Any other takers? I should say the club works out well. For instance, all CD's are 3.99 now. That means with shipping they cost an even tenner. Not bad considering the selction, especially the jazz, is pretty decent.

187. janjon - 1/5/2001 3:35:29 PM

sounds to me like another Urbanfetch in the making. Get those cds while you can.

188. janjon - 1/5/2001 3:36:38 PM

funny. I much prefer Cafe Atlantico to Miss Perfumado. For reasons dealing with variety.

189. Fraaankster - 1/5/2001 3:43:20 PM

Marjori,

What ?! Not Jack Jones, or Engelbert on that list ? ;-)

190. seadate - 1/5/2001 4:29:53 PM

Giaio(sp) and Astrud Gilberto whet my apetite for Portuguese.

191. theDiva - 1/5/2001 4:30:57 PM

Joao

192. theDiva - 1/5/2001 4:31:11 PM

with a funny squiggly thing in the appropriate place

193. seadate - 1/5/2001 4:33:43 PM

Kinda makes my preferences void of any appeal, eh Diva?

194. theDiva - 1/5/2001 4:35:50 PM

not at all, honey, not at all.

195. labwabbit - 1/5/2001 4:58:08 PM

Is she a peach or what??!

196. seadate - 1/5/2001 5:01:25 PM

Of the sweetest variety.

197. labwabbit - 1/5/2001 5:08:56 PM

...figure I was born a bit too far north to experience such peachy sweetness.

I still can't, perhaps won't, ever understand how, or why, the Deev would ever require a "middle-aged, preggo" ego boost.

Maybe it's just the Frenchman in me that truly celebrates the "vive la differencé in womanhood.



...but I do go on here, and I should allocate more focus on my tasks at hand.

;>

198. seadate - 1/5/2001 5:24:01 PM

It's not just the Frenchman in you, imo. In general, my best friends are women - I just love that intuitive, caring female quality.

BTW, it appears to me that Diva has a genuine, unique blend of wonderful qualities that are her own.

199. labwabbit - 1/5/2001 5:25:52 PM

...I know.

200. seadate - 1/5/2001 5:31:15 PM

..... unless, of course, any I have been married to.

201. seadate - 1/5/2001 5:32:42 PM

..... one of which did a fine job of sending me from the steakhouse to the shit house.

202. seadate - 1/5/2001 5:34:48 PM

... this is the right thread 'cause she has A LOT of the stuff I used to collect :(



















ok - I'll stop whining.

203. Manon Dumay - 1/5/2001 8:54:26 PM

Wow...I thought I was in the music thread. Well, while we are talking about music, I like all sorts. Techno, foreign, heavy metal, romantic and classical, and even rap.

My favorite movies were "Jean de Florette/Manon des Sources" . The movies were great and I think that Manon was so beautiful.

204. Fielding - 1/5/2001 9:58:02 PM

That's like saying sugar is so sweet. Beart is the very definition of Beauty.

205. don s. - 1/5/2001 10:09:09 PM

"I do go out of my way to buy every book that crosses my path on Indo-Portuguese history..."

You, too!?

206. theDiva - 1/6/2001 11:38:44 AM

#195 etc.

aw gawrsh, youse guys, I'm blushin' here. Thanks.

207. grannypatsy - 1/6/2001 7:57:54 PM

Sort of connected to collecting: We have been having fierce brush fires (homes burned, evacuations, nasty sruff) so a current question is what would you take if the firemen say get out now.The first evacuees here were waked at 0500 abd told they had 15 minutes to get out.

208. wabbit - 1/6/2001 8:40:18 PM

Furpeople first, then any photographs and original art. Everything else is replaceable. My collections are of boxes of all sorts, and skulls. While I would rather not lose them, they are not the first or second items I would try to save.

This actually happened to me once. The apartment next door to mine was engulfed in flames and ours was quickly filling with thick smoke. I got the dogs out, put them in the car and moved the car from the front of the building so the firetrucks could have access. My one roommate took his stereo, the other took his TV. My second trip in was for coats (it was Feb 4 in the Berkshires). Neither of my roommates could go in a second time, nor could I get in a third time. I lost my art portfolio in that one, but fortunately nothing that was of any real or even sentimental value. The roommate who grabbed the tv lost a photo album that he later wished he had thought to take out first, and an aquarium full of fish.

209. Fraaankster - 1/6/2001 10:11:31 PM

During a fire ? I guess if I had a butter stick collection as Don does, I might try to save that first for obvious reasons. ;-)

Hmmmmm. As I look around my livingroom, and consider the other rooms in this place for the moment, I can't say that there is really anything I would make the effort to run out with, or run back for to try to save ... Well, the dentures and hairpiece are certainly a must. ;-)

I keep important documents ( birth certificate, passport, old love letters, etc.) in a metal portable file case, so maybe I would try for that first. Coming in a close second would be my two photo albums, and after that, just about any picture frames within my reach. All the rest is replaceable.

... That reminds me. It's time to renew my renter's insurance.

210. altitude /w attitude - 1/6/2001 11:20:18 PM

marjoribanks

Can you recommend anything on the Portugese in Guyana? or are you strictly an Indo-Portugese collector?

211. Jonesatlaw - 1/7/2001 5:06:50 PM

"Furpeople"- gawd, I love the term! It really hits home regarding how pets become part of the family, and is rather cute.

I have to agree that I'd go for the family pictures and a little box of treasures given me by my son immediately after getting the people (both furred and otherwise) out.

212. Jonesatlaw - 1/7/2001 5:13:38 PM

Sadly the most valuable things both in terms of hard economics and sentiment in my house are too large to assume I could save. Most of the things that are not replaceable are antique furniture that I have from now gone family members or that I have refinished and repaired myself.

I'll put a plug in here for antique furniture in general here, and for refinishing and repairing the same. Antiques and collectibles have erratic appreciation rates, but in general they do appreciate. 95% of the furniture you buy new does not. Also, unless you are paying significant sums of money for new furniture the quality of the materials in antique furniture and workmanship is superior. The last is the intangible pleasure of owning something with some history. I am just more comfortable when surrounded by old things. My wife is much the same way, and this bodes well for our marriage as we come increasingly closer to counting as old things ourself.

213. JudithAtHome - 1/7/2001 5:28:45 PM

I can second that, jones...the antique furniture we own has such richness of the past both in it and on it. I am not too fussy about refinishing old pieces, though...my desk is on old white painted Hoosier cabinet with scratches near the drawer pulls and on the flour sifter. The enamel surface where the pie crusts were rolled out has one big chip on the edge and I imagine the farmers wife who owned it before me dropping a big old crockery bowl on it, causing the chip. While I am sitting there writing out bills or browsing through my address book, I think of all the biscuits made on that enamel top, food that fed hard working men and women.

You can't beat old things and imagination for furnishing your home.

214. jonesatlaw - 1/7/2001 7:28:36 PM

judith- I would encourage anyone who wants to refinish anything that does not have a severely damaged finish or paint over a previous clear finish to think twice before they strip an old piece. As you mention, the charm of antiques is their "character" those scattered imperfections that are evidence of its history.

I have refinished an old radio case that was painted lime green, a library table, several chairs etc. Almost all were painted with some hideous color, hiding all the wood grain.

215. Manon - 1/7/2001 9:18:55 PM

Excuse the name shortening. My password refuses to work and I guess I will have to wait until tomorrow to hear back from anyone.

I would save my little furperson and maybe my wallet. Everything else is just stuff. However if I had a butter pat collection I would have to leave the wallet behind.

I enjoy designing and building furniture that resembles the old pieces, but with my own twist added in.

216. grannypatsy - 1/7/2001 11:00:51 PM

Manon Yoour furniture sounds interesting';can youdescribe it?

217. Manon - 1/8/2001 1:44:17 AM

This is a description of my bed. It is my interpretation of French medieval. It has 12 turned posts that were made in 1912. Three posts in each corner. It has a sheered ceiling with a small chandelier in the center. All four sides of the bed are framed in French jabot curtains (dusty plum). There are six drawers on each side of the bed for clothes and two at the foot of the bed for blankets and sheets. The bedroom is a pale dusty plum.

218. cmboyce - 1/8/2001 10:37:37 AM

Speaking of furniture, my latest effort in the gainful employment line is now available, the 2nd ed. of my Dictionary of Furniture. (There's also a hardback, though it's rather expensive.)

219. JudithAtHome - 1/8/2001 10:41:05 AM

CM!!

I have your book! At least I think I do...it's at my place of business; I'll check tomorrow when I go in....

220. JudithAtHome - 1/8/2001 10:44:59 AM

I also have 2 volumes of Furniture of the Pilgram Century by Wallace Nutting and several other books on the subject. Which is odd because I don't deal in furniture at all.

221. cmboyce - 1/8/2001 10:49:53 AM

JudithA, terrific! You doubtless have the first ed., which has a much better cover, which you may remember: two chairs in profile, an Alver Aalto and a Chippendale.

222. cmboyce - 1/8/2001 10:54:08 AM

The 2d ed has some more entries, mostly on modern designer-makers (such as a whole batch of Australians), and an intro sketching the overall history of furniture design ("neolithic to the near future" I used to like to say, because the guy who designed the furniture for the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" is in it; but time has caught up with this boast), plus backmatter cautioning against fraud, etc. About 3 months work, I guess, though naturally I shoehorned most of it into half that time, getting it in exactly on time.

223. JudithAtHome - 1/8/2001 11:03:33 AM

CM:

Yes, that's the one I have...wonderful book!

I have a collection of odd chairs and in fact, my living room has nothing but chairs, tables, bookcases, and a windowseat in it. People love to try out the different chairs. We have an old Eastlake recliner from the late 1800s that has flip up foot rest. And the most impressive chair, which I call the Throne...it looks like a Stickley box chair but has round knobs in front and is too new to be Stickley. It has down cushions in it and I've draped a reindeer hide we got in Norway over the back. Very Vallhalla-esque.

224. cmboyce - 1/8/2001 11:07:11 AM

Sounds like a remarkable dining room, Judith. Do you serve flagons of mead and the like?

225. JudithAtHome - 1/8/2001 11:09:05 AM

Living room...but you've given me a great idea!

My dining room is art deco...all oak.

226. cmboyce - 1/8/2001 11:36:47 AM

Ah yes. Living room. I like the idea of no "bench" forms. Chairs are so much more maneuverable and therefore versatile; if one wants to lie down, one can go read in bed. I trust that, given chairs, the coffee table is not present; another rather silly form, imo.

That said, I must confess that we have both sofa and c. table in our living room; as far as furnishings are concerned, I simply take the path of least resistance. If I keep quiet about my wife's essentially conservative decor, I can hope she'll keep quiet about my metastasizing library.

I have long thought that my post-Lotto-bonanza home should have a "Zen" room, with little if any furnishings, I now will add to the plan a room with many chairs. And side tables, with maybe a center table or two (we are talking about a large room, here). With a large Edwardian breakfront bookcase on one wall, facing a very large painting that I have been forced to keep in storage for the last decade. (dreeeeam on, Boycie)

227. PelleNilsson - 1/8/2001 1:12:38 PM

I remember that long ago, when Uzzmak and I were engaged in the Haysweep Project, cm made an offhand remark about writing about furniture. I assumed then that he was a copywriter or similar but it now turns out he's a Furniture Guru. Or perhaps The Furniture Guru.



And it draws an eclectic readership:

Customers who bought titles by Charles Boyce also bought titles by these authors:

William Shakespeare
Goddard
Alexander Schmidt
Sarah Bird Wright
Robert D. Eagleson

Here is another book by cm:

228. marshame - 1/8/2001 2:08:23 PM

Wow, cm, I'm impressed! We certainly have an eclectic bunch of authors here: Spudboy writing about white supremecists, Haske writing on linguisitcs, Cellardoor writing about gay Hollywood, and now it turns out cmboyce is a cultural/furniture connoiseur.

Anyone else published?

Speaking of books, I have the beginnings of a "Dick and Jane" collection. Anyone remember those early readers?

229. arkymalarky - 1/8/2001 7:07:07 PM

I got a 1948 teacher's edition from Bob's mother, but I don't remember where she got it. It's what Mose learned to read from.

Thanks for sharing your work, CM. It's so cool who I get to hob-nob with just by virtue of having a pc.

230. ChristinO - 1/8/2001 7:19:54 PM

Oh cool! CM I have your Shakespeare book!

231. labwabbit - 1/8/2001 7:43:32 PM

See Spot.
See Spot run.
Run Spot run!

See Dick and Jane.
See Sally tell on Dick and Jane.
See Sally on the Spot?

Wow. I wish I could view those once again Marshame. I had completely supressed those to the cellar of my mind until now. I AM old.

232. Jonesatlaw - 1/8/2001 10:46:36 PM

CM- Just what I need! I have struggled with the difference between Geo. III and Geo IV, Sheraton vs Hepplewhite etc. Not that I can afford any of it, but its fun to know.

233. Manon - 1/9/2001 12:53:53 AM

I was published once, well actually something of mine was published. Unfortunately my college writing teacher never asked my permission to change a few words, like my name to his for instance. It was a homework assignment! He had been trying to get published for years and actually stole a student's homework assignment. Too pathetic. Then he sent everyone in the class a copy, including me.

So does that count as being published?

234. JudithAtHome - 1/11/2001 1:52:40 PM

No, but it counts as being screwed.



Marshame:

Yesterday at my mall, I saw a vest printed in the "Dick and Jane" print from the primers...there was also an eyeglass case and a coin purse. These items were for an adult and were very pricey, in my opinion. Vest: $45, case: $12.50; and coin purse: $15.50 Background was off white with color print. I'm almost sure they were home made.

235. Shosha - 1/11/2001 3:58:57 PM

Just popping in to say that Manon's computer is on the fritz and she will be unable to participate for possibly the next 2 weeks.

236. JudithAtHome - 1/11/2001 4:14:55 PM

We'll try to keep it running along here til she returns...say hello for me!

237. theDiva - 1/11/2001 4:16:33 PM

man, that stinks. Tell her we'll try to keep the ravening hordes at bay until she returns.

238. PelleNilsson - 1/11/2001 4:32:04 PM

Computer on the fritz for two weeks! Where does she live? Outer Hebrides? The Azores?

239. Shosha - 1/11/2001 4:46:37 PM

>Computer on the fritz for two weeks!

Manon is sight impaired and has to have her specially adapted computer worked on by the people who made it.

240. PelleNilsson - 1/11/2001 5:12:11 PM

I didn't know that, obviously. We have another poster in the Mote who is sight impaired. It would be interesting to know some details about how Manon's computer is adapted.

241. Jenerator - 1/11/2001 5:34:48 PM

cmboyce,

I enjoy antique furniture more so than collectibles. I never realized how drastically furniture styles have changed until I took a class called the History of Design. My prof did her dissertation on "The Evolution of the Window Treatment". If I had it to all over again, I'd love to be an antiques broker. I love Louis XIV, XVI and Empire. Embellishment wise, I love most everything art nouveau.

I was in an antiques store in San Diego a couple of years ago when I came across a complete set of four scabello chairs from "1485", for only four thousand dollars. With one glance I could tell that they were fakes, but the vendor insisted that they were period pieces. I then pointed to the leg of one and asked why there was no wear and he replied, "Because they were well taken care of."

What a scam artist!

What percentage of dealers do you find to be untruthful with their dating?

242. Shosha - 1/11/2001 5:46:47 PM

i We have another poster in the Mote who is sight impaired.
i It would be interesting to know some details about how Manon's
i computer is adapted.

Yes, it is interesting. Its also amazing to me how many companies are now either providing the adaptations themselves or have lists of reputable companys that will. I saw a piece on the news of a woman whose set up allowed her eye lid movement to direct the cursor, which sounds laborious and slow but she zipping along at a faster clip than I can with my rotten typing skills!

243. cmboyce - 1/11/2001 5:47:26 PM

Hey, Pelle, thanks for posting my books!

As for gurudom, or -ness, or even -ishness: nah! strictly transient expertise. I certainly know more than I used to, but that wasn't hard. However, that said, I assure one and all that while transient, it was right on at the time! Except for lousy illustrations (not my fault), it's as good as anything else like it.

Jones, I hope you'll get one. The Georges are certainly in there.

Christin, I'm glad you like Sh A-Z!

244. Shosha - 1/11/2001 5:49:09 PM

Sorry, I keep forgetting the HTML tags are different here. I meant to italicize your words Pelle.

245. Jenerator - 1/11/2001 5:49:25 PM

What about me?

246. seadate - 1/11/2001 5:52:45 PM

Jen,

Congrats and best wishes!

247. JudithAtHome - 1/11/2001 5:53:02 PM

Jen:

When you were in Paris, did you visit the wonderful Art Nouveau furniture collection at the Museé D'Orsay? Room after room of gorgeous serpentine-curvy furniture. I love the Thonet stuff, especially...

248. Jenerator - 1/11/2001 5:55:22 PM

Thanks seadate.;-)

Judith,

I was trying to figure out a way of successfully hiding out in the D'Orsay so that I could live among the beauties for a night.

249. JudithAtHome - 1/11/2001 5:56:21 PM

Wow, Keoni and I had the same idea!

250. Jenerator - 1/11/2001 5:56:41 PM

Those of you who watch the Antiques Roadshow, I wish I could go estate sale shopping with the Keno brothers.

251. Jenerator - 1/11/2001 5:58:14 PM

Judith,

We'll make it a date. The three of us will go to Paris and execute plans of living like royalty inside the museums. If Laura could do it on General Hospital, it's worth a shot.

252. JudithAtHome - 1/11/2001 6:02:52 PM

Let's take big purses full of wine and cheese and bread, too!

253. Jenerator - 1/11/2001 6:19:19 PM

Sounds good to me. Inside, let's wear berets! Zos Frenchies will nevear know.

254. JudithAtHome - 1/11/2001 6:20:24 PM

Yes, and we can be snotty to others, too; that will really throw 'em off...

255. Jenerator - 1/11/2001 6:23:58 PM

Hey, I'm not shaving til we go...

256. JudithAtHome - 1/11/2001 6:29:09 PM

Sorry, I draw the line at that....but I'll wear lots of perfume.

257. Jenerator - 1/11/2001 6:35:12 PM

Yes, douse yourself in the finest of French parfums...Emeraude.









My grandmother used to wear it, talk about a gas!

258. Jenerator - 1/11/2001 6:36:53 PM

I'm the last poster in 7 threads! I must say goodnight for now. Have a great weekend Judith, moties.

259. cmboyce - 1/11/2001 6:43:36 PM

Jen, sorry! I didn't see your post before I typed mine (and then I got roped into "The Game of Life" with my daughter; the sitter has arrived to take my place--whew).

Good dealers don't do it much. For one thing, the buyer's gonna find out sooner or later, in at least some cases, and word gets around quickly among serious collectors. Your guy sounds like a small timer.

That said, bear in mind that he might simply have made a mistake. This is probably much more common than fraud. If you want to collect antique furniture (or antique anything else) and don't want to get fucked at it: STUDY! If you don't want to study it, don't collect it. That's my advice.

I'm not so nuts about the more classical of the old French styles, but I too love Art Nouveau. Me for LXV. When you were in Paris, did you have time to do the new decorative arts wing at the Louvre? The old one was a two-day job, & the new is, I gather, much bigger.

Well, I won't be here for an answer, right away. The sitter's presence means I'm outa here. See y'all later.

260. labwabbit - 1/15/2001 3:01:31 PM

Off to the R I P collection.

261. Fraaankster - 1/15/2001 3:05:40 PM

But before you rip it, can someone see if they can collect me an old Schwinn Apple Crate five speed stingray bicycle from the late 60s, early 70s ?

A bike shop three blocks away has one in pristine condition, but they want $2300.00 for it. Ouch!

262. Fielding - 1/15/2001 3:06:25 PM

Why RIP it so quickly?

263. JJBiener - 1/15/2001 3:16:46 PM

Fraaaaank - A friend of mine had one of those bikes. It was sweet. I can't imagine paying $2300 for it, though. Too bad you can't get a Corvette Stingray from that era for the same price. That would be a find.

264. Fraaankster - 1/15/2001 3:26:08 PM

JJ,

The more I talk to you, the more I want to meet you someday ... You've got your hand in so many pies, young man. ;-)

...Besides, you promised to introduce me to your sister. (g)

I know one guy who has several of them, but they need some major work. He's willing to let me have one for about $600.00, but considering their condition, I'm not buying just yet. I'm just hoping to find one at the swapmeet or garage sale someday for a couple of hundred. I'll renovate from there.

...I use to dream of that bike more than I would girls at the time. Egads, what was wriong with me at 13 and 14 ? No wonder I can't relate to women sometimes. ;-)

265. JJBiener - 1/15/2001 3:46:00 PM

Fraaaank - I remember going to the Schwinn store in downtown Michigan City, IN, circa 1970-71. I remember asking my parents for that bike. Unfortunately it was out of our price range. They told me if I saved up my money, I could buy it myself. By the time I had saved that much money I had lost interest in bikes and had developed a new-found appreciation for the fairer sex. I had my first girlfriend at 11. She was 12.

I suppose a discussion of girlfriends in the collecting thread is inappropriate.

266. ChristinO - 1/15/2001 5:29:12 PM

JJ,

I always get myself into trouble when we start those kinds of discussions, but if you want to hold forth on the topic I'll try and keep my mouth shut and myself out of hot water!

267. JJBiener - 1/15/2001 5:39:13 PM

Christin - I think the Cafe would be more appropriate to a discussion of girlfriends. Some how the idea of "collecting" girlfriends is a bit distasteful. I have certainly know guys who have done so, but it always seemed kind of icky to me.

268. labwabbit - 1/15/2001 5:46:26 PM

Well I guess I won't show you mine then.

269. Fraaankster - 1/15/2001 6:18:25 PM

JJ,

Geez, you're taking me back something ...

I remember two places I use to visit as often as I could just to catch a glimpse of that particular bicycle. One was a toy store right in the heart of downtown San Diego ( ToyCo ), and the other was a tiny bike shop in a little retirement community across the bay in Coronado. That bike shop is still there, by the way.

I remember wanting to accompany my father to his job on weekends and everyday during the summer at the laundry where he worked just so I could walk the four blocks to the shop and see it displayed in the front window in all its beauty and glory. I remember in one of those rare occasions when I dared to venture into the shop and see it up close to possibly touch the handlebar or feel the seat ( I never sat on one ), a kid about my age at the time came in with his father imploring him to buy him a bike. They stopped at a green metalflaked one (The Lime Peeler ?) at the end of a row of these models, as the kid continued to make his pitch for a new bicycle.
I remember the father's following semi-serious response as if it happened yesterday : Why should I get youanotherone ? Do you remember how many times I've had to replace the fork on the last one I bought you ?
Here I was afraid to enter these bike shops, much less, touch one of these beautiful works of art out of some unwarranted and irrational fear that I would be asked by the shopkeeper where my parents were, and therefore consequently asked to leave the premises, and here was this spoiled kid trashing his and asking his father for another bicycle as if it were a Snickers bar to boot.

Continued...

270. Fraaankster - 1/15/2001 6:20:54 PM

JJ,

Continued:


...If my memory serves me at the moment, the price was $89.95 for the Crate series. A bit heady for a father with six kids to feed,clothe and shelter. I think he made just slightly more than the price of that bike per week. My childhood dreams put that bicycle through an incredible amount of workouts. I always told myself that I would own one one day. :-)

Yeah, a girlfriend probably would have been cheaper, but it didn't give one the pride and status that came from riding the Cadillac of bicycles for those of our age group of the time. Not only that, I couldn't really ride her now, could I ?

I don't know if it's still in print, but if you want to go back into your cycling childhood there is a good little book on this bike titled,Schwinn Stingray, by Liz Fried published in 1997. I stumbled acrossed it at Borders once and bought it on the spot.











Yes, let's not talk about being "collected", huh ? At least not while we're discussing Schwinn bicycles and childhood dreams and aspirations

271. cmboyce - 1/19/2001 12:58:52 AM

Well, in the interest of giving this corpse a kick in the ribs to determine if it has any Lazarus in it: this weekend is the Ceramics Fair, at the Nat'l Academy of Design, in NY. I shall be attending (I hope, though there is danger of responsibilies leaping out from an ill-concealed ambush), and I'll report on what I see. I believe it will have a tremendous range of stuff—I'm hoping for the proverbial neolithic to the near future—and the ads carry illustrations for several attractive pieces, including an extremely handsome Art Pottery piece.

I remember a number of years ago, at the Three Piers Show here (three separate shows—on piers, natch—"Americana" (a tremendous and delightful hodgepodge, ranging some years from top end furniture to knick-knacks), jewelry, and clothes (I only do the first), I passed on a piece of art pottery, I forget who (& I don't really know the stuff anyway), a vase whose form was a bulb at the bottom, rising to three cylindrical necks with about 45-60 degrees of torque, with a lovely evert rim like the mouth of a flower. That olive-y celadon that a lot of American a. p. has. It was cheap, too, at $95, but I'd spent a bunch on something else earlier in the week and felt guilty, so I passed. Shit. (A few years later, I actually dreamed about it, though it was a very pleasant dream—actually, it sort of recompensed me for the agita I'd given to the memory, and it doesn't bother me any more.)

But the lesson still pertains, n'less: "If.. you.. want it... here it is, {bm bm bm bm} better grab it fast..."!

272. JudithAtHome - 1/19/2001 9:20:16 AM

....or it will be gone when you come back for it.

Saddest words you'll ever hear..."We just sold that yesterday and they were soooo happy to get it!"


Yesterday, I collected lots of insults over in Politics.


CM:

I hope you get to attend; greedy of me because I want to hear all about it!

What sort of jewelry holds your interest? I collect costume jewelry, mainly signed pieces from the 30s-50s. But if I like it and the price is right, I don't care if it's signed ot not.

Now I read back over your post, I see you meant furniture...errant ) threw me off! Never mind....I was going to wow you with the words McClellen Barclay but it would fall on deaf ears. :-)

273. KuligintheHooligan - 1/19/2001 2:34:52 PM

Ah, I haven't seen this thread before.

Let's see, I have collected all sorts of things since childhood, from sticks and bottle caps to stamps and coins. Philately is still a love of mine, as is collecting currency from various countries. I still collect coins but only superficially.

My latest collection involves chess sets. I have several very nice ones from Africa.

274. Manon_Dumay - 1/21/2001 7:39:13 AM

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been away so long. My password doesn't work here so I started a new account. My computer had to take a trip all alone to California for repair. It made it back to me safe and sound.

Question: Does anyone know how to keep 100+ year old books from yellowing? Mine are still in very good condition and I would like to keep them that way.

275. cmboyce - 1/22/2001 7:50:45 PM

Manon, I've been intending to ask a similar question. I've read of a process whereby decaying books can be put in a gas chamber of some sort and have the destructive organisms (as I guess they must be) removed, or killed, or something, yielding a halt (though not, I think, a restoration to original appearance) of their pages.

Uzmakk, might you know about this?


Judith (and of course any others interested), the ceramics show was lots of fun. The most abundant stuff was 18th- & 19th-century English—lots of Staffordshire, wares and figurines; some Wedgwood; a pretty good sampling of early 19th printed wares (I saw a great looking set of leaf-shaped canary dessert plates with some sort of political-cartoonish print being wrapped at one booth (so I didn't catch its content); I love that canary glaze and this was the only of it that I saw); some terrific porcelains (including a neat little "museum show" on a newly discovered Liverpool maker, with lots of wasters, etc.); and a batch of Victoriana that I didn't care for, except for one place that had a bunch of Majolica, including some huge pieces, most notably a pair of 3'-tall planters in the form of a giant shell atop a coral-and-seaweed pedestal, and a giant, maybe lifesize, stork.

[more]

276. cmboyce - 1/22/2001 7:54:01 PM

I should mention in particular the booth of Jonathan Horne, the leading British dealer of British pottery. He had several neat 17-century slipware chargers, a lot of good delft (including 121 tiles!), and at least one piece of that "Tudor green" stuff, a goblet, that was probably 16th-century. He's always at the East Side show, which also opened this weekend, and which I'll get to this week, I hope (maybe tomorrow), and I'm looking forward to seeing if he has put himself to putting up two booths, across an ocean from home, simultaneously!)

There was a very wide range of other stuff: Chinese—a little Tang and Sung and more Qing, none of it terribly impressive, and a lot of Export, some of which was really neat (especially remarkable was a Swatow-ware charger with a central scene of a typical Chinese landscape, but with recognizably western, probably Portuguese, gents in the pictorial panels of a Wan-li border); a lot of pretty good Meissen, both figurines and wares, including a very nice pair of magpies, also life-size (birds and ceramics at the same time—turns me on!) and several terrific small pitchers and tea pots. [Among my fantasies is a ceramics collection consisting of many small, 3-10 piece sub-collections, and I could have bought my entire Meissen display yesterday, at one booth, for maybe $20- or 30,000.]

I had a very nice conversation with a woman from Annapolis who sells Quimper, a tradition I don't really know at all, and that was nice. I was not blown away by it—I've always found it a little too cute for my taste—but the 19th-century stuff she had, in particular, was rather stronger: good browns and greens, bolder brushwork, less cutesie peasants, etc. [more]

277. cmboyce - 1/22/2001 7:55:37 PM

She showed me her only 18th-century piece—very rare! she says, and I believe her—and it was terrific, with a central sun in yellow, red and orange (the first two enamals, I think), with some sort of blue-green-brown border (all underglaze), the sun with a face, ordinarily a dreadful motif, imo, but this guy was very old-fashioned, with a world-weary expression that it did my sore feet good to contemplate.

Let's see, what else? The two Tang pieces were nice, and one of them I'da bought had I just won the lottery last week. It was only $2,400, and I was wafted back to the heady days when I worked for Herrup & Wolfner and got to thinking to myself, of such prices, "Oh, that's not so bad!..." Hahaha. But I think it really isn't, in this case. And I thought that generally, for a NY show (& with the East Side's audience; for it is one of the 2 or 3 grande dames of east coast antique shows, attracting many of the biggest-time collectors and dealers) that such prices as I saw seemed pretty reasonable. (I didn't inquire after anything; I wasn't in the mood and in general I prefer to treat such affairs as museum shows, except that sometimes I pick things up.)

[one more to go]

278. cmboyce - 1/22/2001 7:56:02 PM

There was some early 20-century stuff, Deco, et al, but I'm not much into it, and I didn't take too much note of it, except to delight in a London gallery name: Banana Dance. There was also one modern potter, who did sort of cartoony versions of 17th and 18th c. English pottery. She was pretty good at it, but everything cost $6-8000 or more, and who can care about it? Still, technically marvelous, and sort of funny, iconologically. I'm glad I saw it.

And that's true of the whole thing. I suppose there were some several thousand pieces (almost 50 booths), and at least several dozen—maybe several hundred—of them were probably museum-quality pieces, though only a few to really knock your socks off if you saw them in a good museum collection. But that's plenty! All in all, a splendid afternoon.

(And many business cards for the b-card collection!)

279. Manon_Dumay - 1/23/2001 5:00:22 AM

I would have enjoyed going to that show. I wouldn't however know if I was looking at anything of value or not.

I'm nervous about doing anything to my books. I tried to get the tarnish off of a brass plate I had so that I could see the etching better. It's junk now. I rubbed too hard.

It would be really nice if those of you with experience in caring for these older items could leave your methods here. This thread doesn't seem to be doing well so if I can at least learn how to take care of my collections without damaging them, I would be happy to put the RIP sign up and make room for someone else's idea.

280. JudithAtHome - 1/23/2001 8:16:31 AM

CM:

Thanks you so much for that tour of the show...I felt as though I were there!

I had a very nice conversation with a woman from Annapolis who sells Quimper

You haven't lived until you've heard the people down here pronounce that phonetically...I chuckle inwardly each time they do it.

I wanted to mention to you a technique I saw used at a friends house for displaying wonderful porcelains that have been damaged. This guy has exquisite taste in Chinese things and I noticed 2 small panels on one wall of his entry hall, which is really a long windowed room leading to the formal living room. These panels were teak and had two fan shaped areas carved out through which peeked a portion of Chinese porcelain plate. I asked my friend what they were...small saucers? or what? and he said they were shards from 2 broken platters he'd had that were broken one night at a rather fun party. I thought it was a great way to still enjoy something you'd once loved but lost.


Manon:

I don't know anything about caring for books but I hope they don't RIP this thread. All we need to do is attract a few more collectors...Marshame hasn't posted yet about her American art pottery, has she?

281. janjon - 1/23/2001 4:38:29 PM

It was great fun reading cmboyce's commentary about the Ceramics Fair he attended. Not knowing anything about virtually everything he was talking about made not a difference. It was just fun reading words that were almost palpable in the joy he (I assume, he) had had looking and touching objects that bring him great pleasure.

I wish I were more of a collector.

282. JudithAtHome - 1/23/2001 5:30:13 PM

janjon:

It's easy......heh heh!

Just start with 3 of something; you'll see.

283. jonesatlaw - 1/24/2001 12:19:45 AM

Question: Does anyone know how to keep 100+ year old books from yellowing? Mine are still in very good condition and I would like to keep them that way.
It depends alot on the quality of the paper they are printed on. Much of the paper in the late 1800's and early 1900's had high acid content and has become yellow and brittle at a much faster rate than paper from before then or quality paper since. There is a process for neutralizing the residual acids, but as I recall it involves the use of cyanide compounds in a gaseous state. Very high tech and with a price to match. The best I can do now is to suggest trying to keep the temperature in the cool normal range, the humidity constant and low and no exposure to sunlight or other UV sources. If I hear of something else I'll share.

284. jonesatlaw - 1/24/2001 12:24:15 AM

As for suggestions in caring for collectables- I have heard that one can take the stain from unitentionally crazed ceramics with a mild solution of water and hydrogen peroxide. Anyone tried this, or is it too destructive to the patina, or underlying decorations?

285. Manon_Dumay - 1/24/2001 7:17:07 AM

There is a process for neutralizing the residual acids, but as I recall it involves the use of cyanide compounds in a gaseous state.

That sounds so dangerous. The books I have are really in excellent condition. Very slight yellowing and the pages are not dry or brittle. The one book that I have that is over 100 years old only has one bad page in it. Someone left a small scrap of paper in it and it caused the area around it to turn brown.

I have another book that isn't quite as old that has a news article about the author taped to the inside cover. It involved some sort of scandal. My books are packed away at the moment or I would mention the titles. They are in a cool, dry place. That much I have learned.

Wonders at what age I should store myself in a cool, dry place.

I suppose caring for really old music sheets would involve the same treatment?

BTW Thanks.

286. Uzmakk - 1/24/2001 9:10:09 AM

Dumay:

There is an off the shelf product called" Wei To" that neutralizes acids, (adds buffers, i think). This is more for single sheets because each sheet has to be sprayed. If your books have residual acid in them, too bad, they are going to disintegrate. Nothing you can do that wouldn't cost you a fortune.

287. cmboyce - 1/24/2001 9:27:19 AM

Jones,
I have not heard of that ceramic cleaning technique, but it certainly sounds good. Hydrogine peroxide is pretty benign stuff, I believe.

288. JudithAtHome - 1/24/2001 4:04:36 PM

This is loosely based on collecting because collectors are my customers and I received good news yesterday: I sold an old painted mirror I've had in my booth for ages. It was a plain wood frame painted white and had a few chips of paint missing. The mirror was old and had one or two spots of the silvering gone.

It didn't sell and didn't sell so I brought it home, used sand paper on it and got plenty but not all of the paint scraped. I slapped a tag on it that said "Shabby Chic Painted Mirror" and it sold in 2 weeks time!

289. PelleNilsson - 1/24/2001 4:09:41 PM

Judith

Are you making serious money out of your trade or is it more of a hobby that pays for itself and provides some funds that you may squander to your heart's delight?

290. janjon - 1/24/2001 4:29:07 PM

Forgive me, Judith, since I probably should have been aware before now that you have an antique/collectables store?booth? Eclectic stuff? Do you both buy and sell at the stand? How do you get most of your goods? How long have you been doing it? Is it fun?

291. JudithAtHome - 1/24/2001 4:54:10 PM

Pelle:

It is definitely more a hobby; Keoni lists it in the budget as "entertainment". However, I'm well on my way to paying for a 2 week trip for 2 to Hawaii in November with just the overflow from my little "hobby".

janjon:

I have a booth that I rent in an antiques mall about 25 miles from my home. (I used to have one at a mall 4 minutes from my home and I still haven't forgiven the idiot who let that mall go under!) The place is open 7 days a week and has permanent workers there every day plus we dealers must work 8 hours a month.

I keep my booth supplied with things I buy at estate sales and yard sales. Each thing has a tag with my booth number, price, and a description of the item; my sales are entered into a computer and at the end of two weeks, I get a check for my sales. A rule of thumb I was taught by a dealer who has been doing this for over 20 years was that I should make at least 3 times my rent money each month and I always do.

I buy very cheaply and never buy anything I don't feel I can honestly charge 3 times what I've paid for it. (Except for furniture...it is a rare piece one can triple on with furniture.) I have steady sales and many customers who always come to my booth to see what I've found...I have very eclectic taste.

292. janjon - 1/24/2001 5:07:33 PM

Not surprised to hear that you do well, Judith. Nor that you would have a lot of repeat customers.

You just simply seem to be a person of great taste. Witty too.

(And we haven't even mentioned your politics.)

At any rate, I am sure it is a lot of work, but it also sounds like fun and something that is satisfying.

293. JudithAtHome - 1/24/2001 5:20:07 PM

janjon:

One of the first things I sold was an old wire handled feathered thing that looked vaguely African; I paid a dime for it and on the tag, I called it a "Funny Feathered Fly Flicker" and priced it $10.00. It sold immediately and I knew this was the business for me.

I don't label things what they are not but my tags are part of my sales pitch...many customers ask if they can keep the tags.

I'm getting eager for milder weather to get here so I can start the prowl again. It is not only fun, it's addictive.

294. JudithAtHome - 1/25/2001 4:53:24 PM

I went to lunch with a friend today and afterward, we went to a nearby antiques mall where I came across a dealer who was having a sale...40% off. He'd brought in some new stock just for the sale (I've been to his booth before) and I scored a coup. I got about a dozen ashtrays from old hotels and bars...I sell every one I can get my hands on so I was thrilled to find these at such a great price. I was almost hyperventilating...

295. janjon - 1/25/2001 4:55:01 PM

almost enough to make one want to take up smoking again, eh?

296. cmboyce - 1/25/2001 7:45:05 PM

Your mirror reminds me, Judith, of an anecdote from the big antiques show here, which I went to last night. I was talking with a friend, an embroidery dealer, who was quite sloshed (there's a wine bar, and on the slow nights after the initial weekend, those manning the booths ease their weary feet with a sip or so). We were remarking on a mirror that was framed in embroidery panels (English, 17th century), and I observed of the glass that while it had the distortions familiar in old glass, it was very clean and bright. He said, "I'll tell you a secret. [Btw, this is a "secret" that he would certainly have also told to any potential buyer. Just not to the casual admirer of hte booth.] I got this from an estate sale, and it had a brand new mirror in it, and it looked just awful. Like chromium trim on a windsor chair [my illustration]. And I wanted beveled glass, though I knew I wouldn't be able to find an old bevelled glass of the right size. So, I didn't know what to do, and I dithered. And then suddenly it was show time!" So, (to cut an elaborate narrative short) he had in the shop a piece of this not very old but distinctly warped old glass that was bigger than the frame. Not a mirror, just a sheet of glass. So he cut it down to size, put it in the frame, hung the now-naked mirror on the wall of the booth and then hung the mirror on top of it. He was (full of wine—and money, the market being very robust it seems) extremely pleased with himself.

297. cmboyce - 1/25/2001 7:45:43 PM

Your mirror reminds me, Judith, of an anecdote from the big antiques show here, which I went to last night. I was talking with a friend, an embroidery dealer, who was quite sloshed (there's a wine bar, and on the slow nights after the initial weekend, those manning the booths ease their weary feet with a sip or so). We were remarking on a mirror that was framed in embroidery panels (English, 17th century), and I observed of the glass that while it had the distortions familiar in old glass, it was very clean and bright. He said, "I'll tell you a secret. [Btw, this is a "secret" that he would certainly have also told to any potential buyer. Just not to the casual admirer of hte booth.] I got this from an estate sale, and it had a brand new mirror in it, and it looked just awful. Like chromium trim on a windsor chair [my illustration]. And I wanted beveled glass, though I knew I wouldn't be able to find an old bevelled glass of the right size. So, I didn't know what to do, and I dithered. And then suddenly it was show time!" So, (to cut an elaborate narrative short) he had in the shop a piece of this not very old but distinctly warped old glass that was bigger than the frame. Not a mirror, just a sheet of glass. So he cut it down to size, put it in the frame, hung the now-naked mirror on the wall of the booth and then hung the mirror on top of it. He was (full of wine—and money, the market being very robust it seems) extremely pleased with himself.

298. cmboyce - 1/25/2001 7:46:59 PM

Sorry about that. I'm on an unfamiliar browser, and I'm having a hell of a time at it.

299. JudithAtHome - 1/26/2001 9:34:04 AM

CM:

That story is an example I'll remember. I've even done something similar but it was for our house, not for resale. We found a gorgeous oddly shaped picture frame that had a picture of the most grim couple I've ever seen. They looked straight out of a Dickens tale about orphanages and the cold hearted people who ran them...there was also a broken curved glass over the picture. I fell in love with the frame and had to have it.

We had an old, old mirror out in the garage where my husband keeps his framing material. We'd bought it for the frame, also, with the intention of using the frame for a picture. The glass was very thick and mottled...we had a friend who's a glazier cut it down to fit the "orphanage" frame and it is hanging by our front door.

300. JudithAtHome - 1/26/2001 9:35:43 AM

Just saw the Keno brothers on GMA telling a guest who'd brought in a chair that it was worth from $20,000 to $25,000...needless to say, it made his day.

301. Uzmakk - 1/26/2001 9:40:38 AM

Judith:

I did read the Mote a bit during my abscence. Your art deco oak living room sounds great.

302. JudithAtHome - 1/26/2001 9:46:33 AM

Thanks, Uz, but the deco pieces are in the dining room. The living room is full of odd chairs...

When will we be seeing pictures of your work room?

303. Uzmakk - 1/26/2001 10:17:04 AM

Summer maybe. It looks like a factory. Before I show it I have to spruce things up a bit and make it look more like a studio. Why should I post ugly pictures?

304. JudithAtHome - 1/26/2001 10:31:32 AM

I wish I had the equipment for posting pictures...I'd do one of my dog and of things I mentioned in here and on H&G. Maybe some day....

305. PelleNilsson - 1/26/2001 2:27:46 PM

Uzmakk

Before and after pictures? Taken from the same spot and the same angle?

306. PelleNilsson - 1/26/2001 2:29:32 PM

Judy

You don't have a scanner? You'll get one for $100 or less. They are not difficult to operate.

307. Uzmakk - 1/26/2001 2:32:24 PM

I came back in to ask Judith that very question. You are an antiques dealer without the ability to send pictures over the internet?

308. Uzmakk - 1/26/2001 2:34:38 PM

Great idea, Pelle. It is just beginning to shape up; plenty of time for some good before and afters.

309. janjon - 1/26/2001 2:46:26 PM

judith and boyce and....

There is a very interesting article in the Wall Street Journal today about the current antiques show at the Armory. The focus is on the efforts of the "trade" to get young collectors involved, but it meanders here and there. Leigh Keno gets a reference (gee).

Worth a look.

310. Uzmakk - 1/26/2001 2:49:14 PM

I used to do that show all the time, janjon,....as a roustabout.

311. JudithAtHome - 1/26/2001 3:11:56 PM

Pelle&Uz:

Why is it so surprising I have no scanner? I don't sell over the Internet...I don't advertise over the Internet...and I know scanners are inexpensive but that's not a problem for me, anyhow.

I don't know what I would use one for except to post photos here or in my e-mail...I can live without that.

312. janjon - 1/26/2001 3:16:40 PM

Certain people and certain publications will not be able to let go of their hatred for Clinton for some time (and for the WSJ, they of course will now link Bill and Hill ad nauseum in their efforts already underway to defeat her six years from now).

Trashing the Clintons was inevitable. Always happens when the White House changes parties.

It will die out soon enough.

And, then, we will all concentrate on the follies of the W administration.

Can't wait.

313. PelleNilsson - 1/26/2001 3:44:04 PM

Wrong thread?

314. janjon - 1/26/2001 3:46:06 PM

I thought I had followed that up quickly with a "oops, wrong thread."

The sun and moon must be under some sort of alignment. Either that or I was a bit sloppier than I thought.

315. Uzmakk - 1/26/2001 3:59:22 PM

Aaaaaaaaall right, Judith. Whatever you say. You da man. But you could sell over the internet, and what would be so bad about that?

316. JudithAtHome - 1/26/2001 4:07:20 PM

Uz....

Probably nothing but I am lazy.


No, seriously, I prefer having some sort of contact with my customers. And I know it sounds insane, but I like the idea that my things are bought by people who have touched them and decided they want them afterward. It's a foolishly romantic notion but there you have it....I'm not really in this for the money, as Pelle so aptly supposed the other day.

I participate each month in a late night at our mall where we do a potluck supper for our customers. I make a huge roasting pan full of Shoyu Chicken (Hawaiian Chicken and Rice) and my customers are always well fed and all of them know that chicken dish and look forward to it...then, they buy from me and we are all happy campers....can't do that on the Internet!

317. Jenerator - 1/26/2001 4:13:46 PM

JanJon,

The Keno brothers are my favorites!

318. JudithAtHome - 1/26/2001 4:16:38 PM

Jen:

They were on Good Morning America today...cuties, both!

319. Uzmakk - 1/26/2001 4:16:42 PM

Cool, Judith. Oh, btw, I have a proposal for you that I hope you will not be able to refuse. It will be in Notices soon.

320. JudithAtHome - 1/26/2001 4:17:38 PM

Uz....neato! I'll look forward to it.

321. Uzmakk - 1/26/2001 4:18:40 PM

I forgot to paste the following:

And I know it sounds insane, but I like the idea that my things are bought by people who have touched them and decided they want them afterward. It's a foolishly romantic notion but there you have it....I'm not really in this for the money, as Pelle so aptly supposed the other day.

This is why I don't think you will be able to refuse.

322. JudithAtHome - 1/26/2001 4:23:23 PM

Uz...because I'm an idiot? :-)

323. SnowOwl - 1/26/2001 6:35:23 PM

I seem to be collecting my children's collections. Two large boxes have just arrived by courier, containing stuff my eldest son had stored at an ex-girlfriend's parents' place. I suppose now that he's getting married they no longer feel under any obligation to keep the junk for him. I'm sorely tempted to throw the lot out, but since it contains stuff he's kept from early childhood I can imagine the howls of protest if I do so.

324. Manon Dumay - 1/27/2001 5:17:25 AM

Judith...I will be selling collectibles at my site and you are more than welcome to post pictures there. I'm hoping to have everything set up by the end of February. It will have a message board attached as well and I could set up a folder for you so that people can make inqueries about things they are looking for. This way you would not need to post pictures of everything. If you are interested my TT e-mail works. K?

325. JudithAtHome - 1/27/2001 1:10:38 PM

Thanks Manon....unfortunately, though your TT address might work, TT doesn't. :-)

I'll check it out, though; sounds like a big undertaking.

326. labwabbit - 1/27/2001 3:44:32 PM

Finished my vault insurance registry and completed authenticity evaluations/confirmations process yesterday for my all-Masters album collection dating from the turn of the century. A 2-1/2 year project. I am now prepared, if I wish, to place them up for auction or private sale. There are several however that I wish to have remain in the family. When I came to ownership , I seen them as nothing more than many very heavy boxes that required several hours to move to my folks place. I stored them in the attic of my folks house for 21 years before I had to move them again. This time I opened and started to go through each carefully sealed box. I couldn't believe my eyes. That was 2-1/2 years ago. I have since come to learn fully what a treasure I have. I mean I knew there were old 78's and stuff in there but I did not realize there was things like the very first New York Philharmonic Master recording...unopened with all the supporting documentation and bibliography. That was just the beginning...

I since have had them stored in a bank vault...and after a long, hard effort have them registered in authenticity and evaluated for insurances...



Think I'll retire now...
The original owner was a very sharp 112 years old, and just gave them to me one day for having done odd-jobs for her whenever she needed and just spending time on many afternoons listening to her. Which was never a problem since having first heard she was 6 yo when Lincoln was president. She passed on at 113. A walking/talking history book. She outlived her entire family of 6 boys and 5 girls before she died...her "baby" having passed on at the tender age of 88. They don't build them tough like THAT anymore.

327. JudithAtHome - 1/27/2001 5:37:39 PM

That is fascinating, Lab....

328. labwabbit - 1/27/2001 6:15:08 PM

Judith

It can be told now. I had them stored, completely forgotten, in my folks attic. When my Mom decided to get an apartment because the old house just got to be too much for her, I needed to move a lot of stuff that 45 years in the same house begets. Then they stayed in my cellar for 2 more years, with not a lot of concern for their value.
The wife and I decided to go through them one day just because we were looking at reducing the "inventory" in our own house. For the nearly two weeks it took to find a secure place for them my paranoia was intense. Something was going to happen to them now that I knew about the contents. I can't believe they were just thrown aside in someplace that could have burned...roof could have leaked, could have been stolen etc...

I really think she knew the relative value when she gave them to me. I thought it was just because she knew I liked music, particularly the classics and was looking to give them to someone. I took them only as an afterthought, and mostly because I didn't want to hurt her feelings.

329. JudithAtHome - 1/27/2001 6:48:50 PM

Well, it was a wonderful gift. And I'm sure you were appreciated by her, no matter the motivating factor in her giving it to you.

330. labwabbit - 1/27/2001 7:14:41 PM

Yes it was Judith...best material gift I ever received.
But the true gift was listening to her recant how it was like during, and post, civil war as a little girl. How it was like watching things like autos, radios, electric lights come into being, what growing up during all the wars was like, and where the only job to aspire to for her was raising a family and trying to stay alive. Real gunfights in the streets, accounts of when polio/small pox swept the area and wiped out 2/3rd's of her family and relatives...and the Great Depression. She was the oldest of 14 children.
Three of her brothers were killed in WWI, Two in the Spanish-American, and one in a cellar by an exploding still.
She had all her faculties, and ruled the family. She had a direct hand in the family business right up until a week or two befor she died. Amazing lady, and an amazing effect she had on me. She could speak French, English, German, and Spanish as if any were a first language...although she always preferred French. Was "a pretty language" she always would say.
Fascinating stuff for a young lad as myself.

331. JudithAtHome - 1/27/2001 7:37:51 PM

I'd always wanted to be born at the start of the 1900s and aged with the century...what an amazing life she had and you are so lucky to have been privy to her memories...I envy you, for sure.

332. labwabbit - 1/27/2001 7:49:32 PM

I think of her often. Not because of the gift though.
Throughout my life, when I started feeling sorry for myself, or when things seemed overwhelmingly frustrating...she would come to mind. If she survived all that, my experiences were certainly paled and appeared not so bad afterall.

333. labwabbit - 1/27/2001 9:49:26 PM

#331

Me too. I always felt I was born too late...

334. cmboyce - 1/28/2001 2:29:33 PM

The Keno booth at the East Side show was its usual marvelous self, and among its wonders was a framed photograph (on a spectacular Philadelphia Chippendale card table) of the Keno twins aged about 9, with a woman probably their mother, and an old tavern sign, apparantly at an estate sale or flea market, or something. They were in it early. Like lots of dealers, they're in the business because they were collectors and needed to finance their collecting.

335. cmboyce - 1/28/2001 2:31:44 PM

Hey, Uz! We may well have crossed paths in the Armory! I did that show for several years also, as assistant to a dealer. Were you one of those union guys who'd stick us up for $60 to change a light bulb?

336. Uzmakk - 1/28/2001 2:55:54 PM

Ha, ha, Boyce. I was not one of those union guys, I was in very much the same situation as you, but was not much of a salesman. That part of my career ended quickly; haven't tended a booth for a dogs age, but I did continue to set up the shows for a long time.

337. cmboyce - 1/28/2001 3:00:48 PM

Me too, exactly. I couldn't stand trying to sell people $20,000 side-chairs. Fucking dispiriting. (Though in fact, I've never been able to stand selling anybody anything.) But I rather enjoyed set-ups and breaking-down, and after only a couple of years as an actual participant, I did the before-and-after shift at several shows a year, for a while. (Mostly) pleasant work, especially driving the big trucks! (RRrroom, vroom!)

338. Uzmakk - 1/28/2001 3:16:37 PM

kee hee hee. Too funny. The big trucks-- man didn't it feel good to get through the Lincoln tunnel and on the road after a show. What a transition. Like flying or something. And I must say that I did take a good bit of pride in my ability to get that 24 ft. straight truck backed into the Armory in one swoop while those union guys held up traffic on Lexington Ave for us.

I used to drive all over the country. Enjoyed it. It was just the right amount of driving, not full time by any means, so that I never got tired of it.

339. JudithAtHome - 1/28/2001 3:23:18 PM

Uz:

Have you done your proposal yet? I'm really curious about this...

340. Uzmakk - 1/28/2001 3:32:36 PM

Judith:

Was just going to get off the computer. Been on too long. I am going out to dinner this evening and will try to post my proposal when I get home. My computer room son does not have school tomorrow so I should have access late into the night.

341. cmboyce - 1/28/2001 3:33:02 PM

Uz, yeah, those trucks were great! (Do we wonder why women sometimes think of men as 5-year-olds? Though I remember a splendid lady in Hartford who wheeled 24-footer around with nonchalance (which, nonchalance being actually impossible—or at least so inadvised that evolutionary pressures weed it out real quick—I've always read as delight).)

The farthest I ever went was York, several times. Very nice, about 5-6 hours, I think. Just about right. The drive to the Armory, from 11th & 24th (Hertz-Penske), via the gallery at Lex and 86th, to Park & 68th, is derisorily short (though driving anything in Manhattan has its own thrills, roughly tripling or quadrupling the apparant distance travelled—to my delight, of course).

342. Uzmakk - 1/28/2001 3:37:35 PM

Boyce:

I cannot find your e-mail address. See my last post in home and garden.

343. Manon Dumay - 1/29/2001 7:45:09 AM

Does anyone here like silent movies? My favorites are with Buster Keaton. I don't think that Charlie Chaplin was all that great.

344. JudithAtHome - 1/29/2001 8:38:08 AM

Bite your tongue, woman!

:-)

345. cmboyce - 1/29/2001 9:12:22 AM

Uz, it's in hte butterbar at the Cafe. But never mind. It's : cmboyce2@email.com

346. Manon Dumay - 1/30/2001 12:56:28 AM

>Bite your tongue, woman!


No way, Buster had him beat by miles!

347. Manon Dumay - 1/30/2001 12:57:24 AM

OK, so that doesn't do anything here. > That thing.

348. JudithAtHome - 1/30/2001 9:54:45 AM

Manon...

I happen to love Charlie Chaplin...that doesn't detract from the genius of Keaton at all.

I have a "collection" of old Chaplin 8x10 glossies and an autographed studio photograph plus an old stamp from Essnay Studios of Charlie in Little Tramp mode.

349. Manon Dumay - 1/31/2001 4:45:56 AM

Judith have you ever watched any Harry Langdon movies? He was pretty good. I still need to order the Buster Keaton/Fatty Arbuckle movies. I only have a few Lillian Gish movies. Need more of those as well.

I know there is a lot of over acting in these movies, but I love them.
There were a few of Charlie's movies that were ok, but I prefer Buster's style. I wouldn't mind photos of him.

350. PelleNilsson - 1/31/2001 5:54:27 AM

Plenty of pics here.

351. Manon Dumay - 2/3/2001 11:04:39 PM

Thanks Pelle.

Thanks everyone, but I would like to RIP this thread unless someone else would like to host it.

352. PelleNilsson - 2/4/2001 1:31:49 PM

Your wish is my command.

353. JudithAtHome - 2/5/2001 6:10:21 PM

Jeez, Manon..we hardly knew ya'....

354. wonkers2 - 2/5/2001 6:49:02 PM

Mote collectors be advised that Paula Corbin Jones is offering autographed copies of her December spread in Penthouse for only $100.

355. JudithAtHome - 2/5/2001 6:54:18 PM

She must be hungry....

356. jonesatlaw - 2/6/2001 10:12:26 PM

I'd give her $100 to change her name to Smith.

357. Manon Dumay - 2/7/2001 7:54:44 AM

Thanks for the RIP.

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