Visiting A Friend Mark - A Glorious Obsessive Car Collector

Well our second day we scooted down to see our customer turned friend Mark who started us off by showing us his first warehouse-shop-museum-storage-space. It's called The Whitehouse Trading Company but those of you who know Mark will know he's one of those obsessive guys who doesn't like to sell things and it shows.

He toured us through the Packard's and the Rolls Royce's like he was a little boy with Match-Box cars. His non-chalance as he strolled through his amazing collection was unnerving. The appraiser in me kept saying "I wonder if he knows how much these beauties are worth?" but I quickly realized of course he did - he bought, sold or traded all of these magnificent models into his life at one point or another. It took us a good 1/2 hour or more to stroll through this one building and we were moving through all three floors.

Mark bought his first antique auto at 15 and claims to have lost track at more then 300 but I suspect he knows quite well what he owns. He also has a fabulous collection of automobilia throughout his life everywhere. Signs, motorcycles, pennants, oil cans, you know it - he probably has it. We were quite happy to see quite a few pieces which had passed our hands at one point or another.

After viewing this building we all jumped in the car and headed about 35 miles South to the Center of Lynchburg where Mark brought us to another factory. This was an old car dealership and was much bigger then the first. He had far more cars and more automobilia here. Fabulous eye candy everywhere you glanced.

This old buggy dealership had really interesting advertisements painted on the walls which Mark had had steam cleaned and restored. They created a fabulous backdrop for this truly amazing collection.

I'll be posting pictures in the days ahead. I'm learning a little bit more about the Droid each day. I may get it figured out yet.

We stayed in Lynchburg and headed down Route 29B fresh the next morning. We were driving through Virginia and soon after we entered North Carolina we happened upon a State run Transportation Museum which was perfect in so many ways. First of all we were still basking in awe of Mark's collections and were marveling at the impact transportation had on the 20th century. Second of all it was free. Third it was spread out over many acres so it gave us a chance to get out of the car and walk. It's still brisk in the south. Frank's anxious to get his shorts and T-shirts on.

The Museum had 3 very large buildings open to the public. The museum had some really cool things I loved like a 1930's school bus and a scale model of the Kitty Hawk. In the roundhouse there was a wonderful and very extensive collection of trains which Frank and I both really enjoyed. Our favorites were the Duke High Style Train car; the Postal Delivery Train car and the Army Red Cross Train cars. Train cars from every era and operating method were on hand. From early cars from the 1800's right up through a Purple Diesel Am-track car. This was frosting on the cake for Frank and I because train-cars was something we didn't see at our friend's warehouses.

Tomorrow I'll talk about a sweet little historic town we found called Dalton and another named Walterboro. Found some great shops which I'll expand on. Today has been a rough day for Frank - he's not feeling well but I've been enjoying the quiet time in the Hotels while he rests up. Until we meet again.

On the road at last!

Greetings from the road at last - This first blog might be a bit long because the last week has been a complete whirlwind.

The week started prior to Christmas getting ready for the trip as well as the holidays. We enjoyed Christmas Eve with our friends the Corcoran’s and Christmas Day with family and friends at our house. I’ve often said Antique Dealers even work on Christmas Day and this was no exception. My Son’s friend Ben gave me a great technology lesson. I loaded up on a trick phone, new computer and new bookkeeping software to learn while I was away. He at least gave me a jump start on my new Motorola Droid by Google. It’s trick!

So back to working on Christmas, one my favorite, local, trash haulers in Wolfeboro brought me a early to mid 20th century, long, aluminum box with an entire dowry from some women which I suspect probably dates to the early 1900‘s. Anyways in the treasure box was a stunning antique satin dress with a lace up back and delicate lace trim on the neck line and covered button-up sleeves. Beautiful in every way you could imagine. Well we just happened to have a guest who was the perfect size 5, so after Christmas Dinner I had her put it on and took about 20 pictures of this 5‘9“ Swedish, blonde, women so I could put the dress on ebay. This entire process took at least an hour - first she put it on backwards then couldn’t walk etc. etc. It was a spectacle. She finally changed out of this challenging wedding dress and we gathered around the fire. I then promptly deleted all the pictures from my camera with just a flick of one button and could’t’t bare to put her through all that again. It will now have to wait until Spring.

Saturday was spent going over last minute details with our Son who will be watching the house and dog Oscar while we’re away. We often wonder how our dog would react if a stranger came to the door. We know he can be quite protective of us when we’re in the house but never knew until recently when a friend came by and tried to drop a DVD inside our door. Oscar got right up off his bed, beside the kitchen door and growled until the kind gentlemen backed out of our house and closed the door. Good boy Oscar!

We left New Hampshire, Sunday Morning, December 27thin a hard, driving, thick rain. Thick rain you ask - that’s just before it turns to freezing rain. It’s thick and heavy. We headed out of New England as quickly as possible. As I drove through the North Shore of Massachusetts where I grew up, I noticed there was no snow what-so-ever. When I was a child 45 years ago I can remember snow every year for Thanksgiving and quite often prior to Halloween. I’m sure it’s a sign of climate change and gave me pause to consider what the same territory will be like 45-50 years from today.

Our first stop was in New Jersey to visit our friends Chris & Sherry. Sherry is a marvelous hostess and great cook and I really enjoy her home. She has beautiful glass, pottery, stiens, and so much more for me to look at and admire. Frank and I tend to be a bit forward when we look at people’s objects. It’s just second nature for us to pick something up and look at the bottom. Most people have come to expect this of us. People also love to have us visit so they can paw through their own stuff with us. We quite often find ourselves invited into private storage closets, basement sections or attics which aren't normal visitation spots but we love.

Driving through Southern New Jersey and Pennsylvania farm country is always a treat for me. I love seeing the farms with gigantic barns decorated with Hex Signs. If you’re not familiar with Hex signs you might want to read this - http://www.hexsigns.org/://www.hexsigns.org/ Our camp on Lake Winnipesaukee was decorated with 2 Hex signs my Mom and Dad had picked up in the 1960‘s. They are still there on our camp even though the camp has changed hands many times now.

The strip of Highway along Route 78 which turns into 81 is an interesting stretch of fertile farms and huge ugly billboards. You know you’re heading south because the Country music and Gospel stations start filling the airwaves more then not. We loved the advertisement we heard for http://www.persecution.com/. You know - The Voice of The Martyrs advertising on a billboard and radio station - just so Pennsylvania. More obsessive behavior.

On we drove, there was a cool Teepee near Lenhartsville on the left heading south and there is a phenominal Cabela’s you can see from a 1/2 mile away. If you’re not familiar with a Cabela’s they are a hunting and outdoor sports emporium of a magnitude it’s hard to believe. They are well known for their taxidermy mounts and displays. If nothing else it is a good example of obsession that was captured for a capitalistic purpose. You can look at about 30 photos of their Hamburg PA store on the Cabela website at http://www.cabelas.com/. Cabela’s is one huge, obsessive, vision!!

Photos will be coming just as soon as I learn how to interface the Droid with the Toshiba. They are just flirting right now.

Been working on an Insurance Replacement Appraisal

It's been a couple of days since I've posted because any quiet time has been dedicated to creating a new appraisal. The charge was to create an up-to-date appraisal for Insurance Purposes. The family had an estate appraisal done in 1990 by respected local antiques dealers Albert (Sandy) & Marjorie Dow of Center Tuftonboro.

I made my list in the house, starting as I walked in the door and going from left to right, top to bottom, in each room, listing as much as I could possibly see without getting to nosey. Then I was given the previous appraisal and noted that during the past 20 years while I moved 9 times this women had barely moved or removed even one piece from the previous list.

The tricky part came in trying to dovetail the two lists of inventory. The Dow's had listed what we called English scrubbed pine as "deal" wood. I hadn't heard it called that but sure enough, I looked it up and it was a real definition. These pieces were all the rage in the late 1980's and through the 1990's when we first got in the business, but these pieces, along with most furniture, has dropped dramatically.

I trusted most of the prices on glass and porcelain because Marjorie excelled in that field but also on the early cast iron and kitchen utensils of which Sandy Dow as an expert. It's funny to see how many of the prices listed on the earlier appraisal are still in step because prices rose and prices dropped so many of the prices we see now-a-days are very similar to the prices in 1990. Sad but true.

There are many kinds of appraisals basically broken down as follows:
1. Insurance replacement which is exactly what it sounds like. The cost it would take for an insurance company to replace an item with like or similar item with little effort.

2. Estate Tax purposes which is used in the probate court system to determine the value of an item at todays fair market value. Fair market value is defined as the price a willing buyer and a willing seller would exchange on any given day, neither being under the compulsion to buy or sell.

3. Liquidation Value which is basically what you could expect an antiques dealer to give your or what you could expect from an auctioneer after their fees.

As you can well imagine these prices can be dramatically different and it's very important an appraiser and an owner have a meeting of the minds as to what the value would, could and should be.

For instance, under the estate appraisal upholstered furniture like the sofa and 2 chairs were listed at $100 for the set but I can easily see it would cost $1,500 for the owner to go out and buy similar quality.

This appraisal was especially tedious because of the quantity this women had (10 pages single spaced typing) and also because of having to re-align her expectations. It'll be a Christmas present to her and a burden off my shoulders as we get ready to leave on our trip after Christmas.

I'm getting excited! Stay tuned!

Nothing but Bitter Cold here in the North Country

Well we had our coldest day of the year so far today. I finally broke down and pulled out the LL Bean silk long underwear. I seem to be more into relaxing and finishing up loose ends lately preparing for the Christmas and the trip. I had a lovely lunch with some girlfriends today at Mise En Place. We were the only people there and had a delightful time. Saw some old friends from my Water Village days - Warren and Tensy - they are 90 & 91 and were just leaving when we arrived. It's quiet here in Wolfeboro. Waiting for the holiday to pass.

Spent a good part of the day yesterday, creating new business cards, and still trying to get used to the new computer. Hippo Press in Manchester does a really terrific job with 4 colored / 2 sided post cards. They're in-excpensive and fast. I sent it to them by computer yesterday (Wed) and I get to pick it up next Monday or maybe Tuesday because of the holiday rush. Now that's good service!

Some people are starting to email me and say they aren't able to sign up for the blog. If you are one of them please get in touch at Cathy@DragonfliesAntiques.com. If I get enough complaints maybe it'll will help me figure out the common thread.

The Holiday Season is truly upon us!

Well being an antiques dealer off season can be just as busy as during the season. I guess it's all a matter of time and what you do with it. I'm still getting used to my new computer, printer, fax, etc. It's taken me a while but boy didn't I love it when I was able to print out a wonderful looking appraisal today. At last! Ease of use.

I also laid the ground work today at Town Hall for an outdoor market next Summer. We hope to develop a Green Market with antiques which are the original recyclable and add local farmers who offer fruits, cheese, vegetables, flowers, etc. along with any other exhibitors who offer sustainable products. We hope to hold it every Friday from 8:00 to 2:00. Stayed tuned as we work on developing this idea.

We need to get thru winter before we can start the correcting the drainage issues, pick up the old pavement and work on landscaping - all before the first tent goes up. It will be a long process but we hope to really take our property to the next level. All things in time!

I had three wonderful things happen to me today!

1. My Aunt invited my husband and I over to the Elderly Housing Complex she lives in called The Ledges for Christmas Dinner. (It's really lunch) It was great. Prime Rib; scalloped potatoes, green beans, salad, rolls, cheescake, cookies and more importantly it was FESTIVE!

2. Two kind men from Wolfeboro Rotary came upon my husband and I today and offered us a free Christmas tree. We of course accepted especially because it came with all the lights on it. They had used it as the sample tree and now that all the trees were sold it was the only one left. It's beautiful and even comes with it's own stand. Perfect in every way!

3. A friend came by the house today to drop off a wonderful Arlo Guthrie DVD and told me the dog growled when he opened the door. Yeah Oscar! I watched the DVD twice it was so good! Loved it.

Anyone else have any great things happen to them this holiday season?

Keeping up with technology, year end etc.

      The past few days have been spent dealing with professional help.  So far this week we've been to the CPA and the Lawyer, and had the Computer Dr. come see us here.  Self employment is always a tricky tax issues especially when you earn your money in chunks and then don't have any for a month or more.  It can be trying. Our shop exceeded our financial expectations greatly this year. 

Many of the folks who follow us know we've had a 3 year battle with the Town of Wolfeboro over our property rights and we won.  The Judge denied the Town the ability to lay out our property as a highway thereby granting us the rights to do what we want - within zoning of course.   So now that we've concluded our legal issues we look forward to some landscaping and maybe a small weekly Green Flea & Farmers Market in the yard.  We hope to develop the outside of the property to look as nice as the house does now.  Pathways, sculpture, lighting, rights of way, signs, these are the things that fill our days.

Technology is another thing that's been filling my days lately.  There is so much reading to do when you get a new computer.  Just by happenstance, my domain name Antiquebug had expired.  At first I was a bit panicky but then realized without all those emails being forwarded to my new email address I've eliminated lots of junk email and spams.  However, the switch over process hasn't been easy.  I've spent many hours changing my email on ebay, paypal, the bank, the cable, the phone, etc. etc.  Plus I've also had to re-download all sorts of programs like my Certified Appraiser's Guild Software.

Frank's been busy getting our van ready for our trip.  He's sorting smalls for the antique cases we'll be bringing with us so we can set up at flea markets along the way. He's been organizing, pricing, cleaning, sorting, etc.,  He told me today, all my things including clothing, jeans, sweaters, pj's, shoes, cosmetics, hair supplies, etc. all have to fit into 2 cases. 

So we're getting excited.  We've decided to leave Sunday Morning, December 27, 2009.

Until the next time, I remain Dragonfly

Newburyport is one of the prettiest New England seaside locaations because it has the most beautiful old homes that survive along the boulevard which enters town. It reminded me of the huge houses along St. Charles Ave in New Orleans.

My 2 girlfriends and I spent the day going through each of the little boutiques helping the economy wherever we could. There is a number of old mills which have been renovated into hip retail spaces. Christmas cheer abounded everywhere with live bands, a farmers market selling wreaths and kissing ballls a lively mix of shoppers and Christmas gifts waiting for new homes.

Alas, I could only tempt myself with 1 $10 pair of paints from the used clothing store. My girlfriend more then made up for my lack of shopping. We love to live vicariously through her. We enjoyed a wonderful brunch which featured a Bloody Mary buffet a rustic resturant called 10 at Ten. Later in the day we found a Tavern named Grog which called us inside for more late afternoon indulgances.

The day was fun but the far more important part is we're antique dealers first so one of us had to be out there working and Frank gladly offered to chase down an auction of airplane models in Connecticut. This was a typical day in the day of an antiques dealer.

Up at 5:00 am and on the road by 6:00 Frank arrived in Winstead CT just in time for the beginning of the preview at 10:00. The auction had been advertised on http://www.auctionzip.com/ to be within 150 miles of our home base in NH. Check out these cool photos for the auction and you'll easily see how Frank got sucked right in.

The auction was the lifetime collection of a OCD model maker who was now 80 years old and pretty well crippled up although he had been in the Korea War. The auction was presented by Tim's Inc. Check out this awesome line-up of goods as it appeared pre-sale. http://www.auctionzip.com/cgi-bin/photopanel.cgi?listingid=752008&category=0&zip=03894&kwd=

Since we sell a tremendous number of books on eBay we like to pick up big lots of one interesting catagory or another because once you develop the clientele for a particular product it's easier to sell to them the second time and a repeat customer always takes less energy then it takes to create a new customer. So Frank was successful in his attempts to buy the library of this fellow and came home with lots and lots of books on airplane model making. Now we just have to gear up our eBay listing robots.

So the auction started at Noon and ended at dark and then Frank had to drive home 4 1/2 hours which turned into 6 by the time he took a couple of naps, grabbed a burger, gas etc. So there it is 6:00 am to 12:30 the next am - a typical day in a dealer's life.

But so too was today. Frank got an afternoon nap in after he unloaded all the boxes of books. As Frank was heading upstairs to the bedroom at 2:30 this afternoon he reminded me of a saying Irene Stella always told us. "It's a weekend. We work on weekends! You can sleep on Tuesday." and with that she'd accept no excuses for anything resembling tiredness on the weekends. She wasn't a slave driver but just knew how to effectively motivate and manage large groups of people.

I spent Sunday evening look at an auction on the Heritage Internet Auction website and then spent today still learning the new computer and making beef stew. Life is good in New Hampshire - until the next time I remain . . . Dragonfly