Watch me nerd out over one of my favorite recent acquisitions!
Things and StuffWe can do better
Things and StuffLet me be very clear - I ❤️ the Dietrich family for what they have done for a collecting field that is my passion in life - I can’t wait to get the new book and read it
But when I came across this photo as the lead for a review of it, it stopped me dead in my tracks. It’s a jarring metaphor for one of the things that bugs me the most about my little corner of the world. Mostly people complain about their latest run-in with rude customers or dealers; what about the fact that they’re all white?
They (we) are all white. Displaying our heritage in museums and at shows, stuff made for white people in a historical economy fueled by the labor of enslaved black people with little to no acknowledgment of their contributions to society, save perhaps a black security guard in the corner, not an explicit part of the exhibition, or are they?
Please don’t get me wrong and come for me. It’s okay to be white. But this little Americana world is in a transformative moment, and maybe we can find ways to make it better than it ever was?
Thanksgiving
Things and StuffI’m thankful for a career that brings me into visceral contact with our past - the good, the bad, and the ugly of it.
It doesn’t take much looking at all to figure out that Arch had a lot of good reasons to run away. Being enslaved by Ignatious Davis was nothing like the relatively flowery portrayal of Mid-Atlantic slavery commonly peddled. Sadly, his escape attempt of August 22nd, 1791 was not successful. On June 24, 1793, Davis again advertised a reward for his return. This time the price was reduced - he was willing to pay ten dollars. Even in his cruelty, Davis may have realized that Arch was going to win someday…we don’t know, we may never know, but we can hope that he did.
To the credit of History, Davis would probably be just another name in the census if it weren’t for the remarkable story of Lewis Charlton who was born on his farm in 1814. Lewis’s mother worked for Davis’s wife and was forced to leave him alone in the slave quarters from the time he was two weeks old. At fourteen months, on a bitterly cold day, Lewis’s mother returned at night to find that her son had kicked away the blanket protecting him from the cold and he subsequently lost his toes. When Lewis was seven, Davis died and he was sent to auction, where his mother wept and removed his socks to reveal that he was crippled, hoping no one would bid. At twenty-eight, despite an extremely challenging life, Lewis obtained his manumission. Lewis was a brilliant man. He recognized the value of education, even if he had never had the opportunity to have any himself. In 1866 he traveled as far as Boston to raise funds and successfully established a school for black children in Westminster, Maryland that ran for four years, a stunning accomplishment. He would go on to be a speaker and author of the temperance movement in England, dying in Sheffield in 1888.
Leaving the world of museum-labeling and History behind, I like to think that despite all that had been taken from him - his labor, his freedom, his family - Lewis Charlton felt lucky, grateful even. What Lewis Charlton did is the thing etched in my consciousness by Saving Private Ryan as “Earn[ing] it”. He had been through hell, his family had been through hell, his country had been through hell, yet he was. He survived, he existed, and he chose to earn it rather than simply have it.
The past being, well, the past, there’s nothing we can do to repay Arch for his inspirational courage or Lewis Charlton for his determination and philanthropy, but we can choose to earn it in ways big and small. At the least we can honor them by sharing stories of the past and using their lessons to shape a brighter today and tomorrow. Today I’m grateful for these men, their stories, and a job that allows me to learn them and send them onward.
Book Review: Come Collect with Me
Get a load of this, me…writing a book review. Crazy times. Let’s dive right in.
Barry Perlman is a very nice guy and I’m no book critic, so it’s only natural that I’m inclined towards writing only pretty things about his book. The author’s personality and my inexperience both prove irrelevant. Come Collect with Me deserves to become a staple for collectors and dealers. Like most book reviews written by amateur pseudo-critic bloggers, this one will be mostly all about me, so if you can’t handle it just go buy the book now and stop reading here.
During my professional career as a dealer, doubts have crossed my mind. Not about making a living so much as whether I ought to be doing something that makes the world a better place…something that makes a difference to people. In those moments, I remind myself how great it felt when a grandmother who was downsizing hauled her jewelry box into my shop, costume tangled with gold, and I sorted it out and gave her around three thousand dollars for it, leaving myself ten percent. The look of astonishment on her face sticks with me years (a decade?) later. What if she had taken it to a less ethical proprietor? See, I do matter. Well, once. Is that really all that common, or is it just a rationalization?
I probably should have scheduled a session with someone like our author, a psychologist, years ago to hash this out. But eureka! Barry has written this book instead. Casting into the abyss his alternate future as a psychologist specializing in antiques dealers, he forgives our sins and affirms us thus: “Without other collectors and dealers in our lives, what would we do and who would we be? They provide us with a society in which we can share our passion, energy, laughter, knowledge, and appreciation.” My God, I matter? I matter!
But seriously, this book was a major epiphany for me as a dealer (and collector). It really did reveal to me a side of collectors I had forgotten existed, or perhaps never truly appreciated. When I sell someone a chair, they’re not simply buying a pretty thing to sit in or look at. There’s a lot more to it than that. The psychological insights are extremely helpful to the dealer side of me. One chapter is devoted to the reasons why collectors choose not to make a purchase. If that isn’t required reading for every dealer, I don’t know what is. I’m not going to spoil it, BUY THE BOOK.
Personally, I am a physical book person. I have the paperback and I like the fact that I’ll be able to go to the bookshelf and pick it up when I want to refer to it in the future. It’s that kind of book for me. I had fun reading it; it’s extremely relatable. But it will also be a reference volume. All that being said, I acknowledge that this is not a cheap book. Is it worth it? I promise you it is. However, it is also available very inexpensively as an e-book, some sort of thing I don’t understand, have never owned, and makes me feel anxious.
From the Farmhouse!
I’m thrilled to announce the next show on our schedule…From the Farmhouse right up the road in Elkton, MD on Saturday March 16th. I’ve saved up lots of neat country smalls that I’ll be offering at bargain prices. For more details head over to the Events tab and click the link to head over to the show’s Facebook page.
Sunday Funday
ADA Antiques Show 2018
The Original York Antiques Show, September 2018
Why does the Dealers' show keep getting better?
Shows1 CommentWhat better timing for this topic than in a quarter that has seen the shuttering of the former Burk York show, a re-branding of the Big One that drops the word “Antiques” entirely, and the revival of a little show in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware that proved just how much things can change in three years. In trying to understand how the NHADA show can keep getting better, it’s helpful to look through the lens of the three aforementioned stories.
Nobody needed those three happenings to convince them that antiques shows aren’t really working anymore. At least nobody looking at the data rationally. They can work for some dealers, and for other dealers some of the time, but that doesn’t mean they “work”. Antiques shows are sick, maybe terminally.
Four antiques shows in York, PA has been too many for a while now. I am sad that it transpired the way it did, but this is a positive change for the dealers. There will be some loss to the overall amount of money spent in that building on antiques, but halving the expenses for dealers who did all four will result in a net gain overall. This is the first and maybe most significant catalyst for growth at the Dealers’ show. As shows die off, the ones that are good will get better for a while. The enthusiasm (okay, I could just say sweet sweet greenbacks) for antiques can be expressed (spent) at fewer and fewer venues, and the very best will see an uptick.
Next, The Winter Show. Which is what most people I talk to have called it for a long time anyway. I think stripping “Antiques” from the brand is a great move. But a lot of people think that the show has strayed from its identity. That’s not where I come down on the issue, but I agree that there is value in embracing strengths and running with them. The NHADA show scores big points there. It is an Americana show, consistently, period.
Speaking of consistency…so the Rehoboth show. It sucked. It was good for me, but the consensus was “wow this sucked”. It was off for two years while the convention center was under construction, so it had been three years since the last show. Where it goes from here, who knows. Continuity matters. It’s not anybody’s fault, things have changed in three years and people have moved on. The NHADA show is big on continuity. Same building, same look, very low dealer turnover. And it’s been happening for like 60 years.
On the face of it, an antiques show getting better at this stage of the game is pretty shocking. It should be. But when you delve in deeper, it’s not an accident. The show is built for success. It is well-managed by people who still have a long waiting list of dealers to choose from. They don’t choose the biggest name every time, they try to serve the best interest of the show as a whole. It’s a happening that has developed a cult following, one that I think ensures success into the foreseeable future. A foreseeable future…now that is an enviable position among antiques shows.
Brimfield Finds, September 2018
Vlog: Bobby the Cat's Debut
Vlog: Scaring the kids with a Victorian prosthetic leg
Vlog: NHADA 2018
Vlog: Summertime Auction Action
NHAS CASH GIVEAWAY
Antiques Shows are Dead and We Killed them; Chapter 1: EARLY PACKING
One of the many ways in which dealers have been complicit in helping to murder antiques shows is packing up their booth early. Before I get to ranting, one important distinction: at Brimfield, a flea market, or similar affair, I have absolutely no problem with it. But a show that has advertised a closing time and charged admission is a different story.
Packing early is inconsiderate of customers present and future, a point I'll circle back around to. It's a slap in the face to the management of the show. It's often in violation of the show contract, many of which stipulate "NO EARLY PACKING" as it has become more and more common even in the relatively short time I've been doing shows. It's rude to other dealers who honor their commitment to be open for business until the show is closed.
As a young dealer, I take particular offense to early packing. The message it sends to customers requires little interpretation: "You are not worth my time." We love to pitch shows as museums without barriers. Educational opportunities. Come look even if you can't afford to buy. Unless you show up on Sunday afternoon.
Speaking of Sunday afternoon, who does stuff then? I don't know, millennials? Normal people? People who may not be hardcore collectors (yet) but showed enough interest to commit a little bit of time and money to an antiques show? Hey, those are the people who might buy something from us young dealers someday! When a veteran dealer is packing early and telling those people they're worthless, it pisses me off. Maybe there's a 0% chance of them buying something from that dealer. If they leave disgusted and never visit a show again, so what. But for me, hoping for a few more decades in the business, those people do matter. Every. single. one. of. them.
If a dealer can't honor their commitment, they should quit the show, period. Antiques shows are dying, and early-packing dealers are helping to kill them.