Events

Years and years ago, hubby, the kids and I visited a family member near Wautoma, Wisconsin. We stopped for lunch and next to the restaurant was an antique store. Naturally, we had to stop in after our meal. We were immediately drawn to a gorgeous antique desk. Beautiful wood, lots of compartments and a classy brass nameplate. It turns out that this fabulous piece of furniture was from the 1920s and had once belonged to a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. We admired it a great deal and asked the shop’s proprietor if he knew any of its provenance. He shrugged and said it belonged to a local family, passed down after the Assemblyman’s death. They would have liked to keep it but, unfortunately, needed the money more than a fancy heirloom. We were saddened to hear the story, but did understand.

It was a joy to see it, touch the wood and wish that we could afford to buy it and give it a good home. But alas, the price tag was $1,500. This equated to a year’s rent back then.  We did return about a year later, and it was sold.

Fast Forward to February, 2010. We stopped to shop at one of our favorite antique malls, Roscoe Antiques, in South Beloit, Illinois. Directly in front of us stood a magnificent desk, even more fantastic than the one we’d viewed years back. This is a multi-dealer mall, but as luck would have it, the owner was on the premises, working in his booth. He came forward and asked if we had any questions.  And we did! He shared with us that this was called a Wooton Desk, from the 1880s or thereabouts.  He had purchased it in central Illinois but was not able to learn anything about the desk’s history.  It is an astounding piece of furniture and had all the “bells and whistles” you could want in an office in that time-frame. Lots of cubbies, sliding drawers, various sized openings, probably secret compartments for special treasures (wish we had the time to check them out!)  We asked if we could take some pictures and he was glad to allow that.  He told us he would love to keep it and agreed it was truly special. But he had paid a hefty price for it and his intention was to sell it.

When we returned home, I “Googled” Wooton and found out that the design patents were granted to William S. Wooton in 1870. He was an Indianapolis, Indiana entrepreneur and his production ran from 1870 to 1884.  It was called a “secretary desk” and was intended to organize all records and keep documents in pigeon holes. While there was a certain amount of “snob appeal” in owning such a grand and complex piece of furniture, it was obsolete after only a short time. File cabinets, typewriter desks and stands and the like took over.

I know the ad for “apps for this and apps for that” are what people are looking for, but who wouldn’t love to have a grand piece of furniture like this in their home or office?

Those of you who have read my blogs know that I am a seller of antiques and collectibles and one of my favorite places to do so is the flea market! Hubby and I set up at a small, local ‘flea’ this past weekend. It was our first time selling at this one, but had been there numerous times to buy, and with some success. There were probably 50 vendors. I am reluctant to call them ‘antique dealers’ since many were very new to it and had items that were more contemporary and probably plucked from boxes in their basements.

The lady next to us introduced herself as Mabel and told me it was her 2^nd time there.  She was quite old, perhaps in her late 70s, and came with a friend who had shared the rental costs with her. Her items were few and far between – I don’t think she had more than 15 items on her table.  And they were most likely from the low-end or discounted stores, for example, a ceramic lighthouse, 2 green bowls that were not from the Depression Era, and a cow figurine that had a chip. Mabel was a nice lady and I enjoyed chatting with her, but she was a little down because she had only sold one $5 item and it was nearly time to close up shop.  I gently suggested that next time she should bring more items, giving better offerings to the shoppers.  She smiled and said she had numerous collections and had her late husband’s things to go through, but hated to drag more than a boxful to the sale. I said I could understand that. And I did, at least until I saw her grandson come in to pack her up. He was about 6 foot 3 inches tall, a solid young man, and could readily have carried in as many boxes as she wanted.  Before she left, I asked her how she did and it turns out it was only the $5 she had mentioned earlier.  She told me she had sold $15 worth the last year and hoped she would top that.  I smiled and said “maybe next year” and she agreed.  I wonder if she’ll catch on and bring a nice assortment next year!

I shopped at a booth with a young man who shared with me that he had sold on an Internet site for over 3 years.  He told me that everything he brought had been tested on the site and not sold.  Gee, why would you tell that to buyers who may have intended to sell them that way. Now they know these were ‘rejects.’ While I was in the booth, he told me of a lady who just  bought a rather nice glass vase from him. They evidently haggled a bit and she walked out with the prize for $35 instead of the $50 he had originally wanted. He relayed the story and then he exclaimed to me (and anyone else in the area) that he had found it in a dumpster so it was ALL profit! Now, we all know that the intention of sellers it to make some money on their sales, but we did not need to know that it was free and the buyer was a “sucker” in his mind!

Among the many people through the booths was a former co-worker and his wife.  Through the years she has asked me to save any “sewing items” for her. Items such as darners, needle cases, unique buttons, etc.  Well, I had found the coolest item – a combination egg darner, needle case (the handle turned off), and it even had advertising on the ‘egg’ part! I held it for a few sales, waiting for her to show up and she did!  I proudly displayed the piece and expected her to be happy and ready to buy the treasure.  I offered it to her for a little over what I paid for it. She picked it up, turned it around, and said “Uhhh, I’m just not sure.” I said that it was OK, I’d put it in the display case and see if someone else liked it.  As luck would have it, the next person through was so thrilled with it they did not even quibble over the price (quite a bit more than I had quoted the friend.)  About 10 minutes later the friend returned, and said she’d take it. I had to tell her it had just sold and she pouted.  (You snooze, you lose is a famous motto in antique buying and boy, was this appropriate.)

You may recall my nemesis “NEWMAN” from earlier blogs.  This is a red-headed lady who has tortured me in searches for my treasures.  Some of our run-ins have been written about. Well, here she was at our booth.  She was, as usual, all smiles and trying to be a charmer (it does not work.) She asked how we were doing and we embellished a bit on our profits, and smiled back sweetly. She picked up a figurine and asked what our “best price” was.  We gave her a discount but she wanted more.  We came down a tad and she bought it.  She then proceeded to tell the story of a super vase she “stole” from a young man at the sale. She knew it was an expensive vase and she was able to get him to lower the price to $35! She was so proud.  I smiled even more sweetly after that and said it sounded like a great deal.  I was glad that the lad had shared the story with me.  I knew that he had gotten one up on my Newman and that made my day.

Any stories of the road you’d like to share or collections you are proud of?  CQ would love to hear about them.

No Egrets Antiques is our business name, and while it’s a play on words to reflect our attitude about buying and selling antiques and collectibles, we do have some regrets about our past purchases, and they sit in storage awaiting some sort of decision on what would be the best way to dispose of them. I don’t recall any regrets toward any thing we have sold. Oh sure, if you held onto some antique long enough it may increase in value, but then where would the profit come from to buy more. So we try to keep the “I Let It Go Too Cheap” talk out of our conversation.

Our buying time is constant with different seasons giving us different venues to shop, all of them discussed in previous blogs on Collectors’ Quest. And I have discussed some of our selling activities also. We’re getting ready for a full calendar of flea markets this year, with several already paid for to ensure we get favorable locations. Our first was last month and while successful, it was a small show and we had a small booth. Our next show will be new to us and the booth space is larger. The challenge is finding the right mix of items to attract a wide audience to your booth.

I’m a believer in the philosphy that shoppers attract shoppers, and to that end we select some items that attract buyers but take time to look over, keeping people in our booth longer. These are mostly inexpensive collectibles, post cards, records, photos, costume jewelry, and we sprinkle in salt and pepper shakers, and little figurines of animals. Every one loves little animals.

With an indoor setting, wind, cold and rain are not an issue so paper, magazines, photos, books and framed prints can be used to fill the tables and the booth space with customers. The rest will be the antiques that have value and will attract the serious collectors. Then comes the fun of the outdoor markets and we are signed up for five shows already. Plus I’m looking into about nine other dates from early May thru October. Naturally, the opportunity to purchase antiques at all these shows are part of the attraction.

Spring also brings out the yard sale signs. I know that mid February is a poor time to start thinking about garages filled with great treasures, but with the long winter’s end coming nearer, my March Madness is the first orange sign at the end of a driveway. So let’s hope your buying season starts soon and maybe we will cross paths at the end of a driveway.

And if a vendor at a flea market is wearing an outlandish neck tie to attraction attention to his booth, say HI, it’s me.

I’d like to say that my interest in collecting print blocks had something to do with my father. He was an embosser, that’s the raised lettering or design on leather or paper that is similar to printing in its process. Dad also had a small printing press in the basement and did side jobs printing wedding invitations and baby announcements. Plus business cads and letter heads.

Beside drawers full of type with names like Park Avenue and Old English, he had print blocks purchased in sets that had standard themes, flags and symbols, holidays, religious, and animals. I remember some customers wanting special logos on letter heads or business cards and he would have them made by an engraver friend of his. I have no idea what happened to those sets and print blocks. And my personal interest in collecting them really stems from the advertising and graphic art.

Collecting of printing blocks was made easier in the Milwaukee area, with the proliferation of printing companies, and the German influence of paper making and printing. Engravers also settled in the area and when WW-I cut off imported printed products from Germany, it was a boom to the local printing industry.

I have hundreds of print blocks in my collection. Ones with big name advertisers never last long before they are sold. The copper top print blocks have good appeal from their easy to read nature, and the inherent warmth of copper. Some of the blocks are from newsletters and they are often comical or political in nature and sometimes both. The most intricate work is on the advertising block for the Schade Printing Service, with its great village street scene, with the company logo place on an oval sign above a doorway.

Another of my favorites is this clock face with all manner of electric appliances around the dial face and advertising what electricity can do for you around the home. Ironically, it is from the Wisconsin Electric Power Company, a monopoly, which need not advertise at all.

This one is absolutely beautiful if not impossible to read, especially backwards, but that’s how the print block looks so that the correct image winds up on the paper. In case you have trouble seeing this one in all its fancy script lettering, it reads “Received Of”.

My largest block is actually made of stone and was used to lithograph beer bottle labels. Guess dad never explained the lithograph process because the images on the stone are correct and I have no idea how the image is then transferred to paper. These blocks are around three inches thick and weigh a ton, but are highly collectible for their advertising. Its my good fortune to find two stones with beer advertising which greatly increases their appeal to several groups of collectors. That seems to be true with other print blocks as well. If you are a cat figure collector, putting a small print block of a cat on your display shelf is an easy choice.

Most of my blocks were purchased at antique stores or flea markets, and most are inexpensive. I encourage you to do a little exploring at your favorite market, whether it’s a brick and mortar location, online or in a field of tables and tents.

A New Year and an old haunt just seem to go together. We have spent many an hour at School Days Mall in Sturtevant, WI searching for treasures over the many years they have occupied this old school building. First discovered by Wifey when she worked in the Racine, WI area, it’s located on Hwy 11, a couple of miles east of Interstate 94, and about 20 minutes north of the Illinois border and about the same distance from Milwaukee. The building is large with eleven classrooms, gym and library, and much of it filled with quality antiques, collectibles and furniture with a restriction of 1970 or older. Four of the rooms are occupied by independent dealers with a mix of old and new.
As you enter from the rear parking lot you pass through the hallowed school halls fitted with cases on both sides, and after a thorough inspection with one of several staff members assisting and carrying our selections to the counter, we start in the side rooms, then on to the largest room, still called the gym.
School Days has about sixty dealers, and the variety of goods offered is reflective of their individual tastes and specialities. As we toured from room to room, and the staff carried our collective goods to the front counter, it seemed as if our every requirement might be met. But alas, we could not find an old rabbit ears TV antenna or ugly TV lamp worthy of sitting atop the 1940s set I turned into a digital picture frame and mentioned in a recent posting.
I’m not sure why it’s taken so look to write about School Days. It could be the frequency of our past visits, or it might be what Wifey suggested; I wanted to keep it secret from the hoards of travelers on Interstate 94 to and from Chicago and beyond. It may be too late, a good share of the visitors to School Days come from some distance with the sole intent of finding additions to their collections. And with a group of long time dealers that know what repeat visitors want, it’s a fun and rewarding place for a return visit. Consignments are now part of the mix of offerings, and we saw some good bargains in furniture that was from several periods and styles.
If you have read previous articles on Collectors’ Quest, I have a set of criteria, that must be met for a mention in my blogs, and School Days fills the bill nicely. So if you’re in the area, it’s worth a shot down the off ramp for a chance to find your next treasure. Located at 9500 Durand Ave. (Hwy 11) Sturtevant, WI. Their normal hours are 10-5pm and 11-5 on Sundays. I recommend a call first, to confirm the times, 262-886-1069. Dan and Karin are always glad to have new visitors and welcome you with a coffee pot in the gym. They have scheduled events throughout the year, with four storewide sales, February 1-28th, April 24-May 9th, November 19-28th and December 26-31st. They also have two flea markets outside, one on June 5th and September 18th for the fall flea market.
A new feature is Senior Citizens Day on Wednesday.
On this visit we were helped by the mall manager Kathy at left and Judy, some of the many staff members you may see on your visit. Kathy has been at this mall nearly from the time the shop opened in 1986 and enjoys her own collections of pottery and mission furniture. With staff members that know and appreciate antiques, they can help you find the type of items to fill your own Quest for Collectibles.