vintage

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 was told very early in my antiquing days that having monograms on silverware, vanity items such as hand mirrors, brushes and combs, and jewelry is a negative thing. Having an initial or name can decrease the value by three-quarters or even more.  I found this a delightful tidbit  of information and began collecting items with monograms immediately. To be able to pay a lot less for something because it had a history made no sense to me and to this day, I revel in the ability to get such bargains.

I recall sitting at an auction, next to a young girl and we had been bidding against each other on a few items. It was a friendly, not combative situation, each of us chiding the other for being “too cheap to raise their paddle again.”  When a lovely sterling silver serving fork was held up by the auctioneer, he mentioned the pattern, its age (approximately 1920) and that it had a monogram of an “M” on the handle.  I smiled and raised my paddle. I won it for only $20 and gladly received the treasure from the “runner.” My neighbor then asked me if that “M” was special to me, perhaps my name? I laughed and said “no, I was going to use it as a MEAT fork, so the “M” worked for me. She stared at first, sort of digesting my meaning, and then she chuckled. She felt that it was pretty darn clever.

I have owned a set of small compotes for a long time, used when serving cocktails. They are little silver dishes that holds olives, limes, lemons or such. They have a letter “B” on them and I always say that that initial stands for “Barware.” And who can disagree? I also have a few condiment forks with an “O” and I proudly use those to serve…you guessed it – Olives!

Many of my silver mirrors have initials, some with two or three of them.  I am especially gleeful when I find one with a family member’s initial. For example, my mother’s name was Ruth and the “Rs” are a real treasure. Or a letter from my last name, either from my maiden name or current one.

I also like to “gift” presents that have an initial, perhaps to my daughter or a grandchild. I love to introduce or encourage “provenance” or history to children.  Let them appreciate that once another child looked into this silver mirror, or ate their cereal with a spoon with their initial. Maybe that spoon came from THEIR grandma!

I do not see it as a decrease in value to have it monogrammed, although I suppose if it were a full set of silverware, it would be nice to have it adorned with your family’s initial.

Perhaps I should not be writing about this because now all you treasure-hunters will think of creative ways to buy items with an initial and raise the prices.  But it’s OK, there are enough pieces out there and I wish you happy hunting!

February is here and the Super Bowl is over with the winners celebrating and losers well, probably trying to understand the loss.

It’s also a time when many antique malls and stores have sales, with markdowns and discounts throughout. And with our outdoor antique market season coming, it’s time to start restocking our depleted inventory. We’re looking for items that are unique and underpriced, and that requires lots of work finding just the right pieces. Being collectors of far too many things, wer’e also looking for additions to our own collections.

One of our favorite antique malls is Fox Lake Country Antiques located in Oconomowoc, WI., and a short jaunt from home. Their mailing on a special sale had been attached to our calendar and with the Super Bowl starting so late in the afternoon we had “Time To Buy.” And while out their direction another must stop is the Antique Center at Wales, WI.

Looking at the first photo you may wonder about our purchases, so let me justify our buying habit. The window frame and coffee pot are both for our personal use. Wifey has a good collection of pots and pitchers of all ages. This one is old transfer ware in the Kenilworth pattern by H. Alcock & Co of Cobridge, England. It had a tiny chip on the spout and was priced “As Is” but as the display shelf is high up, only Wifey, You and I will know it’s not perfect. It was purchased at Wales. We also bought bronze hinges at Wales, and they are to sell. We seem to favor metal hardware and these three are very decorative and large. Made by Yale & Towne and signed on back, STANDARD Y&T. Let’s hope these find a buyer when its “Time To Sell.”

Our purchases at Fox L.C. included a rubber St. Bernard figurine, a souvenir plate from a jeweler in Ithaca, MI, an advertising pen holder marked Rexall Drug Stores, a deck of playing cards with Citgo Oil advertising, an old nut cracker with lion heads on the handles and two Masonic pins. All these will go into our stock for now as its “A Time To Hold”

Now lastly let me show you what my reason is for buying the window frame. I already had one for many years, it’s in our powder room off the master bedroom. With long winters, the room has a garden theme that includes this window and a “view” of the flowers in our gardens.

Oh, wait, “A Time To Pitch” is not in Wifey’s vocabulary, but I’ll be taking some time soon to sort through a lot of discarded electronics and other things relegated to the basement; too old to use – too new to be collectible.

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.

Corset Art Book By Tamar Stone

Conversing with artist Tamar Stone, several times, I’ve not only become quite smitten (especially with her corset and bed books), but have more than a sneaking suspicion that she’s got a lot of stuff… With all her projects and interests, she must have a lot of stuff! So I had to ask her what she collected…

Over the years, my collections have changed, and in some ways, I’ve kind of cut back somewhat. But what I have collected are: cameras and photography “how to” consumer guides to better photography, postcards, travel guides, cooking pamphlets and food display things.

I used to collect all kinds of dishes, glassware, kitchen appliances, which is ironic – I don’t even cook.

One of my favorite things I got in the past few years was at an auction — a corset box, but inside was someone’s blonde hair “fall.” I was the only person that day who stepped up and yelled I’ll take that — for a $1.00 — and they were glad to get rid of it… It’s sort of disgusting, yet amusing I guess.

Back to my collecting — cow things. (I love cows, I like to get out of the car just to pet them. A reason to travel with Wet Ones — which we do.) Although I do not collect Hallmark cow things… I’m sort of picky — I prefer folk art cows to butter packaging with nice illustrations etc.

Stone's Art Studio

I collect salesman sample things, although they have gotten expensive, so now I just look at them or take photos of them here and there.

Although I work with the doll beds, I don’t collect dolls or anything like that — except for some corset stuff, but I’ve never been a doll person. Although I really love the metal doll houses — I have a few of those. I wish I had the wall space to take them apart and open them up to put up on the walls… There’s just something intriguing about having the walls of a doll house as simulated walls in wood grain and brick — in tin — up on your home wall.

Shadow Box By Tamar Stone

I love Joseph Cornell etc. and I wish I was more 3-d mechanically inclined…

I have a bunch of these old clock boxes I got at an auction. A whole cart of them for $1.00. Sure I had to scrape out some dead animals and their nests, but it was worth it — once I got past being disgusted. But now I have a whole bunch of clock workings, springs and such and these old wood boxes — and I’m sort of stumped of how to use them… I made this first shadow box and haven’t really gotten to working on the others. I wouldn’t mind selling it, but it’s not something my dealer handles… So I seem to have it, and all the other ‘parts’ for now.

For more on the artist, check out her website.