Whatever our instinct to collect is, it must go back quite a ways. I would even posit that our desire to accumulate things is as old, and as evolved, as our consciousness itself.

What a person possessed, or didn't possess, always did - and still does - represent their place within a society. At one time it might have had implications about what you could do with your life, and where you can go. Fortunately for us, we live in the Twenty-First century in the U.S. All you collection does is satisfy an individual need and broadcast - depending on what you collect, and a what level - your good taste, or lack thereof, to the world at large.

And, when I mentioned that lack of taste before? I wasn't talking about what you collect... It's a well-known fact that you have fantastic taste...

In this day and age, when everything seemingly has a value, it's a must to make sure your collection is safe. It's loss may not mean societal downfall, but it could well mean financial if anything is lost, stolen or broken, especially when the collection represents thousands and thousands of dollars and years of effort.

Here's the question then this week: At what point is your antiques collection officially worth insuring? How, exactly, do you decide?

Send your answers to noah.fleisher@fwpubs.com, or go online to www.antiquetrader.com/atblog, look for The Question of the Week, and post your answer there.

I've always wanted to use the words exodus and booty in a headline, and today was my chance. Just look at it... Marvelous in its simplistic complexity... Or maybe I just need another couple of hours of sleep - my two-year-old daughter has been up sick for most of the last two nights, so my mind is a little hazy...

Anyway...

I like this story from over at CNN Money, talking about how a lot of other online sites are already picking up the pieces of the shattered eBay buying coalition. Hardcore eBay-ers will stick with the compnay through thick and thin, but many others are leaving, or simply cutting back and "diversifying," if you will, in other online markets. Certainly a good idea given looming economic issues and a highly unorthodox presidential election.

The article also contains links to all of the Web sites it discusses, giving you a good chance to check them out and decide what, if anything, you like.

I have been criticized for reporting the negative before, but I'm a journalist first and the story is the thing. To ignore this news, and not analyze what it might mean for our business, would be irresponsible.

The overall January sales figures, as reported on Yahoo, by Reuters, were not too good.



That includes a lot of factors, especially big box stores like Wal-Mar and Target, and a lot of the items people aren't buying are things that they shouldn't be buying there anyway - art, furniture, etc...

A January lull is no big surprise to the antiques business; after the holidays and the lull in mid-level and flea market shows - a lot of high-end happens in the Winter, and you can't really count the health of The Winter Antiques Show or The American Antiques Show as truly reflective of the real health of the antiques economy - there is a lot of space. General line buyers are going online to auctions, or checking out shops or small shows nearby.

There are schools of thought that will consider an economic slowdown healthy for antiques, and I don't disagree with them. I do also know that when the economy gets bad - remember 2001? - the antiques business is one of the first to feel the lack of discretionary income, and one of the last to benefit when people come out of the stupor.

The above report, along a reported and well-documented contraction of the jobs market last month, don't add up to prosperity. No one wants to say recession, but the laws of economics are fairly immutable.

Anyone going to any good shows or auctions this weekend?

I'm curious to know, and curious to see if anyone cares to mention it in the comments below...

Come one, you know you want to try it...

Just putting the final touches on the 2-20 issue of Trader. Only one more left in the longest, if shortest, month of the year.

Click on the front page to go to the site, though the stories won't be up for a day or two...

The Maine Antiques Digest is reporting the death of its founder, Samuel Pennington.

I knew Sam peripherally, as so many in the business did. He created an important paper for the antiques business, one that helped bring alot of northern New England dealers back into the mainstream.

Sam was loved and reviled equally. I always had to hand it to him for being so honest about things in the business, a much cherished and rare trait in this business. We all know, in the antiques print game, you don't always get to tell things unvarnished. Sam had enough power to do so and not suffer diminished returns for it.

It's been  a tough month on antiques publications. First Alison Ledes of The Magazine Antiques passes, then Laura Brant sells her stake in the magazine. Now Sam.

To the MAD family, condolences from Trader.

Hate to see something like this, as reported by The Preservationist Online.

These lovely old houses in Massachusetts are amazing and this one was all set for restoration... Someone decided to toss a match on it... I wonder how they can sleep at night, or if they do at all. Maybe it was an organized thing. Maybe it was a bunch of idiot kids, and maybe it was a crackhead who dropped their pipe... Hate this, especially when it was going to be brought back to life...

Check it out.