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This week's Question of the Week:

Does your collection have a family connection? Does it cross the generation gap or are you a “first generation” collector?

Post a reply here, send one to Sandra.Sparks@fwmedia.com, or post a reply on the Antique Trader message boards HERE.

In this week's edition of Antique Trader, we're running a story on collector Rick Weiner of Allentown, Pa. You might say Rick acquires his collection "the hard way"; he digs 19th century outhouse pits for his finds.

Click here to read the story Privy to history: Digging 19th century outhouses for historic glass

Digging in old privies for vintage items is kind of an odd hobby.

Do you, or someone you know, have an offbeat collection or hobby?

Post a reply here, on the Antique Trader message boards, or e-mail sandra.sparks@fwmedia.com.

Antique furniture is functional as well as beautiful.

How do you protect your prized furnishings from damage while they are in use?

Post a reply here, in the Question of the Week forum thread, or e-mail sandra.sparks@fwmedia.com and let us know.

Long before there was American Idol and Star Search and The Gong Show even, there was the Hedberg Family Christmas Program brought to you by… the Hedberg family, of course.

I’m not exactly sure how far back our family Christmas program dates, but we’ve been putting on a performance for my parents well over 30 years.

One of my earliest recollections was acting out the Nativity Story. I think I was about 4 years old. I was wearing a robe so I believe my role was a shepherd. I can’t remember exactly, but I do recall that my three oldest sisters portrayed the three wise men. Wearing dish towels on their heads, they marched in with the gifts of gold, frankincense and ... packages of graham crackers (see photo).

Each year for our family Christmas gathering, we either put on a play, share a reading or sing as a family unit or as individuals or small groups. Thankfully, this is not like American Idol. Mom and Dad do not judge us, merely enjoy the performances.

We also learned early on that there was no such thing as embarrassment. Check out the picture at right. My twin sister Raylene (the taller one on the left) and I dressed up in the elf costumes we wore for our grade-school program and sang a song. No one ever accused me of being shy (or tall, for that matter).

As our family has expanded over the years to add spouses and children, the format of the program has changed. Now, instead of the original family doing something together, each of us eight kids do a number, so to speak, with our respective families.

Many times, on the long drive to our family gathering, I have written a poem or something my family can read together. As a former elf, I always look forward to it. I just have to get my other “participants” to share the excitement. I mean really, they can’t be that embarrassed. It’s not like I’m making them wear elf suits!

Or am I?

Antique Trader would love to hear stories of your family holiday traditions  — whether it’s trimming the tree, caroling, participating in a program or watching the real holiday classics on television.

Drop a note in the mail box, my inbox (robyn.austin@fwmedia.com) or post a reply in our forums online at antiquetrader.com. Maybe your holiday tradition can become a classic for someone else.

Happy Holidays!

With the calendar page turned to December, Thanksgiving has come and gone – along with Black Friday.

Most of you know the reason they call the busiest shopping day of the year Black Friday is because it is considered the day retailers begin operating in the black (turning a profit) and, if the season goes well, will finish the year with financial books in the black.

This year, the black also symbolized death. When I heard the news story about the temporary store worker who was trampled to death by an overzealous crowd of shoppers, I was shocked. But not completely surprised. Sometimes people can be desperate for deals – no matter what it takes.

I personally don’t shop on Black Friday if I can avoid it. Oh, I consider it. I page through all the circulars to see what’s on sale, then ask myself, “Is there anything I can’t live without? That I’d fight the crowds for? Is this deal sooooo good it is worth setting the alarm for 2 a.m. so I can be in line somewhere by 3 a.m. for a 4 o’clock opening?” Pretty much without exception, the answer is no.

A friend of mine said he had wonderful shopping experience this year on Black Friday. That’s because he was hitting antiques shops instead of the big box retailers. “No crowds to fight there,” he said. Then we both realized that while it was good news for him and his bargain shopping mission, empty antiques stores are never a good sign.

Antique Trader would like to know what you shop and mall owners are doing to attract shoppers this holiday season? How can we as an industry convince people that purchasing an antique for themselves or as a gift is a far better investment than buying a silly gadget that could break by the time the Easter bunny comes hopping around?

Perhaps instead of focusing on offering the best deals, we should offer the experience. We have something those chain stores don’t have. We have history. We have nostalgia. Who doesn’t like to step back in time and remember Christmases past? Have you found a way to offer that this holiday season?

Please share your ideas via email at robyn.austin@fwmedia.com or comment in the Talkin’ Shop message board on our Web site. Let’s do what we can to help each other finish the year in the black.

Never mind that Halloween candy is barely polished off and leftover Thanksgiving turkey still lurks in the refrigerator, all of a sudden it’s time to start thinking about Christmas. Every year about this time the spirit of Ebenezer Scrooge saying “Bah, humbug!” comes calling when I hear that first Christmas carol way too early and see stores putting out Christmas decorations as they remove the Halloween décor.

But before long, I get caught up in the holiday spirit. I start baking cookies and looking for that perfect gift. I send old Scrooge packing and welcome the memories and traditions of Christmases past.

Most families can say they have them – traditions that make the holiday uniquely their own. Traditions have always been a part of the Sparks family Christmas. The entire clan looks forward to chowing down on my famous garlic mashed potatoes and yes, another turkey, complete with stuffing made the same way as last year, and the year before that. The meal wouldn’t be complete without sweet potatoes with marshmallows and cranberry-orange sauce.

When it’s time to exchange gifts, someone is chosen to be Santa, a much-coveted role; Santa gets to hand out the presents in any order he or she chooses. Before Santa gives out that first gift, though, everyone – young and old – must relate a memory from a past Christmas.

Then gifts are handed out and opened one at a time. Sometimes that can take an entire afternoon! Many gifts exchanged are not fancy or store-bought. They certainly cannot be found in any catalog. One year my mom gave me a tablecloth, exquisitely crocheted by her mother. It’s nearly 100 years old now. Another year she made me a quilt using scraps of clothing I’d worn as a child. She’d kept them all those years. Seventeen years ago my husband made a potty chair for our first grandchild, and our daughter already considers it an heirloom that she’ll pass on to Kayla some Christmas in the future.

Some of our traditions have lasted for many years. Some have been tweaked to include new family members. As the family grows, some traditions have been added and some have gone away, but the longest-lasting is to try to get the entire family together at least for one day. I know that as the kids grow up and start their own families and their own traditions, it won’t always happen, but no matter where we are, or how much things change, I’m confident we’ll always be together in heart.

As you celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Christmas and embrace old traditions or start new ones, enjoy family and friends who give the holidays their true meaning.

What holiday traditions do you look forward to each year? Have you been the lucky recipient of a family heirloom? Have you given someone a gift they will someday pass on to the next generation? Let us know about your favorite traditions or most memorable holiday by Dec. 10. We’ll share them with all our readers in a future issue.

P.S.: Visit the blog at www.antiquetrader.com to find out what happened on my most memorable Christmas. Nothing will ever top that one!

Our tradition: When it’s time to exchange gifts, someone is chosen to be Santa, a much-coveted role; Santa gets to hand out the presents in any order he or she chooses. Before Santa gives out that first gift, though, everyone – young and old – must relate a memory from a past Christmas.

It is highly unlikely my son, a fifth-grader, will ever have to actually dial a phone. Nor will he ever have a sneezing fit while cleaning the chalkboard erasers. Nor will he curse over jammed typewriter keys because his fingers were faster than the machine.

In fact, I’d wager his only exposure to typewriters is “history” articles like the one Martin Howard shares with us in this week’s Antique Trader.

Mr. Howard set out to collect something “off the beaten path,” and he certainly found it. I don’t know many people who collect the oh-so-heavy and clunky-to-handle writing tools of days gone by. Mainly because they are oh so heavy and oh so clunky to handle. But those who do, know they have in their possession one of the most essential pieces of machinery in history!

Although the shape, design and weight of typewriters have changed over time, and there was even some effort to rearrange the letters, one thing has remained the same: the keyboard is still an essential means for communication. In fact, as Mr. Howard notes, “The keyboard truly connects the planet.”

Look around you at all those businessmen and women typing on their BlackBerries. Look at just about every teenager out there “texting” their friends. Look at all the e-mails in your inbox.

Where would we be without those first typewriters and keyboards? How exciting it must be for folks like Martin Howard to track those down, buy them and, in his case, restore them.

I remember typing essays and reports in junior high and high school on my mom’s big Royal. Lifting that monster onto the dining room table may have been the start of my back problems! But it worked.

It typed. Not as fast as I’d like sometimes, but the letters went on the page and the papers were up to my teacher’s standards. So I really couldn’t complain. But I was a teenager, so I did – especially after we got electric typewriters in school and then, by my later high school years, computers with this “ultra-fast” keyboard.

Fast-forward 30 years and my 10-year-old already knows the “home row” and is typing with both hands poised over the keyboard. In his classroom, both the chalkboard and overhead projector have been replaced by what is called a SMART Board – an interactive, electronic whiteboard.

Let me tell you about this SMART Board. You can draw or write on the touch screen and save that info into a document. The teacher can display everything from class pictures to movies to Web sites. What an incredible teaching and learning tool!

But then again, that’s what the typewriter was and always has been. If someone hadn’t figured out a way to get type-written words on paper, you probably wouldn’t be holding this newspaper in your hands either. Those typewriters are pretty special to us writers and editors.
Perhaps I could start my own collection. They certainly would look a lot more attractive than that pile of outdated computer monitors and broken keyboards!

Antique Trader would like to know if you collect something that was significant to history (typewriters, telephones, radios, etc.) but evolved into something else we still use today — something that perhaps has transformed over time from something enormous to electronic. Use that new-fangled keyboard and send me an email at robyn.austin@fwmedia.com or post a reply here.

Until next time, keep your hands on the home row... asdf jkl;... asdf jkl;...

Driving around the neighborhood, seeing all the inflatable figures on front lawns, lighted trees and other decorations, a person knows a major holiday is just around the corner. But the trees aren’t green and red. They are orange, black and purple. Those aren’t snowmen and Santas I’m seeing. They are ghosts, goblins and jack-o’-lanterns.

Yup, it appears Halloween is becoming just as big as Christmas. But some of you collectors and dealers already knew that, didn’t you?

Be sure to take time to read Mark Roeder’s “spooky delights” feature on Halloween collectibles in this issue. You’ll learn what collectibles to look for, where to find them and what to do with them.

You’ll also find yourself thinking back in time to when you celebrated Halloween as a child. I know I did.

The first thoughts that come to mind are Halloween parties. This was back in the day when we could just call them “Halloween” parties and political correctness hadn’t’ been invented yet.

At 2 years old, my twin sister Raylene (“man” at right) and I made the perfect couple at this home Halloween party. I don’t know if I should be relieved I got to be the “woman” or embarrassed I was already stuffing my shirt with socks as a toddler.

My parents occasionally threw a party, inviting friends, neighbors and relatives. My creative mother always managed to throw some sort of homemade costume together — even if it was just an ensemble of items found in our “play box.” (See photo.) I think the box of clothes — complete with plastic wigs and “mink stoves” (stoles) — eventually was just called our “Halloween box.” Some pretty interesting costumes were created over the years, that’s for sure.

I also enjoyed our grade-school parties, where we had pumpkin-carving and costume contests, where we’d bob for apples, walk through the then-scary haunted house, and win yummy prizes in the cakewalk — usually cakes, cookies and cupcakes decorated with frosting and candy corn. M-m-m. Those were the days. 

At an even younger age, I recall putting together a Halloween puzzle at my grandparents’ house. The wooden blocks formed the picture of a little witch girl, stirring her brew in a pumpkin-shaped pot with little black kittens running around.

I know that if I flipped the blocks, they would form other pictures, but I don’t recall any of those. For some reason, I was enamored with that Halloween picture. I put that puzzle together countless times on each visit. I wonder what my grandma ever did with it.

Antique Trader would like to hear from readers who collect Halloween antique and vintage items (or other spooky delights), or have a favorite Halloween memory to share. Were they tricks? Or treats?

E-mail robyn.austin@fwpubs.com and let us know or post a reply here.

I cannot see or touch one of my most valuable collectible items; it is a memory from earliest childhood that involves playing cards.

My family – parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles would gather for their every-other-week card party held in my grandparents’ dining room.

Each family would bring their table and folding chairs and something to eat. After all the greetings and hugs, the adults got down to the serious business of playing Sheepshead or Smear, changing tables often, so everyone got to play and visit with everyone else. The dozen or so cousins in attendance played Bingo; Thimble, Thimble, Who’s Got the Thimble; I Spy with My Little Eye; or Old Maid.

I remember how lucky I felt when Grandma Schultz would let me sit on her lap at the table with the big people while she played. She sometimes even let me throw her card onto the middle of the table.

Even bedtime was fun, because we got to sleep in “The Parlor,” a very special room, never entered without special permission because it was only for important visitors. The lucky child, determined by drawing straws, got the “privilege” of bunking on the couch, which was scratchy (horse-hide?), narrow, and short, while the rest of the cousins were relegated to the floor.

I remember drifting off to sleep listening to good-natured table pounding, groans of distress, hearty laughter, squeals of surprise and phrases like “no schneider,” “don’t you have any trump?” “did you forget how to deal?” and “you know you can’t win with a red hand.”

Back then I didn’t recognize what I was feeling, but I liked it. Now, 50+ years later I recognize that what I felt was love and security. I was in a house full of people who all loved me, and each other, and who weren’t afraid to show it. And they knew how to have fun. Those card parties reinforced my feelings of belonging to a family that would always accept and love me. Maybe, someday, they might even let me join them around their card tables.

That’s why I enjoyed putting together this issue’s cover story. It made me feel as good as I felt on that scratchy horse hide couch listening to all the fun in the next room.

We’d like to know: Do you have an antique, vintage or collectible item that brings warm memories? Does an everyday item from today send you back – in your mind – to a bygone time?

E-mail robyn.austin@fwpubs.com and let us know, or post a reply here.


My son, Christopher, caught the card-playing bug early. Here I’m teaching him the rules of cribbage – has it been 30 years ago already?! He also plays sheepshead when the family gets together. He regularly beats me at both. Perhaps his four children will carry that same warm feeling when they overhear the conversations going around our card tables today.

My father, who is a child of the Great Depression, can recall with a high amount of respect, how critical President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal was in terms of turning around the economy and providing jobs for the unemployed.

My mother, who remembers President John F. Kennedy with fondness and sadness, can remember her reaction the moment news of his shooting came over the radio. “He can’t die! He’s the president!” and her shock when she saw live, on television, Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald.

I, born in the tumultuous year of 1968, can recall 20 years later, working for the campus newspaper, having the privilege of shaking the hands of just about every presidential candidate from Paul Simon and Michael Dukakis to Al Gore.

Politics create moments in history – and history itself. That’s one of the reasons why so many people collect political memorabilia today. Each pin and banner not only represents a time and person, but perhaps a cause or movement as well.

I know I can’t look at a women’s “right to vote” badge without being very thankful there were women (and men) who cared enough to lobby, protest and fight for that right.

I bet you can’t look at a candidate pin for Thomas Dewey without thinking of that famous “Dewey defeats Truman” headline.

Can you look at a caricature of Carter without thinking of peanuts? Or study a family photo of Lincoln without experiencing empathy for the many tragedies in his personal life and challenges in his administration?

While some of the more frivolous items do find themselves abandoned on the convention floor, others are finding themselves in the hands of political collectors like author Dr. Enoch Nappen and James Warlick.

Be sure to read our cover story by Dr. Nappen, who shares insight into collecting trends and gives a sneak preview to his recently released book, Warman’s Political Collectibles Identification and Price Guide, published by Krause Books.

To see the real deal, make a point of visiting the Atlantique City fall show Oct. 18-19, where Mr. Warlick will display numerous items from this personal collection dubbed “The American Presidential Experience.” Warlick has had a love of politics from an early age and has opened six political memorabilia stores in Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, Washington and Georgetown.

Check out our Atlantique City show section on the following pages to see what else is in store at the Atlantic City Convention Center. You won’t want to miss your chance to spout politics and feel like a winner yourself when you find a collectible treasure there.

As the election approaches, Antique Trader would like to know if you collect political memorabilia or if you have a memory to share about a historic election or political moment. We’ll share these before the nation chooses its new president next month.

Drop me a note, post a reply here, or e-mail me at robyn.austin@fwpubs.com. Hurry, before the polls close!

Back when I was a kid – and I’d like to think it wasn’t that long ago – I can’t recall many occasions where we had to lock the doors of our house or our car. Sometimes, during the deep-freeze days of winter, we’d even leave the old station wagon running while we popped into the store to grab some milk and bread.

We weren’t concerned someone would drive off with our car. Or sneak into our house and rob us blind while we were away at church. We trusted our friends and neighbors. We trusted people in general. We didn’t give it a second thought.

Somewhere along the line, that ability to trust became an exception rather than the norm. We want to give people the benefit of the doubt. And many times we can. On rare occasions, though, we get burned and the thought of trusting someone with our friendship, with our business, with our money, leaves a bad taste in our mouth.

Last week, a North Carolina woman named Patricia Jacoby was sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison for a pyramid scheme. Why do we care? We care because she represented herself as an antiques dealer and investor who bilked dozens of people like you and me out of an estimated $2.5 million.

The first troubling fact about this news story is that she was representing herself as a legitimate member of our industry. She lied to investors, telling them she purchased estate lots of antiques to resell them at profit and promised a 22 percent return on their investments within 30 days. The victims trusted her at her word.

The other troubling fact is that this latest conviction was her third offense. According to news accounts, Jacoby was previously convicted in two other schemes. She spent a year and a half in prison for bilking investors in an art scheme after a 2000 conviction. In 2006, she pleaded guilty to similar charges and paid $56,000 in restitution to victims.

Investigators said she used money raised from investors in the latest scam to repay previous victims, noting the antiques investment scheme was in the works as soon as Jacoby completed her sentence in the earlier case.

Fortunately, this brand of schemer doesn’t come along every day. For the most part, we can be proud to be a part of an industry of honest, hardworking dealers and shop owners. These rare exceptions, however, do raise some red flags. Whom can we trust? How do we know if someone is running a legitimate business? Can I trust that I am not buying a fake or reproduction?

Antique Trader would like to know how you determine a seller (or buyer for that matter) is trustworthy. Up to and including a police background check, what do you do to safeguard your investment before making it? Have you ever been the victim of an antiques-related scam? Please share your advice so other readers can learn from your experience, too. We’re all in this together. Let’s continue to watch each other’s back as we have been ... and pat each other’s back for your efforts to keep this industry clear of scandal.

Please e-mail me at robyn.austin@fwpubs.com, post a reply here, or drop me a line in the trusty old mailbox!

EBay. At the mere mention of the site, strong feelings tend to surface, and whether you love it, hate it or couldn’t care less, it is a powerful force in the cyber-marketplace for buyers and sellers. The changes made earlier this year haven’t seemed to cause much of a ripple in the number of listings, though it did “inspire” a few eBay sellers to venture out and start their own auction sites. (OnlineAuction.com is just one of these sites, and is picking up steam; when I last checked, they were up to 14.8 million items listed.)

I admit it: I am an eBay fan. I’ve been a registered user since 2000 and the great majority of my experiences have been positive. But, I’m only a buyer – I’ve never sold anything on eBay or any other online auction site. I’ve participated in enough eBay auctions to recognize certain “adversaries” who collect the same treasures as I do, and I’m fine with getting involved in an auction with these opponents because I bid what I’m willing to pay and no more (which, I believe, is one of the secrets of always being satisfied with any auction purchase, but I’ll save that for another time) and may the highest bidder win.

Recently, I’ve been reading discussions about one of the eBay changes that I believe affects buyers more than sellers: bidder anonymity. Keep in mind, though, I don’t have a seller’s perspective. (Perhaps some of you can help me out with that.)

In the U.S., eBay bidder IDs are kept “partially anonymous,” that is, you can always see the sellers’ IDs, and if you sign in, you can see your own ID. Everyone else’s is kept somewhat anonymous (“to enhance bidder privacy” and protect bidders from fake second chance offers) by asterisks filling in between two random characters from bidders’ User IDs. Only after an auction ends does the winning bidder’s full User ID show up in the bidding history.

There has been quite a bit of discussion on the “absolute anonymity” that eBay has implemented in Australia and the U.K., where bidder IDs are now kept completely anonymous. Think about that from a bidder’s perspective. The largest ramification that I can think of: What will keep a seller from logging in and shill bidding, that is, making phony bids to drive up the final sale price?

EBay has discouraged its sellers with its recent restructuring of seller fees and taking away the seller’s ability to leave negative feedback for buyers.

This week Antique Trader wants to know: If eBay implements absolute bidder anonymity in the U.S. – which some people think is imminent – what effect will it have on bidder, and thus, buyer, participation? How important is it to you that you know who you are bidding against?

What do you think? E-mail robyn.austin@fwpubs.com and tell her what you think, or post a reply here.

I’ve been a pie connoisseur for lo, these many years. My expertise is in the tasting and the critiquing of the crust’s flakiness. Because I’m a perfectionist, sometimes it takes more than one piece to be sure that pie gets a thumbs-up! Rhubarb is my favorite.

The cover story got me thinking about pies, which got me to thinking about kitchens, which got me to remembering my Grandma Schultz’s kitchen.

Grandma was a farm wife. She took care of the chickens, tended the vegetable garden and kept her home squeaky clean. She canned everything ... green beans, tomatoes, beets, corn – you name it. Her specialty was pickled crab apples. To this day, when I see an apple tree in bloom my mouth waters, remembering the spicy, sweet-gingery taste she imparted to those otherwise inedibly sour fruits.

When I picture Grandma’s kitchen in my mind, the focal point is always on the window sill above the kitchen sink. There sat a Dutch boy cookie jar. When I was very small I used to think it was magic, because it was never empty. Every single time I lifted the top half of that Dutch boy’s body, there were peanut butter cookies in the bottom half, perfectly round with fork-marked grids. They melted in your mouth.

I wonder what happened to that cream-colored Dutch boy cookie jar. If it’s still in use, I’ll bet the cookies inside can’t hold a candle to those peanut butter cookies of my youth.

A couple years ago, I was walking the aisles of an antique mall and there, right in front of me was the twin of the window-sill Dutch boy! It was like seeing an old friend. (It didn’t strike me until much later that I was in an ANTIQUE mall, and that something I remembered from my childhood was now considered an ANTIQUE! )

Is there something from your childhood that brings you sweet memories or transports you to another time in your life? If you’re looking to replace it, an antique store might just be the place to start shopping!

The Dutch boy was priced way out of my budget when I found it in that antique mall, so I couldn’t bring it home, but I vowed to someday look in earnest for another. I don’t have a window sill for it to sit on, but I’ll clear a spot on the counter and I’ll try to keep it filled with treats for anyone who lifts the top and looks inside. Hopefully I will be creating a fond memory for my own grandchildren – one that makes their mouths water for a good cookie.


Is there an antique you let get away? You passed up the opportunity to buy it and kicked yourself over it later? We’d love to hear if you were able to capture it at some point or if you are still on the hunt. E-mail robyn.austin@fwpubs.com.

Inuit art. Last year we traveled to Alaska and got to see Inuit art up close and personal. We took a side trip to a village, a living history museum, where we got just a small taste of the way life was for generations of Inuit people. Our native guides were two college-age young women who quite obviously loved telling the Inuits’ story.

The Inuits throughout the village who shared their stories and told of their ancestors’ way of life were passionate about and proud of who they were and where they came from. They have a reverence for their past, and feel it’s their duty to pass along Inuit history and knowledge to each new generation.

We learned all about building fish traps from a youngster whose grandfather stood proudly behind him as he showed us how it was constructed – the same way it had been done for generations – and told us how it worked. We saw a mother-daughter team smoking fish, using the same methods their ancestors used.

Though most of the Inuit crafts we saw were useful items that contributed to daily survival in the cold North, the work could be very beautiful as well. The most memorable example was a coat, modeled in the picture by one of our guides. An Inuit woman was applying the intricate beadwork by hand, each bead individually placed and sewn in place. The native woman, whose work is shown in numerous museums including the Smithsonian, told us how her grandmother taught her mother, and how her mother taught her. She is now teaching the craft to the next generations.

When a family heirloom is passed from one generation to the next, it’s not just a piece of furniture or jewelry. Like the Inuits, it’s a remembrance of someone from our past and it should be valued for not only its beauty and usefulness, but as a piece of our history, of those who came before us.

A reverence and respect for the past. That’s just one of the reasons we love antiques.

Do you have a cherished heirloom, perhaps handed down through several generations? Does it have an interesting history that you can share when you pass it on to the next generation? Email robyn.austin@fwpubs.com, or write us at 700 E State St., Iola, WI 54945 to tell us your heirloom’s story.

Sandra Sparks
Associate Editor

As we speak, billions of dollars in tax rebate checks are making their way into the hands of American taxpayers in an effort to stimulate the economy.

Most individuals will receive $600 in rebates while couples should receive $1,200. Those in lower income households or with more members in the family may receive more money from the government.

What will you do with yours? On the surface, it seems there are three basic options: Save it; pay off debt/bills; or spend it. Antique Trader wants to know if you plan to use all or part of your tax rebate to further a collection or invest in your antiques business.

Post a reply here or email robyn.austin@fwpubs.com and let us know.

I’ve heard it said there are two reasons people buy antiques – they love what they collect and want more of them, or they are in it purely for the investment and potential profit.

Those of us who fall into the first category probably had an inkling at a young age we are destined to collect something. Take Brian Estepp, who is featured in this issue’s cover story on marbles. He was only 5 years old when he got his hands on a collection that spurred his interest for life.

I know I had a collection of marbles when I was young, too. I also held onto old and unique coins and had a collection of pennies, one for each year, dating back probably 20 years prior to my birthdate, which I might add really isn’t that far back in history. Now I have neither of those collections. They were lost somewhere along the way, probably in a move or a major teenage “room cleaning,” along with some football cards I’d give anything to get back from the trashcan or wherever they met their demise.

My son is a natural collector. Without a doubt, he’s in it for the enjoyment. He’s only 10, but by age 4, he amassed a collection of hundreds of dinosaurs. By age 6, that was replaced with hundreds of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. He briefly had a collection of feathers, which didn’t seem too sanitary, and rocks. Thanks to the state quarter program, he has an interest in coins and has absorbed my husband’s collection into his. Just the other day, he also showed me his collection of superballs (those small, bouncy rubber balls). He’s got 57 of them. When I mentioned the story on marbles, he wanted me to share that he’s got 305 … so far.

You know what’s fun about his collections? He uses them. Plays with them. They are an extension of him. They bring him joy today and may make him the antique collector of tomorrow. In fact, we’re counting on it, aren’t we?

Think back to your earliest collecting days. Did you collect marbles, coins, dolls? Antique Trader would like to know what you collected in your youth and how that shaped your interest in antiques. Email me at robyn.austin@fwpubs.com or post a reply here on the blog.

Best of luck in your collecting pursuits. Don’t forget to have some fun out there!

Since former eBay CEO Meg Whitman stepped down and new management took over, there has been a host of well-publicized changes at the online auction giant. Changes in fee structure, limits on selling “digital” items and now, the latest, was an announcement from the company that it will, by the end of the year, end its “Live Auction” affiliations.
 
What does this mean? Exactly what it sounds like. No longer will eBay be partnering with brick and mortar auction houses, both big and small, to broadcast auctions live over its interface. This will surely have some smaller houses shaking a little bit, and the bigger ones not so much. EBay has also stated that the live auction segment is not too big a part of its business, thus the end of the experiment. What exactly does “not too big” mean? To a juggernaut like eBay, probably $100M or so… Pocket change, really.

The question this week for AT readers is this, then: How much have you used the eBay Live Auctions feature, and will this change affect your online auction buying?
 
Send your answer to noah.fleisher@fwpubs.com, or go online to www.antiquetrader.com/atblog, look for the question of the week, and post your answer in the comments section.

I’m asking readers to take few moments and think before they respond to the question this week, just a few deeps breaths and then respond.
 
It’s too easy to say, if you’re a collector of glassware, that glassware is then the most reliable. Or whatever segment you happen to participate in.
 
I also want to shy away from making generalizations about the business. “If you buy what you love, then it never loses value.”
 
This may be true, and I readily acknowledge that you shouldn’t start buying solely as an investment, but we all know it’s happening.
 
For my part, I’ve always seen good jewelry and good folk art sell, no matter what, a make good on a return. Whether I like these forms or not is irrelevant.
 
So when you stop and think about it, looking at all the things you come across at shows, shops and auctions – or rummage sales and flea markets, I don’t care – what do you see that, in your experience, reliably sells and holds or increases its value?
 
Let me know at noah.fleisher@fwpubs.com, or post a comment here.

Do Wall Street ups and downs affect your buying or your business?



These are iffy days in the American economy. No government official has come right out and said it, but the hints of the "R" word are everywhere and, last week at the Atlantique City Antiques Show in Atlantic City, NJ, the economy was very much on the mind of dealers and customers alike.

There's billion dollar losses, and billion dollar bailouts, and a whole shadow economy between the largest banks in the world that's so far bigger than our actual economy that it's frightening to contemplate, especially when you think about what would happen is all these uber-banks went belly up. I've heard it twice now on NPR, so no telling me I'm a conspiracy theorist...

That, however, is enough nay-saying, no nabob of negativism I, but I am curious about whether or not the woes on Wall Street have an actual effect on the nuts and bolts of our businesses and hobbies.

Personally, it seems like a good time to get some money into antiques, as we all know that good items hold their value, and that as the economy worsens, people will most likely sell. Ergo, deals are out there... Go and get 'em.

Here's the question put formally, then: Do Wall Street ups and downs affect your buying or business?

Let me know at noah.fleisher@fwpubs.com, or go write something in the comments section below.

There's always been debate in the pursuit of antiques as to whether or not the business should be federally regulated, i.e., official government oversight provided by a dedicated federal agency.

This is obviously too big a discussion to have in this small space. Suffice it to say, there are plenty of people who have plenty top say on both sides of the issue. Antiques is a huge business, all told, at all levels, and there are a lot of bucks changing hands.

In my experience, it has come down to what, exactly, someone deals or collects in. If your business or hobby is dependent upon small items, sold at relatively low prices, at large volumes, then regulation could be a problem.

If you deal, however, in rare and one-of-a-kind pieces of art, furniture and accessories, etc., then some oversight might be good thing for safety back-up and to make sure no false merchandise would get peddled.

Either way, it would probably, hopefully, stop scammers from passing off fake goods - at least that's my take. I know there is a movement to get some help - see the good work of show promoter Dordy Fontinel, et al. - but I wonder what Trader readers think.

Should the business and/or hobby of antiques be federally regulated? Let me know at noah.fleisher@fwpubs.com, or post a comment here.

I’d be lost without my work Blackberry, or my personal cell phone, or any of the three email accounts I maintain on a daily basis, or without my ability to type my antiques-related feelings about various antiques-related happenings in the world on the Antique Trader Blog – www.antiquetrader.com/atblog, by the way…
 
I lie awake at night and wonder if I’ve sent this email or that, or if a certain press release was sent or of that PR contact responded to my query. As much as I don’t want to admit it, I’m 100% hooked on tech.
 
In fact, I’d say that, if all the technology upon which my work is predicated were to suddenly disappear into the ether, I’d probably wander around, bereft for some time, in the words of Beatrix Potter in Peter Rabbit, going lippity, lippity, lipitty…
 
Then, I reckon, I’d hitch up my jeans and get on with it, doing business the way it was done for thousands of years – in person, face-to-face. It might, in fact, be quite refreshing.

 

Here’s what Antique Trader want to know this week: How would your antiques business or hobby fare without technology? How exactly would you cope in the short term, and what would you do long term?
 
Let me know at noah.fleisher@fwpubs.com, or post your answer in the comments section here.

Every major media outlet has, by this point, covered the recent changes to eBay’s system as announced by CEO-elect James Donahoe, and the resultant reactions of outrage that sellers expressed when they were made public.

Those reactions have also been covered here in the online and print versions of Antique Trader.

A lot of sellers have participated in alternate auctions in direct protest of the changes, while some have boycotted eBay altogether, while many – just being practical – have simply moved to diversify their business by moving a good portion of it to other sites while still keeping a percentage of it with eBay.

I’m not much of an online seller or buyer, but I have been curious to know if there is any extended movement away from eBay – at least a month’s worth – or if, as eBay, its board and its stockholders have bargained on, sellers have simply shrugged it off and accepted the changes as fact.

Here’s what Trader wants to know this week: How have you reacted, speaking from a business perspective as a buyer or a seller, to the eBay changes? Have you switched to a different auction outlet? Participated in any boycotts? Left the online giant altogether?

Let me know at noah.fleisher@fwpubs.com, or post it in the comments here.

In 1998, the Internet boom was full steam ahead, billions were being made simply by attaching .com to certain words. The age of the World Wide Web had arrived! In a matter of days - no, hours! - the everything was going go completely digital and anyone left behind was going to be sorry and, worse, poor in a world of uber-millionaires!

No one needs to be told what happened next.

We can also remember a little online auction site called eBay that was just starting to get legs under a female CEO named Meg Whitman. In the 10 years from then until now, eBay has helped redefine not only the auction business, and the antiques business, but the very nature of the Web itself. Who, exactly, could have foreseen that? My guess is very few.

My powers of prognostication are limited, weak, but I did get to wondering this week where the auction business will a decade from now. If I had to guess, which I suppose I do seeing as how I'm the one posing the question, then I would say there will be two or three major online auction players who contract with every large and small auction house and individual dealer. The world of Web auctions will be like one giant Brimfield of the ether, where anything can be gotten to through a few central portals. There will, of course, always be a few rogue individual auctions that will have to be chased down and brought to heel...

Antique Trader, then, wants to know this week: Exactly where do you see the Antiques Business in 10 years?

Post and answer here in the comments, or email it to me at noah.fleisher@fwpubs.com.

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.

Had an interesting conversation with Bob Clements, one of the principal founders of UK auction site www.specialistauctions.com.

This is a site that started in direct response to the eBay model. Bob and his company place expert moderators to oversee paticular subsets of collecting, making an effort to make sure that their auctions are "vetted" and discussed if questions arise. They've done well for themselves in the European market, with significant gains in this country, as well. SpecialistAuctions is especially well known for its strong vintage fashion component, which can generate a huge amount of hits for its auctions.

The long and the short of it in the U.K. is this: Just like Americans, the British are made about these changes, but even more so. Everything applies the sameas far as the changes, except that in Britain eBay isn't eliminating the gallery fee - which users pay for posting pics of items for sale - which costs them about .30 cents. Ouch.

"People are very upset," Clements said. "Here in the UK they don’t even have the benefit of the removal of the cost for gallery images."

The "Final Value Fee" hike is also a big deal. Clements was able to bottom line the increase, one that equals more than a 50% hike.

"(EBay is) reducing the cost of actually creating the listing," he said, "and then they’re moving the final value fee amount from an average 5.5 percent to an average 8.7 percent."

Ouch again.

The real kicker is that those things aren't even what Clements sees as what's got people riled up.

"What's really got to people is the fact that sellers will no longer be able to give buyers neutral or negative feedback," he said. "But buyers will be able to give sellers neutral or negative feedback."

Besides be a keen gage on the sentiment across the pond, SpecialistAuctions is also hosting it own VBOE sale, or Vintage Blow Off Sale, with a huge amount of dealers and a more hospitable atmosphere.

Check them out above if you wish, if only to see an alternative that many are considering in the wake of these changes.

... and boy are they ticked off.




Since the Antique Trader e-newsletter went out last Friday, Feb. 1, with the question about whether eBay, with its changes to sellers and final fees, as well as tweaking its feedback to disallow negative feedback on buyers, I have been overwhelmed with the responses. My inbox has been literally overflowing since early Friday and just slowed down last night. I have not counted the responses, but it is well more than 100 - I usually get 20 on a good week - and illustrates the passion that readers and eBay regulars are feeling in realtion to these moves by the auction giant. That, and the question is just now hitting newstands and subscribers.

As many of these as I can fit will be printed in the 2-20 issue of Antique Trader, and I will make sure the rest get onto the AT Web site and into the e-newsletter of 2-8. Some I can't post in any instance due to the anger and language expressed... Let's keep it clean, folks... I don't want my dear old Ma and Pa to read this and get offended...

Here's what I understand from the overwhelming majority of the responses:

eBay seems to be shooting itself in the foot, or as the old adage goes: "Don't spit on my leg and tell me it's raining," which one reader wrote with a different metaphor for spit.

The companie's loss of revenue and perceived competition, along with Meg Whitman's resignations, have led to some abrupt changes in terms of those things listed in the question an d it seems that eBay is deliberately trying to squeeze out what it perceives as "small" buyers and sellers, or "mid-level" buyers and sellers. To me, this means anyone that buys and/or sells between $800 and $5,000 a year, give or take a few hundred or thousand.

There must be, literally, a million or two million sellers at this level and more buyers. These are the folks that are most at risk to be hurt and, cumulatively, I would imagine represent a great big chunck of cash for the eBay. Yet here they are, alienated and angry by abrupt changes made without explanation or ceremony. Trust me, the anger is palpable, and will drive people away from eBay - if they haven't already bailed - and towards other already extant auction sites, or antique malls like Ruby Lane, where thet can deal in a setting that respects who they are, what they buy and - most importantly - what they spend.

Take note, eBay - if you read this - people are unhappy.

Perhaps this is part of the plan, to lost some business in order to gain liquidity an shift the business model elsewhere. Just as antiquers can't forget what eBay has done for the business in the last 10 years, eBay should not overlook what antiquers have done for its business in the last 10 years.

All empires fall because they fail to change with the times.

I'm getting a tremendous amount of email from readers on our question of the week - see below - and I clearly should have put lower listing fees in quotation marks.

I apologize for the oversite, but love the passion that people are bringing to this argument, whether in support of the changes (a few) or against (most)... Alot of these responses will be in the 2-20 issue of Trader, with the rest online.

Meanwhile, keep responding, and keep on keeping me on the straight and narrow...

Maybe it's because I was always that kid that adults seemed to hover over whenever he was around anything breakable - I got a bad rap, for sure - but I prefer my antiques to be of the useful variety.

I don't mind pretty smalls that decorate a shelf, or sit on a sideboard, but I prefer to be able to touch something. Maybe it's to prove that I won't break it after all, even after all these years.

Simply put, if I wanted to just sit and stare at something - not sit on it, not touch it, not use or get the tactile sensation of skin on surface contact, then I'll go to a museum and wander the galleries stoicly with my hands clasped behind my back. In fact, in the decade and more that I lived in Manhattan I loved to go to the Met on a quiet afternoon and wander the halls of the furniture collection. What I most want from my antiques, though, is to interact with them on a daily basis - something that's difficult now with a two-year old daughter running around my house.

Here's what I want to know this week from Trader's readers: Do you use your antiques, or just display them? If you use them, what do you use them for, and do you buy them specifically for use?

Let me know at noah.fleisher@fwpubs.com, or post your response as a comment here.