OOPS, IT WAS A 1907 MENU FOR THE TOWN OF GRAVENHURST NOT 1909
PAPER HERITAGE ALL OVER THE PLACE, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN THE HUNT
IN ONE OF OUR ANTIQUE HAUNTS, IN ORILLIA, WE WERE ABLE TO PICK UP A NICE PIECE OF GRAVENHURST HISTORY, TO GO ALONG WITH THE NEAT OLD CABINET WE PURCHASED EARLIER THIS SPRING, FROM ONE OF OUR OLD TOWN HOTEL ESTABLISHMENTS. THE CABINET, THAT LOOKS LIKE IT MAY HAVE HOUSED TOBACCO PRODUCTS, HAS A GLASS DOOR AND SOME INTERESTING DECORATION, AND MOST LIKELY CAME FROM THE PERIOD OF THE 1870'S TO 90'S, JUDGING BY THE CARPENTRY AND NAILS USED. WE JUST RECENTLY SOLD A BRAND NEW RUBBERSET SHAVING BRUSH AND BOX, WITH A CERTIFICATE INCLUDED, THAT WAS QUICKLY SNAPPED UP, FROM OUR SHOP, BY A LOCAL COLLECTOR WITH AN INTEREST IN REGIONALLY IDENTIFIABLE PIECES. WE SUPPOSE THERE ARE A FEW OF THE MENUS OUT THERE, PROBABLY IN THE ARCHIVES, BUT THIS ONE IS OURS….AND IT'S CERTAINLY THE KIND OF FIND YOU LOVE TO MAKE ONCE IN AWHILE, BECAUSE OF ITS LOCAL HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE AND RARITY.
THE SMALL MENU IS SHOWN ABOVE, AND IS ACTUALLY DATED MONDAY, EVENING, OCT. 7, '07, INSTEAD OF WHAT I CLAIMED LAST EVENING, TO BE 1909 INSTEAD. I DIDN'T HAVE IT IN FRONT OF ME, AT THE TIME OF WRITING. STILL NO EXCUSE TO MAKE SUCH A MISTAKE, AND THEN CALL MYSELF AN HISTORIAN. JUST AFTER THE HUGE CHANGES IN THE HYDRO ELECTRIC SET-UP AT SOUTH FALLS, OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS, THIS IS QUITE APPROPRIATE. SOUTH FALLS (AT MUSKOKA FALLS) WAS VITALLY IMPORTANT TO THE TOWN OF GRAVENHURST, AND POWER GENERATION.
THIS IS A SMALL, MODESTLY APPOINTED CARD, BUT WITH THE KIND OF PROVENANCE WE MUSKOKA DEALERS LIKE TO HAVE IN OUR RESPECTIVE SHOPS. THEY ARE HARD TO COME BY, THESE DAYS, ESPECIALLY WITH INCREASED COMPETITION FOR PAPER HERITAGE ITEMS. IT'S OF COURSE WHAT MAKES THEM SUBSTANTIALLY MORE VALUABLE. SCARCITY AND DEMAND ARE THE KEY COMPONENTS IN DRIVING UP THE PRICES. THE CARD ISN'T IN MINT CONDITION, BUT IN THIS CASE GOOD IS ALL RIGHT TOO.
PAPER HERITAGE IS OFTEN NEGLECTED OR THROWN OUT
When we had our shop in Bracebridge, a lady came in with some estate items she wished to sell. Her father had recently passed away, and they had been cleaning out both the house and the family business. This gent had kept almost every invoice since the company had begun business over several generations. The books she had to sell me were basically worthless due to condition, and the fact, they were undersized book club editions, and fiction, which I don't usually buy unless its an early Charles Dickens, Washington Irving, Herman Melville, Joseph Conrad or the good Mr. Poe. A "J.M. Barrie" first edition is always interesting, and I wouldn't turn away an early edition of "Alice in Wonderland," or "Wizard of Oz." The problem with fiction, versus non-fiction, is that the books have to be in perfect condition, and have their dustjackets also in great shape. Non-fiction is sold largely on content and rarity, and condition isn't quite as important.
While the woman was standing at my counter, she happened to notice some of the paper heritage, old invoices and documents in my showcase. She turned white when she started repeating some of the prices. "My God, I think I've just thrown out a fortune in old paper father had in his filing cabinets," she said. "Is this stuff really that valuable?" The short answer is "yes," but it depends on what the material represents, where it's from, the historical significance, and the signatures on the documents. While we sell paper heritage from all over the world, if and when we make such acquisitions, the biggest seller regionally, has a Muskoka base……and the best of the best will have a marine theme. It might be steamship related, or having something to do with the boat building industry in our town, or around the lakes. I knew a fellow who sold a Ditchburn Boat Works seal, for about a hundred bucks, and I started to hyperventilate at the news. Without a doubt, such a stamp would represent at least five hundred dollars, because it can still be used. Even a Ditchburn seal on a piece of paper is worth a couple of bucks each. Think of the possibilities of being able to keep printing company seals. You would have to print a lot to water-down the market, as the name and brand "Ditchburn" is made of gold these days.
The paper collectibles the woman threw out were not of the greatest value, but from the period of the early part of the 1900's, a nicely written and unfaded invoice, or document, could sell for between five and ten dollars to a collector. Now let me footnote this, that Muskoka ephemera is hot now, and although I have a problem with some areas of these price increases, such as with crested hotelware (because they weren't made here, just marked for a resort in our region), these local handwritten documents and receipts have a solid provenance to the actuality of the day and season in our region. You can learn a lot about a period in history, and the local economy, reading through a box full of old business receipts.
Actually, I've talked to hundreds of customers, in similar situations, where they felt sick, about tossing out these items, from their own family estates, because they assumed there was no value attached. I've known people who have thrown out drawers of old letters, some from the war, that had a family value even if they weren't actually put up for sale. There are lots of collectors who desire these pieces of history, for a variety of reasons. And while I'm not suggesting that it's a good idea to sell off family love letters, left by a parent or grandparent, even if they are war vintage, there are many of these pieces of correspondence, that weren't mushy or even particularly intimate, because of the censors they had to pass through, before being delivered. So rather than toss them in the garbage, they should consider putting them up for sale.
The same with old photographs. It is so disturbing to know that people will toss out old family photos, because of some dislike for their kin. I've gone to garbage boxes, even recently, and seen boxes of paper nostalgia and photographs, mixed in with the garbage of the day. These things have a monetary value, and as well, they represent our collective heritage in this country, on this continent and on the good old earth. We've lost a lot of important history this way, due to ignorance, plain and simple.
Not all invoices are valuable. If you have paper heritage items, with provenance of a railway, steamship line, stage coach line, or a regional boat builder or seller, then you have something of undetermined but significant value. But believe me, there is value. And there are lots of buyers out there, looking for what you may have in a box, tucked in the attic, or on a basement shelf. Before you get the idea to toss it all out, re-assess what you have, and don't be afraid to ask questions, of dealers like me……who know how to find collectors out there, either from a shop setting, or world-wide via online sales.
I'm happy with our Gravenhurst find this week, and it will be on sale in our shop as of Tuesday this week. It will sell quickly. But I'd like more. Boxes more. I've never known the demand for Muskoka collectibles, to be as high as it is right now. The problem is, trying to convince citizens to stop turfing the good stuff, and then trying to sell me musty books and broken chairs instead.
Thanks for joining today's blog. I hope you'll come back again. Happy Labour Day weekend. Hope you had some rest and relaxation before the start of another season of work. Wasn't it a great weekend weather-wise? What a summer season this has been in Muskoka. If our local businesses didn't do so well…….then they need to re-tool or close-down, because this was a high traffic, bustling tourist season, and I've watched a lot since the summer of 1966, our first July and August as Muskoka residents…….and no longer summer visitors. I hope we see our tourist friends right up to the New Year. With the weather lately, we might still be wearing shorts. Geez, maybe we could have expanded the Music on the Barge Season to Christmas. Now wouldn't that be something. Hey, what about New Year's at Gull Lake Park. If they can do it outdoors at Niagara Park, we can do it on The Barge on beautiful, snow clad Gull Lake.
Only kidding Fred. I just wanted to see if you were still paying attention.
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