ABOUT LIVING IN GRAVENHURST - JUST BY THE WAY
THIS MORNING I WAS EAGER TO GET THE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER. I LIKE TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON IN TOWN AND AROUND. FOUND THE BOOMING HEADLINE ABOUT THE HIGHWAY REALIGNMENT ISSUE, AND HOW IT IS KILLING GRAVENHURST.
GRAVENHURST IS GETTING KILLED ALL OVER THE PLACE THESE DAYS. I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY TIMES GRAVENHURST HAS BEEN IN SUCH DIRE STRAITS IN THE PAST DECADE, BUT ACCORDING TO SOME DOOMSAYERES, PRETTY MUCH CONSTANTLY. IT'S A BLOODY WONDER IT STILL EXISTS WITH ALL "THE SKY IS FALLING" PREDICTIONS, THAT SHOULD MAKE US RUN FOR COVER. BUT DO YOU KNOW WHY WE DON'T RUN FOR COVER? WELL, BECAUSE WE'VE HEARD THE PROGNOSTICATION OF OUR IMMINENT DEMISE SO MANY TIMES, IT'S LOST THE "KABOOM" YOU EXPECT FROM INEVITABILITY.
I BELIEVE IN FREEDOM OF THE PRESS. AS EDITOR, I NEVER SUBSCRIBED TO BURYING REALITY, AS AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. REALITY IS WHAT IT IS. BUT THE PROBLEM WE HAVE IN THIS TOWN, IS THAT WE USE DIRE PREDICTION TO COVER EVERYTHING WE'RE SCARED OF…….OR DON'T WISH TO BE CONFRONTED BY. WHILE THE HIGHWAY REALIGNMENT ISSUE IS OF CONSIDERABLE IMPORTANCE, AND NO ONE WHO KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT ITS DEVIATION, FROM THE PRESENT CORRIDOR, WOULD DISMISS THE ISSUE AS BENIGN. CONSTITUENTS OF THIS TOWN, WOULDN'T DENY, OR CASUALLY DISMISS THE SERIOUSNESS, OF THE NEW VULNERABILITY FACED BY ALL THOSE IN THE AFFECTED AREA. SOUTH GRAVENHURST STAKEHOLDERS HAVE A LOT TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT, AS DOES THE TOWN, NOW FORCED TO REPRESENT INTERESTS OF ALL CONSTITUENTS, WHETHER IT IS A RESIDENTIAL ISSUE, COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL; PROPERTY OWNER, OR TENANT. AS WELL AS BALANCE THE VIEWPOINT OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT, AND THE SENSIBILITY OF THEIR REALIGNMENT STRATEGY. THERE IS ONE, YOU KNOW. IT'S CERTAINLY NOT THE CASE, THAT THE PROVINCE HAS DECIDED TO DESTROY OUR COMMUNITY FOR THE HELL OF IT. YET ONE MIGHT THINK THIS, AFTER READING FEAR-RAISING HEADLINES.
AS NEWS CONTINUES TO SPILL FORTH, AND DISCUSSIONS CONTINUE, YOU CAN BET, IF THE PRESENT COURSE OF ACTION CONTINUES, THERE WILL BE A PLETHORA OF EDITORIAL ASSERTIONS, WE ARE DOOMED. YET THERE IS NO ADVANTAGE WHATSOEVER, TO ANY ONE, ANY HOW, IN CONTINUING TO CLAIM THAT GRAVENHURST HAS ONE FOOT ON A BANANA PEEL BECAUSE OF THIS SITUATION. IT'S UNTRUE. AS THERE ARE DISADVANTAGES TO THIS PROJECT, THERE WILL BE AN EQUAL AMOUNT OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEW GROWTH, AND COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT. OR IS THIS THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH?
TIME AND AGAIN, WE CRY WOLF AND THEN STAND BACK AND WAIT FOR SOMETHING TO HAPPEN. WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN FROM A HEADLINE THAT PREDICTS OUR IMMINENT DEMISE? AND WHEN IT DOESN'T HAPPEN, THE TOWN DOESN'T SHRIVEL UP AND DIE, THEN WHAT? GEEZ WE THROW UP OUR COLLECTIVE ARMS A LOT.
NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I HAVE READ THE DOOM AND GLOOM SCENARIOS FACING THIS TOWN, I CAN NEVER REALLY UNDERSTAND WHY THIS APPROACH, AND THESE EXCLAMATIONS, ARE MORE RELEVANT TO A POINT OF VIEW…….THAN "WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO REPRESENT THE RIGHTS OF THE TAXPAYERS IMPACTED BY THIS RE-ALIGNMENT PROPOSAL." THAT'S WHAT TOWN SHOULD BE SAYING…..SHOULD BE ACTING UPON, WITHOUT RESORTING TO THE PRESUMED WORSE CASE SCENARIO. FIRES HAPPEN. ROADS GET REALIGNED, SOUTH END PLAZAS GET BUILT…… CHANGE IS FOISTED UPON US ALL THE TIME, AND FOR MOST OF IT, WE HAVE A CHOICE. FIGHT IT, OR SUCK IT UP AS A NEW NORMAL.
I REMEMBER THE CONCERN BY THE DOWNTOWN BUSINESS COMMUNITY, WHEN THE TOWN'S AFFECTIONS WERE RE-DIRECTED TO BOTH THE WHARF PROJECT, AND THEN THE SOUTH END PLAZA. THEN THERE WAS A RECENT ADMISSION, BY A FEW POLITICIANS, SPEAKING IN LOW VOICES, THAT POSSIBLY THE TOWN HAD KIND OF NEGLECTED THE HISTORIC BUSINESS AREA FOR A WEE BIT…..THE HEART OF THE TOWN, BY THE WAY, FROM ITS FOUNDING. DO YOU THINK? WHILE CITIZENS ARE GENUINELY CONCERNED ABOUT THE REALIGNMENT, AND THOSE WHO ARE NOW FACING UNCERTAIN PROPERTY FUTURES, HAVE REASON TO BE SKEPTICAL ABOUT GOVERNMENT WORKING ON THEIR BEHALF, NOTHING BENEFICIAL COMES FROM OUTLANDISH, BROAD-SWEEPING, INVESTMENT-CLOBBERING STATEMENTS, THAT GRAVENHURST IS BEING KILLED.
IT'S JUST NOT SO. SO THEREFORE IT MUST BE A FALSEHOOD. SOMEONE AT TOWN HALL SHOULD CORRECT THIS. UNLESS OF COURSE, THOSE WHO BANDY THIS KIND OF FEAR MONGERING AROUND, CAN PROVE THIS BY FACT……NOT HEARSAY AND SPECULATION.
I NEEDED A TUTOR - DAVE BROWN FIT PERFECTLY, THOUGH HE DIDN'T KNOW IT
ANTIQUE QUILTS I SHOULD NOT HAVE PURCHASED - BUT THAT'S WHAT IGNORANCE IS ALL ABOUT
I WAS VERY PLEASED WITH MYSELF. I MEAN IT. I HAD PURCHASED FOUR ANTIQUE QUILTS FROM A HOUSEHOLD AUCTION IN BRACEBRIDGE, AND I WAS QUITE EXCITED TO SHOW SUZANNE THE FINDS. IT WAS A COLD AND SNOWY SPRING DAY, AND THE AUCTION HAD BEEN OUTSIDE, SO BY TIME I DID MY FOUR HOUR STINT AT THE SALE, BOY DID I NEED WARMING UP. WHAT I REALLY NEEDED WAS FOR SUZANNE TO BE PLEASED WITH THE QUILTS I PLACED ON HER LAP FOR INSPECTION. SHE'D STAYED HOME TO LOOK AFTER THE WEE LADS, AND WE DIDN'T HAVE A LOT OF ROOM IN THE SMALL CAR, IF I HAD MADE ANY FURNITURE ACQUISITIONS.
NOW IT MUST BE SAID, THAT MY INTENTIONS ARE ALWAYS GOOD. JUST MISGUIDED. I AM ADVENTUROUS, AND I'M WILLING TO GAMBLE ON OCCASION, BASED ON ONLY THE SLIGHTEST AMOUNT OF RISK. THAT'S TODAY. NOT THE DAY I PURCHASED THE QUILTS. THEN I WAS JUST A GAMBLER AND ADVENTUROUS, AND WELL, A WE BIT OF A SHOW OFF FOR THE LADIES. HOW MUCH DID I KNOW ABOUT VINTAGE FABRIC? NEXT TO NOTHING. YET I WAS WILLING TO SPEND SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNTS OF MONEY, OUTBIDDING EVERYONE ELSE, BASED ON THE FACT I LIKED QUILTS. MOST ANTIQUE DEALERS HAVE HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH OLD QUILTS AT SOME TIME IN THEIR CAREER. IT'S KIND OF A STANDARD OF THE INDUSTRY. SO THIS WAS MY HEYDAY IN QUILT ACQUISITIONS. SUZANNE HAS ALL THE 4-H SPOONS YOU CAN EVER ACQUIRE IN AN AVERAGE LIFE-TIME, A WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE GAINED FROM HER YEARS WITH THE 4-H PROGRAM, AND ASSOCIATION WITH THE WOMEN'S INSTITUTE (IN WINDERMERE), AND AS A FAMILY STUDIES TEACHER (A SPECIALIST IN SEWING)…..AND ON THIS DAY, SHE HAD ON HER LAP, FOUR OLD (SMELLY) QUILTS FOR HER APPRAISAL. I STOOD BACK WITH THAT LOOK ON MY FACE, THAT SPOKE VOLUMES ABOUT WISDOM AND CONFIDENCE…..BUT NOT PRACTICAL SENSIBILITY AS I WAS TO FIND OUT LATER.
NOW SUZANNE, BLESS HER HEART, DOES NOT LIKE TO HURT MY FEELINGS. WELL, NOT VERY MUCH. AND ON THIS AFTERNOON, LOOKING AT THESE BEAT-UP, MANGY, RAGGED AND WORN QUILTS, IT WAS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO KEEP A STRAIGHT FACE. IT WAS HARD NOT TO SHOW AN ANGRY FACE, WHEN I TOLD HER THAT I GOT THEM FOR "A STEAL." "HOW MUCH DID YOU PAY TED?" I WAS A LITTLE SUSPICIOUS, AS I SAW HER RUBBING SOME OF THE QUILT PATCHES. "UH, WELL, I GOT THEM ALL…..FOUR OF THEM, FOR TWO HUNDRED." "TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS? SHE SHOT BACK, AS IF FROM THE MOUTH OF A SMOKING CANON. "TED. WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT BUYING OLD FABRIC." "I DON'T REMEMBER," I STUTTERED. "YOU HAVE TO CHECK THEM THOROUGHLY BEFORE YOU BID ON THEM, TO MAKE SURE THE MATERIAL ISN'T ROTTEN," SHE ADDED, HOLDING UP A CORNER OF A QUILT SO I COULD SEE ONE OF THE RIPPED BLOCKS. "WATCH THIS," SHE COMMANDED. "I CAN COMPLETELY DESTROY THESE BLOCKS BY RUBBING THEM WITH MY FINGERS." SO THEN SHE DEMONSTRATED, AND REDUCED ONE ENTIRE BLOCK TO A SORT OF FABRIC DUST. HAVING GOOD INTENTIONS IN THE ANTIQUE TRADE MEANS HAVING TO LIVE WITH A LOT OF STUFF LIKE THIS. AND OVER THE YEARS, THERE HAVE BEEN QUITE A FEW EXAMPLES OF POOR SCRUTINY, LACK OF EXPERIENCE, AND LESS THAN GLORIOUS MISADVENTURE.
SO WHILE I WAS REGALING THE FEMALE AUCTION GOERS, THAT DAY, PROVING THAT A MAN COULD LOVE QUILTS, AND PROFIT FROM THEIR PURCHASE, ALL TOLD, I FELT RATHER A "TOOL" STANDING WITH MY WIFE, WATCHING HER DESTROY MY PURCHASES WITH AGGRESSIVE FINGERING. THE GOOD NEWS, AND THERE WASN'T MUCH, WAS THAT THE BLOCKS THAT WERE SERIOUSLY DAMAGED, AND FALLING APART, WERE THE SAME COLOR. SUZANNE ASSUMED, THAT A FORMER PIECE OF CLOTHING, SCAVENGED FOR FABRIC PIECES, HAD BEEN ON ITS LAST FIBROUS LEG, WHEN USED FOR THE QUILT IN THE FIRST PLACE. IT WAS THUSLY LESS RESISTANT TO THE TOLL OF AGES, AND USE, THAN THE OTHER COLORED PATCHES MAKING UP THE BALANCE OF THE QUILT. SUZANNE, USING ANOTHER OLD GARMENT FROM HER CLOSET OF TRICKS, WAS ABLE TO REPLACE ALL THE DAMAGED BLOCKS, AND RE-QUILT THE PIECE. SHE HAD TO DO SIMILAR, BUT SMALLER REPAIRS ON THE OTHER THREE QUILTS, AND SHE ESTIMATED, UPON COMPLETION…….THAT WITH THE REPAIR WORK SHE PUT INTO THE PROJECT, (TIME AND MATERIALS) THE QUILTS COST US ABOUT FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS EACH……..ABOUT THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS EACH, ABOVE THEIR ABSOLUTE MARKET VALUE. OF COURSE I WASN'T PAYING HER AN HOURLY WAGE, BUT I GOT THE MESSAGE. DON'T BUY QUILTS WITHOUT CLOSE INSPECTION, OR UNLESS SHE, MY STALWART BUSINESS PART, HAS GIVEN THEM THE ONCE-OVER, AND A FIRM, THUMB'S UP TO THE GUY DOING THE BIDDING. THAT'S MY JOB.
A LOT OF FLEDGLING ANTIQUE DEALERS, DON'T FEEL THEY NEED TUTORS. I WAS ONE OF THEM. I WAS A LONE, STUPID WOLF, AND IT SHOWED GLARINGLY OBVIOUS, WITH PURCHASES LIKE ROTTEN QUILTS. THIS IS THE TIME-PERIOD IN MY ANTIQUE PROFESSION, THAT I MADE THE MOST OF MY FRIENDSHIP WITH DAVE BROWN, A MAJOR RARE AND ANTIQUE BOOK COLLECTOR, AND HISTORIAN. WHILE HE DIDN'T HELP ME TOO MUCH WITH QUILTS AND FABRIC HERITAGE ITEMS, HE GAVE ME THE BEST GENERAL EDUCATION IN THE FIELD OF ANTIQUES AND COLLECTIBLES I COULD HAVE EVER HOPED FOR, ON A TIGHT BUDGET OF TIME AND MONEY. DAVE'S PAYMENT WAS FOOD AND LODGING IN SOUTH MUSKOKA. FOR WHAT I GOT OUT OF IT……WHAT A BARGAIN. AT THE SAME TIME WE BECAME GOOD FRIENDS…….SO MUCH SO THAT I WAS APPOINTED HIS BIOGRAPHER. WHAT AN ODYSSEY THAT WAS!
A BALA MOMENT I WILL NEVER FORGET - AND I GOT A DINOSAUR BONE AND MOUNTED DEER HEAD
Dave Brown was an exceptional source of information, because he asked a lot of questions of folks he respect. Oldtimers. Sage individuals who had been involved in the history making of the province, and the country. He knew the history of industry, and what he didn't know, he made a point of finding out. When I began writing, as a profession, a senior colleague told me to learn fast, learn a lot, and learn more. He said that you can learn from any one, because each of us has a talent for something, a capability, or particular talent that can be shared. Although Dave wasn't a writer, he had a tremendous knowledge about antiques, and that included books and vintage paper. He would claw his way through a rock wall if he thought there was a handwritten pioneer journal on the other side. It wasn't a value thing with Dave, and he never talked about his books or documents as being valuable, except with the content they possessed. So to be asked by Dave, to go out and visit an estate sale, as his side-kick, well I was quite heartened, that he thought I was worthy to watch him at work.
Here's the starting point. While it's true that he had begun showing me some respect as an old book buyer, and antique dealer, he was still as evasive and mysterious when it came to sharing certain "source" information. I understood this. When he contacted me about coming to an estate sale he'd heard about, being held in Bala, one spring weekend, as a matter of routine, I offered him his usual bedstead in my archives room, where he was always welcome to lodge. He was going to come up to Muskoka from Hamilton sometime that evening, but couldn't say when exactly. But Dave usually was on time. Dinner time. On this occasion however, he was quite late. When he finally did arrive, he came inside, precariously balancing a tray of butter tarts…..which was nice. "Where did you get this Dave," thinking he had stopped at the local bakery up town. "A nice lady in Bala gave them to me, after I showed an interest in them," he answered. "I went out to the sale a little early, you see, and I got some pretty good books." Meanwhile I'm thinking, you son-of-a-bitch, you've double-crossed me again. "So the lady running the sale, asked me if I'd like to stay for dinner with the family…..so I thought, why not?" Suzanne was starting to get a little red in the neck, up to her cheeks, glancing down at the roast beef that was now very, very well done. "And when I was leaving, she asked if I'd like to take some butter tarts with me. What a nice family," Dave continued.
"I thought the sale didn't start until tomorrow morning," I asked. He just winked at me. Yup, he'd taken a chance he could get a head start on everybody else, who planned to attend that sale the next day, and he did get the upper hand…..a nice dinner, with a friendly family, and butter tarts. "I'm still going back tomorrow Ted. You can come with me," he said. "There are a couple of books they didn't want to sell…..and I'm going to pry their fingers off them." I was gnashing my teeth a little bit by this point. Dave you see, would have filched anything of considerable value, historically or otherwise, and from the finds he told me about, we would have both been wrestling for the same items. Thus the reason Dave went alone. He hurt my feelings, and forced Suzanne to revise dinner plans. But this is the way collectors / dealers work. You don't take them for granted, and you never underestimate the power of persuasion.
We had a nice visit with Dave any way, and we talked until midnight. He was very determined to get a small collection of western histories, of the United States, from the family, and ran through a number of scenarios with us……just to see if we thought it would convince them to sell the old books. Like the late Will Rogers, Dave was a horse trader. His gift of gab was pretty amazing. So, had I been a betting man, I most surely would have put my money on Dave.
We headed out to the sale after Suzanne put on a big breakfast…..with roast beef, mashed potatoes and eggs, pretty much to make a point. Geez I had to thump my heart a couple of times to get it started again, after that sunrise special. We talked all the way to Bala, about his methodology for getting those western books. Dave was obsessive. No question. When he wanted something badly enough, he was like a badger in heat, and no amount of diversionary tactics would work…..even butter tarts. So when we arrived at the neat little cottage, that had belonged to a Toronto area doctor, Dave threw out the charm as if he'd been a long time family member in exile. He was hugging them for God's sake, and he'd only just met them the night before. While I was picking up all kinds of neat stuff that Dave had rejected, he had returned like a boomerang to the book shelf. Alas, the grandson, who had laid claim to the western histories, had pulled the books Dave wanted, off the shelf…..to pretty much make a point. Well sir, Dave went wild with questions, as to their whereabouts. The daughter, handling the estate dispersal, told Dave that the books had been special to her father (for some unstated reason), and that her son had an interest in preserving them for his own future family.
These were fighting words to Dave. I was so bloody happy to harvest the crumbs left from Dave's initial sweep of the house and property, I hadn't been paying attention to the way he had dug his feet in, and kept bringing forth new reasons the kid should unclench the books. In reality, he was unrelenting and unflattering to the young man, who just wanted a keepsake of his grandfather. What Dave tried to do then, was suggest there were a lot of other more worthy keepsakes of his grandfather, than these old, musty, worn books. They weren't just any books, and if there had been a monetary amount attached, I would suggest it could have been well over a thousand dollars for the small collection. It was content that he wanted. But the kid wouldn't budge. No matter how Dave coaxed and begged, without actually getting on his knees, the deal was closed. No sale. I was like a bloody kid in a candy shop with a wad of cash. I could not believe my good fortune, because for a shop keep, like myself, most of what I was able to acquire that day, would sell quickly with a sizable profit. Dave got himself so worked up, that he just ignored everything else. It was a trademark Dave Brown snit that many friends and colleagues had seen up close, many times. Dave was a nice guy ninety-eight percent of the time, but a sore loser the other two percent. This was a case in point.
I got a chunk of dinosaur bone, that had come, believe it or not, as a souvenir many decades ago, from a dig in Alberta, and a lovely mounted dear head, that sold for three times what I'd paid for it. I didn't haggle it down from the asking price. Dave was always doing that, and it's one of his tips I didn't follow. Still don't. You can ask any vendor I buy from, and they'll corroborate this fact. So amongst about fifty other collectible pieces, we headed for the truck, and the return drive to Gravenhurst. The sale host again came to Dave with another small tray of butter tarts. While he accepted them, as a small consolation prize, he did manage to ask just one more time, if they might re-consider the western books. Not a chance. No final hug either.
It was a quiet trip back home. I had a little chuckle to myself, because the master of acquisition had been stone-walled by an eighteen year old kid. It was not a banner day, let me tell you. Even the most sage of us collectors, drops his or her guard at times, when circumstances catch them at the weak spot. Like flipping a tortoise on its back, he seemed to lose all enthusiasm for his favorite pastime, and that left a huge, gaping hole, for "Teddy the Weasel," who had few if any qualms, about picking through the crumbs. I made a good profit that day, and it was a real learning experience. Dave was right to go after what he wanted, just not as aggressively as I witnessed. But I wasn't about to criticize his approach, because that would have meant hitch-hiking home with a dinosaur bone and deer head. Which would have looked pretty funny, and made a great feature column for "The Muskoka Advance," a free weekly publication I writer for at the time.
For about two weeks, Dave would phone and complain about that stupid kid wanting those books, and reminding me that he had first refusal, should the host of the sale ever contact me…….when, as Dave said, "The lad needs money to buy a scooter." He held a grudge. Dear God the man could hold grudge for a lifetime. I'll give you an example of this in a future blog, and you won't believe how crazy it could get…..when you crossed this giant of book collecting.
As an outdoor educator……Mr. Brown was a darling. The kids loved him. His colleagues were his best friends.
As a collector. He had horns.
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