Understanding Muskoka History Helpful Before Selling It

UNDERSTANDING MUSKOKA HISTORY BEFORE EXPLOITING IT!

MUSKOKA ANTIQUES AND COLLECTIBLES HIGHLY VALUED, BUT ARE THEY SELLING?

     I HAVE TO ADMIT, BEING SHOCKED BY THE 2012 VALUATIONS, BEING SET BY SOME ANTIQUE AND COLLECTIBLE DEALERS, FOR PIECES OF MUSKOKA HERITAGE. I UNDERSTAND REAL ESTATE, WOODEN BOATS, STEAMSHIP RELICS AND RARE HISTORIC DOCUMENTS, BUT I'M STILL STUCK ON THE ABNORMALLY HIGH PRICES BEING PAID FOR CRESTED HOTELWARE. I JUST DON'T GET IT, BECAUSE THESE ARE PIECES THAT WERE MADE OUT OF THE AREA, STAMPED WITH CRESTS, PACKED IN CRATES, AND SHIPPED BY TRAIN, BOAT AND HORSE DRAWN CART (OR TRUCK) TO HOTEL AND RESORT CUSTOMERS, FROM THE TIME THE TOURISM INDUSTRY IN MUSKOKA, HAD ITS FOUNDING, BACK IN THE 1870'S. YOU CAN HAVE THE SAME ART WORK APPLIED TODAY, FOR YOUR BUSINESS, AS AN ADVERTISING TOOL, AND NONE OF IT WILL HAVE HAD ANYTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH MUSKOKA OTHER THAN IT ARRIVED HERE IN A BOX, AND CRADLED SOMEONE'S BACON AND EGGS, OR ROAST BEEF DINNER.
     As a long, long time dealer of Muskoka-made heirloom pieces, nostalgia, books and historic paper, I have only ever had an interest in Navigation Company "crested" hotelware......simply because I have always been able to sell everything I have ever purchased with this Muskoka connection. As far as climbing mountains, and paying ridiculous prices to own one, I confess to being quite disinterested in getting into this competition, which for some collectors admittedly, has become somewhat more of an obsession than just a passion, or general interest. And most of us collectors have danced closely with obsessions in the past, and if we've made it through the ring of fire without need for any more interventions, we've figured the most sensible course is plain old moderation.
    There is little moderation these days, with the speculation of Muskoka nostalgia items. Some of this I agree with, and having appraised Muskoka heritage items for museums, I can easily justify why certain historic items are so highly valued. One-of-a-kind pieces are like this, regardless of the region. While there is an assumption that there is a severe shortage of crested hotelware, for some of Muskoka's most popular and well-known resorts, what is not understood, is how many actually exist in collections.....that may one day come for sale, and in conjunction with other collectors selling-off their prized hotelware. This exact thing happened with newer Bigwin Inn hotelware, and for a few years, you could find it in large supply, in many regional shops. I certainly wasn't convinced there was anything rare about Bigwin Inn keepsakes, and I haven't changed my mind.
     There are those with vested interest in the Muskoka memorabilia market, who allude to pieces being rare, but not all rare pieces are worth huge prices. But it comes down to this. If you want something bad enough, then by all means, pay the asking price. If you were to come to me first, before making such a big ticket purchase, I may not appraise the item even close to the asking price.....which makes no difference to the appraisal. What I believe it's worth, and what it is being sold for, are quite a distance apart these days, and it bothers me a bit. If a museum was to ask me the value of a piece, I'm going to be honest, and that may piss off dealers who could well be looking at these venues to sell their wares. It's like the bungalow with a market value of $250,000, priced instead at a million bucks, because that's what the owner thinks it's worth. It might sell, but not if a large mortgage is required, because the appraisal won't match the asking price. It's not so much different in antiques and collectibles. There is a mid-zone, whether buyers and sellers know this or not. Fair value does enter into it, especially when competition allows for comparison shopping......and this is already a factor. Keep in mind, that if you buy a significant piece of Muskoka memorabilia, and wish it insured for its value, you may be asked to find a qualified appraisor of such items. I don't appraise for a living, but rather for our business, but if I was asked a simple question by an agent, for example, I would probably offer a much, much lower appraisal overall, than what the purchase price represented......and thus replacement value. Unless you're dealing with a Tom Thomson or Group of Seven art panel, of a Muskoka landscape, where valuations change auction by auction, crested hotelware, just to name one variety of collectible, doesn't really enter the mad, mad world of antique value escalation. It's just a dealer to collector hype, and this can be dangerous down the road, if you want to make investments that eventually turn a profit. Eventually, the prices being asked for some of this stuff will register a serious "tilt," and force an adjustment.
     Admittedly there are shortages of some resort memorabilia, if that's what you collect. I still can't see the market dynamic establishing these huge price increases, and as I wrote about before, whenever I connect with someone who is trying to sell these crested pieces, for the big bucks, I always suggest they look up these Muskoka dealers, and ask them to buy them for similarly high values. As I could not, in any way, appraise some of these items for what prices are being asked, I simply defer offering an estimate. Unless they persist. There are legitimate shortages, and then there are shortages due to speculation. Just like real estate and everything else you can buy and flip for a profit. Sometimes, you know, one gets to the peak, and has to deal with the burn of devaluation. It does happen, and I've been burned plenty of times, so I do speak from considerable experience. There are regional trends, such as with the case of Muskoka antiques and collectibles. There are provincial, national and international trends. And they all operate in a sort of cycle-mode, and like the stock market, you better have a good investment strategy.....or exit strategy.
     The going price, when we had our mainstreet shop in Bracebridge, for books like the Muskoka Guidebook and Atlas, was $100 for a numbered copy from the 1970's printing, which if memory serves, had a black cover. It was $50 per copy for the blue covered atlas, that wasn't numbered. These were reprints, and the number available at the time was low, and demand was much higher in the 1990's, than it had been in the eighties. Then in the late 1990's, I believe, a reprint edition was offered for under thirty bucks, and I got stuck with about four numbered copies. Shame on me. Who would prefer a hundred dollar 1970's book, when they could buy a brand new copy, at less than half the price. The same has continued with many other books, and those publishers were taking advantage of the popularity of Muskoka history at the time. Strange now how many of these are seriously discounted at new book sellers, I've visited in the past several years, throughout the region. I could have told them this would happen, just as we had experienced a serious and prolonged devaluation of our out-of-print copies. The original guidebook from the late 1800's, went up substantially in value, and I was keeping track of these sales up to the late 1990's, and some with hand-tinted mapping, were selling for $1,000 and up, depending on condition. I expect it is much more today, and this would be logical based on the demand for this interesting book. As an historian, I will take the new, inexpensive copy. As a dealer of old books, and Muskoka memorabilia, I would rather save up for an original, because the book itself is, as a document, actually written into the history of Muskoka, just as Thomas McMurray's settler's guide has been imbedded as the first district history;  because of what details they contained about the lives and progress of pioneer landowners and business proprietors, and the intimate descriptions and connections to our fledgling communities. A lot of folks who had paid large amounts for these reprint editions, from the 1970's, couldn't sell them for what they had paid. I took big losses but that's what happens when you gamble on a trend, and something occurs to change direction. There's no schedule announcing when a trend is about to change. The market just shifts and we have to follow along.
     What I don't like, to be honest, is when antique dealers speculate on historic Muskoka pieces, and make untrue statements, about local heritage, simply because they haven't taken any time to do proper research. As historical stuff collides constantly, like molecular particles bouncing together in the atmosphere, it is incumbent for those speculating on Muskoka artifacts and nostalgia, to know how it all fits in, and the precise provenance.....which in most cases, absolutely justifies the price or the general prices being asked. This is of course, to be anticipated, if you, as a dealer, plan to speculate more aggressively, on the bits and bobbs of local history. You do need to justify the valuations, and stating rarity as the reason, is fine, if you can prove it absolutely.....or at the very least, if you can provide some knowledge others need to qualify the asking price beyond the statement...."I own it.....so I can charge what I want."  This is true.  But it doesn't make it right or fair for customers, and that should be a pivotal concern afterall.
     I remember reading a column written, some years ago, by journalist Robert Fulford, discussing old book shops and the characters who own them. He made an observation about one book shop, he visited, in United States, where the prices for some authors were substantially higher, than nearby booksellers were offering parallel titles. By sampling a number of shops, he could identify which authors, and non-fiction or fiction, were of interest to the specific shop owners. In other words, they priced books and authors they preferred, higher as a result. There is no law against this, but in terms of business prowess, you'd expect dealers would want to have comparable prices on their common inventory, to protect the interests of their client base. There is a large descrepency in prices, for Muskoka memorabilia, and I'm finding a few more people these days, selling items of local heritage significance, who are acting as historians when they promote them to customers, without any real knowledge, other than surface appreciation, what they're all about. I find this rudimentary to the industry, especially when speculation for the big bucks is involved. I've lived the life of a Muskoka historian, and antique dealer, so believe me, I've paid my dues, and had to answer a lot of questions to win the trust of our customers......who can count on authenticity, and provenance to companion the piece or pieces in question. When it is retrievable with the appropriate amount of research to varify, the information adorns the article like a badge of merit. It's what I want when I'm buying a local antique. I need provenance. Sometimes I'll buy a piece, knowing I can put in the leg work to make a proper identification. The price thusly, will have tempted me to make the purchase, and my sweat equity, fills in the blanks. If I turn around and sell it, later on, you get the historian's word, the article has been researched competently. Or, if I can't make the connection, or find out as much as I would like, this will be noted, and the price will reflect the fact, I couldn't finish the research as completely as I would have liked. It's just what you expect of antique dealers asking big prices for their wares.
     This isn't intended to be a business promotion, because at present, we only have a small,  average collection of Muskoka heirloom pieces......hardly competition for some of the larger dealers with hundreds of individual heirloom items to sell.
     For example, we have a locally crafted church pew from the original Ufford United Church, that was torn down many years ago now. It may have even been made by one of Suzanne's relatives, from the Shea and Veitch families, on their original farmsteads in the hamlet, abutting Three Mile Lake, in the present Township of Muskoka Lakes. I assume there were probably twenty or less of the pews constructed, so this is one of them. We have most recently sold an amazing hooked rug with Gravenhurst provenance, and Suzanne has recently sold-off two home-made Muskoka quilts, from a Gravenhurst farm.......made by the farm gent's own mother, early in the 1900's. Crafted and used locally. Now this is what we prefer. Folk art. Bring it on! This is what reflects life and times in Muskoka from the pioneer homestead to the present. This is the kind of heritage I seek out, and extend to customers, as proudly, "made in Muskoka."
     I am not a spokesperson for Muskoka antique enterprises. I'm not the go-to guy to price Muskoka collectibles, because I have been out of the mainstreet business, of selling this stuff, for too long to claim the expertise of once. I have kept up on prices, and with our online sales of Muskoka-related items, having been strong for the past decade, I feel as if I'm in the loop, but only along the outside edge.....and hoping to make improvements as quickly as possible, for our sons' newly expanded shop, on Muskoka Road, here in Gravenhurst. I have no commercial authority to force antique dealers, who speculate on vintage Muskoka pieces, to work closer together to price proportionally, and sensibly, but this is exactly what should happen, to protect customers from wild, unjustified valuations based on one-off sales, hardly the pivot of actual sales' records that can be tracked over months and years; such as auctioned art and quality antiques. How does the customer know they are getting a fair price for what they are purchasing? If you don't know much about Muskoka history, but you're selling historic documents, photographs, and journals, for example,...... gads, then what are you basing the price on? Muskoka? Or Canadiana? Or both? I don't want to say, the presence of "deep pockets" somewhere in the prevailing clientele, but it sure seems this way. I caution myself, for being out of order on this one, but sometimes we do need to police ourselves, or else, the ceiling will fall and hit us all with falling debris.
     When I worked at Muskoka Publications, in Bracvebridge, as editor of The Herald-Gazette, we sold all the books we produced, at the front counter. Herald-Gazette books included "A Good Town Grew Here," by Robert Boyer, plus the book on historic Bracebridge houses, by his mother Victoria. Plus there were copies of many of the books we printed privately, and I had access to not only the books, but information on just how many had been published in the first place. We were selling Bob Boyer's book for ten dollars and Victoria's for five dollars, and this was as late as 1985 to 1988. We had boxes full. Bob's book was reprinted recently but by the time it hit the shelves of new book dealers, I had sold all my original copies off, for about forty to seventy-five dollars each, based on condition.......and with the inside knowledge, all the copies had been sold from those cartons, and the demand for the book, by the mid 1990's, was extreme. The content in "A Good Town Grew Here," is amazing, and it is one of the most important books you can own, if you're researching the Bracebridge area. Many new residents to town, wanted to own a copy of the book, to learn about their new digs. Certainly values of original copies decreased in value. I like the original format, and the printing stock that was used in 1975, moreso than the modern version. That's just a matter of personal taste.
     I do have a ratty old personalized copy of the book, in my own regional history archives. What makes it special, is that it was very likely one of the first books off the press, in 1975. and was purchased by Jack Wells, the chap who actually put the book on the press in that town's Centennial year. Jack got Bob Boyer to sign the copy as well, and considering that I worked with both men, makes it a keepsake by reason of past employment. This is an association copy, that funny enough, didn't come to me through the newspaper association, but from a local thrift shop. Someone had donated the book, after Jack passed away some years ago, and I happened to be standing there, when the newly priced books came out on the shop cart. It became mine. Not for resale, but for continual use. I love the book. As a former editor with Muskoka Publications, the provenance was perfect for me, and yet the value isn't all that substantial.
     As I've mentioned in previous blogs, I recently purchased the iron letters that were posted on the outside of the former Herald-Gazette building, at 27 Dominion Street........at a second hand shop. I flipped. When I went for my first job interview at The Herald-Gazette, in the fall of 1978, I touched those iron letters for good luck. When I became editor, a few years later.....after an apprenticeship as a reporter, I used to touch those same mounted letters almost daily, for a little bit of good luck. As far as I'm concerned, I got all the good luck needed.......met my soon-to-be wife, living just down the street, got a chance to be an editor with most of the Muskoka Publication products, and lived the life of a writer in one of the most beautiful regions on earth. I just haven't quite figured out what to do with the letters, as a fitting remembrance of my years with the press. I wonder what they're worth? I do not! I was only kidding. I wouldn't sell them period. I'll leave them to my boys, who will probably have to separate "Herald" from "Gazette," as it was in the 1950's......the Bracebridge Gazette and the Bracebridge Herald, papers owned by the Thomas family and the Boyers, both of Bracebridge.
     I am certainly not against free enterprise, and I can't think of any law being broken, or moral bypassed, by those folks buying and selling Muskoka memorabilia. It's not that simple a situation to assess, because ownership is the biggest of big deals. If you want what I have, then you will have to "pay the piper," as they say. There is however, a credibility issue, especially if you plan on selling these relics over the long haul, because competition is going to force a change of attitude, or herald a loss of business. Sooner or later competition, and an unanticipated increase in collectibles on the market, will drastically change the peaks I've seen recently. I'd like to remind these sellers, and sundry other speculators, about the history of demand, and trends in the antique market over many hundreds of years. Just when you think you've figured out buying trends, well sir, like a two headed serpent, you're in big trouble if you've stocked up too late in the cycle. I've seen many of these cycles end badly, when dealers had huge inventories of Depression glass, and jade-ite, only to find the market had dipped for a tad....or an apparent eternity, as far as return on investments go.  Either sell it at a discount, or put it away for the next peak. Or just leave it to adjust on its own, and hope for occasional sales. But if you don't believe me about the volatility of antique trends, just ask a dealer who has been around a few cycles. You're not a sage dealer unless you've been able to ride the wave of change. Look at the hockey card debacle. A few dealers who did cards on the side, because it was too good to be true, lost their shirts. I didn't lose my shirt, but let's just say, our two lads still have thousands of cards in their closets, (our business couldn't sell) to pass on to their kids, from the heyday excesses of 1989 to 1993 or vicinity, when the crash came thundering down around us. Too much product, too many rookie cards, and way too many cheap new cards flooding the market, caused a huge price adjustment. Most, like us, just packed them away, to return to another day.....another year, another decade.
     There is the presumption, the Muskoka antique and collectible price escalation will increase until the end of time. It won't. It will cease and adjust to a new sensibility, as more dealers begin collecting and selling these modest treasures. Sooner or later, volume of material available, and opportunity shop to shop, will saturate the market, except for the true treasures of the region. Some will say crested hotelware. Not for me thanks. I want made in Muskoka pieces, that have a strong provenance to those who spent their lives here, and were inspired one way or another, by this hinterland. I prefer pioneer pieces, journals, art, photographs and both quilts, hooked and braided rugs. This reflects in human exertion and creativity, what the district was generating from within. Not what a ceramic factory was pounding out by the thousands, in urban environs all over the continent. Different strokes, I guess.
     Thanks so much for visiting today's blog. Please visit again soon.