Capturing The Essence of Muskoka in Print and Art

The Narrows Lighthouse, Lake Muskoka

Southwood Church Cemetery 

The Barge in early spring, Gull Lake Park

Southwood Church in The Autumn (All Photos by Fred Schulz)

CAPTURING THE ESSENCE OF THE MUSKOKA LANDSCAPE IN PRINT AND ART

GEORGE HARLOW WHITE WAS ONE OF THE EARLIEST ARTISTS TO STUDY THE DISTRICT

     IT'S KNOWN THAT EXPLORERS AND SURVEYORS WERE THE FIRST TO MAKE SKETCHES OF THE NEW LAND. IN MUSKOKA, SOME VERY EARLY ILLUSTRATIONS WERE MADE BY MISSIONARIES, ATTENDING THE SPIRITUAL NEEDS OF THE INHABITANTS; PEOPLES OF THE FIRST NATIONS, AND THE FIRST EUROPEAN HOMESTEADERS. A SMALL COLLECTION OF DRAWINGS WERE COMPLETED BY ONE OF THE ANGLICAN MISSIONARIES, WHO VISITED THE SMALL SETTLEMENTS OF EAST MUSKOKA, INCLUDING SETTLEMENTS AT COOPER'S FALLS, LEWISHAM, BARKWAY, UFFINGTON AND FRASERBURG, DOING ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE FIRST CHURCH BUILDINGS, AS WELL AS DEPICTIONS OF THE SMALL, IMPOVERISHED CABINS OF THE POORLY EQUIPPED, UNDER NOURISHED INHABITANTS. AS MORE SETTLERS ARRIVED, OF COURSE MORE ARTISTS, WRITERS, POETS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS BEGAN SHOWING UP, AND BEFORE THE END OF THE 1800's, MUSKOKA WAS WELL REPRESENTED IN BOTH PRINT AND VISUALS; AND BEING PROMOTED AS A TRAVEL DESTINATION AROUND THE WORLD.

     IN YESTERDAY'S BLOG, I WROTE ABOUT MORE RECENT PHOTOGRAPHY, AND ITS PLACE IN REGIONAL HISTORY. I RAN FIVE PHOTOGRAPHS, SENT TO ME BY MUSKOKA PHOTOGRAPHER, FRED SCHULZ, OF GRAVENHURST, OF THE FINAL TRIP OF THE NORTHLANDER TRAIN TO GRAVENHURST, IN THE FALL OF 2012, AND TWO OUTSTANDING IMAGES OF "THE CANADIAN," RUNNING THE SILVER RAILS, IN THE BACKGROUND OF A SCENIC MUSKOKA MARSH. FOR DECADES, FRED HAS BEEN CAPTURING INTERESTING IMAGES LIKE THIS, WITHOUT REALLY THINKING TOO MUCH ABOUT THE HISTORICAL VALUE OF HIS BODY OF WORK. WORKING ON AN UPCOMING PHOTO-BLOG PROJECT, COMING UP TOMORROW, ON MY "MUSKOKA AS WALDEN" SITE, I THOUGHT BACK ABOUT ALL THE FOLKS WHO HAVE ALSO TAKEN THEIR TURN, AT CAPTURING WHAT THEY FOUND EXCEPTIONAL ABOUT THIS PART OF THE PROVINCE. IT'S AN INTERESTING STUDY TO EXAMINE THIS ASSORTMENT OF SKETCHES, FINE ART, PHOTOGRAPHS, SCULPTURES AND THE WRITEN DESCRIPTIONS OF MUSKOKA DATING BACK TO THE 1860's, AS EXPERIENCED BY THOSE FIRST HALE AND HARDY ADVENTURERS……TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE FREE LANDS AND HOMESTEAD ACT, TO OBTAIN ACREAGE IN A LAND OF FORESTS, ROCK AND WATER. ONE NAME THAT KEPT POPPING UP, WAS THAT OF GEORGE HARLOW WHITE, A BRITISH ARTIST, WHO, IN THE 1870'S, MADE A LOT OF SKETCHES IN AND AROUND MUSKOKA, SPECIFICALLY GRAVENHURST. HIS WORK WAS IMPORTANT ENOUGH THAT IT BECAME A COVETED PART OF THE "J. ROSS ROBERTSON," COLLECTION, ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN ART COLLECTIONS PRESERVED IN CANADA.

      YOU MIGHT HAVE READ THE NAME "GEORGE HARLOW WHITE," IN A PREVIOUS BLOG, FROM EARLIER THIS WINTER SEASON, OR AS THE REVERED ILLUSTRATOR IN THE WELL KNOWN MUSKOKA BOOK, "THE NIGHT THE MICE DANCED THE QUADRILLE," BY THOMAS OSBORNE. A REFERENCE TO THE ILLUSTRATOR, PUBLISHED IN THE BOOK, READS AS FOLLOWS: "MOST OF THE LARGE BODY OF DRAWINGS AND WATERCOLORS GEORGE HARLOW WHITE CREATED, DURING HIS SIX YEARS IN CANADA (1871-77)) DEPICT LIFE AT THE TIME AND PLACE OF OSBORNE'S STORY; THE REGION OF ONTARIO'S SIMCOE COUNTY AND, FURTHER NORTH, THE OSBORNES' HUNTSVILLE (SOME SEVENTY DRAWINGS). REGRETFULLY, HARLOW'S DRAWING OF TEENAGE TOM OSBORNE, RECOUNTED IN TOM'S STORY, HAS NOT BEEN FOUND. WHITE RECEIVED THE ACADEMIC TRAINING IN DRAWING AND PAINTING TYPICAL OF PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND. BY THE TIME HE SAILED FOR CANADA IN 1871, HE HAD ALREADY HAD A CAREER OF SOME THIRTY YEARS OF PAINTING AND DRAWING THE LANDSCAPE OF THE VARIOUS BRITISH ISLES. HAVING MADE HIS DELIGHTFUL AND INVALUABLE CONTRIBUTION TO CANADA'S HISTORICAL RECORD, WHITE RETURNED TO ENGLAND AND CONTINUED TO PAINT AND EXHIBIT. HIS CANADIAN WORKS ARE FOUND IN NUMEROUS COLLECTIONS, CHIEFLY IN ONTARIO." "THE NIGHT THE MICE DANCED THE QUADRILLE," WAS PUBLISHED IN 1995 BY STODDART IN CONJUNCTION WITH BOSTON MILLS PRESS.

"WHAT ART HAS DONE FOR CANADIAN HISTORY" J. ROSS ROBERTSON

     I would doubt many readers of this column, would fully appreciate the name J. Ross Robertson, and why he helped preserve a significant array of sketches and paintings from the hand of George Harlow White, who amongst his Muskoka paintings, were many depicting the landscape in and around the hamlet of Gravenhurst in the 1870's. In 1917, when the book, "What Art Has Done For Canadian History," was published, it did create an awareness of the heritage imbedded in all the depictions that had been made, representative of those early years in the fledgling country; as settlements were quickly turned into villages, towns and cities. We had a record of those years, in the form of art, and J. Ross Robertson illuminated the necessity to build them into a national collection….as he believed it was critical to our identity in the future.

     "In a young country, where the struggle for existence seems to be only too soon followed by the struggle for the mighty dollar, we are but little concerned with history," wrote George H. Locke, Chief Librarian of the Historical Collection in the Public Reference Library, in Toronto. "History is supposed to be the work of the teachers, the professors in the universities, the antiquarians and archivists. And yet, how are we to understand ourselves and our position as a nation unless there are preserved the evidences of our growth and of the struggles of our fathers to the end, that a strong nation might be established? And these evidences of struggle and growth, so eagerly sought after and so carefully preserved, by the older nations of the world, are not revealed in books but in reproductions of scenes of the times. These prints tell a story, by the side of which the printed word is cold and dead; and to see the faces of the men who accomplished great things for our country, and to see the pictures of the houses in which they lived and worked, and of the villages and towns as they were in those times, gives us a thrill of 'ancestor worship,' which a discovery in Debrett could never produce," wrote George Locke, in the text of the book, introducing the Robertson collection.

    The book references the artist thusly: "George Harlow White, R.C.A. - Born in England in 1817; educated at the Charterhouse School, London. Came to Canada about 1870, remaining here for several years. In 1877 he returned to his native land, and in 1884 was elected member of the Royal Canadian Academy. His death occurred in 1888. White's landscapes are noted for their perspicuous and delicate touch, and are becoming very rare." Some of White's Gravenhurst depictions, included in this important collection, include works titled, "Gull Lake - August, 1875 - a sequestered spot. Original pencil drawing." "Pleasant Walk To Gravenhurst, September, 1873, Gravenhurst, in the Township of Morrison, is a pretty town on the rising ground between Gull and Muskoka Lakes, in the midst of some of the loveliest scenery of the district. Original pencil drawing."

     "Lake Muskoka, October 13th, 1875, A view from Gravenhurst, Ontario. Original pencil drawing." "Muskoka Narrows, October, 1872, Entrance to Gravenhurst Bay - The island on the left belongs to Colonel George T. Denison, of Toronto. Original pencil drawing." "Lake Muskoka Near the Narrows, August, 1875, Three miles from Gravenhurst. Original pencil drawing." "Chatting by the Way, A home on the high road from Washago to Gravenhurst, August 1875. Original pencil drawing." "Sparrow Lake, September, 1873, Depicting the outlet of the lake. Original pencil drawing." "Falls of the Muskoka River, Near Bracebridge, Ontario, October, 1872. These falls are now harnessed and furnish electric power and light for Bracebridge and Gravenhurst. Original pencil drawing." "Old Road Between Bracebridge and Gravenhurst, near South Falls, October 1872. Original pencil drawing." Note: There are many other sketches of Muskoka included in the Robertson collection.

     "The collection is impressive even to the man who thinks in dollars; it is interesting that those who find in it scenes and persons familiar to them, and recalling the early days of Canada. It is illuminating to the student of our history; but, above all, it is the national character of the collection that awakens the deepest emotions - that here is the history of a young nation, the background of men and events which have brought us to this critical period in the world's history, and have made us active participators in the solution of a great world problem and crisis," written near the end of the First World War, by the Chief Librarian, George Locke. "This is a National Gallery of Canada, where the pictures tell the stories and link together the men and events so that one can see the evolution of a nation. This is the visualization of history, and is an endowment for the boys and girls of today, who will have an historical background to enable them to set in proper perspective the national problems that will soon press for solution. This is the outcome of the hobby of a great man. Hobbies are incidental to real greatness, and when these hobbies are socialized and applied to the public good, they are the greatest legacy one can leave to mankind."

     I am a huge believer in the power of visual arts to influence, inspire and educate. It is the reason I have pursued collecting for personal interest in this area, and most definitely the impetus to commence this photographic heritage project, with regional photographer, Fred Schulz, who will, in time, capture similar images, in the modern circumstance, that artist George Harlow White copiously sketched on paper, one hundred and forty-one years ago. What Harlow-White sketched created in pioneer Muskoka, Mr. Schulz has and will accomplish with camera and film. Showing he's up to speed with modern technology, he will be capturing current events and scenes using the latest equipment. It will be history re-visited, history captured, and history made. The first release of this collaboration between Muskoka writer and photographer, will be published online tomorrow evening, on my refurbished "Muskoka as Walden" blogsite, which you can connect to, through this daily offering. Hope you can catch the opening act, of what I expect will be a year-long celebration of the good life and times here in the Ontario hinterland. If not, you can always archive back columns (blogs) when desired.

     Thanks for sharing some quality time with an old writer. Tomorrow, you can spend more time, with both an old writer and old photographer…..working off their bucket list, to leave a record of the happy and contenting times, they've spent living and working in God's Country. Happy Easter folks. Hope the weekend has been good for you and family. Suzanne has a huge bird in the oven, and the smell is making me crazy. She insists on me sticking to my "drop a hundred pounds" diet, yet tortures me with these seasonal temptations. I have already suggested, that I shall resign from this diet-thing, ninety pounds short of my goal, if she limits my portion, at the ceremonial Birch Hollow Easter supper, this evening. It just wouldn't be cricket to punish an overweight chap by denying him turkey, dressing and cranberries, on such a spiritual (also culinary) occasion as this. What's this I smell? Pumpkin pie? I shall be fortunate to make it to the dinner hour without succumbing to this raging hunger. When I tell her this, darn it all, she hands me an orange and tells me to pretend.

     See you again soon, I hope.

  

Photo Archives and The Last Trip Of The Northlander

Photos by Muskoka Photographer Fred Schulz - The Canadian and the Last Trip of The Northlander - 

FOR THE LOVE OF TRAINS AND MUSKOKA - FRED SCHULZ HAS CAPTURED A LOT OF REGIONAL HISTORY - JUST IN NORMAL COURSE

THE IMPORTANCE OF VISUALS IN HISTORICAL REFERENCING

     A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, I ASKED MUSKOKA PHOTOGRAPHER, FRED SCHULZ, HOW MANY PHOTOGRAPHS HE HAS TAKEN IN HIS PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY. I WASN'T SUGGESTING A FORENSIC AUDIT, TO GET AT THIS NUMBER, AND REALLY, IT WAS JUST A STATEMENT OF "OH WOW" IN THE GUISE OF A QUESTION. I COULD HAVE ANSWERED FOR HIM? A MILLION? TWO MILLION? AS FAR AS SHUTTER CLICKS, MAYBE MORE. FRED MAY LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN, AS ONLY THOSE ONES THAT HE CONSIDERED OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY. ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS OVER-SHOOT, AS I WAS TAUGHT IN MY FIRST PHOTO-JOURNALISM DAYS, WITH THE MUSKOKA LAKES-GEORGIAN BAY BEACON IN 1979. DUE TO THE FACT I WAS A TOTALLY UNPREDICTABLE (CRAPPY) PHOTOGRAPHER, AND TYPICALLY CAME BACK WITH ONLY ONE OR TWO USABLE IMAGES, I WAS TOLD TO PERFORM EXTREME BRACKETING…..WHICH MEANT I HAD TO ADJUST SETTINGS, ONE UP, AND ONE DOWN, FROM WHAT THE CAMERA WAS TELLING ME WAS PERFECT. I'D GO WAY BEYOND THIS AND COME BACK WITH A WHOLE FREAKING ROLL SHOT OF ONE SUBJECT (EVENT)…..JUST TO GET THREE OR FOUR DECENT PHOTOGRAPHS FOR THAT WEEK'S PAPER. POINT IS, I TOOK A LOT OF PHOTOGRAPHS, BUT NOT SO MANY GOOD ONES. AS A PHOTOGRAPHER, I MADE A HELL OF A WRITER. I ONCE CAME BACK FROM A PHOTO SHOOT AND INTERVIEW, WITH MARINE SERVICE LEGEND, EDDY MORTIMER AND HIS WIFE, AND MUSKOKA FARMER AND CIVIC FIGURE, HENRY LONGHURST SR., WITHOUT EVEN ONE IN-FOCUS NEGATIVE TO USE FOR "THE MUSKOKA SUN." I HAD TO MAKE SECOND TRIPS MANY TIMES, TO MAKE UP FOR MISADVENTURES. ACCIDENTS SCENES? I LEARNED TO BRACKET LIKE A WILD MAN, SO THEY WOULDN'T FIRE ME. INSTEAD I COST THEM A FORTUNE IN FILM AND DEVELOPING.

    FRED WOULD, OF COURSE, HAVE A MUCH BETTER AVERAGE THAN I EVER HAD, AND BECAUSE HE SHOT A LOT OF WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARIES, BAPTISMS, FAMILY GATHERINGS AND SPECIAL EVENTS, HE HAD TO POSSESS THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF PHOTOGRAPHIC EXCELLENCE. THESE WERE EVENTS YOU COULDN'T SCREW UP, WITH POOR FOCUSING, AND LIGHTING MISCUES, BECAUSE THERE WERE NO CHANCES FOR "DO-OVERS." SO I IMAGINE HIS PILE OF "SECONDS" WOULD HAVE BEEN A LOT SMALLER THAN MINE, DURING THOSE YEARS IN THE NEWSPAPER GRIND. THE REASON I WAS TALKING TO FRED ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHS, WAS TO ACKNOWLEDGE JUST HOW MUCH MUSKOKA HISTORY HE HAS RECORDED…..WITHOUT EVER ONCE THINKING OF HIMSELF AS AN HISTORIAN. HE HAS TAKEN PHOTOGRAPHS OF LOCAL ARCHITECTURE, RURAL CHURCHES AND ADJACENT CEMETERIES, FARMSTEAD BUILDINGS, PAINTED BARNS, LIVESTOCK IN SPRING PASTURES, URBAN SCENES THROUGHOUT THE SEASONS, AND OF COURSE, HIS FAVORITE SUBJECT……TRAINS. FRED SCHULZ HAS HAD A LIFE LONG PASSION FOR TRAINS, AND HE LIKED TO HAVE HIS COFFEE BREAKS AT THE GRAVENHURST TRAIN STATION; AND IT WAS COMMON TO SEE HIM ON THE PLATFORM, LOOKING UP AND DOWN THAT LENGTH OF RIBBON RAILS, WITH HIS CAMERA AROUND HIS NECK, AND A LOT OF FILM TO EXPEND. HE HAS DONE US A FAVOR IN THIS REGION OF ONTARIO, AND CANADA, BY RECORDING EVENTS, SUCH AS THE FINAL VISIT OF THE NORTHLANDER TO GRAVENHURST IN 2012. THE RAIL SERVICE EXTENSION TO MUSKOKA, IN THE LATE 1800'S, WAS A HUGE ECONOMIC BOOST TO THE REGION, AND A BOON TO ONGOING SETTLEMENT OF THE LARGELY UNOCCUPIED FREE LAND GRANT REGION, IN MUSKOKA AND NORTHWARD. IT WAS A TRULY SAD DAY WHEN THE NORTHLANDER MADE ITS FINAL VISIT, BUT FRED WASN'T GOING TO MISS GETTING IT ALL DOCUMENTED FOR FUTURE POSTERITY.

     THESE "TIME CAPTURING" IMAGES ARE OF HUGE RELEVANCE TO THE STUDY OF MUSKOKA HISTORY, AND FOR HISTORIANS, IT WOULD BE SO MUCH BETTER, IF THERE HAD BEEN MORE PHOTOGRAPHERS DOCUMENTING OUR REGION THROUGH THE DECADES……TO SUPPORT AND AUGMENT THE RESEARCH THAT HAS AND CONTINUES TO BE UNDERTAKEN THROUGHOUT THE DISTRICT. I'M NOT SURE IF FRED HAS SPENT A LOT OF TIME CONTEMPLATING THE VALUE OF HIS PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTION, OR NOT, UNTIL, THAT IS……. I BEGAN BADGERING HIM FOR IMAGES TO ACCOMPANY MY "MUSKOKA AS WALDEN," BLOGSITE, WHICH AS A DUO, WE PLAN TO RE-LAUNCH ON MONDAY, APRIL 1ST. TO HERALD THIS NEW COLLABORATION, I WANTED TO SHARE A FEW IMAGES FRED SENT ALONG TODAY, AS A SMALL SAMPLE OF WHAT HE'S BEEN PHOTOGRAPHING AND COLLECTING FOR YEARS……MOSTLY OUT OF INTEREST; BUT ADMITTEDLY, HE DIDN'T HAVE A FULL PLAN ON WHAT HE MIGHT LIKE TO DO WITH THEM, AS AN END GAME. I'M SO THRILLED THAT HE HAS AGREED TO SHARE THEM WITH ME, AND OF COURSE, WITH YOU, AND KEEP IN MIND, THAT MANY OF THESE IMAGES HAVEN'T BEEN SEEN BEFORE…..OR IF THEY HAVE, IT WAS BACK QUITE A FEW YEARS. I THINK WE'RE GOING TO MAKE A LITTLE HISTORY WITH THIS PROJECT, AND WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT THAT?

     AS IS THE CASE WITH MOST, IF NOT ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS, A DRIVE AROUND THE REGION IS NEVER WITHOUT CAMERA GEAR CLOSE BY, FOR THOSE "JUST IN CASE" MOMENTS. I STOPPED CARRYING CAMERA EQUIPMENT WHEN I LEFT THE DAY TO DAY HUSTLE, OF THE WEEKLY PRESS. FRED HAS BEEN SO CLOSELY CONNECTED WITH CAMERAS, FOR MOST OF HIS LIFE, THAT HE WOULDN'T FEEL RIGHT, NOT HAVING ONE WITHIN EASY REACH, IN THE ANTICIPATION THAT OUR MOST HISTORIC MOMENTS AREN'T SCHEDULED AS PHOTO-SHOOTS…..AND JUST SORT OF HAPPEN WHEN THEY ARE LEAST EXPECTED. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DEAL, IS HIS OWN DESIRE TO CAPTURE MUSKOKA THROUGHOUT ITS SEASONS, RURAL AND URBAN, IN SNOW AND BAKING SUN, AND THE FRESHNESS OF EACH STARTING SEASON, FROM THE EMERGENCE OF NEW SPRING GROWTH, TO THE DEEP GREENS AND AZURE SKIES OF SUMMER; THE BRILLIANT HUES OF THE HARDWOODS, IN LATE SEPTEMBER, AND THE STORMY SKIES OVER THE BORDER PINES, IN THE COLD MISTY RAIN OF EARLY NOVEMBER. WHEN HE SEES SOMETHING HE DEEMS REMARKABLE, HE STOPS HIS MOTOR-TRIP, GETS THE GEAR TOGETHER, FINDS THE BEST VANTAGE POINT, THE COMPOSITION THAT DEFINES THE MOMENT, CLICKS AND CAPTURES THIS MOMENT IN TIME.

     WHEN I CALL FRED SCHULZ A FULL FLEDGED "MUSKOKA HISTORIAN," HE JUST SMILES AND BASHFULLY DISAGREES, THAT HE HAS HAD THIS KIND OF IMPACT AND EFFECT ON HIS HOME REGION. "I JUST ENJOY TRAVELING THROUGH MUSKOKA, AND WHEN YOU LIVE IN SUCH A BEAUTIFUL REGION, YOU CAN'T HELP BUT BE TEMPTED BY THE SEASONAL LANDSCAPES……THE ONES I COME ACROSS, WHILE DRIVING THE BACKROADS, THROUGH FORESTS AND PASTURES, ALONG LAKESHORES, AND MIST-COVERED MEADOWS…….LIKE THE ONES YOU COME UPON SHORTLY AFTER DAYLIGHT IN THE LATE SPRING. YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT INTERESTING SCENE WILL UNFOLD, AROUND THE VERY NEXT TURN IN THE ROAD," HE SAYS, MODESTLY, ABOUT HIS BODY OF WORK. "I'M FROM MUSKOKA. I'VE SPENT MY WHOLE LIFE HERE, AND I HAVE ALWAYS FELT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO CAPTURE, WHAT FOR ME, HAS MADE IT SUCH A SPECIAL PLACE TO LIVE AND WORK. I'M ALWAYS ANXIOUS TO SHARE MY WORK WITH OTHERS……TRUSTING THAT THEY CAN ALSO SENSE THE SAME FEELINGS ABOUT THE SEASONS OF MUSKOKA."

     I THINK HE'S WAY TOO MODEST, AND OVER THE COMING MONTHS, I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU, VIA THIS BLOG AND "MUSKOKA AS WALDEN," A SMALL SELECTION OF FRED'S PHOTOGRAPHIC WORK, SOME CURRENT, AND SOME FROM HIS MASSIVE ARCHIVE COLLECTION…….WHICH WILL BE A TREAT…..AND HISTORY IN THE MAKING. I'VE WORKED WITH MANY OUTSTANDING PHOTOGRAPHERS IN THIS REGION, BACK IN MY MEDIA DAYS, BUT THIS IS GOING TO BE THE ZENITH FOR ME, AS BOTH A WRITER AND HISTORIAN……AND A COLLECTOR VERY INTERESTED IN PHOTOGRAPHY GENERALLY. I HAVE INCLUDED A FEW WITH THIS BLOG TODAY, AND I WILL CONTINUE TO RUN IMAGES FROM FRED'S PRIVATE STOCK, TO HEAD THIS BLOG FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS AT LEAST.

I AM A HOARDER OF OLD NEGATIVES

     I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago, but with my recent dealings with Fred's collection of heritage photographs, of Muskoka, I began digging through my own archives, finding boxes of negatives and photographs dating back to the early 1900's, featuring hundreds of images of steamships plying the Muskoka Lakes. A large part of our family's collection came from the estate of Reverend Reid, and his family, of Toronto and Muskoka, specifically Browning Island, where they had a cottage for many years. Some of the prints from these negatives were sold several years ago, to offset the purchase price…….the negatives being kept for future posterity. When we started selling Muskoka memorabilia, back in the late 1980's, our vintage photographs, collected to that point, sold extremely well, and we found ourselves advertising for more collections to meet the demand…..which we had grossly underestimated.

     Our first major acquisition was a large collection of small format glass slides, mostly of Wigwassan Lodge, circa 1950's, on Lake Rosseau, (Windermere), from a former resort employee. In the collection were some great photographs of water skiers being pulled by the Ditchburns they owned……(three I believe, known as the "Wiggy" boats). We have several left from this collection, (duplicates we wanted for our own archives), that was sold about ten years ago. We also purchased another large collection off the estate of Dr. Wilfred and Ruth Bennett, of Gravenhurst, that offered some outstanding images of the Village of Bala, where they had their cottage. Dr. Bennett, a highly competent photographer, was the former Chief Medical Officer of Health, for the Muskoka-Parry Sound Health Unit. Mrs. Bennett was the author of three significant Muskoka related books, including "Diary of a Muskoka Maid," "Yorkshire Rose," and "Where the Loons Call." I purchased ninety percent of the Bennett's Muskoka reference library, and hundreds of examples of Ruth's art work. She was also a well known regional artist. We have sold off all of her art work, and most of the photo-archives, and outside of her own signed first editions, which we kept for our private Muskoka collection, the books all found homes with hobby historians, we work with frequently, to build their own reference libraries. Of course I have regrets selling these heirloom pieces from our district of Ontario, but it's part and parcel of being an antique dealer most of the time, an historian part time, and a writer torn between the disciplines of "to collect, or not to collect, and how to pay the mortgage."

     I have put my remaining photo archives on the "do not sell" list, which has been bent, manipulated, stretched, and tested many times before…..so I won't make any ridiculous claims about its certain longevity. I would like to expand my collection, and this can happen any day, when you're in front-line, main street antiques. Unfortunately, at times, it's hard to justify the many hundreds of dollars, and thousands, it can take to acquire a collection of merit……for its historical context, and to hell with profit. That's the unfortunate confluence between professions. The historian "me" doesn't want to part with any of the collection, and the antique dealer "me" argues, "there's more where that came from," to justify the cycle of buy and sell that keeps us in business. It's always been a fifty-fifty split for me, over my professional years in both capacities, so I suppose it's alright if this continues on for a few more years…..as the writer "me" likes consistency most of all. The consistency is that I can use these negatives for historical gains, as well as using them to profit when the need is most profound……and whether I keep them, or sell half, I've always got something to write about.

     I hope you like the Fred Schulz photographs I've included with this blog. I hope it will be reflected, throughout this partnership between photographer and writer, that we both love our home region, and wish to represent it responsibly, and a little boastfully…..which honestly, after a lifetime, we feel incumbently well suited to present. The editorial copy, and photographs, should demonstrate pretty clearly, how glad we are, when someone calls us "Muskokans," and we can retaliate, by agreeing enthusiastically, "Yes we are!" Thanks for visiting today, and I hope you can stick around for the "picture-show" in the works. See you again soon. Thanks so much for your loyalty these past months. Before April concludes, this blog will have hit the 100,000 mark, of views, in less than a year and a half of daily publishing. I began with twenty hits a day, to the present, when that number often reaches 600 readers per day. It comes to you from the heart of Gravenhurst, Ontario……in beautiful South Muskoka. Thanks again. I take nothing for granted, and I can only hope that I can meet your demands for blogs of interest.

   

Running An Antique Shop Like Normal Retail

GOOD FRIDAY WAS JUST ONE OF THOSE GOD GIVEN BEAUTIFUL, SUNNY, MEMORABLE DAYS

     SUZANNE AND I TOOK A LITTLE DRIVE DOWN A FEW "MEMORY" LANES TODAY, IN THE GLORIOUS SUN-GLOW OF EARLY SPRING MUSKOKA-STYLE. WE DROVE TO BRACEBRIDGE FROM GRAVENHURST ON MUSKOKA BEACH ROAD, MY FAVORITE COUNTRY LANE IN THE WHOLE DISTRICT; AND WE VENTURED TO SOME OF OUR OLD AND FAMILIAR HAUNTS…..VISITING THE HOUSES WE USED TO LIVE WITH OUR YOUNG FAMILY. YOU KNOW, IT WASN'T A SAD JOURNEY, BUT ADMITTEDLY, I SAW QUITE A FEW GHOSTS TODAY. I AM READYING MY "MUSKOKA AS WALDEN" BLOG-SITE, FOR THE MONDAY, APRIL IST (NO FOOLING ABOUT IT) RE-LAUNCH, WRITING COPY WITH COMPANION PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN BY WELL KNOWN REGIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, FRED SCHULZ, ALSO OF GRAVENHURST.

    THIS IS MY AMBITIOUS NON-BOOK PROJECT, TO PARALLEL ONE OF MY FAVORITE CANADIAN PUBLICATIONS, "SUPERIOR; THE HAUNTED SHORE," BY WAYLAND "BUSTER" DREW, AND ONE OF CANADA'S MOST ACCOMPLISHED PHOTOGRAPHERS, BRUCE LITTELJOHN. HAVING BEEN AN ASSOCIATE IN LOCAL HISTORY, WITH WAYLAND FOR MANY YEARS, I LOVED TO CHAT WITH HIM ABOUT THIS SIGNIFICANT BOOK, NOW IN SUCCESSFUL REPRINT, AND WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO UNDERTAKE SUCH AN ENORMOUS PROJECT. HE WAS ALWAYS HIGHLY SUPPORTIVE OF YOUNG AUTHORS, AND I FELL INTO THIS CATEGORY. I CERTAINLY WISH TO PAY RESPECT TO HIM, BY DEDICATING THIS UPCOMING BLOG PROJECT, FOR MUSKOKA, TO HIS MEMORY. WAYLAND WAS A FORMER TEACHER AT BRACEBRIDGE AND MUSKOKA LAKES SECONDARY SCHOOL, AND ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE BRACEBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. IF BY READER SCRUTINY, I WAS CONSIDERED TO BE A QUARTER OF HIS CALIBER, AS A WRITER, IT WOULD BE AN HONOR…..AS I BELIEVE HE WAS ONE OF THE FINEST WRITERS IN OUR COUNTRY.

     TODAY ON OUR MOTOR TRIP, WE SAW THE MAGNIFICENT EMERGENCE OF THE ROCKS AND EARTH OF A LANDSCAPE, THAT HAS BEEN ENTOMBED FOR LONG AND LONG…..THE SUN DRENCHED WOODLANDS OF LEANING BIRCHES, SHADOWED DARK UPON THE REMAINING SNOW. HOW VIBRANT THOSE EVERGREENS APPEARED, CONTRASTING AGAINST THE DEEP BLUE OF MUSKOKA SKY. WHEN WE ARRIVED ON THE MAIN STREET OF BRACEBRIDGE, IT WAS WONDERFUL TO SEE SO MANY PEOPLE OUT STROLLING ABOUT, AND SITTING ON THE BENCHES UP AND DOWN MANITOBA STREET. ALONG THE DRIVE, PAST THOSE LANDMARK LOCATIONS, (I REMEMBER AS A FORMER HOMETOWNER), I WAS PLAYFULLY RECALLING ALL THE OLD GANG……FRIENDS AND FAMILIAR FACES, AND I SENSED THEY KNEW I WAS THERE. A COUPLE OF TIMES, I HAD TO LOOK BACK, BECAUSE I REALLY THOUGHT I'D SEEN AN OLD MATE, FORMER GIRLFRIEND, BUSINESS ASSOCIATE, OR WRITING COLLEAGUE, WAVING BACK AS WE DROVE PAST. YOU'VE PROBABLY HAD THE SAME EXPERIENCE, RE-VISITING A NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE YOU ONCE DWELLED……..AND EXPECTING TO FIND IT THE SAME AS THE DAY YOU LEFT.

     AS A KID I WAS ALL OVER THESE TOWN STREETS. EVERY DAY. IT WAS MY HOMETOWN AND I TOOK EVERY ADVANTAGE TO ENJOY IT ALL. FOR EACH YEAR I LIVED THERE, I EXPLORED IT THOROUGHLY, AS IF IT WAS A NECESSARY MISSION; THEN AS A WRITER, ANCHORING ONTO FAMILIAR FEATURES, ARCHITECTURE, AND THE PEOPLE, BY HANDSHAKE AND FAMILIARITY, WHO LEANED ON THOSE OLD DOORWAYS, AND WANDERED THROUGH THAT ANGLED PATH CUTTING MEMORIAL PARK IN TWO…..PLUS THOSE WHO COULD PASS A SPRING AFTERNOON BASKING IN THE SUN, ON A CLEAR PARK BENCH. I WANTED TO KNOW THEM ALL…..ONCE AGAIN, AS A MATTER OF HALF REDEMPTION FOR THINGS AND EVENTS I'VE MISSED…….AND PART, AS A MATTER OF REKINDLING THE LIBERATED FEELINGS I ENJOYED AS A KID, LIVING IN GOD'S COUNTRY……MUSKOKA.

     I SAW THE SPIRITUAL AURA, THAT FOR ME NOW, IS THE COMMONPLACE OF THE DAY. I CAN'T DRIVE ALONG THESE TOWN STREETS, LIKE ALICE, AUBREY AND LIDDARD STREETS, OR SHADOWY COUNTRY LANES, SUCH AS GOLDEN BEACH AND SANTA'S VILLAGE ROAD, OR EVEN BEAUMONT DRIVE THAT I BIKED A THOUSAND TIMES, WITHOUT SEEING MYSELF AS A KID, PEDDLING A BIKE WITHOUT A CARE IN THE WORLD. WHEN I DRIVE ALONG THESE FAMILIAR ROADS TODAY, TRYING TO PREPARE FOR THIS UPCOMING BLOG SERIES, I KNOW THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT REFLECTION I CAN OFFER IN RETURN, AS A TRIBUTE, IS TO MY HOME DISTRICT AS A CELEBRATION……MUSKOKA BEING ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING AREAS ON EARTH……..A STRONG SPIRITUAL PLACE THAT HAS GIVEN SO MANY OF US INSPIRATION TO LIVE-ON AND PROSPER.

     I HOPE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO JOIN FRED AND I, AS WE EXPLORE MUSKOKA, AND BRING OUR DISCOVERIES TOGETHER. THERE ISN'T A DIME OF REVENUE BEING RAISED BY THIS PROJECT, AND NOT A PENNY OF GRANT MONEY WILL BE USED TO FINANCE OUR TIME. THIS IS A PROJECT WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT FOR YEARS, BUT DIDN'T HAVE THE TIME TO DEDICATE, TO DO IT WELL. THIS IS OUR TRIBUTE TO THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO LINK TO "MUSKOKA AS WALDEN," ON MONDAY EVENING, TO VISIT THE REVAMPED BLOG, WHICH WILL BE PUBLISHED DAILY FOR AT LEAST THE COMING YEAR. IT HAS BEEN FUN TO WORK ON, AND I HOPE IT PROVIDES A LITTLE LIGHT, ENJOYABLE READING FOR YOU…..IF YOU HAVE THE TIME TO SPARE.

THE ANTIQUE BUSINESS ALWAYS CAME THROUGH IN THE CRUNCH

WHEN WE NEEDED A BIG SALE - IT JUST HAPPENED

     IN A NUTSHELL, HERE'S WHY I HAVE STUCK WITH THE ANTIQUE TRADE, FOR THE PAST THREE AND A HALF DECADES, OF ACTION-PACKED ADVENTURES. LIKE  A SHIP ON THE OCEAN. STARTING IN THE VALLEY, HITTING THE PEAK, THEN BACK INTO THE VALLEY, BUT ALWAYS IN ANTICIPATION, OF THE NEXT BIG SWELL, AND THE RESULTING SLIDE DOWN INTO THE HOLLOW……ONLY TO REPEAT OVER AND OVER. AS WELL, IF YOU'VE EVER WANTED TO OPEN YOUR OWN ANTIQUE SHOP, HERE ARE A FEW INSIDE TIPS THAT MIGHT HELP YOU DECIDE.

     WHEN SUZANNE AND I BEGAN BIRCH HOLLOW ANTIQUES, IN THE LATE 1980'S, AS I'VE NOTED MANY TIMES PREVIOUSLY, WE DID SO TO GET A HEAD-START ON OUR RETIREMENT. SUZANNE IS JUST NOW RETIRING AFTER THIRTY-ONE YEARS AS A TEACHER. EVEN THOUGH I HAD BEGUN WITH AN EARLY ANTIQUE BUSINESS, STARTED WITH MY PARENTS IN 1977, WITH THIS NEW FAMILY ENTERPRISE, I RECOGNIZED HOW LONG IT WAS GOING TO TAKE, AS PART-TIMERS, TO GET IT TO THE STAGE WE COULD ACTUALLY DEPEND ON IT AS AN INCOME PRODUCER. BEFORE SUZANNE AND I WERE MARRIED, I WARNED HER ABOUT THE DIFFICULTIES MARRYING A WRITER, WORKING AT A NEWSPAPER. BUT, I TOLD HER, THAT WITH MY TINKERING IN ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES, WE WOULD ALWAYS HAVE THE ABILITY TO BUY AND SELL INTERESTING OLD STUFF, TO SUPPLEMENT OUR INCOMES. I WASN'T WRONG ABOUT THIS. THE BUY AND SELL OF VINTAGE-WARE IS STILL A FASCINATING, RELIABLE WAY OF MAKING A FEW EXTRA DOLLARS. I KNEW, WITH A YOUNG FAMILY, WE COULD NEVER DEPEND ON IT ENTIRELY, BUT AS ONE OF THE "PODS" OF OUR ECONOMIC FUTURE, IT WAS A SECURE ALTERNATIVE TO OTHER SOURCES OF INCOME. THE BEST PART WAS THE LIBERATION OF BEING IN CHARGE OF YOUR OWN SHIP, AFTER YEARS OF BEING PART OF A CREW.

     YOU DON'T OFTEN SEE "GET RICH" SEMINAR PITCHES, PROMOTING THE "BUY AND SELL" OF ANTIQUES, AS A WAY TO MAKE A MILLION BUCKS. I VERY SELDOM READ ANYTHING, THAT SUGGESTS BUYING ANTIQUES FOR INVESTMENT. ACCEPT OF COURSE, IN THE PAGES OF ANTIQUE RELATED MAGAZINES. WHILE THERE'S "HOW TO BUY REAL ESTATE WITH NO MONEY DOWN," MOTIVATIONAL PROGRAMS, THERE ARE VERY FEW, IF ANY, ADVOCATING THE PURCHASE OF ANTIQUES, TO BUY AND FLIP FOR A QUICK PROFIT. YET DESPITE WHAT IT DOESN'T GET IN PUBLICITY, THE PURCHASE OF ANTIQUES AND ART FOR INVESTMENT ADVANTAGES, HAPPENS CONSTANTLY AMONG ASTUTE COLLECTORS AND DEALERS, WHO KNOW THE RELATIVE SAFE HAVEN, OF BUYING AGE, QUALITY AND PROVENANCE.

    WHILE ART AND ANTIQUE INVESTMENT MAY NEVER SURPASS THE MONEY BEING SPENT BY REAL ESTATE SPECULATORS, IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO KNOW THE PERCENTAGES OF INVESTMENT DOLLARS THAT ARE DIRECTED TO THESE RESPECTIVE AREAS. I CAN TALK CANDIDLY ABOUT THIS, BECAUSE THE MOST MONEY I EVER LOST (BUT MADE UP FOR OVER TIME) WAS IN REAL ESTATE SPECULATION. WHILE OUR ANTIQUES AND ART HELD THEIR VALUE, AND INCREASED SOMEWHAT, DURING THE HOUSING MARKET COLLAPSE OF THE EARLY 1990'S, OUR NEARLY NEW HOUSE DROPPED ABOUT THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS IN TWO YEARS. EVEN THEN, THAT WAS JUST A FIGURE ON PAPER, BECAUSE HOUSES STILL WEREN'T SELLING. WHILE IT WAS BAD, IT WAS NO WHERE NEAR THE DEVASTATION OF THE MOST RECENT HOUSING DISASTER IN THE UNITED STATES. BUT TO A YOUNG FAMILY ON A TIGHT BUDGET, FINDING OUT YOU'VE LOST THIS MUCH MONEY IN VALUATION, WAS ENOUGH TO STOP US FROM EVER RELYING ON REAL ESTATE SPECULATION TO FEATHER OUR RETIREMENT NEST. THANK GOODNESS WE HAD OUR LARGE COLLECTION OF ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES TO BALANCE THE LOSSES WITH SOME MINOR GAIN.

     NOW I SHOULD FOOTNOTE HERE, THAT OUR REAL ESTATE LOSSES WERE ON PAPER, AT THAT TIME, NOT BECAUSE WE HAD TO SELL FOR A LOSS, OR HAND OUR HOME BACK TO THE BANK. IT WAS CLOSE, ADMITTEDLY, UNTIL THE LATE 1990'S. WHAT WAS HAPPENING AROUND US, TO FRIENDS WHO HAD ALSO BOUGHT HOUSES DURING THIS PERIOD OF THE REAL ESTATE SURGE, FROM ABOUT 1986 TO 1989, WAS THAT BANKS WERE CONCERNED ABOUT THE DEVALUATION OF PROPERTIES THEY HAD MORTGAGED; AND SOME HOMEOWNERS WERE ASKED TO PUT MORE MONEY DOWN, AS THEIR ORIGINAL DOWNPAYMENT HAD BASICALLY EVAPORATED IN THE MELT-DOWN OF REAL ESTATE VALUES. WE LIVED IN CONSTANT FEAR OF GETTING A LETTER FROM OUR LENDER, ASKING FOR MORE MONEY TO GUARANTEE THE $105,000 WE HAD BORROWED. LIKE I NOTED EARLIER, THANK GOODNESS WE HAD ENOUGH ANTIQUE INVENTORY, AT HOME, AND IN OUR BRACEBRIDGE SHOP, TO BE ABLE TO STAY AFLOAT, BY HAVING SOME SIGNIFICANT SALES DURING THOSE TUMULTUOUS YEARS.

     I CAN SO CLEARLY REMEMBER, THE WAY WE CAME TO RELY ON OUR ABILITY TO BUY ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES, RESTORE AND RE-CONDITION PIECES, FROM FURNITURE TO VINTAGE QUILTS, AND TURN A SMALL BUT SIGNIFICANT PROFIT, WHILE STILL HANDLING THE EXPENSES OF THE SHOP. NOW THAT IT'S EASTER, I CAN TELL YOU ONE LITTLE FAMILY STORY, ABOUT HOW THE ANTIQUE BUSINESS, WITHOUT FAIL, USED TO SAVE THE HOLIDAY, FOR THE KIDS; AT LEAST AS FAR AS EASTER TREATS WERE CONCERNED. THE SAME HAPPENED AT CHRISTMAS. WE HAD TO COUNT ON SOME BIG SEASONAL SALES AT THE SHOP, TO MEET OUR BILL REQUIREMENTS, WHICH WERE SUBSTANTIAL, INCLUDING RENT AND MORTGAGE SHORTFALLS, AS WELL AS CONTRIBUTING TO "FOOD ON THE TABLE." CHRISTMAS PRESENTS AND EASTER TREATS UNFORTUNATELY FELL BEHIND THE OTHERS, AS MANY FAMILIES TODAY CAN RELATE. SO WHEN HOLIDAYS ROLLED AROUND, WE DUG INTO OUR CUPBOARDS AND STORAGE, TO FIND VINTAGE PIECES WE COULD OFFER FOR SALE. EVEN OUR COVETED HEIRLOOM PIECES HAD TO GO, IN ORDER TO SURVIVE FINANCIALLY. MANY SACRIFICES WERE MADE, BUT IT GAVE OUR ANTIQUE BUSINESS THE FUEL IT NEEDED TO MAINTAIN VIBRANCY.

     THE BEST STUFF FROM HOME WOULD ARRIVE IN THE SHOP THE WEEK BEFORE THE HOLIDAYS. IN THE CASE OF EASTER, WE REALLY COUNTED ON THE SATURDAY, FOLLOWING GOOD FRIDAY, TO HELP US RAISE ENOUGH PROFIT TO GIVE THE BOYS THEIR SEASONAL TREATS, AND A NICE DINNER FOR FAMILY. IT WAS CLOSE EVERY EASTER, FOR FIVE YEARS. WE SEEMED, PARDON THE PUN, TO BE ABLE TO PULL A RABBIT OUT OF THE HAT, BETWEEN THE THURSDAY BEFORE, AND THE FOLLOWING SATURDAY, TO BE ABLE TO COME UP WITH ENOUGH MONEY TO GO EASTER SHOPPING ON SATURDAY NIGHT AFTER OUR STORE CLOSING. IN THOSE DAYS, THERE WEREN'T A LOT OF SHOPS OPEN WHEN I CLOSED UP, AT 6 P.M. ON THE SATURDAY EVENING. AND YES, THERE WERE OCCASIONS, TWO YEARS I BELIEVE, WHEN WE HAD TO POSTPONE THE EASTER BUNNY VISIT, TO MONDAY, IN ORDER TO OPEN EASTER SUNDAY, TO LITERALLY RAISE AN EASTER EGG FUND. I HATED THESE OCCASIONS, BUT WE HAD NO CHOICE. WE HAD A BIG MORTGAGE, A SUBSTANTIAL RENT TO PAY, INVENTORY TO PURCHASE, AND UTILITY AND CREDIT CARD BILLS TO PAY-DOWN. EVERYONE HAS MOMENTS LIKE THIS, AND THE NECESSITY TO PAY FOR THE CHOICES MADE. I KICKED MYSELF IN THE ASS EVERY DAY THROUGH THOSE YEARS, HATING MYSELF FOR NOT HAVING PAID ATTENTION TO THOSE ECONOMISTS, WHO HAD BEEN PREDICTING A BUBBLE BURST SCENARIO IN THE HOT REAL ESTATE MARKET.

     THE POINT IS, WITH MY WRITING GIGS HAVING DRIED UP, DUE TO COST CUTTING AT THE NEWSPAPER, AND THE RADIO STATION I WROTE FOR, THE ANTIQUE BUSINESS WAS FORCED INTO OVER-DRIVE BY SHEER NECESSITY. I FOUND OUT, UNDER PRESSURE, JUST WHAT IT COULD PERFORM WHEN THE CHIPS WERE DOWN. I WAS AMAZED AT HOW RELIABLE A NOTORIOUSLY UNRELIABLE BUSINESS COULD BE, IF RUN AS A NORMAL RETAIL OUTLET…..BUT INSTEAD OF NEW INVENTORY…..WE SOLD "OLD". WE FOUND OUT THAT ASTUTE BUYERS WERE OUT THERE, LOOKING FOR SOLID INVESTMENTS IN ART AND QUALITY ANTIQUES. WE DIDN'T HAVE A MASSIVE INVENTORY, BUT BECAUSE WE HAD GONE TO ANTIQUE RETAIL BOOT-CAMP, FOR MANY YEARS BEFORE OPENING BIRCH HOLLOW, WE KNEW HOW TO MAKE LOW BUDGET ACQUISITIONS, THAT HAD A BIG PUNCH, AND HOW TO PRICE SENSIBLY, TO INCREASE THE CYCLE OF EARNING. WE WEREN'T OPERATING A MUSEUM HERE. WE NEEDED TURN-OVER, AND YES IT DID, FOR MANY YEARS, BECOME LIKE ANY OTHER RETAIL ENTERPRISE IN THE COMMUNITY. WE HAD TO TREAT ANTIQUES THE WAY THE HARDWARE STORE MARKETING HAMMERS, NAILS AND FREEZERS. DAMN THING IS……IT WORKED LIKE A CHARM. WE STARTED MODIFYING A TAD, AND SELLING NOSTALGIA ITEMS, LIKE VINTAGE (BUT STILL USEABLE) KITCHEN WARE, THAT ACTUALLY RIVALED THE PRICES OF NEW INVENTORY AT THESE SAME HARDWARE SHOPS. BAKEWARE FOR EXAMPLE. A LOT OF FOLKS LIKED THE IDEA OF USING VINTAGE CORNING-WARE AND PYREX, FROM THE 1960'S AND 70'S, AND WE JUST ALLOWED FOR THEIR PLACEMENT IN OUR STORE, AS "KITCHEN COLLECTABLES." THIS SHIFT FOR US, MADE BIG FINANCIAL SENSE, AND IT'S SOMETHING WE STILL DO, ALL THESE YEARS LATER. WE BECAME A SHOP THAT APPEARED TO HAVE BEEN IN A TIME WARP, STUCK IN THE 1950'S THROUGH 1970'S, SELLING NEARLY NEW INVENTORY, WITH THAT GENUINE "RETRO LOOK." HELL, WE WERE JUST TRYING TO SURVIVE, AND WHEN IT CAME DOWN TO INVENTORY, "NOSTALGIA" WAS THE BIGGEST SELLER….AND WHAT ULTIMATELY RESCUED US AS A BUSINESS. FOLKS WERE INVESTING IN NOSTALGIA, JUST AS THEY ARE TODAY……REPRESENTING SIXTY PERCENT OF OUR BUSINESS INCOME. FOR US, IT STARTS OFF WITH OUR BOYS' BUSINESS, UP FRONT IN THE OLD THEATRE BUILDING, (MUSKOKA ROAD, IN GRAVENHURST) SELLING VINTAGE VINYL, MUSIC MEMORABILIA, AND INSTRUMENTS. THEIR IDEAS IN PART, COME FROM THOSE WICKEDLY PRECARIOUS DAYS OF THE EARLY 1990'S, WHEN THEY USED TO HELP US AT THE SHOP…..EVEN AS KIDS, LEARNING THE TRADE, WHICH THEY HAVE CARRIED ON INTO A FULL TIME PROFESSION.

THE SATISFACTION OF PROVING THE ANTIQUE BUSINESS IS A SOLID PRODUCER

     There are times when I am harsh on the antique community, of which I am deeply and profoundly imbedded. Some of this comes from my own adventures, some good and some bad, experienced over the past thirty-five years in the profession. I've been at the bottom on numerous occasions, but I've also been privileged to ride the high side, many times, in great expectation of things to come. Our family has used the antique business in so many different ways, to celebrate life and work the way we want it to be. Sometimes it works and often it doesn't. Yet we still live the life of antique collectors and dealers, that offers fascination and odyssey, as daily fare.

     On those Saturday's before Easter, while under duress, I always seemed to be able to sell enough, to be able to make a small profit to re-direct to gift and chocolate purchases, to keep Andrew and Robert satisfied, and believing, that the Easter Bunny, (who was a little balding and drove a Festiva) was a generous critter after all. Sitting here in my office, overlooking the snow-laden lowland (we call The Bog), here at Birch Hollow, I still warm my spirit, glancing now and again, at the two plush Easter bunnies, I purchased for the boys many years ago, on one of those last minute trips to the store; late on Saturday evening, when the sales stickers went on the yet-to-be-sold chocolate treats. It was a business known as the Economy Store, here in Gravenhurst, and I arrived at the shop at about a half hour before closing, with twenty bucks and change, to stretch over some price-reduced inventory. I wasn't disappointed. I was able to get these two bunnies for five dollars each, and with the remaining ten, two chocolate rabbits each, and some smaller bagged candy-eggs. I think it worked out to within four cents of what I had to spend on treats. But I did it, and the shop had produced enough to buy a turkey and the trimmings as well. This isn't meant to read a pathetic reminiscence about how tough our family had it back then. Thousands upon thousands had it far worse than us. It's about the fact, that our modest, tiny antique shop, came through for us, not just at Easter and Christmas, but for so many months and years ever-after. What we have invested in antiques and collectables, have always, at the very least, held their value, and produced a small but adequate profit. So when I see today's antique dealers gouging with their asking prices, I write from experience, that it will backfire one day…..and it will completely turn-off the market-place, that does know value for every dollar spent. Antique dealers can give good value for their wares. But it's obvious to me, that hard times have not sculpted these dealers, as they influenced our family. I'm glad we had those tough times, of near economic ruin, because the fact we survived when many of our associates failed, means that the business has an historic dynamic that can, like "the little engine that could," survive what's thrown down as an obstacle……and continue to be a vibrant component of any retail neighborhood. Wouldn't that be great. Antique and collectable shops popping up once again, on the main streets of our Canadian cities, towns and villages. The way they used to be! Well, here's the thing! Dealers need to get in touch with the retail world around them……and join up before it's too late…..and another economic recession changes the rules about those who can survive, and those who must fail to clear the way for others.

     Suzanne and I, and our boys, Andrew and Robert, are sold on the inherent values and good economy associated with antiques and collectables. Pursued correctly, and with sensible proportion, knowing the pitfalls before you wind up buried in one, the hunt and gather of "vintage" inventory, for re-purchase, is a solid retail strategy. If, of course, a speculator is of the patient-variety, who without limitation, subscribes to the theory……..life isn't scripted, so learn by immersion, be tutored by experience, and allow wisdom to grow by being open and flexible to changes and "new normals;" then the antique business will adorn you like a well fitting, comfortable vintage suit. If on the other hand, you are one who wants the best for the least effort, try real estate instead.

     Thanks for sharing some time with me, on this rekindling Easter weekend.

Still Moving Ahead With Cookery Resource Project

HERE IS THE APRIL COLUMN I WROTE FOR THE GREAT NORTH ARROW. SEEING AS MANY OF YOU CAN'T GET COPIES OF THIS GREAT ONTARIO PUBLICATION, I HAVE DECIDED TO OFFER IT TONIGHT AS MY DAILY BLOG. BY THE WAY, THE GREAT NORTH ARROW IS PUBLISHED IN DUNCHURCH, ONTARIO.

SO WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT HANDWRITTEN RECIPES?

    I can remember as a rookie reporter, suffering dearly for my craft back in the late 1970's, driving hundreds of miles on assignments in the West Muskoka area for our newspaper, The Georgian Bay-Muskoka Lakes Beacon, in MacTier. In the early spring, it was as picturesque as any place on earth, with an illuminated mantle of old snow visible in the moonlight, through the evergreen woodlands; yet the liberating scent of open earth that I could detect, just having the window open a crack. The chilly night air would keep me awake at the wheel.

   I hate to admit I drove this way because it was unsafe. I had places to be and outside of sleeping in the car, no money for a motel room. Even though I was a pretty experienced driver, some of the icy conditions on the back roads, even in April, were quite a challenge. I was a reporter. I didn't want to make the news, by winding up down one of the many ravines I passed getting from here to there.

  Traveling the country lanes of Muskoka, particularly in the early evening, just as the moonlight had begun its spring haunting over the old farmhouses, I used to occupy myself by imagining what was going on in these rural kitchens that I, a hungry reporter, might sincerely enjoy, if by chance, invited to stop over. I still do this today when Suzanne and I are out on an antiquing adventure. It’s the dinner hour that always fascinates me. Just as it did when I was a lonely single, working through dinner, and driving past these historic, friendly looking abodes with their twinkling lights, visible candles and oil lamps engaged on the tables. I imagined the wonderful cuisine being prepared in that farm kitchen, and I suppose it was, as a writer, the catalyst for many kitchen related feature articles from that point.....and from that perspective; the passerby looking in and wishing that instead of driving past, I might instead, and as a real treat, be invited to partake of the evening’s cuisine.

   While putting most concentration on the state of the open road, I kept myself awake with this kitchen-fare curiosity. I could so vividly imagine grand harvest tables with a crispy, brown, sage covered old Tom Turkey sitting there all hot and buttered, awaiting the carver’s first cut. I could visualize the sideboard loaded with pickles and sweet relishes, a bowl of steaming dressing, and big vessels of squash or turnip. It was a case when imagination was my best advantage, as in a lot of these motor trips, I was pretty much broke and heading home to a somewhat empty cupboard. It was the way many reporters operated in my day, the printed word being far more important than contented tummies. We sacrificed for our craft. I wasn’t much of a cook anyway. But imagining such wonderful fare was within my creative license anyway, and it didn’t cost me a cent.

   There were times on the beat however, that I would arrive to do a story on an anniversary couple, for example, just in time for tea and treats. I'd be waiting for the arrival of M.P. Stan Darling, or M.P.P. Frank Miller, to present government recognition plaques. The kind folks of West Muskoka always fed the hungry reporter. I was fed at many events I covered, and for a hungry, lonely guy, many of these get-togethers were more fun than work. I’d get the story, the photograph, and a plate of roast beef courtesy the local Lions Club. or a recreation group hosting a fundraiser. I was food-conscious as a writer and I guess it was a natural progression then to wrap-up my years in journalism, composing websites about recipes and dining traditions in this part of Ontario.

   Imagining what was going on in these farm kitchens wasn’t too much of a stretch for me, as I visited many houses of friends with my parents, during my formative years, and watched as hosts of events prepared their food. I wasn’t satisfied with just eating the local fare but I wanted to see how it came about. I can remember looking in the kitchens and seeing the chaos of preparation, and saw clear evidence of handwritten recipes strewn on the counter-tops, as if they had been both the first and last defense of a really good dinner party. I loved all the hub-bub associated with kitchens......a fetish? I don’t think so but it has been a pretty powerful and life-long addiction to the culture of the kitchen.

   The author in me was fascinated by both what I could see, and could not (and had to imagine instead), in these warm kitchen windows, in the farmhouses and neat little homesteads and cottages, I passed quickly by on my reporting jags through the Ontario hinterland. I would love to have visited each one, and experienced not only the food but the family aura that made the kitchens such fabulous places to hole-up; especially when all else in the daily routine became tiresome and oppressive. I felt like that a lot. Alas, when I got home, well, there was just something missing. A partner for one thing! I had just recently been dumped by a long time girlfriend, and admittedly I was a wee bit despondent about this sudden change of life.

    As part of the settlement of the relationship, she got the friends, and kitchen gatherings of old mates became pretty thin after this. It was pretty much my cat "Animal," a few hockey mates who dropped over for beer when they heard I had a few, and small social events that were not quite culinary extravaganzas. I did give it the old college try but there always seemed to be something missing. I knew I had to make some changes because this wasn’t my concept of a good life. A good life was having a home where people wanted to visit; and an abode that had the kind of kitchen that would attract a country fiddler, at the same time as comforting a poet philosopher, a political wannabe, an out of work store clerk, a maiden in distress, a bartender with a night off, or a flutist looking to entertain. I wanted my place to be a safe haven, where over a good feast the problems of the world would be debated and resolved.

    It is wrong and sexist for me to say it was my partner Suzanne who made all the difference. As a home economist by profession, it’s true, she made me cease eating potato chip and oyster sauce sandwiches, (a lowly reporter’s quick fix before another meeting) and turned me against processed food in return for lemon chicken, casseroles to die for, roast beef that melted in my mouth.....and desserts that were heavenly. Suzanne helped me refine my kitchen fantasies. I begged her to allow me to participate in food preparation......even if that only meant being offered a seat to watch. I am a pretty fair cook of basic foods now, thanks to her tutorship for all these years. And it brought to our combined home, here at Birch Hollow, a true joy for time spent in preparation of food, as much as in its ceremonial consumption as the glorious end to the cooking adventure.

   When I’m out on a spring reporting junket now, I still can’t help looking longingly into the distant windows of old, cheerfully appointed farmhouses, and those neat little bungalows tucked into the budding landscape, bathed with the moonlight’s milky glow, and wonder about the respective dinner fare being served to the eager inhabitants tonight. What time tested recipes might have been employed to make these hot dishes, and the cake under glass on the oak sideboard? An idealist? A Rockwelian hold-out? A spirit encased in sentiment? You bet! When I come upon these handwritten recipes, some more than a century old, well folks, I just can’t help myself....I just get lost in time and tradition but I always return in time for dinner. In the next issue of The Great North Arrow, I'll give you some heritage insights about handwritten recipes, and why we need to conserve them for posterity.

The Screw Ups In The Antique Business We Cover Up

OF COURSE WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER - BUT!

ANTIQUE AND COLLECTABLE DEALERS SCREW-UP TOO

     AS A PREAMBLE TO THIS BLOG, SUZANNE, IF ASKED, WHAT FICTIONAL CHARACTER FROM TELEVISION, THAT I PARALLEL IN ALMOST EVERY WAY, SHE WOULDN'T HESITATE CALLING ME A MORTAL-MERGER BETWEEN "HOME IMPROVEMENT'S" TIM "THE TOOL MAN" TAYLOR, AND "MR. BEAN." SERIOUSLY. THE STORY BELOW, SHOULD EXPLAIN THIS BLUNT BUT HONEST CHARACTERIZATION.

     I PURCHASED A REALLY NICE ORIGINAL PAINTING, OF A CANADIAN FARMSTEAD, CIRCA 1860'S, AT A MUSKOKA REGION AUCTION. IT WASN'T SIGNED BUT IT SURE WAS PRETTY. WELL, AT FIRST GLANCE, IT LOOKED GRUBBY, AS IT APPEARED TO HAVE NEVER BEEN CLEANED. IT WAS OBVIOUS TO ME, THAT IT HAD HUNG NEAR A WOOD STOVER OF FIREPLACE. THE PLASTER FRAME WAS IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE, BUT THE CANVAS HAD SOME SMALL TEARS THAT WOULD HAVE TO BE SECURED, TO AVOID INCREASING IN SIZE. I ASKED SUZANNE IF SHE COULD PREPARE A VINEGAR AND WATER SOLUTION, IN A SPRAY BOTTLE, SO THAT I COULD BEGIN THE SLOW PROCESS OF LOOSENING THE SOOT AND GUNK THAT HAD BUILT-UP ON THE PAINT SURFACE. I'VE CLEANED A LOT OF PAINTINGS, BY SPRAYING ON THIS AGE-OLD CLEANING SOLUTION, AND THEN DABBING THE SURFACE, INCH BY INCH, WITH PAPER TOWEL (NOT RUBBING). I MIGHT HAVE TO DO THIS THREE OR FOUR TIMES OVER SEVERAL DAYS TO GET THE MAJORITY OF DIRT AND STUFF OFF THE PAINT. IT IS A SLOW PROCESS BUT IF YOU HURRY, CHANCES ARE YOU'LL CAUSE DAMAGE TO THE IMAGE. I'M NOT PARTICULARLY PATIENT, EXCEPT WHILE WORKING ON PAINTINGS, WHICH I ALSO COLLECT.

     I PICKED UP SOME PROCEDURAL, SAFE-HANDLING TIPS FOR CLEANING, FROM A PICTURE FRAMER, (I WAS ONCE ASSOCIATED), WHO ALSO DABBLED IN RESTORATION. WHEN FOR EXAMPLE, SHE HAD INSURANCE WORK-ORDERS FOR PAINTINGS, THAT HAD BEEN SOOT COVERED IN HOUSE AND BUILDING FIRES. THE FIRST TIP, OBVIOUSLY, WAS TO ALWAYS CHECK FOR CLEANER COMPATIBILITY WITH THE SUBJECT PAINT SURFACE. SHE WOULD DO A TEST ON A SMALL AREA OF THE PAINTING INITIALLY, TO MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE THE CLEANING SOLUTION WASN'T GOING TO CAUSE ANY SURFACE DAMAGE, DURING THE FULL CLEANING. IF SHE GOT COLOR ON THE PAPER TOWEL, THE WORK WAS IMMEDIATELY HALTED. WE ALL KNOW THIS, BECAUSE AT ONE POINT OR ANOTHER, (CHANCES ARE) WE HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE WITH CLEANING A SIMILAR SURFACE. I USED TO MANAGE A MUSEUM AND THE RULE WAS, AS I'M SURE IT STILL IS, A DIRT-COVERED PAINTING SHOULD BE SENT TO AN ART RESTORER FOR PROPER CONSERVATION. IT MAY BE THE CASE THAT THEY USE MOIST BREAD CRUMBS TO ROLL OVER THE PAINT SURFACE…..I DON'T KNOW. OTHER THAN FOR MOST ANTIQUE DEALERS, WITH A PAINTING THAT ISN'T WORTH A FORTUNE, SENDING IT AWAY FOR CONSERVATION CAN BE COSTLY. WE'RE CONCERNED ABOUT OUR INVESTMENT, SO WE DO PRACTICE CONSIDERABLE CAUTION, WHEN ATTEMPTING THESE CLEANING EXERCISES ON OUR OWN. BELIEVE ME, WE KNOW THE DOWN-SIDE OF MAKING A GAFF. AND WE'VE ALL MADE A FEW.

     SUZANNE SET ME UP OUTSIDE, AT BIRCH HOLLOW, WITH THE VINEGAR AND WATER, AT WEAK STRENGTH, FOR THE SURFACE OF THE PAINTING, WHICH I HAD REMOVED FROM THE HEAVY FRAME. FOR THE FRAME ITSELF, WHICH WAS HUGELY CAKED IN THE DUST OF AGES, SUZANNE GOT ME A SPRAY BOTTLE OF EXTRA STRENGTH CLEANER. MOST OF THE TIME THERE IS NEVER A PROBLEM ON SUCH A HIGH GLOSS SURFACE. SO I WAS WORKING AWAY, LISTENING TO THE KIDS PLAYING IN THE YARD, THE DOG BARKING AT A CHIPMUNK, AND TRYING TO KEEP PACE WITH SUZANNE'S CONVERSATION ABOUT THE REPAIRS ON AN OLD QUILT, SHE WAS WORKING ON AT THE SAME TIME. I THINK I WAS DISTRACTED WHEN NEIGHBORS, WHO WERE WALKING BY, STOPPED FOR A LITTLE CHAT, AND I JUST LOST MY CONCENTRATION FOR A FEW MOMENTS. I BET YOU KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING.

     SO I KEPT SPRAYING AND DABBING AT THE PAINTING. IT WAS A FEW MINUTES INTO THE TASK, AFTER THE MOMENTARY DISTRACTION WITH THE NEIGHBORS, THAT THE SKY IN THE PAINTING LOOKED A LITTLE LESS DARK AND THREATENING. FROM THE WAY I HAD IT TILTED UP, THE DARK SKY WAS DEFINITELY SAGGING INTO THE SNOW-LADEN EVERGREENS, DEPICTING ON THE HILLSIDE OF THE LANDSCAPE. ON THE FAR HILLSIDE THE WEATHER WAS TURNING. AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST MORE OF THE SOOT LETTING GO. BUT THE MORE I DABBED TO GET RID OF TOO MUCH OF THE LIQUID, THE MORE IT BECAME OBVIOUS, THE PAINT WAS TURNING INTO LIQUID IN FRONT OF MY EYES. MY GOD, I HAD USED THE POWERFUL CLEANER SPRAY BOTTLE, INSTEAD OF THE VINEGAR AND WATER. THE COMBINATION OF THE VINEGAR, ALREADY ON THE PAINT SURFACE, AND THE CLEANER, ALLIED TO LIQUIFY MY BEAUTIFUL PAINTING. I STARTED TO SCREAM, SUZANNE PRICKED HER FINGER WITH A NEEDLE, THE KIDS THOUGHT DAD WAS HAVING A HEART ATTACK, AND EVEN THE NEIGHBORS LOOKED BACK TO SEE WHAT ALL THE FUSS WAS ABOUT. I WAS BLURTING CUSS WORDS LIKE A LOGGER WHO JUST DROPPED A PLATE OF FLAPJACKS.

     I ASKED SUZANNE TO GET ME A CONTAINER OF WATER, (SHE USED A SMALL AMOUNT OF BOTTLED WATER SHE'D BEEN DRINKING) TO RINSE OFF THE SURFACE OF THE PAINTING AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. NOTHING COULD HAVE BEEN FAST ENOUGH, LET ME TELL YOU. SO HERE WAS AN ANTIQUE DEALER, AND ART LOVER, WHO WITH A LOT OF EXPERIENCE, INCLUDING MY STINT AS MUSEUM DIRECTOR AND MANAGER, WHO JUST KILLED ONE OF THE BEST PAINTINGS I HAD EVER OWNED. TALK ABOUT FEELING LIKE A TOOL. I FELT LIKE A LEGION OF TOOLS, IN THOSE NERVOUS MOMENTS, TRYING TO STOP THE DAMAGE, BY DOUSING THE CANVAS WITH LOTS OF WATER…..WHICH WAS ALSO NOT THE BEST THING TO DO; BUT THE ONLY OPTION I COULD THINK OF IN THOSE FIRST MOMENTS OF SPIRALING DISASTER, UNFOLDING ON MY FRONT DECK……WITH AN AUDIENCE. THERE'S NOTHING SO HUMBLING TO A BIG SHOT ANTIQUE COLUMNIST, DEALER, COLLECTOR, THAN BOTCHING A RESTORATION JOB, THAT SHOULD HAVE GONE SO SMOOTHLY.

     FORTUNATELY FOR MY PAINTING, I WAS ABLE TO NEUTRALIZE THE CLEANING AGENT QUICKLY ENOUGH, THAT THE ONLY SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE, WAS CONFINED TO THE SKY…..WHICH HAS TAKEN ON A RATHER MISTY SPOOKY APPEARANCE OVER TIME. THIS ISN'T TOO BAD, BUT THERE IS A DEFINABLE LINE THAT RUNS VERTICAL, THROUGH THE CLOUDS, SHOWING THE SIDE THAT WAS HIT BY THE CLEANER, OPPOSITE WHAT THE ARTIST HAD ACTUALLY INTENDED OF HIS WINTER SKY. SUZANNE BEING A FORMER HOME ECONOMICS TEACHER, IS ALWAYS ADVISING ME ON THE SAFE DISPENSING OF CLEANERS, WORRYING THAT ONE DAY I MIGHT DO SOMETHING SIMILAR, OR BLOW MYSELF UP. WHENEVER SHE HEARS A CRASH AROUND THE OLD HOMESTEAD, SHE GRABS UP THE MEDICAL KIT AND COMES RUNNING.

WE DON'T LIKE ADMITTING OUR ERRORS IN JUDGEMENT……BUT SOMETIMES, TO A SPOUSE, WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO OWN UP

     I have at least five to seven years more experience in the antique trade than my dear wife. When we get into spats about items, one or the other wishes to purchase, she lets me know about her background collecting Fenton glass, for example. I remind her that I began antique hunting and gathering before I was twenty. Then I ask what expertise in Fenton glass, has to do with buying a pine pie safe? "Just for argument's sake," she will admit. "I know it bugs you!" Over our years together, doing this antique thing, we have experienced lots of disaster buying, and mostly, it is the result of poor inspection. Suzanne blames poor lighting in the shops we visit. She'd blame an overcast morning, if it was an outdoor event, and she came home with a chipped or cracked Shelly cup and saucer. I used to come home with quilts, purchased at auctions, that were in such poor shape, Suzanne could disintegrate patches with a slight rubbing of the fabric. It's quite something to be told, the powder on the tile floor, is the result of "fabric rot," on a quilt I was so proud to haul home.

     I was at an auction in Baysville, for a longtime cottager, and decided to buy a gift for my bride….stuck at home that day. This was back in the early 1990's. I bought Suzanne a beautiful Victorian china tea pot as a gift for our new house on Golden Beach Road in Bracebridge. I'd enjoyed a pretty good day at the sale, and came up with some decent pieces for our shop. The teapot was in re-payment for letting me go to these day long sales in the first place. It usually left her with two wee lads to contend with, in addition to the shop in our garage. On this day, I had both boys with me, which made it all an incredible challenge, and yet an ultimate success story…..as I arrived home with the teapot in one piece. It was a very elaborate but delicate china pot, and a lot could go wrong for Mr. Bean and his children with treasures like this in tow.

     Do you know something, I really liked that teapot. Maybe more than Suzanne, who is always reserved in her display of enthusiasm. Happy but never ecstatic….which is what I always hope I'm going to get when I arrive home with a treat like this. The reason I point out my keen interest in this teapot, is that it just might explain why I kept moving it around, from shelf to china cupboard, back to a better shelf, so that it would look great when dinner guests arrived. "Why yes," I would say to inquiring visitors. "I purchased this teapot, formerly owned by the Royal Family, as a show of affection for my darling wife!" If she reads this I'm dead. I found a perfect counter location with an overhead light. It was a counter dividing the family room, and the main floor utility area where our washing machine was situated. I liked the way the light shone down on this little gem of historic china. Suzanne told me, that it was in a place where the boys could hit it, while playing indoor hockey, and then there was the cat, Fester The First, that liked to jump on the counter to short-cut its way, into the other part of the room. Like Bean and Tim Taylor, I stuck to my guns, guaranteed her it would be okay, and admired that teapot as if it was the holy grail. Suzanne had already heard the story of how I had been able to outbid two other dealers, who knew how much the piece was worth. And who were envious of my purchase.

     So on this particular Saturday morning, while the boys were playing with their toy cars, and I was leaning on this broad, illuminated counter, watching the television, imagine the horror that overtook me, as I swung my coffee cup by the Victorian china, to meet Suzanne arriving with the coffee pot for a refill; and heard a ping and thump…..and having felt a ping and thump, and then seen the handle of this attractive piece, resting on the counter-top, separated from its body. It had survived from the days of Queen Victoria's reign, only to be savaged by a clumsy ass, in central Muskoka, Ontario, Canada. Suzanne had to manually shut her mouth, but she didn't have to say a word, to make me regret having been born. If this was an isolated case, that would be one thing. Unfortunately, it has happened on numerous other occasions, with the accompanying wild tirade of cursing and head slapping. Of course, our home being a haven for stray cats, adopted out of kindness, we have also written-off thousands of dollars in damage to glass and pottery from the ages. I even watched as one of our cats jumped and missed an upper shelf, and caught itself on the canvas of the painting directly below. That was neat and expensive.

     I purchased a Victorian era settee, from an auction in Bracebridge, a few years back, and when we were loading it in the car, Suzanne warned that I should be careful of the wasp that had attached itself to the fabric underside. I yelled the warning to son Andrew, who was on the other end. He immediately set his end down on the driveway, while I was holding my end up. The bang and vibration didn't appeal to the hive of wasps located just out of sight, through a small hole in the cloth covering. I had just enough time, like the Coyote, after accepting a package of dynamite from the Roadrunner, to utter the words, "Oh crap……." It was my all time best. I survived at least nine stings that day. I learned about asking questions, before buying……like "where was this settee stored previously?" I figured this had to have been a cursed settee, because the first incident with the piece, occurred when a portly auction-goer, sat on one end, and like a teeter-totter, sent the unweighted end straight up into my knee, while he rolled off onto the tarmac, allowing the heavy furnishing to slam back to earth, landing heavily onto my big toe. I still bought it, and lived to regret it for several days, while covered in special cream to quell the stinging.

     Here's the capital "never-do-this," tip of the week, if you're interested in refinishing furniture using chemical paint removers. When we had our shop on Manitoba Street, circa 1977, known then as "Old Mill Antiques," I used to do small scale refinishing in the basement. The shop was on the first floor, and the house was across from Bracebridge's Memorial Park. I didn't have a lot of money to spend back then, but there seemed to be demand for small furnishings. I could buy cheap, and do speedy refinishing. I'd been refinishing furniture for about three years before this, but when we opened the shop, I had to tweak my schedule to get inventory in and out twice as fast…..that is if we wanted to survive in this tough business. I remember working on four iron and brass beds I'd purchased, and for days, I was covered in paint stripper and chips of the former finishes. I had so much paint and stripper residue on my hands, that honestly, it seemed to neutralize any new liquid that splashed on my hands. Either that, or I'd just lost all my sensitivity to the burning of the stripper. I never understood this, but just kept doing the same old, same old.

     I remember one day getting a phone call, and rushing to the top of the stairs, (covered in gunk and stripper) and having a heated conversation with someone but I can't recall who it was with. Probably my girlfriend at the time. We used to have lots of arguments. In those days, it was because I had to decline social engagements with her friends, in order to get my backlog of restorations sorted out. I remember sticking to the receiver, and having to play around for a few moments, to release it back onto the phone cradle. Even then, I could see finger imprints in the plastic, from where the chemicals had burned the covering. Now, you'd think this would set off an alarm in the old noggin. Seeing as the next room I was to enter, was the bathroom adjacent to the top of the stairs. Well sir, it wasn't long into my visit, to urinate, that there was smoke coming from down there, and you're absolutely right. I was stuck there, with it, pretty much on fire, and no easy way to dilute the acid burn except jump in the shower and hope I could managed to turn on the tap. I got my hands free, and in pain, I put one hand on my forehead, and the other on my newly exposed hip. This was in the few seconds before the old plumbing, in the old house, kicked in to full gear, and watered down the affected bodily parts. So anyway, I had burned skin on my privates, my hip, my eyelids and forehead. So for the next few weeks, while new skin replaced the old, I got a whole bunch of "antique dealer" jokes directed my way. I still have the marks in case you were wondering. My new policy thereafter, was to wear gloves, and keep water nearby, just in case of splashes and spills of dangerous stripper.

     I don't want to make it appear that all antique dealers have a little "Bean" in them, but honestly, if you only knew the insider stories…….you'd be laughing out loud…..for a long, long time. It was good to have you drop by today for a visit. The problem with writing a biographical blog like this, is that it can't help but read as if the author has a melon sized ego strapped onto his shoulders. Truthfully, I have never ranked myself as an antique expert, or a particularly good dealer, because as you read these anecdotes, of my life in the profession, you must know by now, that as far as being a role model…..I'm sub par, and that's okay with me. Even on my modest shelf of accomplishment, I've got a lot of emotional trophies…… a lot of neat memories in the pursuit of evasive antiques and collectables. I love my profession. I enjoy writing about my adventures. And I'm not shy about pointing out my shortfalls as a dealer…….I'm human and accident prone. That said, I've also been a pretty astute observer all these years, and this is what I enjoy sharing with you. It's not all work and profit. We've got some fun and games tucked into the profession, that keeps us true to our calling…..and a little light-hearted about it all. Please visit again for some more stories about this moth eaten old profession……being an antique dealer…..(do you suppose this might make for a new "Bean" movie - "Mr. Bean Opens and Antique Shop."

  

The Painted Crock, The Unknown Folk Artist

THE PAINTED CROCK - THE UNKNOWN FOLK ARTIST - AND MY VERY SURPRISED WIFE

WHEN THE ANTIQUE DEALER IS AT FAULT - AND THE ARTIST IS BASHFUL

     AFTER WE PURCHASED OUR FIRST HOUSE, A SIMPLE VICTORIAN ERA STRUCTURE THAT HAD BEEN BUILT FOR TANNERY EMPLOYEES, IN THE TOWN OF BRACEBRIDGE CIRCA 1895), SUZANNE WAS ENAMORED BY THE DECORATING IDEAS BEING PUT FORWARD, IN VARIOUS PUBLICATIONS, BY MARTHA STEWART. WE DIDN'T HAVE A LOT OF MONEY, AFTER WE SCRAPED UP THE DOWNPAYMENT, AND KEPT UP OUR MONTHLY CAR PAYMENTS. SHE HAD TO DECORATE ON A TIGHT BUDGET…..IF YOU COULD EVEN CALL IT A BUDGET. SUZANNE IS A BARGAIN HUNTER AND WE WERE ALWAYS GOING TO SECOND HAND SHOPS AND FLEA MARKETS, NOT TO MENTION OCCASIONAL SUMMER AUCTIONS, SO WE COULD DECORATE "ON THE CHEAP," AND MAKE THE REMODELED HOME LOOK LIKE ONE YOU'D FIND IN A "COUNTRY LIVING" MAGAZINE PHOTO SPREAD. ONE OF HER FAVORITE PROJECTS WAS TO STENCIL THE HUGE WHITE WALLS OF THE HALL AND SECOND FLOOR BEDROOMS. SHE USED THE PRE-CUT PANELS, SHE FOUND IN LOCAL CRAFT SUPPLY SHOPS, AND SHE HAD A CONSERVATIVE ARRAY OF PAINTS. "SOFT HUES" SHE USED TO TELL ME……"WE WANT THE BABY (ANDREW) TO BE IN AN ENVIRONMENT WITH SOFT HUES." I JUST LISTENED AND HELPED WHERE I WAS NEEDED. ACTUALLY, I'D TRY TO FIND A HIDING PLACE DOWNSTAIRS, WITH THE NEWSPAPER AND A PINT OF ALE. ACTUALLY, SEEING AS I WAS USELESS AS A DECORATOR, SHE'D LET ME THINK I'D PULLED OFF THE GREAT ESCAPE. SHE LIKED THE PEACE AND QUIET OF THE ART ENTERPRISE ANYWAY. UNTIL ANDREW WOULD WAKE UP FROM HIS AFTERNOON NAP. THE VERY NEXT BELLOW, WAS FROM THE ARTIST AT WORK……."TED, YOU LAZY BUM……WILL YOU PLEASE FEED ANDREW?" "YES DEAR," I REPLIED….WHICH WAS A LINE I HAD TO GET USED TO, AS IT WOULD SAVE OUR MARRIAGE UP TO AN INCLUDING THE PRESENT.

     AFTER AWHILE, THERE WAS NO WHITE SPACE LEFT ON THE WALLS, ANYWHERE IN THE HOUSE. SHE WAS ADDICTED TO STENCILING. IT WAS A GREAT HOBBY FOR HER, AFTER ANDREW WAS BORN, AND WE HAD STENCILED FLORALS AND VINES, TEDDY BEARS AND RABBITS ALL OVER THE PLACE. I USED TO HAVE MY HOCKEY AND FOOTBALL BUDDIES OVER, UNTIL THE KIDDING GOT TOO MUCH……BECAUSE SUZANNE WAS ONLY TOO THRILLED TO TELL THEM I WAS HER DECORATING ADVISOR. NO, THAT WASN'T TRUE. I WAS THE GUY HAULING THE FURNITURE INTO THE HOUSE, THAT I BOUGHT AT SALES, CARRYING ON MY OWN OBSESSION, TO OPEN UP OUR FIRST (IN MARRIED LIFE) ANTIQUE BUSINESS. MY FIRST ANTIQUE FORAY WAS WITH "OLD MILL ANTIQUES," IN BRACEBRIDGE, A BUSINESS STARTED WITH MY PARENTS ON UPPER MANITOBA STREET. BIRCH HOLLOW ANTIQUES WAS COMMENCED IN OUR HOUSE AS A MUNICIPALLY APPROVED "HOME OCCUPATION." WE ONLY KEPT IT IN THE HOUSE FOR TWO YEARS BEFORE WE MOVED TO THE RURAL CLIME. OUR NEW ABODE HAD PANELLING. NO STENCILS NEEDED. SUZANNE STILL THINKS I WANTED THAT HOUSE BECAUSE THERE WAS NO DRYWALL TO PAINT. I REPEAT, "TO THIS, I HAVE NO COMMENT."

     ANYWAY, WHEN SUZANNE RAN OUT OF WALL TO STENCIL, SHE DECIDED TO STENCIL OTHER THINGS, INCLUDING CROCKS, MAPLE SAP BUCKETS, CHAIR BACKS AND OLD SLEIGHS. OH, THERE WERE OTHER THINGS, LIKE FABRIC, AND BED SHEETS, BUT LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THE ANTIQUES SHE UPGRADED WITH HER FOLK ART. FIRST OF ALL, EVEN WITH OUR BUSINESS, WE STILL HAD AT LEAST ONE ANNUAL YARD SALE, EACH SUMMER, WHILE LIVING ON ONTARIO STREET. WE WOULD RUN IT OVER TWO DAYS, AND WE PUT OUT THE BEST OF THE BEST, IN ORDER TO DRAW ATTENTION TO OUR STAKE IN THE ANTIQUE PROFESSION. WE'D GET A HUGE CROWD AND THE FINANCIAL TAKE OVER TWO DAYS, COULD HIT THREE TO FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS. I REMEMBER HER BEING SO EXCITED ON ONE OF THESE YARD SALE SATURDAYS, WHEN SHE RUSHED INTO THE HOUSE TO TELL ME, SHE HAD JUST THAT MOMENT, SOLD THREE OF HER STENCILED CROCKS, AND TWO CHAIRS SPORTING HER HANDIWORK……TO THREE DIFFERENT BUYERS.  I WAS THRILLED FOR HER, AND THERE WERE LOTS OF OTHER THINGS TO STENCIL, THAT WERE IN STORAGE. SHE WAS LIVING THE LIFE OF A FOLK ARTIST. A SORT OF MUSKOKA MAUD LEWIS. AS GOD WAS OUR WITNESS, WE NEVER ONCE THOUGHT ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY, THE STENCILS WOULD BE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED LEGITIMATE ORIGINAL ART, FROM THE PERIOD OF THE ANTIQUE, CROCK, POTTERY OR WOOD THEY ADORNED. IT NEVER CAME UP IN CONVERSATION. IT SHOULD HAVE, BUT IT DIDN'T. SUZANNE WAS BASKING IN HER NEW FAME, AND THINKING ABOUT THE FUTURE AS A STENCIL ARTIST. TO HECK WITH TEACHING, WHEN YOU COULD LIVE LIKE AN "R---TEEST!"

     SO ONE LOVELY AUTUMN DAY, OUT FOR A LITTLE MOTOR TRIP, WITH OUR NEW BORN SON, WE STOPPED IN TO SEE A CHARMING LITTLE SHOP, RUN BY SOMEONE WE WERE FAMILIAR WITH, AND TRUSTED, IN THE ANTIQUE PROFESSION. IT WAS WELL STOCKED AND THE ARRAY OF BEAUTIFULLY REFINISHED ANTIQUE FURNITURE WAS STUNNING; IT WAS ONE OF THE FINEST LITTLE COLLECTABLE BUSINESSES IN THE DISTRICT. I TALKED WITH THE OWNER FOR SOME TIME, AND CONGRATULATED HIM ON HIS NEWLY OPENED VENTURE. HE HAD BEEN IN THE BUSINESS FOR MANY YEARS ELSEWHERE, BUT FOUND THIS URBAN NEIGHBORHOOD SHOP BETTER FOR YEAR-ROUND TRADE. IN THE MIDDLE OF A CONVERSATION, SUZANNE WHISPERED IN MY EAR THAT SHE WANTED ME TO COME WITH HER, TO ANOTHER PART OF THE SHOP. IN FACT, SHE STARTED TUGGING AT MY COAT SLEEVE, IN CASE THE VERBAL DIRECTIVE HADN'T REGISTERED. EVENTUALLY, I EXCUSED MYSELF FROM THE CONVERSATION, AND FOLLOWED MY WIFE, AS IS USUAL IN ANTIQUE SHOPS WE VISIT. JUST INSIDE THE DOORWAY OF A BACK-ROOM, SHE POINTED TO A SHELF LOADED WITH CROCKS. I THOUGHT SHE WAS LOOKING TO BUY SOME MORE TO APPLY HER STENCILS. "LOOK, LOOK, THERE'S MY CROCK, OVER THERE……..AND IT'S PRICED AT $75.00," SHE SAID, GOING OVER TO WHERE IT WAS SITUATED, AND PICKING IT UP TO SHOW ME HER STENCIL WORK. WHEN SHE DID THAT, SHE ACTUALLY EXPOSED A SECOND CROCK, ALSO WITH ONE OF HER ART PIECES ON THE SIDE; THIS ONE, BIGGER, WAS PRICED AT $85.00. WHAT WAS REALLY BAD, WAS THAT THEY WERE IDENTIFIED AS ORIGINAL FOLK ART. THE TWO CROCKS, BY 1985-86 PRICES, WOULD HAVE MAYBE BEEN TWENTY AND THIRTY DOLLARS RESPECTIVELY. THEY WEREN'T A BIG DEAL. THE TRUTH? HONESTLY? YOU WON'T TELL MY WIFE, WILL YOU? I WOULDN'T HAVE LET HER PAINT ON A REALLY GOOD, AND VINTAGE CROCK, AS I AM AN ANTIQUE PURIST. I ADORE ORIGINAL FINISHES…..SO THERE WAS NO CHANCE I WOULD LET HER EXPERIMENT ON A MORE HISTORIC, VALUABLE CROCK. IN FACT, IT WOULD HAVE SERIOUSLY DEVALUATED THE CROCKERY. WHAT SHE HAD DECORATED WERE OF THE VINEGAR CROCK VARIETY. EVEN THE PINE CHAIRS AND OLD SLEIGH WERE COMMON PIECES, AND THE FOLK ART STENCILS JUST MADE THEM INTERESTING DECORATOR ITEMS. NOT CANADIANA WITH ORIGINAL FOLK ART! GADS, WHAT HAD WE DONE?

     NOW THE ABSURDITY OF THIS, AND THE DEALER SHOULD HAVE STUDIED THE STENCILS MORE CLOSELY…….., THEY WERE DONE OVER THE CROCK'S ORIGINAL GLAZE, WITH NO SURFACE PREPARATION…..SANDING OR ANYTHING ELSE. WHICH OF COURSE, MEANT THAT YOU COULD SCRATCH IT ALL OFF WITH A FINGERNAIL. FOLK ART ON THE OLDEST CROCKS WOULD HAVE BEEN APPLIED TO A LOW LUSTER OR BARE SURFACE, AND THEN SUBJECTED TO A GLAZE BAKED OVER-TOP. THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS OF COURSE, BUT NOT IN THE CASE OF FOLK ART STENCILING OVER A HIGH GLOSS FINISH. SO HERE WERE THESE TWO RIDICULOUSLY PRICED VINEGAR JUGS, WITH SUZANNE'S HANDIWORK ON THE SIDES, WITH PRICES ATTACHED THAT WERE OBSCENELY HIGH. AND HERE WAS A DEALER WE RESPECTED FOR HIS OPINIONS AND KNOWLEDGE OF ANTIQUE COLLECTING….SELLING MODERN APPLICATION STENCILS AS ORIGINAL, PERIOD (PROPORTIONAL TO THE JUGS) FOLK ART. AS I WROTE ABOUT IN MY PREVIOUS BLOG, ANTIQUE DEALERS TEND TO SHY AWAY FROM CONFRONTING ASSOCIATES IN THE TRADE, OUT OF PROFESSIONAL COURTESY. YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME THIS IS WRONG. IS IT EVER WRONG! WE SHOULD HAVE DEMANDED HE CHANGE HIS NOTES ON EACH OF THE JUGS, AND THE ASKING PRICES. WHAT IF HE JUST LAUGHED AT US, OR TO THE CONTRARY, GOT VERY ANGRY AND TURFED US OUT ONTO THE FRONT SIDEWALK? WHAT WE DID DO, WAS BID HIM FAREWELL, AND VOWED TO NEVER COME BACK TO HIS SHOP. I REALLY FEEL BAD ABOUT ADMITTING THIS, BECAUSE I KNOW THERE'S A GOOD POSSIBILITY HE SOLD THOSE OVER-PRICED JUGS, WITH FOLK ART (BY SUZANNE), TO SOME LESS TUTORED CUSTOMER, THINKING THEY HAD MADE A GREAT PURCHASE OF CANADIANA. UNFORTUNATELY, THIS IS AN INTIMATE SECRET OF THE ANTIQUE COMMUNITY, MOST DEALERS DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT…..LET ALONE OFFER AS A CONFESSIONAL, OF THEIR OWN BEHAVIOR, OR AS A CONFRONTATION, FOR DEALERS WHO REGULARLY MISLEAD CUSTOMERS FOR PROFIT. THE FACT WE DIDN'T CONFRONT THE DEALER MEANS WE ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM. THAT'S NOT GOOD FOR THE PROFESSION, WHEN IT HAPPENS WITH SUCH FREQUENCY, AND VOLUME.

SUZANNE STOPPED HER BRIEF FOLK ART CAREER, TO THWART DEALERS FROM SPECULATING ON HER WORK

     Suzanne told me that she sold those crocks to a woman, during that yard sale event, and had no idea she was connected with this particular antique dealer. We don't even know that they were related, and it might have been the case she was a picker, and just peddled them to the dealer as the "finds of the day." Still, he could have taken the time to examine the stencils more closely, and scratched at them to determine whether they were sealed onto the surface or not. The entire stencil could have been removed in about five minutes with just one worthy fingernail. So that should have been a giant tip-off, that the art work wasn't original. So as far as due diligence, it was half-ass, and we had a hard time believing these decorated jugs could fool a veteran dealer. What happened was a less than thorough examination, and more attention was directed at writing the price tags, than making sure the crockery was legitimately sporting an original folk art depiction. The image on the crockery was a pheasant I believe. On both vinegar jugs, but in different color combinations. You know, the art work was scratched, even after only several months of handling. So imagining that they were a hundred years of age, was totally negligent in the research and inspection process…..that comes before purchase, and is reassessed before the price tag is finally attached. As well, very few vinegar jugs were decorated with folk art. The ones I've ever seen, were courtesy of my charming bride.

     For two years after that folk art yard sale, we were finding Suzanne's handiwork in antique shops around the region. It was so embarrassing, but I think Suzanne figured there was a future here in duping the antique dealers of this part of Ontario. I had to remind her that we were part of the antique dealer community, and we couldn't let this continue. We kept on having lots of yard sales, but the folk artist had hung up her stencil, paints and brushes. On an occasion, a few years ago, I went into a friend's house, and geez, there they were, bold and beautiful. Two early pine chairs with Suzanne's stencil work on the backs. I didn't say a word, when she pointed them out, telling me that she had bought them a number of years ago from a local antique dealer…..who I also knew, wondering if I could give her an appraisal. I gave her a price on the chairs themselves, and made no mention of the stencils that were original "Suzanne's." Once again, the antique dealer should have known that the folk art on the back, which added value to the chairs' in-store valuation (I hate to admit we were part of this equation), was newly painted. Even with her choice of soft hues, you could tell by the lack of age patina, that it wasn't more than a few years old at the most. Actually, Suzanne decided to put the chairs out for the yard sale, before I could apply a couple of coats of varnish to seal the artwork……meaning, it would wear off quite as quickly without. Honestly folks, the crocks and chairs were for home-use initially, and it was only because our yard sales were so popular back then, that Suzanne went rummaging through the house to find more inventory that fateful morning.

     Now let's be clear. If ten dealers had been exposed to those folk art adorned chairs, crocks and a sleigh, five of them might have suspected modern day tampering of a bored stenciler. The others were just looking for quick inventories, and felt that because they were vintage crockery, they were worth the asking price at the yard sale. This was true. Suzanne was selling them for about ten bucks each, and the chairs weren't more than twenty bucks each. The sleigh was probably twenty-five bucks. So she definitely wasn't speculating on her folk art. The buyers, on the other hand, were, as reflected by the asking prices, and the notes attached to the price tags in respective shops. It was the first time we really had concerns about our role in the profession, and who we would mentor with after this. If these dealers could be fooled by a simple watercolor stencil, then they weren't the professionals we were going to seek advice from. We didn't want to embarrass these dealers by pointing out their folly. By refusing to correct this situation, we became part of the deceitful enterprise we claim to loathe. It is a contradiction we still admit to, when we visit shops and mall vendors, who are doing roughly the same thing……misrepresenting pieces for sale, as original, when we know absolutely, that they are reproductions. It's kind of a vicious cycle you might say. As for associate dealers, who are profoundly concerned about maintaining high quality and reliable businesses, attention to detail and due diligence are daily requirements of operation……never an exceptional circumstance…..by strict retail standard, based on high regard for their reputation. It's our way of compensating, I suppose, to model ourselves accordingly……and keep it in the forefront of our operation, to label appropriate to age, and whether original or reproduction.

     I'm sure if Suzanne had continued her folk art, on vintage articles, she would have flooded the market with her soft hues, and bird and grape-vine motifs. She backed out gracefully, for the good of the antique and art profession. Thanks for visiting with me today, and I hope if you have one of Suzanne's folk art painted jugs or chairs, you will cherish it as the "storied" pieces they are now……after this confessional. See you again, I hope.