Buying Cookbooks One At A Time On A Budget

"One of the sure signs that spring has arrived is the appearance of daffodils with their brilliant yellow blooms.   These beautiful daffodils were found on an abandon property along the Southwood Road.   It the warm weather continues, the spring wild flowers will soon be appearing.   Certainly one of my favourite subjects to photograph!" - Photo by Fred Schulz

BUYING A COOKBOOK COLLECTION WOULD BE EXPENSIVE AND CHEATING - AT LEAST FOR US

WE'RE NOT THROWING MONEY AT THIS BID TO SPECIALIZE

     AN ANTIQUE DEALER ACQUAINTANCE, ASKED ME THE OTHER DAY, IF SUZANNE AND I WERE IN THE PROCESS OF BUYING A COLLECTION OF VINTAGE COOKBOOKS, TO START OUR PLANNED COOKERY REFERENCE COLLECTION, SLATED TO OPEN, AT LEAST IN PART, BY THE FIRST OF JULY, IN OUR GRAVENHURST RETAIL LOCATION.  I WASN'T SURE HOW TO TAKE THIS QUESTION, BUT HE REITERATED, THAT IN ORDER TO FULFILL OUR AMBITIOUS PLANS, WE WOULD HAVE TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS, IN ORDER TO MEASURE UP TO THE HYPE. I STOOD THERE SILENT FOR A FEW MOMENTS, AND THEN ASKED HIM IF HE KNEW THE STORY OF HARRY HOUDINI, AND HIS GREAT FEATS AND INCREDIBLE ESCAPES…….ALL DEATH DEFYING FOR THE BENEFIT OF LARGE AUDIENCES, WHO SUPPOSED THAT EACH FEAT MAY HAVE BEEN HIS LAST. THIS WAS THE ATTRACTION AFTER ALL….THE POSSIBILITY, PATRONS WERE GOING TO SEE THE MAN FAIL, AND PERISH IN FRONT OF THEIR EYES. "YOU'RE BEING A LITTLE DRAMATIC AREN'T YOU TED," HE ASKED, SUPPOSING THAT OUR ACT OF OPENING UP A COOKERY COLLECTION, COULDN'T RESPONSIBLY BE STRETCHED INTO A MORAL CONNECTION, WITH THE ANTICS OF THE DEVIL-MAY-CARE CHARACTER, OF THE GREAT HOUDINI.

     THE POINT I WANTED TO MAKE TO MY COLLEAGUE, WAS THAT WE HAD NO SUCH ESCAPE STRATEGY, AS SUCH, AND UNLESS SOMETHING SPECTACULAR WAS TO HAPPEN IN THE NEAR FUTURE, OUR SUCCESSFUL ENTERPRISE, WOULD DEPEND ONLY ON OUR EXCELLENCE IN BOOK ACQUISITION, ONE TEXT AT A TIME. WE HAVE NO SAFETY NET. NO PLAN "B." AS I MENTIONED IN A PREVIOUS BLOG, I HAVE A CONSIDERABLE REPUTATION, FOR CHALLENGING MY FAMILY TO CAREER DEFINING OR DESTROYING CHALLENGES. FORTUNATELY, THEY'VE ALL WORKED OUT WELL IN THE END, BUT EACH QUEST HAS BEEN A LITTLE MORE DAUNTING AND PRECARIOUS, THAN THE ONE BEFORE. I AM ALWAYS EAGER TO TRY SOMETHING UNUSUAL, AND ALTHOUGH I'M NOT OF HOUDINI'S CAPABILITY, ESCAPING BINDINGS OF ROPE AND CHAIN, I HAVE PROVEN A PRETTY FAIR COMPETITOR, OF TURNING ONE CAREER INTO ANOTHER, WITH A LITTLE MANIPULATION AND CAUTIOUS COAXING. SO TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT FOR A CHANGE, I INFORMED MY DEALER FRIEND, THAT WE HAD NO SUCH INTENTION, OF ACQUIRING OUR REFERENCE LIBRARY, BY MAKING ONE HUGE PURCHASE TO COVER THE CLAIMS WE'RE MAKING AT PRESENT; TO CREATE THIS LARGE COOKERY REFERENCE COLLECTION. WHICH OF COURSE, MAKES THIS A TRUE FEAT OF THE COLLECTOR, TO BE ABLE TO PULL OFF SUCCESSFULLY, WITH ONLY TWO MONTHS LEFT BEFORE IT IS UNVEILED…..AND ABOUT TWO HUNDRED BUCKS TO STRETCH FOR A THOUSAND DOLLARS WORTH OF NEEDED BOOKS. THIS IS THE KIND OF CHALLENGE I NEED IN MY LIFE. IT'S WHAT I'VE LIVED BY AS AN ANTIQUE DEALER FROM MY FIRST DAYS IN THE PROFESSION.

WE DON'T SPEND OUR WAY TO GOALS

     What makes this cookery collection such a challenge, and an enjoyable one at that, is the fact we are acquiring ninety percent of what we need, one book, one handwritten recipe at a time, from a variety of sources. All of it requiring a major commitment of time and patience. We're not placing advertisements in the local newspapers, or tacking up "wanted" notices on grocery store bulletin boards. We are going to complete this project the way we have handled every other collecting mission in the past…..and that's using the traditional hunt and gather strategy. Once we get going, and have the bulk of our permanent collection in place, we will gladly accept over the counter books, cartons, shipping containers, and skids of cookbooks brought to us by forklift; but not as a quickie strategy for having several thousand texts to start with, that we haven't been able to pick and choose according to Suzanne's taste. While we are starting with many hundreds of books from our own private library, it will represent only one tenth of the collection, when we finally get up and running as a resource. Since we began this particular mission, in early January, we have spent every weekend and sundry outing, searching through antique and collectible shops, second hand stores, thrift and charity shops, at flea markets and even online, to find the cornerstone cookbooks, we know are required to even qualify as a decent cookery library.

     The biggest challenge, and what I want to share with anyone who is interested in such acquisition, is to take a modest purchasing budget, and make it work three times as hard. That's right. We're not throwing money at this project, to make it happen. We're working with an intentionally tight budget, of several thousand dollars, and depending on our capabilities as seasoned antique hunters, to find what we need at very affordable prices. We have rejected a lot of good books that we need, because the real Houdini-like challenge, is to succeed at this venture, by making every acquisition of what we call "cornerstone" books, by being ambitious, learned book hounds. We have had to be resourceful in this business, right from inception, so it's like any other day in the antique trade for us, to have to purchase inventory, for a fraction of the price you might expect. You'd be surprised what we have already acquired, in the first four months, on a thin shoestring, that have met Suzanne's strict requirements for the best of the best. It's also true, that we are, for the time being, opting for some reprints of cookbooks we haven't yet found, or been able to afford, as stated first editions. I would love to have signed first editions of Julia Childs cookbooks, but we're trying to stay out of the multi-thousand dollar, single purchases, until sometime in the future. In case you're unaware of the prices being asked for out of print and first edition cookbooks, from folks like Childs and James Beard, it's hefty and then some. I want an inscribed Martha Stewart "Entertaining," because I happen to like the way she has helped the antique trade, by using so many vintage pieces in the photographic component of her decorating and seasonal books…..and magazines. "Entertaining," was an early 1980's book, that was landmark in so many ways…..showing how to entertain really big crowds, with elegant extravagance….and delicious, beautifully presented food. I'm a long time Martha Stewart fan, and have all but a few of her books. I sold my first edition "Entertaining" several years ago, and I've regretted it ever since. So I'm making a play for, at the very least, a signed first edition, for our permanent collection. But this will be one of the only bulges in the budget, to build this collection the old fashioned way…..with nickel and dimes, because we really have no choice. If there was a large collection come up for sale, I know it would be well beyond our budget for the next ten years.

     Suzanne and I work on the cheap all the time. It doesn't imply that we're cheapskates. Just frugal collectors, who find it a great challenge to acquire what we set out to, and have a few coins left over, to buy ourselves a treat. We have been performing these reality-defying feats for going on thirty years of marriage. And we've never had a time when we couldn't finally acquire all that we needed, and a little bit extra, when time is on our side. We understand that it would be impossible to have an archive collection of rare cookbooks after only six months of hard core collecting. We also recognize, that we are a twosome, who need daily challenges, to make us better at what we do……and it is what has motivated us through almost unbelievable budget restraint, to come up with enough inventory to keep the shop doors open. I am glad we learned in those bleak early years, how to hustle for what we needed, at any one time, to satisfy our customers. We've never once had the privilege of tossing money at something we wanted, just so we could show off our spending prowess. We'd far sooner be able to show you what we have collected, book by book, dollar by dollar, based on the resources of the capable antique hunter, than unveil an inventory we purchased in one lot, because we had oodles of money to spend to show off. This isn't like that. It is in the tradition of what thousands upon thousands of struggling antique and collectable dealers have had to do for centuries; do the best with the resources at hand. And count your personal experience and capabilities, as the major resource.

     I remember once being absolutely stunned, when an antique dealer we knew, remarked to my son Andrew, that it was great to have parents who "bought you a business," which was a reference to his vintage guitar and music collectable shop here in Gravenhurst. (That was eight years ago) Even when he denied it, she just laughed at him, doubting, that as a recent graduate of high school, he could have possibly built up enough resources to start his own business before he was twenty years of age. I met this woman some time later, and she pursued this same opinion. I straightened her out. It's true that we offered to help as "bankers" for their start up, because Andrew couldn't get a bank loan, back then, but we at no time, with either son, purchased their businesses for them. They worked non-stop to get what they have today. Those two lads built their thriving little empire, one instrument at a time, when they could afford to do so…..and their biggest resource was patience. I walked away from this lady, because she didn't believe me either. Why it was any of her business, I can't say. But this is exactly, what my friend meant, when he suggested that we would undoubtedly be acquiring a major collection of cookbooks, by writing a cheque from our massive account. Geez, you know what…..I have never done anything like this, and I certainly have no appetite for that today. Nope, it's one book at a time, and a whole lot of enjoyable hunting. Like angling, but for antiques instead. Just watch us. I've got nothing to hide. Like Houdini, we've got ourselves in a fine mess…..and I hope we can get out of it…….without showing our customers what failure looks like, up close and personal.

     Thanks so much for joining me for today's blog. Please drop by again, soon.

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