The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming; Antique and Collectable Dealers and The Memorabilia of Conflict

1914 War Map by "The Strand" showing Crimea on the top left corner

1914 War Map in Damaged Condition But Still Good For Us Historical Types

ANTIQUE DEALERS AS HISTORIANS? YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED HOW MUCH WE KNOW - BUT THEN, YOU NEVER ASKED

WE LIVE WITH HISTORY BY PROFESSION, AND WE NEED TO KNOW THE NITTY GRITTY ABOUT WHAT WE BUY AND SELL

     A PREAMBLE NOTE: I FEEL CONFIDENT, THE RUSSIAN POPULATION, AS A WHOLE, IS DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE ESCALATING TENSION IN THEIR PART OF THE WORLD, WHEN IT COMES TO THE POLITICAL DISRUPTION, BEING EXPERIENCED IN THE UKRAINE. I EXPECT THERE ARE PROTESTS GOING ON, IN RUSSIA, SOMEWHERE AND SOME TIME, ABOUT THE MOST RECENT SITUATION, IN THE CRIMEA REGION OF THE UKRAINE. FOR AND AGAINST, I SUPPOSE. BUT WHAT WE ARE EXPOSED TO, HERE IN CANADA, VIA A WIDE VARIETY OF MEDIA, IS WHAT YOU WOULD EXPECT....AND WHAT WE HAVE KNOWN FROM PAST CRISIS EVENTS, IN THE REST OF THE WORLD. AND THERE ARE ALWAYS VILILANS….TRANSGRESSORS, AND THOSE WITH GREAT AMBITIONS FOR THEIR COUNTRIES. AS MUCH AS WE TRY TO ALLIGN OURSELVES, BASED ON ALL THE AVAILABLE INFORMATION, WE CAN'T ALWAYS GET PAST THE OBVIOUS. I CAN'T NAME A SINGLE PERSON I'VE EVER KNOWN IN MY LIFE, THUS FAR, WHO HAD ONE BAD THING TO SAY ABOUT RUSSIAN CITIZENS. BUT IN THE GENERAL SENSE, AT LEAST FOR US BABY BOOMERS, WE UNDERSTOOD, IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS, THAT THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT WAS A BEAR OF A DIFFERENT COLOR....AND THAT WE SHOULD FEAR IT....AS IT MIGHT ONE DAY CONSUME US. I WAS AS FRIGHTENED OF THE NAME KHRUSHCHEV, AS MUCH AS ANY VILLAIN OF FICTION. IF HE WAS A NICE MAN, I NEVER KNEW ABOUT IT. IN OUR HOUSE, HE WAS THE WORLD LEADER WHO WAS GOING TO BLOW US TO SMITHERINES, WITH ATOMIC BOMBS, LAUNCHED FROM CUBA. IT BECAME THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT. FEAR AND LOATHING, BUT FROM A DISTANCE. SO IT'S NOT THE CASE, THAT I DISLIKE RUSSIANS. OR THAT OUR MODERN DAY FAMILY FEARS BEING INVOLVED IN AN INTIMATE BATTLE. BUT AS HISTORY SERVES, WE ARE JUST WARY, YOU SEE, A WAR COULD NOW BE SEEDED IN FERTILE GROUND. HISTORY SUGGESTS WE DO HAVE SOMETHING TO WORRY ABOUT. IF IT IS JUST WORRY, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT....WELL, WE'VE PROVEN WE CAN LIVE WITH THAT; AND SURVIVE WITH THE COLLATERAL DAMAGE OF A FEW BAD OPINIONS. FOR THOSE OF UKRAINIAN ANCESTRY, IT'S A LOT TOUGHER TO LET BYGONES BE BYGONES, WHEN THEY'RE REPEATING AS ACTUALITY. WHAT A GREAT OUTCOME, IF IT ALL JUST WENT AWAY, PEACEFULLY, WITHOUT ANY FURTHER LOSS OF LIFE.    
     WHEN LOCAL ROADS, HERE IN GRAVENHURST, GET YOU DOWN, AND RATTLE YOUR BONES; AND YOU WORRY ABOUT POTENTIAL HEALTH SERVICE CUT-BACKS AND HOSPITAL CLOSURE; OR WONDER IF L0CAL GOVERNMENT WILL EVER GET IT RIGHT, WELL FOLKS, WHAT'S GOING ON OVERSEAS SHOULD DIVERT OUR ATTENTION FOR A TAD. ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE UNBELIEVABLY BAD ROADS HERE, ARE OF A MUCH LESSER CONCERN. "THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING." THAT WAS THE MOVIE. IT WAS A COMEDY. WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE UKRAINE, AT THIS MOMENT, ISN'T FICTION, OR THE KIND OF PLOT THAT MAKES US LAUGH. WHAT IT SHOULD DO, IS FORCE US TO TUNE-IN AND NOT TUNE-OUT, AS SO MANY PEOPLE DO THESE DAYS....BECAUSE "NEWS IS ALWAYS SO NEGATIVE." GOSH, WHAT WOULD THESE PEOPLE HAVE DONE DURING TWO WORLD WARS? WITHDRAW FROM REALITY?
     WE WERE LOOKING FOR A MOVIE TO WATCH THE OTHER NIGHT, AND SEEING AS SUZANNE HAD NEVER SEEN "DR. STRANGELOVE" BEFORE, AND ROBERT HAPPENED TO HAVE A COPY, WELL SIR, WE SPENT THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS, WATCHING A FRIGHTENING POTENTIAL UNFOLD. "IT'S ONLY HOLLYWOOD," SUZANNE KEPT REMINDING ME, AS MY FINGERS WERE DIGGING INTO THE ARM OF THE CHAIR. COMEDY? A LITTLE BIT! DARK? A LOT! A POLITICAL, MILITARY CONDEMNATION? MOST CERTAINLY! AND OH, THAT "COWBOY'S" COWBOY, SLIM PICKENS; RIDING THE BIG PAYLOAD BARE BACK, DROPPED FROM THE BOMBER, LIKE IT WAS A BUCKING BRONCO, ALL THE WAY TO THE DESIGNATED TARGET STRIKE, INSIDE RUSSIA. SEEMS THE ONLY WAY TO PUT IT ON TARGET, WAS TO GET ON BOARD. CERTAINLY ONE OF THE MORE MEMORABLE MOVIE MOMENTS. IT'S NOT AN EASY MOVIE TO WATCH, BECAUSE IT BRUSHES TOO CLOSE TO WHAT WAS THE NERVE-RATTLING REALITY OF THE COLD WAR, TO THE CITIZENRY OF THE ENTIRE WORLD. THERE'S NO SAFE PLACE ON EARTH, WHEN YOU'RE LETTING OFF THE MOTHER OF ALL WEAPONS. EVEN VIEWING IT RECENTLY, WE WERE BOTH STRUCK BY THE RELEVANCE THE MOVIE HAD TO THE CURRENT EVENTS OF 2014. I WONDER IF ANYONE IS THINKING ABOUT THIS, AND WITH THE RECENT EVENTS IN THE UKRAINE, IT DOES START TO PARALLEL SOME OF THE OTHER MORE INSANE PERIODS IN MODERN WORLD HISTORY.
    ONE DAY WE'RE CELEBRATING THE OLYMPICS, IN RUSSIA, IN THE SPIRIT OF GOODWILL BETWEEN COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD, AND THE NEXT, WE'RE STAGGERED BY THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE SAME HOST COUNTRY, INVADING A NEIGHBOR NATION. I LIVED THROUGH THE COLD WAR, AND I HAVE TO TELL YOU, WHEN JOHN KENNEDY WAS ASSASSINATED, AND HIS SHOOTER WAS SAID TO HAVE TIES WITH RUSSIA, THERE WAS A VERY REAL FEAR IN THE HEARTS OF US COMMON FOLK, FILTERING DOWN TO THE YOUNGER GENERATION, WONDERING ALOUD ABOUT ALL THOSE MISSILES AIMED AT US. MANY HOMEOWNERS DUG FALL-OUT SHELTERS, AS IF THEY WOULD HAVE DONE ANY GOOD, IN THE EVENT OF THE BIG BANG. THEY HAD BASEMENTS FULL OF SURVIVAL MATERIALS, EXPECTING SOMETHING BAD WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. WE'D JUST GONE THROUGH THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, AND EVEN AS A KID, IN BURLINGTON, AT THE TIME, I PICKED UP ON THE NERVOUS TENSION. MOST OF OUR TELEVISION STATIONS, BACK THEN, WERE AMERICAN, AND WE WERE GETTING THEIR SLANT ON THE CRISIS, AND THEN, FOLLOWING THIS, THE AFTERMATH OF THE PRESIDENT'S ASSASSINATION.....WITH CONSPIRACY THEORIES ABOUNDING.
    I DIDN'T KNOW ANY COMMUNISTS UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL, BUT WE WERE MADE TO FEEL SCARED OF THEM, FOR THEIR PART IN THE MILITARY STAND-OFF, IN CUBA. DID THE COMMUNISTS KILL KENNEDY? THE COMMUNISTS, ACCORDING TO MY PARENTS, WERE THE CAUSE OF A LOT OF BAD THINGS IN LIFE AND TIMES. IF I'D GONE TO MY MOTHER, DURING SOME OF THESE FAMILY POLITICAL RANTS, TO SHOW HER A RASH ON MY ASS, SHE WOULD HAVE SUSPECTED IT HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH FALL-OUT, FROM SOMETHING THE RUSSIANS HAD UNLEASHED INTO THE ATMOSPHERE. THE TALK AROUND OUR APARTMENT, WAS MOST DEFINITELY ANTI-RUSSIA, AND I'M SORRY TO BE POLITICALLY INCORRECT, IN THIS ENLIGHTENED TIME IN HISTORY. BUT IT WOULD BE A LIE, TO SUGGEST DIFFERENTLY. IF WE WERE GOING TO DIE IN CONFLICT, IN THE 1960'S, IT WAS GOING TO BE FROM AN ATTACK, PERPETRATED BY THE COMMUNISTS, TO WIPE OUT DEMOCRACY. MAYBE WE WERE BRAINWASHED. PROBABLY. I JUST DON'T REMEMBER. OTHER THAN IT WAS THE TALK WE HEARD AFTER THE DAILY NEWS. WHAT I DO REMEMBER, WAS THAT THERE WAS NO ESCAPING THE NEGATIVITY, ABOUT THE MOTIVES OF THE RUSSIANS. THAT WAS WHAT MADE THE MOVIE, "THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING," SO FUNNY....BECAUSE IT'S JUST WHAT MANY CANADIANS AND AMERICANS WERE WORRIED ABOUT....THAT THEIR SMALL, ONE HORSE TOWNS WOULD SUDDENLY, IN THE DARK OF NIGHT, BE INVADED. AND THEN WE'D ALL FORCE TO ADOPT COMMUNIST BELIEFS, AND HAVE STATUES OF RUSSIAN HEROES ERECTED IN OUR TOWN SQUARES.
     ANTIQUE AND COLLECTABLE DEALERS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO SPECIALIZE IN MILITARIA, AND MILITARY REFERENCE BOOKS, MAPS AND DOCUMENTS, ARE TUNED INTO THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS, NOT FOR FINANCIAL GAIN, BUT BECAUSE THEY'RE HOBBY HISTORIANS AS WELL. IF YOU'RE A DEALER, WHO SELLS A LOT OF NOSTALGIA, THEN YOU ARE PARTICULARLY AWARE OF THE COLD WAR ERA MATERIALS, FROM BOOKS AND MAGAZINES, TO DOCUMENTS AND MILITARY-RELATED PROPAGANDA; ADVERTISING FROM THE PERIOD, AND THE LIST GOES ON. THERE WERE "HOW TO" BOOKLETS PUBLISHED, DETAILING WHAT YOU WOULD NEED, TO BUILD A FALL-OUT SHELTER, AND THOSE SURVIVAL GOODS REQUIRED IF THE STAY WAS A LONG ONE. THIS WAS ABOUT ONE PRESSING ISSUE. THE FRAGILE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA. AND ALL THE BOMBS POINTED AT EACH OTHER. WE HAD ALSO BEEN TOLD HOW TO REACT, IN CLASS, IN CASE OF A BOMB ATTACK. I REMEMBER THERE BEING A DISCUSSION ABOUT IT, BUT I'M NOT SURE WHETHER WE WERE TO BE MOVED TO THE SCHOOL BASEMENT, OR JUST TOLD TO PROTECT OUR HEADS, INITIALLY, BY CROUCHING UNDER THE DESKS. SUZANNE REMEMBERS THE SAME EMERGENCY MEASURES, BEING TAUGHT, AT THE WINDERMERE PUBLIC SCHOOL, DURING THIS TIME. DUCK UNDER THE DESKS, AND THEN EVACUATE TO THE BASEMENT OF THE BUILDING. YOU SEE, IT WAS ALWAYS SUSPECTED, THAT TORONTO WOULD BE A TARGET FOR ONE OF THESE MAJOR STRIKES, AND IN BURLINGTON, THAT WAS TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT. I WOULD RATHER HAVE BEEN IN WINDERMERE, HERE IN THE MUSKOKA HINTERLAND.
     AT HOME, MY PARENTS WERE GLUED TO THE EVENING NEWS, DURING THE MISSILE CRISIS, AND MY FATHER, HAVING BEEN IN THE NAVY, DURING THE WAR, FIGURED WE WERE HEADED TO THE FINAL RECKONING. THE BIG ONE! THINKING BACK, IT'S KIND OF WEIRD, BECAUSE FOR THE LONGEST TIME, FROM THE LATE 1950'S TO THE MID 1960'S, LIFE AND NORMALCY SEEMED MORE AND MORE FRAGILE, AS POLITICAL EVENTS TRANSPIRED, AND MY PARENTS ALWAYS SEEMED TO HINGE THINGS ON THE LATEST FAILED DIPLOMACY BETWEEN THE SUPER POWERS; THE MOST RECENT THREATS OF MILITARY ENGAGEMENT, AND WHETHER OF NOT, THEY SHOULD MAKE LONG TERM INVESTMENTS; ESPECIALLY IF THE WORLD WAS GOING TO BE REDUCED TO DESOLATION AND ASH. I DON'T THINK MY PARENTS WERE ALARMISTS. THEY WERE ACTING AND FEARING AS MANY CITIZENS WERE, IN THOSE PRECARIOUS DAYS; AND THE YOUNGER GENERATION, WITH NO FILTERING OF IGNORANCE, WAS NEGATIVELY EXPOSED TO THE THREATS OF WORLD WAR III. I THINK MY FATHER'S OPINION, WAS THAT, IF THE BIG BOMB CAME OUR WAY, HE'D RATHER BE THE ONE DIRECTLY BELOW, THAN BEING FORCED TO LIVE LIKE A MOLE, IN A CONCRETE BUNKER, FOR A YEAR OR MORE. HE DIDN'T SAY IT TO ME, BUT I OVERHEARD HIM TELL ONE OF OUR NEIGHBORS. I HAVE TO SAY, I WOULD FEEL EXACTLY THE SAME. FIRST OF ALL, I DON'T LIKE CONFINED SPACES. AND I DON'T THINK A BUNKER WOULD SOLVE ANY PROBLEMS, BECAUSE A RADIATION FIELD, IS GOING TO GET US ALL ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.
     AS FOR WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE UKRAINE, AND RUSSIA'S OMINOUS PRESENCE, (SOLDIERS IN NEAT CIVILIAN-WEAR, WITH BIG HONKING GUNS, HELICOPTERS OVER UKRAINE'S AIR SPACE, AND A PARTIAL NAVAL BLOCKADE IN THE CRIMEA, TO NAME A FEW) THERE ARE A FEW OF US ANTIQUARIANS, AND DABBLERS IN WORLD HISTORY, WHO ARE FEELING A LITTLE "COLD WAR-ISH" RIGHT NOW, AND FOR GOOD REASON. IF YOU ARE A STUDENT OF MILITARY HISTORY, AND UNDERSTAND HOW WARS HAVE ERUPTED IN THE PAST, THE PRESENT EVENTS UNFOLDING ARE TEN OUT OF TEN, NO MATTER WHAT THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT MIGHT SAY TO THE CONTRARY. THE OPTICS ARE NOT GOOD, AND THERE HAVE BEEN INCURSIONS INTO THE CRIMEA THAT ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO RUSSIAN INFLUENCES....AND POLITICAL INTERESTS. THE WORLD IS IN A MUCH MORE DANGEROUS SITUATION, THAT IT WAS TWO MONTHS AGO, AND I'M SORRY IF THE RUSSIANS DON'T AGREE. SOME OF US HAVE BEEN IN THIS POSITION BEFORE, WHEN RUSSIA HAS MOVED UPON OTHER COUNTRIES, UNWILLING TO GO PEACEFULLY. I'M JUST NOT GETTING THIS PART, THAT THE RUSSIANS ARE THE INJURED PARTY HERE; AND BY NATO'S RECENT REACTION, ANNOUNCING THEY WILL DEFEND THE SOVEREIGN RIGHTS OF THE UKRAINE, FORCEFULLY, I NEED SAY NO MORE. THIS IS THE TEMPEST WE'VE BEEN WORRYING ABOUT, FROM THE PERIOD OF THE COLD WAR, AND IT'S IN A REGION THAT HAS SUFFERED GREATLY IN THE PAST. SO AS MUCH AS WE WISH THIS WASN'T HAPPENING, WE WHO LIVE AND BREATHE HISTORY, AS BOTH A PROFESSION AND HOBBY INTEREST, ARE FULL OF FEAR, DESPITE THOSE WHO MAY THINK WE ARE JUMPING THE GUN....OR OVER-REACTING. I HATE WHEN POLITICIANS TELL US EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE, AND THEN, THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT OCCUPIED AIR PORTS AND PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, AND THE START OF A NAVAL BLOCKADE. I DON'T THINK WE'RE AT THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS LEVEL JUST YET, BUT I THINK THE NEXT TWO WEEKS ARE GOING TO BE FRIGHTENING FOR THE POPULATION OF THE WORLD.....BECAUSE WHENEVER THE HEAVYWEIGHTS DUKE IT OUT, WE TAKE THE PUNCH.
     I ALSO BELIEVE, THAT DURING THE COLD WAR PERIOD, MY PARENTS, AT LEAST, HAD VERY LITTLE INTEREST IN MATERIAL THINGS....OTHER THAN A REASONABLY COMFORTABLE SOFA AND CHAIR, A CHROME DINING SET, AND BOTH HALF-WORKING TELEVISION AND RADIO. THEY NEEDED THEIR NEWS UPDATES. I'M SURE THEY WERE THINKING THEN, THAT CASH WAS MORE IMPORTANT, "IN HAND," THAN OWNING EXTRAVAGANCES IN THE HOUSE. DID WE HAVE ENOUGH FOOD IN THE HOUSE TO KEEP US FROM GOING HUNGRY, IF THERE WAS WORLD CALAMITY? THEY WERE WORRIED. I KNOW THEY WERE. AND IF THEY WERE ALIVE TODAY, THEY WOULD FEEL THAT WHAT WAS HAPPENING, IN EUROPE AT THIS PRECISE MOMENT, WAS DANGEROUS TIPPING POINT, TO ANOTHER WORLD WAR. I THINK, THAT IN PERSONAL IMPACT, THIS INCURSION WILL EVENTUALLY TRUMP, HOW MANY CANADIANS AND AMERICANS FELT, DURING THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS.
     THE ECONOMIC WOES OF THE UKRAINE AT PRESENT, CERTAINLY DOESN'T HELP MATTERS, OR HERALD A SPEEDY RESOLUTION, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT A LARGE VOLUME OF NATURAL ENERGY RESOURCES COME FROM RUSSIA. IT ALL HAS THE MAKINGS OF A MAJOR WORLD EVENT THAT'S FOR SURE. HOW WILL IT PLAY OUT? WE'D SURE LIKE TO BELIEVE, DIPLOMACY THAT USUALLY FAILS, WILL MAKE ITS TRIUMPH IN THE UKRAINE. I'M HOPING THE ALLIES AREN'T JUST BLOWING SMOKE, WHEN THEY ANNOUNCED THEIR INTENTION TO BACK THEM, IF WORSE COMES TO WORSE.
     SO HOW MANY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, IN CANADA TODAY, IF ASKED, WITHOUT PREAMBLE EXPLANATION, COULD POINT OUT THE "CRIMEA" REGION OF UKRAINE? HOW MANY STUDENTS WOULD KNOW WHERE THE UKRAINE IS, IN EUROPE? OR IS IT IN SOUTH AMERICA? DO THEY HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THE COLD WAR WAS ALL ABOUT? SHOULD WE BE WORRIED THAT THEY KNOW MORE ABOUT VIDEO GAMES, AND POP STARS, COMIC BOOK HEROES, THAN PRESENT WORLD ORDER? ARE THEY AWARE, THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO USE THEIR CELL PHONES, AND VIDEO GAMES, IN THE CONCRETE BUNKERS WE HAVE TO BUILD IN OUR BACK YARDS? NAIVE CITIZENS OF THE WORLD? MORE LIKE UNEDUCATED CITIZENS OF THE WORLD! I THINK MOST OF US BABY BOOMERS WOULD BE SHOCKED TO SILENCE, BY THE STATISTICS, THAT MOST HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TODAY, COULDN'T FIND THE UKRAINE ON A MAP, WITHOUT ASSISTANCE OF GOOGLE OR AN INTERNET SEARCH. IT'S GREAT IF YOU HAVE BATTERIES AND ELECTRIC BACK-UP. GOSH, IF WE EVER HAD TO LIVE THROUGH THE CONDITIONS THAT PREVAILED IN EUROPE DURING THE FIRST AND SECOND WORLD WARS. RATIONED FOOD AND GAS. HOW MANY STUDENTS UNDERSTAND "RATIONING" AND WHAT IT MEANS TO SURVIVE BY MEANS OF A COUPON BOOK, AND RATION TOKENS FOR MEAT AND DAIRY PRODUCTS? A LOT OF ANTIQUE DEALERS STILL HAVE THOSE RINGS OF RATION TOKENS AND SOME BOOKLETS, WITH GAS RATION COUPONS. WE MAY NOT HAVE LIVED THROUGH THE WAR, BUT MANY OF US LIVED WITH PARENTS WHO HAD BEEN IN THE THICK OF THINGS, AND WE HEARD THE STORIES, OVER AND OVER AGAIN; ESPECIALLY WHEN WE DIDN'T CLEAN OUR DINNER PLATES, OF THE FOOD PREPARED FOR US. I CAN REMEMBER HEARING MY MOTHER COMPLAIN ABOUT THE FACT, I HAD LEFT PORTIONS OF MEAT AND POTATO ON MY PLATE; WHICH WAS OFFENSIVE TO HERE, WHEN SO MANY HAD DONE WITHOUT DURING THE WAR YEARS. I'D TELL HER THAT I WOULD HAVE OFFERED IT TO THEM, IF TIMES WERE REVERSED. BUT FOR THEM IT WASN'T NONSENSE. THEIR FEARS WERE INBRED, FROM HAVING TO LIVE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF WAR, AS THEY PRESENTED IN CANADA. IT WAS WHAT THEY HAD ENDURED AT HOME. WHAT DO OUR TEENAGERS TODAY, KNOW ABOUT HARDSHIP CAUSED BY INTERNATIONAL CIRCUMSTANCE? WE CAN FORGIVE THEM, ESPECIALLY IF THEY HAVEN'T BEEN TAUGHT THIS AT SCHOOL....AS PART OF NORMAL CURRICULUM; OR AT HOME, BY PARENTS WHO BELIEVE HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE, IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT TO ENHANCED LIFE SKILLS.
  
"THE STRAND" WAR MAP OF CENTRAL EUROPE, CIRCA 1914

     A couple of months ago, we purchased a large lot of ephemera, from two estates, and in so doing, picked up quite a number of pieces from the period of the First and Second World War, including some late 1940's and early 50's letters from Germany. Included in the material, was the 1914 "War Map," produced by "The Strand," published by the George Newness Limited Co., of London, England. It (the map) was owned by a citizen of England at the time, and it was well used as you may be able to see from the photographs above. The map, in its current condition, is neither rare, nor valuable, but it is interesting for the hobby historians, and students, to see what Europe represented, in the opening year of the Great War. As compared to maps from the past few years, there are a lot of boundary changes....and there may be more to come, as this present crisis escalates. Even as a kid, I was fascinated by maps, so whenever a crisis occurs, whether in the Middle East, or in this case, the Ukraine, I still whip out my respective maps and atlases, to see the changes that have occurred over the centuries. We have to know the past before we can truly appreciate the changes of the present and future. Are we likely to see the Crimea area, of the Ukraine, forcefully annexed back to Russia? Some say yes. Some say, "over our dead bodies!" As for the casualties, we've already seen evidence, that this conflict will take a high human toll. Can it be stopped in time? One imagines how many lives could be lost in such a conflict over sovereignty. It's complicated. It's a political mine-field. Yet it simplifies down to the old saying, that may have pre-dated the American Civil War, where I first saw it referenced, as the words spoken by a Confederate soldier, to his Yankee captor.... "Live and Let Live, I Heard Some Folks Say." And why not? I know, I know....it's complicated.
     I'm hoping the Russians will pull back from the Crimea, and seek a diplomatic solution to whatever territorial claims they wish to make. The world is watching after all, or did they only care about the attention they received for hosting the Olympics? So far, it looks very much like this is the case, and what a tragedy for their country, when it comes right down, to how this will be perceived by the rest of the world.....that is far more connected by news actuality, via technology, than it was during the Cold War. Forgive us baby boomers, who grew up with the fear of Russian invasion, and atomic warheads heading our way. "Dr. Strangelove," was just a movie. Right? Or will our worse fears be realized. This is an hourly news watch, just as it was during the Cuban Missile Crisis....when being an alarmist was all the rage. Of course it changed our lives. Will this latest intervention do the same, to the present generation? Fear as fashion? Not buying green bananas! Living a frugal, only-what-you-need lifestyle? A minimalist attitude, where we will get by with less, because we don't need more than this! Keep in mind, at this precise moment in time, many citizens of the world live with much more danger in their lives than we do......and have those empty plates in their hands, looking for something to eat. I used to tell our boys the same thing, as my mother used to tell me.....about how wicked it was to waste food, while people were starving in the world. Ah, the not-so-subtle influences of childhood, during trying times!
     Thanks for visiting today. Let's all hope for improvements in the Ukraine. Its really all we can do, at present!

Ghosts; A Little Hunt For Ephemera Turned Up A Long Lost Relic Of Print

SPEAKING OF WEIRD FINDS - LOOKING THROUGH EPHEMERA FILES, I FOUND MY 1982 "STORY ABOUT GHOSTS"

I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS PAGE FOR YEARS - SO I ASKED DAVE BROWN TO HELP ME OUT

     IT'S TRUE. I WRITE ABOUT GHOSTS A LOT. SOME PEOPLE PLAY WITH ELECTRIC TRAINS. I KNOW FRIENDS OF MINE, WHO STILL (BUT WON'T ADMIT IT) COLLECT HOCKEY AND BASEBALL CARDS. I DON'T MAKE FUN OF THEM, AND I CERTAINLY HAVEN'T TOLD THEM ABOUT MY OWN CLOSET, THAT IS FULL OF HOCKEY CARDS. MY WEAKNESS, IS THAT I ENJOY MY RESEARCH WORK, LOOKING AT THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF GHOSTS. I HAVE HAD THE GOOD FORTUNE, OF MARRYING A GAL, WHO NOT ONLY BELIEVES IN GHOSTS, BUT HAS HAD NUMEROUS ENCOUNTERS SINCE CHILDHOOD. JUST AS I HAVE. SO I NEVER HAVE TO FEAR BEING RIDICULED BY FAMILY, AT LEAST. FOR ME, AT LEAST IN PRINT, MY RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PARANORMAL, OFFICIALLY BEGAN, IN PRINT, BACK IN THE EARLY SPRING OF 1982. I'VE HAD REASON TO RE-VISIT THAT OCCASION TODAY, FOR PURPOSES OF THIS BLOG. HOPE YOU WILL FIND SOME OF IT INTERESTING. IF YOU FIND ALL OF IT INTERESTING, THEN YOU'LL LIKE SOME OF THE WORK TO FOLLOW.
     SO I ASKED MY DECEASED BOOK BUDDY, DAVE BROWN, IF HE COUJLD SPARE ME SOME EARTHLY TIME. I HAVE BEEN DOING THIS "TALKING TO DEAD PEOPLE" THING, SINCE HE PASSED AWAY BEFORE THE TURN OF THE PRESENT CENTURY. HE DOESN'T REACT QUICKLY, BECAUSE THERE ISN'T ANY URGENCY ON THE OTHER SIDE, TO GET TO WORK. IF THERE'S A BOOK I CAN'T FIND, OR A DOCUMENT THAT'S MISSING FROM A FILE DRAWER, I CASUALLY ASK MR. BROWN, IF HE MIGHT BE ABLE TO SHOW ME WHERE I DEPOSITED IT OTHERWISE. NO KIDDING. THE LONGEST DAVE HAS EVER TAKEN TO FIND WHAT I NEED, WAS ABOUT TWO WEEKS. I THINK THAT WAS BECAUSE I'D BEEN MISSING HIS SUBTLE SIGNS. AS I NOTED BEFORE, WHETHER OR NOT THE SPIRIT-KIND ARE HELPING ME OR NOT, I'M RESULTS ORIENTED. IF I HAPPEN TO FIND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR, FRANKLY, I DON'T CARE HOW MY BOOK OR DOCUMENT CATCHES MY ATTENTION, AS LONG AS IT DOES EVENTUALLY ARRIVE ON THE SCENE. SOMETIMES THIS WILL EVEN INVOLVE THE COLLAPSE OF A PILE OF BOOKS, OR LANDSLIDE OF DOCUMENTS OFF MY DESK. OOPS, THERE IT IS! IF DAVE WASN'T RESPONSIBLE, I CAN ACCEPT THAT. IF HE WAS THE BOOK FINDER IN FACT, WELL THEN, "GOD BLESS THE OLD BIBLIOPHILE," WHO USED TO SPEND TIME AT OUR HOUSE. SO TO GET TO THE POINT, I ASKED IF DAVE COULD HELP ME FIND A NEWSPAPER FEATURE I WROTE, IRONICALLY, ON GHOSTS, WAY BACK IN APRIL 1982. I'VE WRITTEN ABOUT THIS FEATURE SEVERAL TIMES ALREADY THIS WINTER SEASON, WHILE DISCUSSING SOME OLD HAUNTS. I JUST HAVEN'T HAD THE ORIGINAL NEWSPAPER. SO I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE PRUDENT, TO FIND THE ISSUE, AND BORROW SOME OF THE RESEARCH MATERIAL THAT WENT INTO THE MULTI-PAGE FEATURE ARTICLE. SO HERE IS HOW THESE THINGS MANIFEST, AND HAVE BEEN MANIFESTING FOR YEARS AND YEARS. LIKE I WROTE EARLIER, I SWEAR BY RESULTS, AND I KEEP GETTING THEM. DAVE, THE CLERK GHOST? I DON'T THINK SO. I JUST THINK HE'S NOT FINISHED WITH OUR WORLD JUST YET.
     ALL YESTERDAY, I BEGAN THINKING ABOUT DOING A BLOG, ABOUT A COLLECTION OF EARLY 1900'S MINUTES BOOKS, FROM AN ODDFELLOW'S LODGE, IN TORONTO. I MAY HAVE EVEN WRITTEN A SMALL PIECE ABOUT THEM THIS WEEK, REFERRING TO THE IMPORTANCE OF THESE RECORDS, BECAUSE OF OBSERVATIONS THAT ARE OFTEN INCLUDED WITHIN. IN THESE FOUR BOOKS, PURCHASED FROM A LOCAL AUCTION, THERE ARE HISTORIC REFERENCES TO ECONOMICS IN TORONTO 1915 TO 1930), INFLUENZA OUTBREAKS IN THE CITY, THE DEATH OF MEMBERS, AND TIDBITS OF SOCIAL HISTORY, REGARDING ODDFELLOW SOCIALS. THERE'S ALSO QUITE A LOT TO BE GARNERED ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE BUILDINGS THEY OCCUPIED DURIN THIS TIME. I KNEW THEY WERE STORED ON A SHELF BY MY LIVINGROOM CHAIR, AND I WAS GETTING THE URGE TO SEEK THEM OUT...BUT I HAVE MANY ITEMS AHEAD OF THE BOOKS, TO USE FOR STORY DEVELOPMENT. I WENT TO BED LAST NIGHT, THINKING ABOUT THOSE BOOKS, AND FIRST THING THIS MORNING, WHILE BRUSHING MY TEETH, I WAS ONCE AGAIN GETTING THE MESSAGE. "LOOK AT THE MINUTE BOOKS." SO AFTER FEEDING OUR LIVESTOCK, "THE CATS," I DECIDED TO HAVE A LOOK AT THE BECKONING BOOKS. SHORT VERSION. THERE WAS MY FULL PAGE FEATURE ON GHOSTS, FOLDED INSIDE THE FIRST BOOK ON THE PILE. I DON'T GET A SPOOKY FEELING WHEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS. I JUST THANK DAVE, AND FEEL PRETTY GOOD THAT I'VE BEEN REPATRIATED WITH WHATEVER I WAS LOOKING FOR. SO THE ELUSIVE GHOST STORY WAS IN MY HANDS. NOW THE JOB WAS FOR SON ROBERT, TO TAKE SOME PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE PAGE FOR POSTERITY, IN CASE I LOSE IT ONCE AGAIN. WHICH BY THE WAY, IS GENERALLY THE CASE WITH A FILING SYSTEM LIKE MINE. SUZANNE SAID TO ME, SMILING EAR TO EAR, "YOU WOULD BE LOST WITHOUT DAVE, WOULDN'T YOU?"
    THE PAGE INCLUDES A REMARKABLY WELL EXECUTED PHOTOGRAPH, BY MY ARTIST-COLLEAGUE, AT THE TIME, HAROLD WRIGHT, AND WAS A STAGED PHOTO SHOOT, ON A LONG EXPOSURE, OF A YOUNG GIRL WALKING ACROSS A DINING ROOM, BEHIND A LARGE TABLE. HAROLD'S PICTURE GOT A LOT MORE ATTENTION THAN MY ARTICLE, AND I HAVE TO ADMIT, IT WAS A COMPELLING IMAGE; AND IN FACT, EVEN THOSE WHO RESEARCH AND DOCUMENT GHOSTS, SUGGESTED THAT IT COULD BE USED TO ILLUSTRATE MANY FIRST-HAND ENCOUNTERS, OF THOSE WHO HAVE COME FACE TO FACE WITH RESIDENT SPIRITS. FOR EVERY COMMENT I GOT ABOUT THE ARTICLE, WE GOT TEN ABOUT THE QUALITY AND DYNAMIC OF THE PHOTOGRAPH. MOST BELIEVED IT WAS THE REAL THING....AND I REALIZE IT WASN'T IDENTIFIED IN THE CUTLINE AS A STAGED PHOTO. OH WELL. BUT BOY WAS IT A GREAT COMPANION PIECE TO MY RESEARCH. THE SECOND PHOTO, WAS OF MY ATTIC WINDOW AT THE MCGIBBON HOUSE, ON THE THIRD FLOOR OF THE FORMER DOCTOR'S HOUSE, WHERE I USED TO WRITE NIGHTLY, FROM THE WINTER OF 1977 UNTIL 1979. IT LOOKED OVER THE PRESENT MEMORIAL PARK BANDSHELL, ON BRACEBRIDGE'S MANITOBA STREET, AND IT WAS WHEN I FIRST GOT TO KNOW THE RESIDENT GHOSTS THAT USED TO WANDER ITS AGED HALLS. THE BUILDING WAS TORN DOWN TO MAKE WAY FOR A NEW OFFICE FACILITY.
     THERE'S A SHORT PIECE, THAT I INCLUDED AS PART OF THE FEATURE, THAT A FRIEND WHO WORKED IN A SHOP, DOWNSTAIRS IN THE MCGIBBON HOUSE, RELATED TO ME, WHEN SHE HEARD I WAS DOING THE GHOST ARTICLE. I CHANGED HER NAME TO "ELIZABETH," BECAUSE, AT THAT TIME, IF YOU CLAIMED TO HAVE SEEN A GHOST, YOU WERE A NUT-BALL PLAIN AND SIMPLE. NOT BEING CONCERNED MYSELF, I WENT AHEAD WITH THIS FEATURE, EVEN THOUGH THE PAPER'S MANAGER WORRIED, I WAS GOING TO COST THE HERALD-GAZETTE SOME ADVERTISERS. SO MY DEAL WITH HIM, BASICALLY FOR MY JOB, WAS THAT IF WE LOST OUR ADS, OR READERS, I WOULD WANDER OFF INTO THE SUNSET. IF THE NEWSTAND SALES WERE UP THAT WEEK, THEN I WANTED A RAISE. NEWSTAND SALES WERE EXCELLENT, AND AS IT USUALLY TURNED OUT, I DIDN'T GET THE RAISE. BUT WITHOUT QUESTION, AT THAT TIME, RUNNING A FULL PAGE SPREAD LIKE THIS, WAS RISKY BUSINESS. BUT THEY TOOK A CHANCE THEN, AND ON MANY OTHER PIECES I WROTE DURING THE NEXT EIGHT YEARS OF OUR SOMEWHAT TURBULENT RELATIONSHIP. I'M A BIG "FREEDOM OF THE PRESS" ADVOCATE, AND OUR STAFF WRITERS, WHO WERE EXCELLENT AT WHAT THEY DID, LOVED TO PUSH THE PROVERBIAL ENVELOPE. THERE WAS NO STATUS QUO STUFF WHEN WE RAN THE HERALD-GAZETTE, EXCEPT THE "OUR YESTERDAYS," COLUMN, WRITTEN BY LONG-TIME EDITOR, ROBERT BOYER. WHEN BOB WOULD LOOK OVER MY COPY, WAXED AND ROLLED ONTO THE "FLATS" (WHICH WERE SENT TO THE PRINTER), HE'D CHEW THE END OF HIS CIGAR LIKE IT WAS A WAD OF GUM, AND SNORT A LITTLE, BUT NEVER ONCE DID THE MAN DISCOURAGE ME FROM TRYING NEW THINGS....WITH THE PAPER HIS FAMILY HAD FOUNDED. I LIKED THAT ABOUT BOB. DESPITE BEING OLD SCHOOL ABOUT THE NEWSPAPER BUSINESS, IN HIS HOME COMMUNITY, HE DIDN'T TRY TO STOP THE CLOCK, OR WISH IN ANY WAY, TO OPERATE IN A STATUS QUO SITUATION. HE JUST DIDN'T WANT ME SCREWING WITH HIS WEEKLY COLUMN. WHEN I WENT TO WORK WITH BOB, AS AN ASSISTANT EDITOR OF THE MUSKOKA SUN, IT WAS THE BEST TIME OF MY YOUNG WRITING CAREER, BECAUSE BOB JUST WANTED ME TO WRITE, AND WRITE AND WRITE. IF I HAD PUT BYLINES ON EVERY STORY I WROTE, FOR THOSE MONSTER ISSUES, I WOULD HAVE HAD TWENTY TO THIRTY LARGE ARTICLES EVERY WEEK. I WANTED EXPOSURE, AND BOB GAVE ME A LOT OF WHITE SPACE BETWEEN THE ADS, TO FILL AT MY DISCRETION.
     GETTING BACK TO THE STORY TOLD TO ME BY ELIZABETH. IT DIDN'T HAPPEN IN MUSKOKA, BUT IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THE STORY HAD BEEN PUBLISHED. BY THE WAY, BECAUSE OF THIS FEATURE ARTICLE, I WAS APPROACHED BY JOHN ROBERT COLOMBO, ONE OF CANADA'S BEST KNOWN GHOST SLEUTHS, AND HE OFFERED ME A CHANCE TO BE A SMALL PART OF HIS NEXT BOOK OF GHOST STORIES. HE EVEN SUGGESTED I SHOULD WRITE A BOOK OF MUSKOKA GHOST STORIES, AT SOME POINT, AND I HAVE, FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, DONE JUST THAT, BUT KEPT IT ON-LINE VIA THESE BLOGS....RATHER THAN KILLING TREES TO PUT OUT A BOOK INSTEAD. JOHN EVEN WROTE THE OPENING COLUMN, FOR A SERIES OF GHOST STORIES I WROTE, IN THE LATE 1990'S, FOR THE MUSKOKA SUN, WHICH CARRIED OVER 22 WEEKS THAT YEAR. MY ONGOING WORK AS A HOBBY GHOST SLEUTH, WAS DEFINITELY ADVANCED BY THE GOOD MR. COLOMBO, AND THE SUCCESS OF THE FEATURE ARTICLE, ILLUSTRATED ABOVE. IT WAS MY FIRST SERIOUS FORAY INTO THE SPIRIT WORLD, YOU MIGHT SAY, AND IT CARRIES ON THE SAME TODAY. SO HERE ARE A FEW SNIPITS OF EDITORIAL MATERIAL, FROM THAT SPRING ISSUE, OF THE BRACEBRIDGE HERALD-GAZETTE.

THE RECOLLECTION OF "THE ROOM"

     April 7th, 1982 - "In a recent interview with The Herald-Gazette, a young Bracebridge woman, talked openly about a ghostly encounter she had experienced, as a young girl, living in the Lanark County area of rural Ontario. Elizabeth, not her real name, has worked in Bracebridge for several years, and resides near the Village of Port Carling. She maintains the following story is true as she experienced IT, while living in an older home in Lanark County with her parents.
    "Growing up in our household, it was quite normal to accept the presence of a ghost or spirit. It was not unusual to hear our mother tell the air, after our inner kitchen door would slam against the wall, 'If you are friendly, come away in....if not, out you get!' Elizabeth tells of her early experiences.
   "My brother and sister always tried to out-scare the other, and always succeeded in scaring themselves instead. The house was the first stonehouse to be built in Lanark County. Its sturdy walls kept back the cold winds that winter would throw at her. On the back was an old fashioned summer kitchen, made entirely of wood and glass, very much neglected over the years. The last tenant appeared to have used it for storage, even though it was cooler in the summer for cooking, or so we thought. It was always intriguing to discover something new in it. The first couple of weeks after we had moved in, we explored the room above the back kitchen. The stairs were unusually well designed; a half spiral staircase that made definite creaks when we walked on them. Creaks we heard many times, working their way down, and into the back kitchen, while we were nowhere near.
     "It was always a very definite creaking; very deliberate. There was no wind to blame for the noises. I had, on numerous occasions, felt a strong presence in the room I nicknamed the 'studio.' There were personal belongings and photographs packed tightly away behind the aperture in the wall. Both my brother and sister thought it very amusing that I didn't like it in there. Somehow, I had always felt as if I was intruding. It was as if I knew that the room was occupied. To me, to have looked through the dusty old boxes, was an invasion of privacy that I wanted no part of. I guess I felt deep down, that if I respected the privacy of the past, it would respect mine."

BELIEVING IN GHOSTS, A MATTER OF HISTORY

     "Ever since the dawn of mankind, people have believed in ghosts. The fear of the unknown, the certainty that there was something, somewhere out there, bigger than life, beyond its pale, and more powerful than anything walking the earth, has persisted throughout the ages," wrote Catherine Buxton, author of "Haunted Houses," published in 1971. "What exactly is a ghost? In terms of psychic research, a ghost appears to be a surviving emotional memory of someone who had died traumatically, and usually, tragically, but is unaware of his / her death. Ghosts then, in the overwhelming majority, do not realize that they are dead. Those who do know they are dead are confused as to where they are, or why they feel not quite as they used to feel. When death occurs unexpectedly or unacceptedly, or when a person has lived in a place for a very long time, acquiring certain routine habits and becoming very attached to a premises, sudden, unexpected death comes as a shock. Unwilling to part with the physical world, such human personalities then continue to stay on, in the very spot where their tragedy, or their emotional attachment, had existed prior to physical death," notes Huxton.
    Thousands upon thousands of books have been written on the supernatural. Ghosts have inspired writers from literally, the "dawn of mankind," as Huxton continues. "Ghosts do not appear on command, and even spending the night in a haunted house might produce nothing more than a stiff neck or the sniffles. Then again, one might walk into a haunted house unaware of that fact, and might have an experience quite unexpectedly. Such is the thrill, and the uncertainty of following a ghost - one can never be sure what might transpire."
    Author Victoria Branden, in her book, "Understanding Ghosts," published in 1980, noted that "For the last hundred years or so, people have refused to take the subject of ghosts very seriously. The supernatural has been relegated to the occultists and crackpots, although a small group of parapsychologists, has striven doggedly to approach it scientifically and unsuperstitiously." Researcher Eileen Sonin writes, "There are several different ways that a ghost makes its presence known, and I think I have experienced most of them." Sonin, author of the 1969 book, "Ghosts I Have Known," suggests that "I have seen a ghost, heard a ghost, and touched a ghost, even smelt a ghost. It is a quite well-known phenomenon that sometimes when a spirit is near, the place is filled with an over-powering perfume. Sometimes almost sickly sweet, at other times it is a beautiful scent of flowers."
     Sonin includes a story about a house she lived in near Kensington Street in London, England, with her husband. The small cottage-like building was to be only a temporary residence, until final arrangements were made for a new house, they were intending to purchase. One room of the house, which she maintains seemed pleasant in appearance, made her feel unhappy and distressed upon entering. "I subconsciously tended to avoid it (room). It was so sad. Even if you were in a really jolly mood when you entered, five minutes later, you would feel deeply distressed and unhappy. No matter how hard you tried to shake it off, misery settled like a cloud around you. The only other feature of the cottage, that somewhere close by, was a child who cried continuously. It really upset me. I tried to find out where the crying was coming from, but could never pinpoint it in any of the neighboring houses."
     The intensity of Sonin's unhappiness increased. She and her husband decided to vacate the house and seek accommodations elsewhere. Upon telling the real estate agent, who had been looking after the cottage, the Sonins learned more about the house. The former owners of the house had had a little girl aged three. The parents used to leave the tiny girl alone for long hours and she would cry alone in the house for hours on end. "She was a sweet little thing he told me. One day she managed to climb to the window ledge of the upstairs sitting room. Her father, driving into the garage, saw her and called to her to climb down. Laughingly, she waved to him, over balanced and fell out of the window, onto the paved courtyard below. Her skull was fractured and she died instantly. The crying child, I murmurred to myself, and he nodded." The agent told them that other tenants of the house had heard the crying as well, and had felt the discomfort the cottage bred.
     According to Susy Smith, author of "Ghosts Around The House," there are four different types of ghosts. One type of ghost, she explains, is a "deceased human serving notice; the second is an hallucination - plain and simple; the third is an out of body experience, bilocation, being in two places at once; and the fourth is the veridical after image, poltergeist or telekonesis."     "Poltergeists are certainly the most unpleasant of all psychic phenomena. They suggest to the serious student of the occult that even on the other side, there are some kinds of malevolent entities, who seem to delight in persecuting, and at times injuring innocent unfortunates. There seems to be no reason for the childish rapping and the stupid throwing of all kinds of objects," suggests Victoria Branden, author of "Understanding Ghosts." "There is no doubt about it, ghosts are arbitrary, difficult, confusing, and befuddling. They are also very interesting," writes ghost researcher, Susy Smith.
     In the words of Shakespeare, through the mouth of his character Hamlet, saying of his dead father; "And we fools of nature, so horridly to shake our disposition, with thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls? To which I answer: Why is this? Because it actually happened to me. Wherefore? We do not know. What should we do? Keep an open mind."
     Thanks for joining with me today, for a little fireside chat about....ghosts. See you again soon.

Collecting Old Paper, VIntage Photos and How About Credit To Wayne Rutledge, Los Angeles Kings

Norman and Harriet Stripp 1940's Photograph (courtesy of Kathy Wiens)

1916 letter to God

Monck Township, Bracebridge, Methodist Sunday School Record Book 1873

BEFORE YOU THROW OUT THAT CLUTTER OF OLD PAPER - IS THERE IMPORTANT HISTORY BURIED DEEP WITHIN

JUST ONE ITEM OF SIGNIFICANCE CAN BE WORTH THE EFFORT OF SORTING

     DEATH NOTICES FROM VICTORIAN TIMES. MEMORIAL CARDS. FUNERARY EPHEMERA. LEGAL DOCUMENTS THAT HAD BEEN POSTED ON PUBLIC SIGN BOARDS OR TELEPHONE POSTS. POST OFFICE NOTICES, PUBLISHED AND POSTED IN PUBLIC PLACES. NOTICES OF QUARANTINE THAT HAD TO BE PLACED ON THE DOORS OF HOUSES, WHEN THERE WAS A SERIOUS ILLNESS IN THE COMMUNITY. THERE IS A VAST AREA TO COVER IF YOU ARE A GENERALIST EPHEMERA DEALER. THERE'S LOTS OF ROOM AND CHOICES TO SPECIALIZE, OR REMAIN OPEN TO THE NEXT INTERESTING DOCUMENT, OR PAPER HERITAGE THAT YOU CROSS PATHS WITH. IT'S AN EXCITING COLLECTING PURSUIT, THAT I DIDN'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT UNTIL THE EARLY 1990'S, WHEN SEVERAL DEALER-FRIENDS BROUGHT ME UP TO SPEED, ON THE INHERENT VALUES OF CERTAIN TYPES OF EPHEMERA, THAT BECAUSE OF MARKET DEMAND, WERE HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER, AND POSSESSED SUBSTANTIAL VALUE. AT THE TIME, ANYTHING THAT HAD TO DO WITH MUSKOKA'S BOAT HERITAGE, TOPPED THE LIST, ESPECIALLY THOSE ITEMS CONNECTED TO STEAMSHIPS, AND BOAT WORKS, SUCH AS DITCHBURN, FROM ITS LEGENDARY YEARS HERE IN GRAVENHURST. WE SOLD A LARGE NUMBER OF STEAMSHIP WAY BILLS, FROM THE JUDDHAVEN RESORT, ON LAKE ROSSEAU, ON BEHALF OF OUR FRIEND AUDREY JUDD. LOCAL COLLECTORS WENT NUTS FOR THIS PAPER HERITAGE, AND WITHIN A MONTH, WE HAD SOLD EVERY LAST SHRED OF NAVIGATION COMPANY NOSTALGIA, THAT WE HAD BEEN EMPLOYED TO SELL. SINCE THOSE DAYS, WE'VE SOLD A MUSEUM'S WORTH OF LOCAL PAPER HERITAGE, AND SAVED A FEW PIECES FOR OURSELVES. ONE DAY, IF THE BOYS AREN'T INTERESTED, WE'LL PROBABLY SELL THEM OFF AS WELL. PART OF THIS COLLECTION, IS A LARGE NEGATIVE FILE, OF VINTAGE MUSKOKA AND ONTARIO PHOTOGRAPHS, DATING BACK TO THE LATE 1800'S. THEY HAVE TO BE SOLD AS A COLLECTION AND NOT INDIVIDUALLY, DUE TO THE FAMILY HERITAGE ATTACHED. OF THIS WE INSIST. THAT'S WHY THEY WON'T BE LANDING IN THE STORE AS SUCH. WE HAVE ALWAYS HATED BREAKING UP FAMILY COLLECTIONS IN THIS FASHION, HOPING THAT EVENTUALLY WE CAN CONNECT WITH AN HISTORIAN WHO KNOWS THE IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING THESE PIECES TOGETHER....AND HOW THE IMAGES REFLECT ON THE HISTORY OF A FAMILY IN A PARTICULAR CANADIAN COMMUNITY OR REGION. WE DEAL WITH HISTORIANS ALL THE TIME, AND WE CERTAINLY LET THEM KNOW WHEN WE HAVE POSSESSION OF THESE CONNECTED ITEMS. WE HAVE SOLD HANDWRITTEN JOURNALS TO SEVERAL MUSEUMS, AND RETURNED ONE BACK TO FAMILY, THAT CONTAINED A GREAT DEAL OF HISTORIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE HOST COMMUNITIES. WE REALLY LIKE IT WHEN WE CAN REPATRIATE THESE HEIRLOOMS BACK WHERE THEY BELONG.....AFTER DECADES OF SEPARATION. THERE'S A LOT MORE TO THIS PAPER CHASE THAN TURNING A QUICK PROFIT. 

     FOR MOST OF US, EPHEMERA ISN'T GREAT TO DECORATE WITH, UNLESS IT HAS INTERESTING GRAPHICS, LIKE A HANDWRITTEN RECIPE (WE HAVE MANY FRAMED EXAMPLES) OR IS A FAMILY HEIRLOOM. I DON'T HAVE A CLUE HOW FAR DOWN THE LIST, EPHEMERA RANKS, IN TERMS OF COLLECTABLE INTERESTS, BEHIND TRADITIONAL ANTIQUES. IT'S NOT LIKELY TO BE USED AS A FEATURE SPREAD BY ANY OF THE MAJOR DECORATING MAGAZINES, AND EVEN IN TERMS OF ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES, COLLECTING OLD PAPER ISN'T LIKELY TO TRUMP ARTICLES ON CHINA, PORCELAIN, GOLD, SILVER, HERITAGE GLASS, HISTORIC LIGHTING, OR COLONIAL FURNITURE. YET IN SOME CASES, EPHEMERA CAN BE WORTH AS MUCH AND MORE AS TRADITIONAL VINTAGE PIECES. THIS MIGHT BE A LETTER FROM A PAST PRESIDENT, PROMINENT AUTHOR, MOVIE STAR, ARTIST OR FROM A FORMER POPE. THERE ARE PAPER SLEUTHS WHO KNOW THE IMPORTANCE OF CHECKING ALL THOSE SIGNATURES, ON CARDS AND LETTERS, JUST IN CASE. HAVING A LETTER SIGNED BY JAMES JOYCE, OR F. SCOTT FITZGERALD IS VERY SIGNIFICANT, TO THOSE WHO COLLECT LITERARY MEMORABILIA. A NOTE FROM ACTOR JOHN WAYNE, OR MARILYN MONROE. A CHRISTMAS CARD FROM JOHN A. MACDONALD. EPHEMERA TAKES IN A HUGE DIVERSITY OF PAPER RELATED HERITAGE, AND IF YOU HAPPEN TO FIND A NOTE FROM ARTIST, ANDY WARHOL, YOU ARE DEFINITELY A LUCKY AND HAPPY CAMPER.

     AS WE DO LIKE TO BUY PAPER LOTS, FROM ESTATES, AS SOON AS WE BEGIN SORTING THROUGH THE COLLECTED BOXES, SUZANNE AND I COMMENCE OUR RESEARCH IN EARNEST. WE'RE LOOKING TO ESTABLISH A QUICK PROFILE, OF WHO THE OWNERS AND FAMILY WERE CONNECTED TO IN THE PAST; AND WHO HAD FRIENDSHIPS WITH THEM THROUGH THEIR LIVES. WE HAD A RECENT ESTATE SALE, WHERE A LARGE AMOUNT OF EPHEMERA WAS ASSOCIATED WITH VICTORIA COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, AND PARTICULARLY THE FAMILY OF CANADIAN POET, E.J. "NED" PRATT. HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTER WERE BOTH ACCOMPLISHED ARTISTS, AND THERE WAS SOME INTERESTING CORRESPONDENCE WITH FAMILY OF THE ESTATE. THE LETTERS AND RELATED EPHEMERA, INCLUDING HOLIDAY GREETING CARDS, WERE ALL INTERESTING, BUT WEREN'T OF PARTICULAR HISTORIC RELEVANCE TO COLLECTORS OF CANADIAN LITERARY RELICS. BUT IT'S WHAT WE WERE WATCHING FOR, ESPECIALLY ANYTHING PRATT MAY HAVE WROTE, REFERENCING WORK HE HAD ALREADY WRITTEN, OR WAS PLANNING TO WRITE. AND YES, WHEN AN AUTHOR'S PAPERS COME UP FOR SALE, THEY CAN ATTRACT A HUGE AMOUNT OF ATTENTION. IMAGINE WHAT VALUE WOULD HAVE BEEN PLACED ON THE ROUGH WORK, AND NOTES, OF AUTHOR FRANK BAUM, CREATOR OF "THE WIZARD OF OZ," AND J.M. BARRIE, AUTHOR OF "PETER PAN." HOW ABOUT LETTERS PENNED BY J.R.R. TOLKIEN, LEWIS CARROLL, OR C.S. LEWIS? VALUE? GADS! YOU COULD RETIRE AND TAKE ME WITH YOU.

     IT'S NOT ALWAYS ABOUT THE MONEY. THERE IS A HUGE QUANTITY OF SOCIAL / CULTURAL HISTORY THAT WINDS-UP BEING TOSSED, BECAUSE NO ONE THOUGHT ABOUT THE FACT, SOME OF THE LETTER CONTENT, CONTAINED OBSERVATIONS FROM, FOR EXAMPLE, GERMAN CIVILLIANS TRYING TO SURVIVE THE BOMBARDMENT IN THE CLOSING DAYS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR. LETTERS PENNED BY RESIDENTS OF HOLLAND, AFTER LIBERATION FROM THE GERMAN OCCUPATION. HISTORIANS LIVE FOR THESE FINDS, BECAUSE THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN, IS USUALLY "FIRST PERSON" ACCOUNTS....AND SOMETIMES, THEY ARE OBSERVATIONS OF MAJOR EVENTS, AND PERSPECTIVES THAT HAVE NEVER BEFORE BEEN KNOWN OR STUDIED.

     HAVE YOU EVER, IN YOUR LIFE, VIEWED A LETTER WRITTEN BY A CHILD TO GOD, ASKING FOR A BABY FOR THE NEXT DAY? THE NOTE "TO GOD", ILLUSTRATED ABOVE, WAS WRITTEN IN THE EARLY 1900'S, AND REQUESTS A BABY TO BE DELIVERED TO THE CHILD LETTER-WRITER. THIS ISN'T A PRECIOUS PIECE OF EPHEMERA, BUT LET'S FACE IT.....IT'S PRECIOUS IN SO MANY OTHER WAYS. THIS NOTE MIGHT HAVE BEEN THROWN-OUT IF WE HADN'T BEEN IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME, TO MAKE AN ENQUIRY TO THE CHAP, SETTLING AN ESTATE. "PLEASE, PLEASE, LET US CHECK THE OLD PAPER, LETTERS AND INVOICES, BEFORE YOU THROW-OUT ANYTHING ELSE." IT'S ONE OF OUR STANDARD REQUESTS, WHEN SOMEONE APPROACHES US ABOUT BUYING ITEMS FROM ESTATES. SO THIS GENTLEMAN RESPONDED, "I WISH I'D COME IN YESTERDAY. I JUST THREW OUT TWO BIG BOXES OF OLD PAPER AND LETTERS." BASED ON WHAT WE FOUND IN THE PAPER HE HADN'T DISCARDED, BOY OH BOY, DID WE EVER LOSE A TREASURE TROVE. IT HAPPENS. MANY PEOPLE SIMPLY DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT HISTORIC PAPER, BECAUSE IT ISN'T PROFILED THE SAME WAY AS BETTER KNOWN ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES. THERE ARE FOLKS WHO DON'T WANT PRIVATE LETTERS MAKING THEIR WAY TO THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, AND WE UNDERSTAND THIS, AS WE HAVE SENSITIVE CORRESPONDENCE IN OUR OWN FAMILY. WE HAVE BEEN SORTING OUT SENSITIVE MATERIAL FROM EVERY LOT WE PURCHASE, THAT WILL NEVER MAKE IT TO THE SHOP, OR TO PRINT. WE ARE PARTICULARLY AWARE OF PRIVACY CONCERNS, AND WE DO OUR OWN VETTING OF MATERIAL, EVEN BEYOND THE FAMILY INTERESTS. BUT WHEN I HEAR ABOUT WAR LETTERS BEING DESTROYED, IT BREAKS MY HEART. NOT THAT THEY ARE VALUABLE....BECAUSE THERE ARE A LOT OF WAR LETTERS THAT HAVE BEEN CONSERVED....BUT BECAUSE OF THE HISTORIC SOCIAL / CULTURAL CONTENT, BETWEEN THOSE ON THE FRONT LINES, AND THOSE KEEPING THE HOME FIRES BURNING. AS AN HISTORIAN, I HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO VIEW SOME OF THESE PRIVATE COLLECTIONS, TO GATHER CONTENT FOR ARTICLES; BUT I HAD TO KEEP NAMES OUT OF MY FEATURE ARTICLES, IN RESPECT TO PRIVACY CONCERNS.

     THE SECOND ILLUSTRATION ABOVE, IS A PAGE FROM A PIONEER "METHODIST" SUNDAY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE BOOK, FROM THE 1870'S, THAT I WAS GIVEN MANY YEARS AGO NOW, UPON THE SETTLING OF A BRACEBRIDGE ESTATE. WHAT'S MOST INTERESTING ABOUT THE RECORDS, OTHER THAN TO NOTE THE NAMES OF THESE PIONEER CITIZENS, IS THAT OBSERVATIONS WERE MADE REGARDING THE PREVAILING WEATHER, ON THAT PARTICULAR SUNDAY, ROAD CONDITIONS, AND REFERENCES TO DEATHS OF STUDENTS OR THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS; PLUS INCLUSIONS ABOUT ILLNESSES GOING AROUND THE COMMUNITY AT THE TIME. BY ITSELF, MAYBE IT ONLY ADDS A SMIDGEON OF KNOWLEDGE TO THE LOCAL HISTORICAL CHRONICLE. BUT INCLUDED WITH ALL THE OTHER GATHERED COMMUNITY HERITAGE, WE CAN LEARN A HUGE AMOUNT ABOUT THE EARLY LIFE, AND TIMES, OF OUR PIONEER COMMUNITY BUILDERS. WE CAN DO WITHOUT IT, BUT HISTORIANS HAVE PROVEN, TIME AND AGAIN, THAT WHAT WE CAN FIND OUT THROUGH THESE HISTORICAL RECORDS, CAN HAVE A PROFOUND IMPACT, ON HOW WE PROCEED IN THE FUTURE. EVEN THE REFERENCE TO DEATHS AND THE SPREAD OF ILLNESSES, SUCH AS INFLUENZA, THROUGH A HAMLET, CAN CONNECT A GREAT MANY DOTS FOR RESEARCHERS. ADD THIS TO A REGIONAL CHRONICLE, PROVINCIAL AND NATIONAL, AND THE PUZZLE BEGINS TO INFILL MORE AND MORE. WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN TOSSED IN THE DUMPSTER, HAS BEEN SPLICED INTO PLACE, AS HISTORICAL RECORD. OF COURSE THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN WITH EVERY ESTATE, OR WITH EACH BOX OF EPHEMERA WE PURCHASE. WE MIGHT ONLY GET A COLLECTION OF OLD GREETING CARDS, AND KIND LETTERS BETWEEN FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS. BUT EVEN WITH THESE, WE CAN FIND HERITAGE REFERENCES, THAT MIGHT BE IMPORTANT TO CERTAIN OF OUR COLLECTOR FRIENDS; LIKE THE OVERVIEW OF DRIVING A BRAND NEW "HUDSON," OR "MODEL T FORD." BELIEVE ME, FROM A CAREER OF BROWSING THROUGH HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF THESE LETTERS AND DOCUMENTS, WE FIND ALL KINDS OF SIGNIFICANT INFORMATION BETWEEN THE CASUAL, FRIENDLY OBSERVATIONS, OF LETTER-WRITERS, AND NOTES THEY'VE INSCRIBED ON SPECIAL OCCASION CARDS. WE GET A SHIVER WHEN WE THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH OF THIS HERITAGE, DEEMED OF NO INTEREST TO THE FAMILY OR ESTATE, HAS BEEN DISCARDED OUT OF IGNORANCE.

     OBVIOUSLY HISTORIANS AND EPHEMERA COLLECTORS HAVEN'T DONE A GOOD ENOUGH JOB GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT. SO WE'LL TAKE THE BLAME.   

     ANDREW AND ROBERT, THE CURATORS OF THE MUSIC HERITAGE COMPONENT OF OUR BUSINESS, ARE ALWAYS ON THE LOOK-OUT FOR HANDWRITTEN LYRICS, AND SHEET MUSIC (SCORES), PENNED BY THE MUSICIANS. THESE EXIST OUT THERE, AND WE'VE FOUND A SMALL QUANTITY MIXED IN WITH OLD MUSIC FOLDERS, PURCHASED AT YARDS SALES AND FLEA MARKETS. NO GREAT OR VALUABLE FINDS, BUT SOME NEAT ONES FROM THE MUSKOKA REGION THAT HAVE SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE TO THE LOCALE. BUT WHEN THEY START LOOKING THROUGH THOSE BOXES OF OLD MUSIC SHEETS, BELIEVE ME, THERE WOULD BE AN UNEARTHLY HOWL, IF THEY HAPPENED UPON ORIGINAL BEATLES LYRICS, WRITTEN BY JOHN LENNON, OR SOME SCRIBBLING FROM THE HAND OF GORDON LIGHTFOOT. IT MAY SEEM LIKE A HELL OF A STRETCH, BUT FUNNIER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED, AND IF YOU'VE SPENT A FEW YEARS IN OUR PROFESSION, AND HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF SORTING THROUGH ESTATE COLLECTIONS, YOU'LL APPRECIATE JUST WHAT KIND OF MAGIC CAN HAPPEN UNDER THE RIGHT CIRCUMSTANCES. PEOPLE CORRESPOND WITH ALL KINDS OF CELEBRITIES, AND YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED TO FIND OUT, THAT MANY STARS DO TAKE THE TIME TO RESPOND WITH HANDWRITTEN NOTES OF THANKS. AFTER THE SHOOTING DEATH OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY, SUZANNE'S MOTHER WROTE A LETTER OF CONDOLENCE TO HIS BROTHER, SENATOR BOBBY KENNEDY, AND LOW AND BEHOLD, HE SENT A LETTER OF APPRECIATION BACK, WITH AN ACTUAL SIGNATURE....NOT A STAMP OF A SIGNATURE. THE LETTER WAS GIVEN TO ANOTHER FAMILY MEMBER WHEN HER PARENTS' ESTATE WAS SETTLED. A NICE KEEPSAKE, AND I DARE SAY, WORTH SEVERAL HUNDRED DOLLARS. POINT IS, WHETHER IT IS A NOTE BACK FROM WALT DISNEY OR FROM ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THESE IMPORTANT PIECES OF CORRESPONDENCE HISTORY, EXIST IN THOSE MUSTY ATTICS, AND CLOSETS OF RELATIVES OF THOSE WHO WROTE THE ORIGINAL LETTERS. WHICH IS GREAT, UNLESS, FAMILY MEMBERS DOWN THE ROAD, THINK OF ALL THIS ACCUMULATED PAPER AS "MATERIAL FOR THE GARBAGE BIN." BY THE WAY, I KNOW DUMPSTER DIVERS, WHO JUMP INTO THESE BINS WHEN NO ONE IS AROUND, AND REMOVE ITEMS TOSSED OUT BY ESTATE EXECUTORS AND CLEANERS. IT IS ILLEGAL. IT'S PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE, TO AT THE VERY LEAST, ASK PERMISSION OF THE ESTATE, TO SORT THROUGH THE CAST-OFF MATERIALS, AND OFFER TO PAY FOR THE PRIVILEGE. SOME EXECUTORS WILL BE OUTRAGED YOU WANT TO DO THIS, WHILE OTHERS, WANTING THE MONEY, WILL BE PLEASED TO REDUCE THE COST OF DISPOSAL. IT COSTS NOTHING TO AT LEAST ASK.

WAYNE RUTLEDGE AND THE LOS ANGELES KINGS -

HIS SPIRIT HAD A HAND ON THE STANLEY CUP

     ONE AFTERNOON, QUITE A FEW YEARS AGO NOW, WE WERE AT A GRAVENHURST AUCTION, JUST UP THE HILL FROM SAGAMO PARK. I BROUGHT A COUPLE OF HOCKEY CARDS WITH ME, TO HAVE SIGNED FOR SONS ANDREW AND ROBERT. I DIDN'T TELL THEM ABOUT IT BEFORE-HAND, THINKING IT WOULD BE A SURPRISE TO MEET A FORMER NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE GOALTENDER, WHO HAD PLAYED ON THE SAME CLUBS, IN HIS CAREER, AS THE GREAT TERRY SAWCHUCK, AND GORDIE HOWE. SAWCHUCK OF COURSE, CELEBRATED HIS HOCKEY HEYDAY WITH THE DETROIT RED WINGS, AND THE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS. HOWE WAS WITH DETROIT AND THE THE HOUSTON ARROWS. I SHOULD POINT OUT THAT BOTH LADS COLLECTED HOCKEY CARDS BACK IN THE 1990'S, SO IT WAS QUITE USUAL TO TOTE AROUND CERTAIN HOCKEY CARDS, JUST IN CASE. IN MUSKOKA, AS YOU PROBABLY ARE WELL AWARE, HOCKEY PLAYERS ARE WELL REPRESENTED AMONGST OUR SEASONAL RESIDENTS. THEY GET TOGETHER FOR SHINNY DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS, SO THE BOYS WERE ALWAYS ON THE LOOKOUT FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO GET THEIR PRIZED CARDS SIGNED. THEY'VE GOT QUITE A WHACK OF THEM TODAY, THAT I'M SURE THEY'LL BE GIVING TO THEIR YOUNGSTERS SOME DAY.

     SO TOWARD THE END OF THE AUCTION, I EXPLAINED HOW TERRY SAWCHUCK, WHO WAS DECEASED BY THAT POINT, HAD BEEN THE NUMBER ONE GOALIE FOR THE LOS ANGELES KINGS, GIVEN UP BY THE MAPLE LEAFS, IN THE 1967, FIRST EXPANSION OF THE ORIGINAL SIX TEAM N.H.L.  BUT WHAT HAPPENED, WHEN THE SEASON BEGAN, CHANGED THE GOALTENDING ORDER. DUE TO AN INJURY SUSTAINED IN THE PRE-SEASON, SAWCHUCK WAS SIDELINED. THE NUMBER ONE GOALIE FOR JACK KENT COOKE'S FLEDGLING KINGS, WAS………A FUTURE MUSKOKA AUCTIONEER. IN FACT, IT WAS THIS PARTICULAR AUCTIONEER, WORKING THE ESTATE SALE HERE IN GRAVENHURST.

     WHEN THE AUCTION CONCLUDED, I HANDED A HOCKEY CARD TO EACH BOY, AND SUGGESTED THAT THEY APPROACH THE AUCTIONEER, AND ASK FOR AN AUTOGRAPH. THEY LOOKED AT ME AS IF I'D BEEN UNCEREMONIOUSLY RETURNED TO EARTH, AFTER AN ALIEN ABDUCTION (AND SEMI-ENJOYABLE PROBING), EXPECTING ONE OF MY TRADEMARK GRANDIOSE SET-UPS, TO INFILL THE STORY AT HAND. THEY LOOKED AT THE CARDS, SAW THE NAME, LOOKED AT THE AUCTIONEER, AND ANDREW ASKED, "IS THAT THE SAME GUY?" "WHY YES IT IS," I RESPONDED, PUSHING THEM ON TO MEET THE AUCTIONEER-GOALTENDER.

     WAYNE RUTLEDGE WASN'T OFTEN AT A LOSS FOR WORDS. HE STARED AT THE CARDS THE BOYS HAD JUST HANDED HIM, AND SEEMED QUITE SURPRISED ANYONE, ESPECIALLY THESE YOUNGSTERS, WOULD KNOW ABOUT HIS DAYS IN PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY. HE SIGNED BOTH CARDS, SMILING AT THESE YOUNG COLLECTORS, AND SEEMED GENUINELY IMPRESSED HIS CARDS WERE EVEN IN CIRCULATION, AFTER ALL THE YEARS SINCE HIS RETIREMENT BACK IN THE 1970'S.

     IT WOULD HAVE BEEN AN EXTREME CIRCUMSTANCE, OR ILLNESS, FOR SUZANNE AND I TO MISS A WAYNE RUTLEDGE AUCTION. IT WOULD HAVE MEANT AN EQUALLY CRITICAL INTRUSION, OR OUTRIGHT CATASTROPHE ON THE HOME FRONT, IF I COULDN'T MAKE IT TO HIS FATHER'S AUCTIONS. WAYNE'S FATHER WAS LES RUTLEDGE, OF GRAVENHURST, A FORMER RAILWAYMAN, WHO FOUND HIMSELF, BY CIRCUMSTANCE, ONE OF MUSKOKA'S BEST KNOWN AUCTIONEERS IN THE 1980'S. I'VE WRITTEN QUITE A BIT ABOUT LES OVER THE YEARS, BECAUSE I ALSO HAD A PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM AT THE FORMER HERALD-GAZETTE. I WAS A MEDIATOR, FOR LES, EACH WEEK WHEN HE'D GET INTO A DISAGREEMENT OVER ADVERTISING BILLING, WITH ONE OF OUR FRONT DESK CLERKS. I'D HEAR HIM COME INTO THE OFFICE, STETSON FIRST, AND FROM THE FIRST FEW WORDS, YOU COULD PRETTY MUCH TELL HOW HEATED OR EXCITING THIS VISIT WAS GOING TO WIND-UP. BEFORE THE CONCLUDING CONCILIATORY HANDSHAKE.  HE WAS MORE BLUSTER THAN ANYTHING ELSE, BUT HE DIDN'T LIKE GETTING THE RUN-AROUND. IF HE SENSED YOU DIDN'T HAVE AN ANSWER, AND WERE TRYING TO FUDGE A RESPONSE, HE'D GET FURIOUS. HE LIKED THE STRAIGHT GOODS, AND HE COULD HANDLE A PROBLEM, JUST NOT IF ANYONE TRIED TO FOB HIM OFF. ONE CLERK REFUSED TO BACK DOWN TO HIM, AND THEY'D STAND ARGUING WITH ONE ANOTHER FOR FORTY MINUTES, BEFORE HE'D STARTED GETTING RED IN THE FACE. WHICH WAS THE SIGN INDICATING AN INTERVENTION WAS NECESSARY TO SAVE THE CLERK.

    LES WASN'T ONE TO MINCE WORDS, OR GO SOFTLY THROUGH LIFE, BARELY LEAVING A MARK. AS I WAS ONE OF HIS AUCTION REGULARS, AND A WRITER WHO MUST HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT LES, A HUNDRED TIMES, IN AUCTION REVIEWS, CLERICAL STAFF ALWAYS KNEW TO CALL ME IF THEY REACHED AN IMPASSE. LES WASN'T WRONG WITH HIS ASSERTIONS. WE MADE A LOT OF MISTAKES IN THOSE NEWSPAPER YEARS, AND WE HAD MANY PARALLEL "HEATED" ENCOUNTERS AT THE FRONT DESK, THAT REACHED THE NASTY-RETORT LEVEL. LES JUST WANTED HIS ADS TO APPEAR IN THE RIGHT EDITIONS, THE SIZE HE WISHED, PLACEMENT HE DESIRED, FOR AS MANY WEEKS AS HE HAD PLANNED. HE DIDN'T LIKE TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS EITHER. WE WERE EXPERTS IN THAT REGARD. WE ONCE RAN A HEADLINE THAT READ, "PRIME MINISTER TURDEAU TO VISIT MUSKOKA." HOW ABOUT THE TIME WE RAN A HEADLINE ON THE STORY OF A 100 YEAR OLD WOMAN, WITH THE WORDS, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THIS GRAND OLD LAY." TRY EXPLAINING THAT TO FAMILY. I DID THE SAME THING ONCE WITH A CAPTION ON THE FRONT PAGE, BENEATH A PHOTOGRAPH OF A COSTUMED YOUNG LADY. "THIS YOUNG LAY READY FOR HALLOWE'EN." HER MOTHER WANTED MY HEAD ON A PLATTER. AS FOR "TURDEAU," WHICH OF COURSE SHOULD HAVE BEEN "TRUDEAU," WE GOT SOME INTERESTING LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. THAT'S IT. I'VE ONCE AGAIN DIGRESSED FROM THE PURPOSE OF THIS STORY.

     AFTER AN AUCTION ONE EVENING, IN BRACEBRIDGE, I HAD A FEW MINUTES TO TALK TO WAYNE ABOUT HIS FATHER, LES, AND TOLD A FEW STORIES ABOUT HOW HE MADE THE YOUNG GIRLS CRY AT THE HERALD-GAZETTE. HE JUST NODDED. LES WAS LES! ONCE YOU GOT TO KNOW THIS MOUNTAIN OF A MAN, YOU UNDERSTOOD THAT BEING GRUFF WASN'T A SIGN OF HIS PREVAILING MOOD…..IT WAS JUST WHO HE WAS. WAYNE GOT A KICK OUT OF HEARING MY FEW STORIES, AND IT'S WHY I ENJOYED GOING TO THE SALES SO MUCH…….I SAW A LOT OF LES RUTLEDGE, IN THE MANNERISM AND CHARACTER OF HIS SON…..WHO ALSO WORE A STETSON, BUT WAS AT LEAST A HUNDRED POUNDS LIGHTER. WAYNE HAD A GOOD SENSE OF HUMOR AND THE CROWD LOVED HIM. I'VE NEVER BEFORE, IN ALL THE AUCTIONS I'VE ATTENDED AS AN ANTIQUE DEALER, SEEN SERIOUS AUCTION GROUPIES. IT WOULD BE TOO CASUAL TO SAY THEY WERE "REGULARS." THESE FOLKS BECAME HIS FRIENDS, AND IT DIDN'T MATTER HOW GOOD THE SALE WAS, THESE PATRONS STAYED TO THE BITTER END OF EACH SALE, JUST TO TAKE IN THE AMBIENCE. WE PROUDLY COUNT OURSELVES AMONGST THIS GROUP OF FOLLOWERS. BUT MANY OF HIS GROUPIES WEREN'T AWARE OF THE WEALTH OF HOCKEY HISTORY THIS MAN REPRESENTED.

     WHEN THE LOS ANGELES KINGS WON THE STANLEY CUP THIS WEEK, I SAW A FAN JUMPING UP AND DOWN IN CELEBRATION, WHO WAS WEARING A REPLICA SWEATER OF THE ORIGINAL 1967 CLUB, AND I IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT ABOUT WAYNE RUTLEDGE, AND HOW PLEASED HE WOULD HAVE BEEN TO SEE HIS OLD TEAM FINALLY WIN THE BIG PRIZE. HE HAD JOINED THE CLUB IN 1967, AFTER A HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL AMATEUR CAREER WITH THE BARRIE FLYERS, NIAGARA FLYERS, AS WELL AS BEING ON THE ALLEN CUP WINNING, WINDSOR BULLDOGS.  RUTLEDGE WAS BORN IN BARRIE, ONTARIO, ON JANUARY 5, 1942. HE DIED ON OCTOBER 5TH, 2004. HE HAD BEEN LIVING IN HUNTSVILLE, BUT WAS WORKING THROUGHOUT MUSKOKA AS BOTH A GLAZIER AND AN AUCTIONEER.

     AFTER A FAIR STINT WITH THE KINGS, HE JOINED THE WORLD HOCKEY ASSOCIATION'S HOUSTON ARROWS, WHERE HE PLAYED WITH FORMER DETROIT RED WING LEGEND, GORDIE HOWE AND HIS SONS MARK AND MARTY. HIS TEAM WON TWO AVCO CUP CHAMPIONSHIPS OVER TWO SEASONS, 1973-74, AND 1974-75. HE RETIRED IN THE LATE 1970'S.

WAYNE RUTLEDGE AND ROGER CROZIER

     From my research notes, while working on the biography of Bracebridge born, Roger Crozier, formerly of the Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals, I found many references and news clippings, of junior hockey in Ontario, that also mentioned Wayne Rutledge. There were two particularly spectacular goalies, getting a fair amount of positive press in the early 1960's, and if memory serves, they even played against each other in those pre-N.H.L. days. They obviously faced each other in later years, when Los Angeles played either Detroit or Buffalo. Shortly after I began working for Roger in the mid 1990's, and his fledgling childrens' charity, the Crozier Foundation, I was given work to do, on the creation of a special celebrity dinner, in Roger's honor, at the Bracebridge Centennial Centre. It would bring out quite a few veteran hockey players and long time friends to "roast" Roger. I helped arrange for hockey writer, Ross Brewitt to be the guest speaker, for the evening, as he had worked with the Sabres, in their promotional department, during Roger's stay with the club. Brewitt has written quite a number of hockey books, and actually, even took my advice, to take-up where Paul Rimstead had left off, writing the biography of Eddy Shack. Rimstead died before the book could be written, and seeing as Brewitt had a similar style of writing, I suggested he run it by Shack to see if there was any interest in continuing the book. He thought the idea was a good one, and that Brewitt fit the bill. Shack and Rimstead had been best friends for years. The book was written. I was invited to the book launch with Brewitt and Shack, in Toronto, during a huge winter storm that even closed the highway. I couldn't attend. He sent me a double-signed copy which I still cherish, as Eddy was one of my all-time favorite players, and Brewitt, next to Rimstead, was my choice of sports writers.

     Along with arranging for Brewitt to roast Roger, I was able to convince the organizers from the Crozier Foundation, to invite Wayne Rutledge for the big night. I can't tell you how thrilled I was, to see the two goaltending veterans, meet-up before the start of dinner……and it was the handshake I will never forget. Here was the auctioneer I had regular meetings with throughout the Muskoka auction season, reliving those great hockey days with my boss, Roger Crozier. Their talk was about a time, when hockey was the mainstay, the national passion, an obsession for Canadian kids, when the voice of Foster and Bill Hewitt was Hockey Night in Canada. Before the super-star days that prevail so pretentiously today. It was the gentlemanly handshake that had probably occurred, many times before, between the two veterans, beneath the centre-ice scoreboards; in some of the great arenas of the old N.H.L., to the ovation of thousands of cheering fans. What I saw was a "job well-done" handshake, for the long and substantial successes of two courageous netminders, both who had played in those early years without the benefit of face masks. Some would say, it was easier to play without the masks. It was terrible playing without a defense. Both goalies, from their expansion era teams, "had more rubber on them that the tarmac of an airport," according to Ross Brewitt. The stories these old goaltenders possessed! Wow!  If I'd only had the time, to put these two men together, for a proper interview, what a front-pager that would have been……what a byline coup for me.

     Inside a year, Roger had passed away. I can't tell you how privileged I feel today, to have witnessed that parting handshake. Wayne passed away, after a short illness, in 2004. I had enjoyed a chance to work close with Roger, for a short but intense period, and I spent a lot of business / social time, chasing after Wayne from auction to auction. I remember one day, coming upon Wayne replacing glass in the doors at the Huntsville Public Library. I actually wrote a piece for the Oldtimers Hockey News, about this multi-talented former N.H.L.'er, who was a championship goalie, an expert on glass replacement, and one of the most revered auctioneers in this part of Ontario. I don't know if they ever used the story, but at least I wrote it. Roger of course, became a bank executive for MBNA based in Delaware. I'm just glad to have had the opportunity to work with both these veteran players. Andrew and Robert did as well. In fact, for a little trivia here, Andrew purchased the first instrument of his present business, at a Wayne Rutledge auction in Huntsville. It was a beautiful Regal banjo, that he sold the summer we took a booth at the Antique Boat Show in Gravenhurst. It was his first major sale, and it tied-in with our auctioneer friend. There's more. I had to ask Wayne for a favor that day. We had to leave the auction to attend a family event, and I asked if he could put the vintage guitars and banjo a little bit ahead of schedule, so we could bid on them. We had just run out of time. Wayne could have stuck to protocol, and refused to alter the order of sale items in front. As we were good customers, and at every sale, he graciously agreed, and Andrew got his chance to bid. He worked it hard, as an auctioneer, for the benefit of the host for the sale, so we didn't get any special treatment during the actual bidding. But I did very much appreciate, the way he bent the rules a bit, and bumped the vintage music pieces up, in the auction order, to give Andrew a break. He purchased numerous other guitars and old records from Wayne over quite a few years. In a small but significant way, he was a part of that start-up to Andrew and Robert's music business today. He'd find it humorous and anecdotal, that son Robert has taught one of his kin, here in Gravenhurst. A completed circle, some might say.

     So we all hoisted a mug of coffee, this morning, in Wayne's honor, thinking how much he would have enjoyed watching his Los Angeles Kings, finally, after all these years, win the coveted Stanley Cup. I'm sure, in spirit, Wayne was there, to put his hand on the cup, with all the other veterans of the team, who hadn't survived to celebrate this momentous occasion in hockey history.

     Thanks so much for visiting today's blog. Please come back again soon.

Muskoka Collecting; What Is So Special About Antiques Anyway?

Two German Paintings on Fabric signed and probably from the 1950's.

SO WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE ANTIQUE AND COLLECTABLE BUSINESS THAT IS SO DARN EXCITING?

WHAT DO WE GET OUT OF IT, OTHER THAN A WEE BIT OF PROFIT? OR AS THE SONG GOES, "IS THAT ALL THERE IS?"


     I SO CLEARLY RECALL, STANDING IN FRONT OF A LONDON ANTIQUE SHOP, DURING A TRIP MANY YEARS AGO, TO ENGLAND, AND FEELING AS IF I WAS TOO COMMON, AND MODESTLY APPOINTED TO ENTER THE PREMISES. I WAS A CONSERVATIVE HIPPY, AND I JUST DIDN'T THINK THE OWNERS WOULD HAVE FELT I HAD ANY PLACE IN THEIR ESTABLISHMENT. I WAS WRONG OF COURSE, BUT IT WAS A ROOKIE MISTAKE TO THINK THIS WAY. EVERY TIME THE DOOR OPENED FOR A CUSTOMER COMING IN, OR OUT, I TRIED TO CATCH A GLIMPSE OF THE INTERIOR OF THE SHOP. ON THAT TRIP, MY NOSE WAS PRESSED AGAINST QUITE A FEW SHOP WINDOWS LIKE THIS, AND I DID GET ENJOYMENT LOOKING IN THEIR WINDOWS. IT SEEMED SUCH A WILD LEAP OF IMAGINATION, TO ONE DAY, THINK OF MYSELF OWNING A SWELL SHOP LIKE THIS. BUT I KNEW THEN, THAT IF I HAD A SHOP, AND IT WAS EVERY BIT AS NICE AS THESE WERE, IN LONDON, I WOULD NEVER WANT MY CUSTOMERS TO THINK THAT THEY HAD TO MEET SOME ECONOMIC OR SOCIAL STANDARD, BEFORE THEY COULD ENTER AND FEEL COMFORTABLE. I WOULD RACE OUTSIDE, YOU SEE, AND PULL THESE FOLKS INSIDE; INFORMING THEM THAT OUR SHOP WAS FOR EVERYONE; NOT JUST THE WEALTHY AMONGST US. I WAS PRETTY NAIVE AND FOOLISH BACK THEN, BUT THIS IS HOW ANTIQUES APPEARED TO ME, AND I DO BELIEVE IT WAS PART OF THE ALLURE. JUST SO YOU KNOW, IF I PULLED PEOPLE IN OFF THE STREET, WHO WE CAUGHT WITH THEIR NOSES PRESSED AGAINST THE GLASS, I WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY BE GOING TO JAIL FOR ASSAULT. BUT YOU GET WHAT I MEAN. I WANTED A BUSINESS THAT WOULD INCLUDE EVERYONE, AND HAVE A PRICE RANGE FOR ALL ECONOMIES.
     I WENT TO A FLORIDA ANTIQUE SHOP, WITH MY PARENTS, ON ONE TRIP TO DAYTONA, AND WE WERE MET BY AN ELDERLY LADY HOLDING A SHOTGUN AT HER SIDE. "SORRY ABOUT THE GUN FOLKS; IT'S MY PERSUADER TO THE CRIMINAL ELEMENT, TO LEAVE THE PROPERTY." IT SEEMS SHE HAD BEEN ROBBED A LOT. I'VE VISITED ANTIQUE SHOPS WHERE THE PROPRIETORS WERE SO LAID-BACK, I COULD HAVE TAKEN A FLAT-TO-THE-WALL CABINET AND CONTENTS, AND THEY WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN OVERLY SUSPICIOUS. I'VE BEEN TO OTHERS, WHERE THE OWNER / CLERK WOULDN'T GIVE ME FIVE FEET TO BROWSE, WITHOUT ASKING ME WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR. I REMEMBER ONE VENDOR AT AN ANTIQUE SHOW, GIVING ME CRAP, BECAUSE I WAS LOOKING THROUGH A BOX OF POSTCARDS. "WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU LOOKING FOR," HE DEMANDED. "I DON'T KNOW," I ANSWERED, "BUT I'LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN I FIND IT." BASICALLY, THE VENDOR DID NOT WANT MY MITTS IN HIS POSTCARDS, AND WHEN HE PURSUED THE MATTER, OF MY HANDS ON HIS MERCHANDISE, I ASKED HIM IF HE HAD BEEN IN THE ANTIQUE AND COLLECTABLE TRADE VERY LONG. HE ANSWERED ABRUPTLY, "I'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR TEN YEARS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH." TO WHICH I REPLIED, "I'VE BEEN IN THE BUSINESS THIRTY YEARS, AND YOU'RE THE FIRST DEALER YET, TO GET FREAKED OUT, HAVING ME LOOK THROUGH THE POSTCARDS." HE MUMBLED SOMETHING ABOUT THE CONDITION OF THE CARD, AND I JUST TURNED MY BACK AND WALKED OUT OF THE BOOTH. THIS HAS HAPPENED VERY FEW TIMES IN MY YEARS IN THIS TRADE, BUT IT DOES STILL OCCUR. IT'S JUST WHAT I WON'T ALLOW TO HAPPEN IN OUR SHOP, TO ANY ONE WHO VISITS. I'VE GOT A TABLE TOP HOCKEY THEY CAN PLAY WITH, AND ONE OF THOSE ENORMOUS SOCCER GAMES IN THE BACK ROOM; JUST IN CASE YOU'RE WAITING FOR A SIGNIFICANT OTHER, SHOPPING SOMEWHERE ELSE. INCLUSION. THAT'S WHAT WE WANT FOR OUR SHOP. I LOVE THE ANTIQUE BUSINESS, BUT NOT AT ALL COSTS. IT WOULD HURT MY FEELINGS HONESTLY, IF ANYBODY THOUGHT OUR BUSINESS WAS FOR THE RICH ONLY. IF THAT WAS THE CASE, THEN OUR FAMILY WOULD HAVE TO LEAVE THE BUILDING AS WELL, BECAUSE FOR GOSH SAKES, WE'RE A LONG WAY FROM BEING RICH.
     WE GET ASKED THIS A LOT. WHAT IS IT LIKE TO OPERATE AN ANTIQUE SHOP? WHY MADE YOU DECIDE TO BECOME AN ANTIQUE DEALER? WHY DID YOU LOCATE THIS BUSINESS IN AN AREA WITH A SEASONAL ECONOMY? DO THE LOCAL RESIDENTS THINK OF YOUR BUSINESS AS A "TOURIST TRAP?" AND QUESTIONS LIKE "DO YOU MAKE LOTS OF MONEY SELLING ANTIQUES," AND "HOW DO YOU FIND YOUR INVENTORY?"
     WE ALSO NEVER GET TIRED OF ANSWERING THESE SAME QUESTIONS, BECAUSE FIRST OF ALL, WE'RE PROUD OF OUR PROFESSION, AND ITS HERITAGE, WHICH GOES BACK MANY CENTURIES. WE WOULD LIKE TO ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO GET INVOLVED IN THE BUSINESS OF BUYING AND SELLING ANTIQUES, BECAUSE OF THEY WAY WE HAVE BENEFITTED, IN SO MANY WAYS, SINCE OUR FIRST DAYS OUT ON THE HUSTINGS.....TRYING TO BUY THE MOST FOR THE LEAST. WELL, ALL WE HAD TO START WITH, WAS "THE LEAST." WE HAVE NEVER HAD OODLES OF MONEY TO THROW AT OUR BUSINESS, AND BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO BE RESOURCEFUL, OR FAIL, RUNNING OUR SMALL BUSINESS HAS PRODUCED JUST AS MANY LIFE-LESSONS, FOR OUR FAMILY, AS INROADS IN THE PROFESSION.
     BEING IN BUSINESS, AND STAYING IN THE PROFESSION, DEMANDS THAT A DEALER BE CONSTANTLY ENROLLED IN CONTINUOUS LEARNING. THIS IS A PROFESSION, WITH MORE PITFALLS THAN YOU MIGHT BELIEVE, AT FIRST GLANCE, COMING INTO OUR SHOPS. IF YOU HAD A MONTH OR SO TO APPRENTICE WITH US, YOU'D APPRECIATE JUST HOW MANY DIFFICULT DECISIONS, AND AWKWARD MOMENTS WE CAN FACE, THAT CAN COST US THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN DISADVANTAGE, IF AT THAT PARTICULAR CROSSROADS, WE HAPPEN TO MAKE THE WRONG CHOICE. AT THE SAME TIME, IF YOU ARE COMPETITIVE, AND REFUSE TO BUCKLE-UNDER TO COMPETITION, IT CAN BE A HUGELY GRATIFYING ENTERPRISE; BECAUSE A LOT OF GAINS MADE BY PERSISTENCE AND PERSERVERANCE, ARE UNDENIABLY HUGE. WHEN HOWEVER, YOU LOOK DOWN AT THE THIN ICE YOU'VE BEEN WALKING ACROSS, THE TOUGH REALITY IS, THAT SOONER OR LATER, A DEALER WILL FALL THROUGH. THE SINK OR SWIM SCENARIO, IS IMBEDDED IN OUR PHILOSOPHY, AND I HAVEN'T FOUND A SUCCESSFUL DEALER IN MY OWN THIRTY-FIVE YEARS, WHO EXPECTED THE GOING WAS GOING TO BE EASY, OR WITHOUT ITS ARRAY OF BURNING HOOPS TO JUMP THROUGH. I THINK IT'S WHAT MAKES US MOST INTERESTED IN THE TRADE; THAT THERE IS NO COMPLACENCY ATTACHED TO ACHIEVED SUCCESS. JUST WHEN YOU FEEL YOU'VE MASTERED THE PROFESSION, YOU WIND-UP BUYING A FAKE, MAYBE A CLEVER, WELL DONE REPRODUCTION, OR BUY SOMETHING OVER THE COUNTER THAT WAS STOLEN. EACH MONTH, IT OCCURS HERE, THAT SOMEONE WILL TRY TO SELL US SOMETHING THEY DON'T ACTUALLY OWN. WE HAVE A RIGOROUS SCREENING PROCEDURE, BEFORE WE BUY ANYTHING OFFERED TO US OVER THE COUNTER. BUT IT'S JUST ONE OF THE REALITIES OF OUR BUSINESS YOU NEED TO BE AWARE OF, ALL THE TIME, BECAUSE ANTIQUE DEALERS ARE OFTEN SEEN AS HIGHER CLASS PAWN SHOPS.
     WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT THAN OTHER RETAIL ENTERPRISES? WELL, FOR ONE THING, WE DON'T HAVE FORMAL WHOLESALE OPPORTUNITIES. WE DON'T HAVE A CATALOGUE TO ORDER FROM, OR A WAREFHOUSE WE CAN VISIT, TO BUY LARGE QUANTITIES OF SPECIFIC ANTIQUES OR COLLECTABLES FOR THE BENEFIT OF OUR CUSTOMERS. ANTIQUE DEALERS CAN BENEFIT FROM "PICKERS," WHO PUT IN THE MILES AND TIME TO SCROUNGE UP VINTAGE WARE, BRINGING THEIR HARVEST OF ARTICLES TO SHOP AND MALL OWNERS ON THEIR OWN DIME. MANY OLDTIME PICKERS HAVE BECOME DEALERS THEMSELVES, AND THERE ARE FAR FEWER OF THEM TODAY, THAN WHEN I HAD MY FIRST AND SECOND STOREFRONTS, IN BRACEBRIDGE. I WOULD OFTEN HAVE TWO TO THREE PICKERS EVERY WEEK, WITH THEIR TRUCKS LOADED TO THE HILT, AND OVERFLOWING. AS SUZANNE AND I ARE CLOSER TO THE "PICKER" CLASS OF ANTIQUE DEALER, BY HABIT AND PREFERENCE, WE SELDOM PURCHASE ANTIQUES FROM THESE COUNTRYSIDE TRAVELLERS; BUT BACK THEN, WE ALWAYS TOOK TIME TO VISIT, AND AT LEAST, GET THEIR STORIES. I WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ALL THE PLACES, ACROSS THE COUNTRY, THAT THEY HAD TRAVELLED, AND ALL THE NEAT HOMES AND FARMS THEY'D VISITED, ESPECIALLY IN THE MARITIMES AND QUEBEC. I MIGHT BE A DEALER BY PROFESSION, BUT I'M A STORY-COLLECTOR BY PASSION. WE HAD SOME MEMORABLE COFFEE-TIME CHATS, LET ME TELL YOU, AND I LEARNED A GREAT DEAL ABOUT THE DIFFICULTIES OF BEING A GOOD AND PROFITABLE PICKER. I CAN REMEMBER, WHILE STANDING AT THE TRUCK, IN OUR MANITOBA STREET PARKING LOT, ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE COMING UP TO HAVE A LOOK, AT THE STRANGE LOAD ON BOARD; SHOPPING AROUND A VEHICLE, THAT LOOKED A LITTLE BIT LIKE THE TRUCK BELONGING TO THE TELEVISION FAMILY, "THE BEVERLEY HILLBILLIES." IF HE WOULD HAVE SET UP SHOP, ON THAT DRIVEWAY, HE COULD HAVE SOLD MOST OF HIS WARES OVER A COUPLE OF DAYS. IF YOU WANTED A PIECE BURIED IN THE HUNDREDS OF ITEMS ROPED-ON, THE PICKER WOULD ALWAYS OBLIGE, BECAUSE HE KNEW, THAT WHEN THE ITEMS WERE UNLOADED OFF THE BACK AND TOP OF THE TRUCK, MORE PASSERSBY WOULD ASK ABOUT THE ANTIQUES STREWN ACROSS THE DRIVEWAY. IT WAS NEAT TO WATCH THESE FOLKS WORK THEIR ANTIQUE MAGIC. SO EVEN THOUGH I DIDN'T BUY MUCH FROM THESE TRAVELLING SALES FOLKS, THEY ALWAYS FOUND A WAY TO MAKE A FEW BUCKS, STOPPING AT OUR SHOP FOR A VISIT.
     THERE WAS A NEAT CHAP AND HIS WIFE, FROM NORTH BAY, WHO DROPPED BY ONCE EACH MONTH, WHO GAVE ME A FEW GOOD DEALS ON SETS OF CHAIRS, AND A FEW INTERESTING PAINTINGS. THE FIRST TIME I MET HIM, HE WAS QUITE AGITATED, BECAUSE NO ONE HE MET ON THE STREET, WHILE LOOKING FOR DIRECTIONS, COULD TELL HIM WHERE "WAS--HA--GO," WAS IN MUSKOKA. HE HAD A DELIVER TO MAKE THERE, AND HAD BEEN DRIVING AROUND FOR HOURS, BECAUSE PEOPLE KEPT SENDING HIM THE WRONG WAY. HIS FRENCH ACCENT DIDN'T HELP, AND WHEN PEOPLE SUGGESTED THERE WAS NO VILLAGE IN MUSKOKA BY THAT NAME, THEY WERE BEING HONEST.
     I KNEW IMMEDIATELY HE WAS TALKING ABOUT THE HAMLET OF "WASHAGO," BUT I HAD TO BREAK IT TO HIM, THAT IT WAS NOT ACTUALLY IN THE DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY OF MUSKOKA. WE HAD A GOOD LAUGH ABOUT IT, AND I WOUND UP DOING A MINOR AMOUNT OF BUSINESS WITH HIM, AS A RESULT OF OUR REVELLRY. THE PROBLEM WITH THE DEALS MANY PICKERS OFFER, PARTICULARLY THE "TAKE NOW, PAY LATER" PROGRAM, IS THAT I NEVER ONCE, IN THREE YEARS OF DEALING WITH HIM, HAD SOLD ENOUGH OF HIS ANTIQUES OVER THE PERIOD, TO PAY HIM FULLY AT THE END OF THE MONTH. I ALWAYS HAD TO DIP INTO THE BUSINESS RESERVE, WHICH WAS OKAY, AND NECESSARY AT TIMES; BUT I ALWAYS KEPT MY DEBT REASONABLE TO AFFORD....EVEN IF I HADN'T SOLD A SINGLE PIECE. MANY DEALERS HAVE FOUND THIS OUT THE HARD WAY, AND PUT THEMSELVES IN FINANCIAL DISTRESS, BECAUSE THEY TOOK WAY MORE THAN THEY COULD HAVE FEASIBLY SOLD, DUE TO MARKET CONDITIONS. THEY HAD TO PAY THE PIPER, AS THEY SAY, ON THE PICKER'S VERY NEXT VISIT. SOMETIMES THEY WOULD GIVE TWO TO THREE MONTHS GRACE TO PAY FOR THE PURCHASES. THREE MONTHS SEEMS LIKE A LONG TIME, TO RAISE THE MONEY FROM STORE SALES, BUT IT SLIPS BY PRETTY FAST. MOST PICKERS I KNEW, BACK THEN, WOULDN'T TAKE THE ITEMS BACK; INSISTING ON THE DEAL BEING FULFILLED, AND THAT MEANT CASH AT THE TIME IT WAS DUE. IT'S ONE OF THE PRIME REASONS, WE BECAME OUR OWN PICKERS, BECAUSE WE WERE OFTEN WAY TOO EAGER TO PARICIPATE IN THESE "BUY NOW, PAY LATER" OFFERS....WHICH WERE ALWAYS VERY TEMPTING, AND FOR VERY NICE ANTIQUE PIECES. BUT WE ALWAYS WELCOMED THEM WHEN THEY ARRIVED AT THE SHOP, AND TOOK GREAT DELIGHT CHATTING ABOUT THEIR ADVENTURES. WE JUST HAD TO ADMIT, WE NEEDED TO ELIMINATE THE MIDDLE FOLKS, IN ORDER TO MAKE A PROFIT. AS WE LOVED TO MOTOR-ABOUT AND SHOP, IT WAS NO INCONVENIENCE WHATSOEVER.     BUT THE PICKER ALSO HAD PLACES TO GO, CONQUESTS TO MAKE, ADVENTURES TO UPHOLD. GADS, I WANTED TO GO WITH THEM FOR THE SHEER ADVENTURE OF "THE HUNT"....AND EVERY PICKER WHO CAME BY IN THOSE DAYS, WHEN I WAS BORED SITTING BEHIND THE STORE COUNTER, PEAKED MY IMAGINATION. WHAT IF I WAS TO HOP ON THE BACK OF THAT TRUCK, AND TAKE AN UNPLANNED ROAD TRIP, TO SOME SPECTACULAR DESTINATION? MINE WAS THE MIND OF A CHILD BACK THEN. I WAS DANGEROUS THAT WAY. THE PULL OF THULE WAS INTENSE. I WANTED TO BE OUTDOORS. MOVING. SEEING NEW THINGS AND OLD. IT'S WHAT INSPIRED BOTH OF US TO BECOME, FOR THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS, (AFTER WE CLOSED THE SHOP IN THE MID 1990'S), MORE VAGABOND IN CHARACTER, THAN SHOP-KEEPERS. THE ALLURE OF THE OPEN ROAD WAS OVER-POWERING, AND OUR SHOPPING THEN, WAS IN THE PURSUIT OF OLD BOOKS AND ART WORK, WE COULD OFFER ON OUR EBAY AUCTION SITE; WHICH FOR US, WAS THE PERFECT RELATIONSHIP TO ANTIQUES AND SALES. WE HAD NO FETTERS, NO TITHE, AND OUR HOURS WERE FLEXIBLE. WE HAD A HOOT. IT IS THE PERIOD THAT HERALDED ANDREW AND ROBERT'S BUSINESS, IN VINTAGE MUSIC AND COLLECTABLES, AND IT IS WHAT RENEWED OUR INTEREST IN JOINING THEIR STOREFRONT. WE MADE IT CLEAR TO THEM, THAT WHEN WE GET THE URGE TO TRAVEL, AND THE OPEN ROAD BECKONS, MOM AND POP WILL DISAPPEAR FOR AWHILE....AND THAT THEY SHOULDN'T WORRY, BECAUSE WE LIKE BEING HOME JUST AS MUCH. AS WE ARE ADDICTED TO ADVENTURE, WE JUST HAVE THESE MOMENTS, YOU SEE, THAT WE CAN NOT BE CORRALED.
     WHEN THE BOYS SET UP THEIR MAINSTREET SHOP, SUZANNE (BORN IN MUSKOKA, AND OF PIONEER STOCK) AND I (A NEWCOMER AS OF THE 1960'S), MADE IT CLEAR TO THEM, THAT THE ONLY WAY THEY WOULD SUCCEED IN MAINSTREET RETAIL, IS IF THEY CREATED A DISTINCTLY HOMETOWN, MUSKOKA-REFLECTIVE SHOP, THAT WAS RESPONSIVE TO LOCAL NEEDS FIRST. IF THEY BASED IT ON THE DYNAMIC OF THE TOURIST ECONOMY, AND CRAFTED IT TO LOOK LIKE AN URBAN AREA SHOP, THEY WOULD IMMEDIATELY, CREATE THE NEGATIVE AURA OF BEING A "TOURIST TRAP." SUZANNE AND I KNOW WHAT THE PERCEPTION OF "TOURIST TRAP" MEANS, TO A BUSINESS TRYING TO LAND LOCAL MARKET SUPPORT. I KNOW OF QUITE A FEW LOCAL BUSINESSES THAT MADE THIS MISTAKE, AND TO SOME DEGREE, ARE STILL FOLLOWING THE SAME PATH.....WHICH MAY BE RIGHT FOR THEM, BUT WRONG IF THEY WANT CONSISTENCY TWELVE MONTHS EACH YEAR. EVEN AS HARD AS WE HAVE WORKED, TO PROVE OUR HOMETOWN LOYALTY, WE CAN ONLY RIGHTFULLY CLAIM, THAT TEN PERCENT OF OUR CUSTOMERS ARE LOCAL, AND THAT GOES FOR BOTH THE ANTIQUE AND VINTAGE MUSIC COLLECTIVE. WE'RE NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS, BUT IT COULD BE WORSE. DESPITE THIS PERCENTAGE, AND WHAT MIGHT, BY THE FACT WE ARE IN OUR TENTH YEAR, SUGGEST WE DON'T NEED LOCAL SUPPORT TO GET BY, WE NEVER STOP TRYING TO PROVE OUR HOMETOWN-FIRST PHILOSOPHY; AND THAT WE MOST DEFINITELY ARE NOT HERE SOLELY TO ENTERTAIN TOURISTS. YET TOURISTS DO KEEP OUR DOORS OPEN, AS DOES ONLINE SALES, WHICH MAKE UP NINETY PERCENT OF OUR BUSINESS.
     ALTHOUGH WE'VE NEVER HEARD THIS OFFICIALLY, THE GRAPEVINE HAS PROVIDED US WITH INFORMATION, THAT WE WILL SOON HAVE A NEARBY COMPETITOR IN THE ANTIQUE FIELD, AND WE HAVE BEEN TOLD BY SOME THAT WE SHOULD WORRY ABOUT THIS ADDED BATTLE FOR MARKET SHARE. WELL SIR, WE ARE NO STRANGERS TO COMPETITON, AND IT'S WHAT WE LIKE MOST ABOUT OUR PROFESSION. IT ALLOWS US TO PUT OUR EXPERTISE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS ON THE LINE, AND TEST OUR OWN RESOLVE, TO FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT. IN OUR TRADE, THE MORE ANTIQUE AND COLLECTABLE SHOPS IN OUR VICINITY, MAKES THE COMMERCIAL AREA MUCH MORE ATTRACTIVE, TO THOSE FOLKS WHO LOVE THE "HUNT AND GATHER," AS MUCH AS WE DO. MORE ANTIQUE VENUES, IS AMAZINGLY GOOD FOR BUSINESS, AND WE'D LIKE THE WHOLE MAIN STREET TO TURN THE SAME WAY. WHILE WE APPRECIATE THE CONCERN BEING EXPRESSED, BY SOME OF OUR CUSTOMERS, THAT INCREASED COMPETITION WILL WEAKEN OUR BOTTOM LINE, TRUTH IS, UPPING OUR GAME IS GOOD FOR EVERYONE....ESPECIALLY THE CUSTOMERS. THEY WILL GET BETTER PRICING AND VARIETY AS A RESULT, AND OTHER BUSINESSES WILL BENEFIT FROM THE "ANTIQUE SHOP DRAW," WHICH SHOULD BE GOOD FOR TOWN. ANTIQUE HUNTERS LIKE GOOD FOOD, AND OTHER SHOP OPPORTUNITIES, SO ART GALLERIES AND DINING ESTABLISHMENTS SHOULD INSPIRE SOME NICE SPIN-OFF.
     IF ANYTHING HAS BEEN PARTICULARLY BURDENSOME, HERE IN GRAVENHURST, OVER THE PAST TEN YEARS, THE YEARS OUR FAMILY HAS RUN A STOREFRONT ON MUSKOKA ROAD, IT HAS BEEN THE UNWELCOME INTRUSION OF OUT-OF-PLACE POLITICS, ON SO MANY LEVELS OF BUSINESS EXISTENCE. WE'RE NOT THE ONLY ONES TO NOTICE THIS TREND, WHICH I THINK IS BECOMING FAR MORE PREVALENT THESE DAYS. AN EXAMPLE, WAS THE RECENT FORCED REMOVAL OF TRADITIONAL WINTER CARNIVAL EVENTS OFF THE MAIN STREET, AND DISALLOWING USE OF THE OPERA HOUSE AS A WINTER CARNIVAL VENUE. THIS WAS THE HANDIWORK OF TOWN COUNCIL BOWING TO PRESSURE FROM SOME MAIN STREET BUSINESS OWNERS. NOT US. WE LIKED THE WINTER CARNIVAL WHERE IT WAS. WE WERE NOT CONSULTED, BUT WE WERE ALSO NOT RECRUITED TO PROTEST FOR A REVERSAL OF THE DECISION. WE WOULD HAVE GLADLY PROTESTED THE MOVE IF WE HAD BEEN ASKED TO ATTEND A COUNCIL MEETING.
    AS A RETAIL FAMILY, WE WANT TO SEE MORE BUSINESSES JOIN US IN THIS TOWN, WHEREVER THAT HAPPENS TO BE.....UPTOWN, DOWNTOWN, OR ALL AROUND TOWN. IT DOESN'T MATTER. WE WANT TO SEE A TOWN READY TO ENCOURAGE AND NURTURE NEW BUSINESS INTERESTS.
    THERE ARE A LOT OF GREAT BUSINESSES SUCCEEDING IN THIS TOWN, AND OF THIS, WE ARE PLEASED TO BE IN THEIR COMPANY; AND WE WANT TO LEARN FROM THEM. IT'S EXCITING TO HEAR ABOUT THEIR PROGRESS AND TRIUMPHS, IN WHAT IS MARKEDLY A STRAINED ECONOMY ALL ROUND. AS WE FEEL OUR BUSINESS IS THRIVING....OR AT LEAST THIS IS WHAT THE ACCOUNTANT TELLS US, WE WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO WELCOME NEW BUSINESS INQUIRIES, WITHOUT FIRST HAVING TO BE BRUTALLY HONEST, ABOUT SOME OF THE PITFALLS THEY WILL HAVE TO FACE....THAT ARE SPECIAL TO OUR COMMUNITY. WOULDN'T IT BE A MARVELLOUS OCCASION, THAT A SITTING COUNCIL, WOULD EVER ONCE, QUESTION ITSELF, SINCERELY, AS TO WHETHER ALL WAS TRULY WELL IN THE BALLYWICK THEY GOVERN? WHY WOULD THEY NOT WANT TO IMPROVE THEIR OWN LEGACY? THEY STILL HAVE A CHANCE. I FEAR THAT IT WILL ONLY BECOME AN ISSUE, WHEN SOME OF THE PRESENT COUNCIL, THINKS IT WOULD BE SWELL TO RUN FOR RE-ELECTION, BASED ON THEIR PAST ACCOMPLISHMENTS. DON'T GET ME STARTED.


SOME WISHFUL THINKING ABOUT THE COMING YARD SALE SEASON

GARAGE AND YARD SALES ARE A PICKER'S DELIGHT

     Already this spring and early summer season, my wife Suzanne and I, have made some great finds out on the garage and yard sale circuit, in our region of Ontario. As we have a broad range of antique and collectible interests, we can be satisfied very easily with casual discoveries of old vinegar crocks, vintage pop and soda bottles, collectible toys, games, sports equipment, all the way to pine primitives, furniture, folk art, and advertising memorabilia. We can find a little something at most sales we attend, and that's good for the host, and for the antique pickers amongst us. And the drive is always nice here in rural Ontario. Especially the misty summer mornings, passing through the lush forests and cattle-filled meadows. Although we are antique pickers, by profession, working in conditions like this, is pretty amazing for the soul. It's too much fun to be considered work.

     I have a particular fondness for the unusual. It might be a sculpture, an abstract painting, even a carved alien. That's right! A little green man whittled out of a chunk of Muskoka pine. I got one of those at an auction, one afternoon, in the Village of Utterson, south of Huntsville. A local woodcarver had created the likeness of an alien life form, with fist held over his head, obviously pointing to the power of the universe. It's green and neat. It now has a place of honor, wearing a different hat every business day, in our young lads' music shop here in Gravenhurst. When folks ask about our strangest, finds out on those Saturday sale adventures, I can honestly say the "alien" was one of our best acquisitions. The second, of course, was the dinosaur bone, we found at an estate sale, at a cottage in Bala, here in the District of Muskoka. When I found it, there was a small plastic toy dinosaur glued to the thick curved fragment of bone. Now I'm not sure of the date, it was originally sold to tourists, but this one, and many like it, were sold as souvenirs from Alberta, the plastic dinosaur mounted on the bone, I suppose, to prove that's what it was in fact. There was a reference to where in Alberta, possibly Drumheller, but I just couldn't live with the plastic dinosaur on a legitimate piece of natural history…..so I removed it. I was profoundly interested in the bone's actuality, but not so much the nostalgia of the bone as "a souvenir."

     One Friday afternoon, I came home with a old delivery bicycle from Tamblins Drugs, of Ottawa, complete with basket and license plate, which was required at the time. It was probably from the 1930's to early 1940's. I gave this to a bike collector friend from Toronto, in exchange for music memorabilia and any old guitars, banjos or drums he finds on his weekly jaunts. As my specialty is art, Canadian especially, and folk art most definitely, I have already had one of the best yard sales seasons in many years. I've returned home with some brilliant art panels, some early century landscapes, a few depicting the Muskoka, Algoma, Algonquin and Haliburton regions. On a drive by, of a sale having mostly children's clothing for sale, I spotted a nice winter landscape, quite out of place amongst the small collection of toys being offered for sale. I asked my son Andrew, if he could slip out and have a wee peek, to see if it was a print and not a painting. It was the real McCoy, and he returned to the car with a late 1800's signed, oil on canvas, depiction of a lake shoreline, adorned with snow, and a quaint cottage tucked into a small, nearby woodlot. As it turned out, the painter had been a family member, of the sale host that day, so we got provenance on the art work as a bonus. To an antique or art dealer, provenance is very important, but at these sales, it's often hard to get anything more from the host than "I don't know where we got that one." What was particularly noteworthy about this painting, was that it was inspired by the artist's ancestral home, in the Lake Region of England, and with the snow, looks a little more like Canada. It was in great condition, and had been well looked after by the owner.

     My wife, just this past week, was able to purchase a substantial collection of vintage children's christening gowns, and clothing, from another sale here in Gravenhurst, which was an extraordinary find, considering it was sitting amongst the usual yard sale bric-a-brac, of old slide projectors, and empty carousels, a plethora of garden implements, lawn edging, and about a hundred empty picture frames. This is why, as a picker, you don't judge a sale from a moving vehicle. It pays to get out an have a quick browse. Often times, even a casual conversation, may inspire questioning about collecting interests, and I've had it happen many times, that a sale host will invited the intrepid antique hunter, into the house for a closer look. It's a mistake to judge that even the smallest or newest abode, won't house a great work of art, a selection of historic Canadian or American art, or a vintage motorcycle covered with tarps, deep in the shed; that just might be for sale, if the right price is offered.

     We were at a rural sale, about a decade ago, and I had purchased a magnificent "student lamp," with its original cranberry glass shade. The vintage oil lamp, had a substantial value in brass and glass components, let alone the fact it was a sought-after piece of lighting heritage, that still worked. Ihad a suspicion, the older woman running the sale, possessed a lot more goodies like this lamp, somewhere in her newly constructed home. I had purchased many other interesting antiques from the same woman, in previous years, but the quality was getting much better. So I just asked if she was a wee bit of a collector herself. "No, not really, Mr. Currie. I just dabble a bit," she said, while grabbing for my wife's arm, and motioning me with her curled finger, to follow her into the house. Well, we went into the inner sanctum all right, and we both had chin-on-chest reactions. It was as if we had just then, walked into the twilight zone of museums. We couldn't adjust to the reality in front of us, and as long-time dealers, this was an incredible example, of why you must never judge a book by its cover.

    The rural home was modest, her sales, with a few exceptions, were almost always the same quality, typical of at least half the sales we attend. It's true that she would occasionally draw something she felt was no longer needed, or that a money requirement had unexpectedly surfaced, and selling off some "good stuff" covered any shortfalls. Gads, it was truly eye-opening, what this clever person had gathered over her collecting lifetime. Yet she scolded me, when I called her a collector. "I'm most definitely not a collector. I just buy things I like," she reminded me, showing us yet another room of wonderfully conserved antiques, dolls, and quilts, and so many historic clocks, crocks and old glass. I felt very junior, as a picker, in her company. She confessed her modest joy, at being able to accumulate all the items, by just doing the same thing as we were up to, on yard sale Saturdays. Come to mention it, we had seen her out at various flea markets and Thrift Shops over our years living in the region.

     Many times, I've had my spontaneous judgements smashed, when we attended small, run-of-the-mill sales, only to find something that didn't quite fit in with all the other sale items. Last year, my son was able to buy an incredible "Talking Machine," wax cylinder player / recorder, with its original horn, dating back to the early 1900's, because Andrew asked the right question at the perfect time. At a country sale, near Walker's Point, in Gravenhurst, he asked the sale host if, by chance, they had the companion machine to go along with the cylinders they had boxed for sale. "Yes we do. My husband was going to bring it down here, but didn't think any one would be interested," the woman responded. "I would be very interested to see it, if I could," Andrew replied. The woman yelled at her husband, in a cabin on the hillside, and asked if he would please bring down the talking machine. What we all assumed might be a Talking Machine in parts, broken, and unsalvageable, was in near-mint condition, and still in working order. Andrew paid the five hundred dollar asking price, and was given the remainder of the wax cylinders, some that could be recorded-on by playing music, or talking through the machine's horn. He later found out the horn itself, in pristine condition, would have been worth the asking price alone. As they have a vintage music shop, it fit in beautifully. But not for sale.

     Suzanne and I love the Saturday morning drives. We get a chance to wind-down from the work week, spend some quality time together (at least this is what picker's consider quality time), and make some interesting discoveries at yard sales all across our district. On the way, we will stop-in anywhere with an "antiques for sale" sign, and pull off the road frequently for coffee breaks, and a picnic lunch. We have been doing this from our first days together, back in the early 1980's, and we're still going strong in our middle-age-crazy, that we hope doesn't end because we soon hit senior citizen status. We left the stress of our early antique years back in the 1990's, when we had a formal shop. Now we hand everything we want to sell, over to our boys to thusly present to their clients. We are happily, of the picker-kind today, and we are very much influenced by the romance and allure of the open road.

     When you happen to be out on the yard sale circuit yourself, make sure to take some time along the way, to celebrate the picturesque locale, and the regional architectural heritage that has been preserved by Historical Societies in our province.