VICTORIAN FAMILY PHOTOGRAPH BY A GRAVENHURST STUDIO, FOUND IN ORILLIA. DO YOU KNOW THIS FAMILY?
ARE THERE ANY ANTIQUE TREASURES LEFT TO FIND? IT'S THE REASON I WILL DIE AS AN ANTIQUE HUNTER
1,001 REASONS WE WON'T ABANDON OUR MISSION TO FIND ELUSIVE TREASURE
ACTUALLY, THE ABOVE-STATED "1,001 REASONS" I REMAIN AS AN ANTIQUE DEALER / COLLECTOR, UNTIL DEATH, CREATES THAT EXPECTED PARTING OF THE WAYS, COMES DOWN TO ONLY ONE SIGNIFICANT REASON…..THE OTHER 1,000 ALL RELATE TO THE SAME THING. THE TREASURE. THE BIG FIND. THE SO-CALLED HOLY GRAIL WE'VE ALL BEEN SEARCHING FOR…..IN OUR RESPECTIVE AREAS OF COLLECTING EXPERTISE. ARE WE GREEDY? FUNNY THING, THAT! IF YOU WERE ASKED THIS, IMMEDIATELY AFTER READING THE INTRODUCTION ABOVE, YOU'D PROBABLY ANSWER AFFIRMATIVELY……."ANTIQUE DEALERS ARE A GREEDY LOT!" IF HOWEVER, I HADN'T OPENED WITH THIS BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA, YOU MIGHT HAVE SAID THAT ANTIQUE DEALERS AREN'T ANY MORE GREEDY THAN MOST IN THE GENERAL POPULATION. IF I WAS TO SEND OUT A QUESTIONNAIRE TO ALL THE ANTIQUE DEALERS IN THE WORLD, I CAN'T IMAGINE HONEST ANSWERS COMING BACK THAT SUGGEST, "OF COURSE WE ARE GREEDY; WE WANT MORE AND MORE WEALTH." MAKING BIG FINDS IS A BIG DEAL, BUT SURPRISINGLY ENOUGH, IT'S OFTEN TIMES SPAWNS A SERIOUS AND DEPRESSING LET-DOWN FOLLOWING SUCH MOMENTOUS OCCASIONS…..AND GETTING A BIG CHEQUE AS A RESULT, LIKELY ISN'T GOING TO SATISFY THE URGE TO CARRY-ON. THIS ISN'T UNIQUE TO THE ANTIQUE TRADE BY ANY MEANS. BUT WE'RE THE ONES WHO APPEAR SO HELL-BENT ON MAKING BIG MONEY AS A DAY TO DAY ENTERPRISE. IT WOULD, OF COURSE, BE HIGHLY HYPOCRITICAL TO SUGGEST WE DON'T LIKE TO PROFIT FROM OUR WORK, BUT IT IS WORTH NOTING, THAT EVEN MULTI-MILLIONAIRE DEALERS AND COLLECTORS, STILL SEEK OUT THE ADVENTURE OF "THE HUNT." LOOK AT THOSE WHO SEEK OUT SUNKEN TREASURE SHIPS AND UNDERWATER BOOTY……PIRATE LOOY, BURIED TREASURE, AND YUP, EVEN THE HOLY GRAIL OF THE TEMPLAR KNIGHTS……THEIR MYSTERY-LADEN, YET TO BE UNCOVERED, HIDDEN STASH.
I have never yet, with all the scrounging and thousands of miles invested in over thirty years, found an original A.Y. Jackson sketch. Not even a hanky he may have stuffed in his pocket, on sketching trips. I've never found his cap, an old sweater he used to wear while painting, or a glass he used to drink from while at home. But by golly, I've found three of his autographs on books, all signed opposite to what he wrote in capital letters, on his art panels. On books, and for autographs he gave admirers, he penned his name as, "a.y. jackson." No kidding. It would be an unbelievable moment, to one day, find an original Jackson tucked behind another piece of art in a frame, or in a job-lot of auction items, purchased for a tiny bid. But it has happened similarly to antique / art dealers and collectors, and every time news of this spreads throughout our profession, it regenerates our interest generally, and profoundly, to carry on the "Quest." As I have said before, beware of the dealer or expert in a particular collecting field, who advises that there are no good finds left out there. These folks are just trying to clear the field, and keep you out of their way. There are no shortage of good finds.
Those who make a good living in the antique field, are most likely, particularly savvy at networking with other dealers. While I've written about generalist dealers, such as myself……having no pre-set rule about what I will buy and sell (there are a few exceptions), many specialist dealers as well, have a list of ready buyers for what they may come across, by happenstance, out on the hustings. They may collect Canadian or American landscape art, but if they were to find an abstract, by someone like Canadian artist, Harold Town, or a nice example of American legend, Jackson Pollock's, paint-dripped art boards, it would be natural and obvious to either acquire on spec., or make a couple of phone calls to those in the art community, who would most want those works. A lady in the United States did buy a suspected Pollock at a yard sale for under fifty bucks. It's problem stemmed from the fact it wasn't signed, but gave every appearance of an original. We are never too specialized, to walk past, and ignore a quality antique that possibly can turn a profit at some point. I might not care for Henry Moore's sculptures, like the City of Toronto's "Archer," but I'd climb over a tall building, while naked, to own one. I can learn to like stuff. I'd love to have his autograph. So depending on the circumstance we are faced with, we can change, and network our good finds to someone else……who will potentially, be so happy with the discovery, we will be handsomely rewarded…….possibly spawning a trade for something we do want. I had a Coca Cola collector who did this frequently. He would trade me all kinds of neat stuff, from boxing gloves to cricket bats, for any old Coke memorabilia I would find on our hunts. The same can happen at the high end as well, just as it does on our level of hunting and gathering, what may be seen as nothing more than average knick-knacks, from week to week. Well sometimes, us low echelon dealers can come up with surprises as well……and we'll be only too glad to contact a stratosphere dealer who sells Chippendale, or fine art, or an auction house, if it means we can make enough profit to buy a new muffler for the company van.
Quite a few years ago now, I was in an antique shop operated by a European chap, who was running his business in an industrial park. There were two distinct sections, that required crossing from one block of the building, over a green space, into the annex about fifty yards opposite. He had some neat pieces and had only been opened a few months when we visited. When I antique-hunt, I will gladly talk to folks, and the vendor obviously, but when this happens, I stop shopping entirely. There are trade secrets I will never reveal, and I certainly won't allow myself to be studied by an associate dealer. If I continue to shop and talk, I can't focus properly, and I am much more prone to making a bad purchase. There are things I study, and angles I examine, on a subject piece, that could tip-off a vendor, that he has somehow under-researched and under-valued the specific object of my immediate affections. This gentleman would not take his eyes off me. I don't fault him for this, because he didn't know us, and truthfully, watching your clientele is a measure of preventative maintenance. This guy wasn't giving me any room, to examine anything without offering his companion commentary…..giving many reasons why I should buy what was in my hand. Suzanne was sliding under the radar, looking at fabric antiques. He was obviously a chauvinist, because he determined early on, I was the guy with the fat wallet. How wrong it was to pre-judge in this fashion, as I am usually always without more than a few coins for the parking meter. Suzanne is my manager, and I never make a major purchase without full discussion with her. I trust her judgement.
I also don't get along with "close-talkers," and this chap wanted to climb into my ear. Every now and again I'd turn suddenly, in order to change direction, and I'd almost hit his cheek with my large beak. Finally the guy found Suzanne, with a large pile of vintage fabrics…..possibly a quilt if memory serves, and left me for a few moments to browse unimpeded. So I found an interesting landscape that I suspected was the handiwork of George Thomson, brother of legendary Canadian landscape artist, Tom Thomson. It wasn't signed but it was in Thomson's style…..which was very much different than his brother's art panels. I had quite a few greeting cards that had George Thomson prints on the front, and I had already owned three of his originals, purchased in Gravenhurst, so I knew there was a ninety percent chance the one I was holding was the result of a Thomson brush. In Muskoka, by the way, Thomson used to paint with his artist friend Bob Everett (the pharmacist-artist), and if you were to look at the work of both men, side by side, you might agree they shared styles as well as picnic lunches, while out sketching.
The dealer spotted me looking at the small framed landscape, and almost leapt over a dining-room table and chair, to get to me before I put it back on the shelf. He nattered on and on, and was splashing my cheek with water droplets from his rather noxious breath. So trying to step back to get a little "me" space, he obviously felt he needed to emphasize how important it was to make a sale on an obviously slow Saturday. "You like that painting don't you?" he asked, grabbing my shoulder like my grandfather used to do, when he wanted me to stop picking at his rose bushes. Before I could answer anything at all, he blurted, "If your wife buys those quilts, I'll give you that landscape for twenty bucks." I could have kissed that guy on the lips and stroked his forehead. I knew that Suzanne had that tell-tale inner glow that was subtly, but noticeably radiating out her pores, as a "yes" aura…..so it didn't take me long to shake the man's hand, and state with gentlemanly affirmation, "Sir, I will accept your generous offer," while inaudibly asking that he never, ever, glom onto me again. So the bottom line of the hunt and gather episode, was that we got two "as is" but easy to repair quilts (Suzanne does this), and quite a nice Thomsonesque landscape, presumably of either Algonquin or North Muskoka. I sold it to a collector an hour after it was offered at a sale we were attending in the Village of Windermere, on Muskoka's Lake Rosseau.
So what's so interesting about this? The Thomson panel wasn't signed, so the value was about half what it would have been, with the usual provenance? The exception? The out-of-the-ordinary situation? Well, that would be the early 1800's folk art painting of a sailboat that was wedged behind the Thomson landscape, that someone had used as a backing….for whatever reason. I won't suggest to you that this happens all the time, but it does occur more frequently than you might suspect. The Thomson was sold for $150, and the folk art sailboat, went for just over $200. Not bad for a twenty dollar investment. In fairness, I did not know there was a second painting tacked into that very modern looking frame. But this is what was being sold, and this is the luck of the Irish antique dealer. In the past decade, I have found at least a dozen doubles, when detaching the original frames, and probably another dozen vintage photographs that were also used as backing material. It's not uncommon to find that an artist, when framing his or her own work, will often use another of their paintings, they disapprove of, as padding for the art work they want to showcase. I will sell them together, in this case. I've had two this year, that were painted on both sides, one of these, the artist, in my opinion, had put the best watercolor in the back….as compared to what had been selected as the best art work.
On another occasion, I went to a garage sale just before it wrapped up, and a gentleman I knew, basically refused to sell me individual books I had pulled out of a collection of ten jammed boxes. He wanted me to take all the books off his hands. The price was right, but most of the books were damaged and would have to be recycled. The books I wanted were "money" titles, and signed first editions, so I had to avoid getting angry, as I really wanted to hang onto my finds. I tried to reason with him, but he just kept turning his back on me. I asked Suzanne to deal with him, and he did the same thing……"Take them all, or take none, it's the same to me." Oh I hate that line of reasoning. So his pig-headed compromise was to give us a fantastic deal on the lot. Ten dollars takes them all. I would have given him twenty for the five in my hands. But he wanted them gone in entirety. So we paid him the ten dollars, and the boys loaded them into the van. When I got home, with Suzanne still frowning like a Victorian matron, I stood at the back of the van, with Andrew and Robert, looking through some of the books to see how many we could salvage. Andrew opened one book, and he started yelling, "Dad, dad you won't believe it," and there in his outstretched hand were five tall-boy hockey cards (large format paper stock) from the 1960's original six teams, of the National Hockey League, in very good condition. Those cards not only made up for the ten bucks we paid for the lot of books, but bought us a nice Sunday dinner out, and thirty dollars on top of that profit. And yes, we find many interesting and salable materials stored inside books, including money and real four leaf clovers.
Finds like this, through a career as long as ours, keeps us intrigued, and motivated to carry-on the antique hunt. If you're a collector / dealer yourself, you have many similar stories undoubtedly, which makes the enterprise a little more entertaining…..than most people realize, when discussing us, and our profession in our absence.
Thank you so much for joining today's blog. Please come again.
THE PURSUIT OF AUTOGRAPHS - FOR FUN BUT MOSTLY PROFIT
WHILE SOME GET AUTOGRAPHS TO FLIP FOR PROFIT - I JUST WOULDN'T DO THAT - BECAUSE IT'S EXPLOITIVE AND UNFAIR TO THE CELEBRITY
I HAVE NEVER IN MY LIFE, - NOT ONCE - SOUGHT OUT AN AUTOGRAPH, FROM A CELEBRITY, AS PART OF MY ANTIQUE AND COLLECTIBLE INTERESTS AND BUSINESS INVESTMENT. I HAVE HAD AUTHORS AUTOGRAPH BOOKS FOR ME, BUT JUST BECAUSE THEY WERE SITTING AT THE TABLE, PEN IN HAND, AND WELL…..WHY NOT. BUT I DIDN'T ASK BECAUSE IT WAS GOING TO MAKE THE BOOK MORE VALUABLE. IN A LOT OF CASES, IT DOESN'T, UNLESS THE CELEBRITY DOING THE SIGNING, IS A MAJOR PLAYER IN ENTERTAINMENT OR SPORTS. SOME BOOK PURISTS WOULD PREFER THE AUTHOR SIGN ON A SEPARATE PIECE OF PAPER, SO AS NOT TO DAMAGE A FIRST EDITION COPY. THE SAME GOES FOR THINGS LIKE SPORTS CARDS, HIGHLY VALUED FOR THEIR PRISTINE CONDITION. AN AUTOGRAPH CAN IN MANY CASES, ACTUALLY DE-VALUE A COLLECTOR CARD…..PRIMARILY IF THE PLAYER FALLS OUT OF FAVOR, OR RETIRES PREMATURELY. THEN THE CARD IS CONSIDERED DE-FACED, AND WORTH LESS THAN IF IT HAD BEEN UNSIGNED. FOR THE CELEBRITY PLAYERS, THIS ISN'T SUCH A BIG DEAL, BUT THERE ARE STILL COLLECTORS WHO DON'T LIKE ANY INTRUSION ON THE CARD'S PRINT INTEGRITY. THEY'RE HAPPY TO HAVE AN AUTOGRAPH TO ACCOMPANY THE CARD, ON A PIECE OF PAPER…..
I JUST FINISHED READING A FEATURE NEWS STORY TODAY, ABOUT A CHAP WHO GETS AUTOGRAPHS FOR FUN BUT MOSTLY FOR EVENTUAL PROFIT. I WON'T CONDEMN THE COLLECTOR FOR DOING THIS, BUT I FEEL IT IS EXPLOITIVE AND PUTTING MONEY AHEAD OF JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE. OH SURE, HE HAS A PRIVATE STASH, AND DOESN'T SELL EVERY AUTOGRAPHED GUITAR ETC. HE GETS. TO EACH THEIR OWN, BUT LET ME EXPLAIN MY ETHICS ON THE ISSUE…..AND WHY I WON'T WASTE A CELEBRITY GUEST'S TIME, JUST TO HELP ME MAKE MONEY.
IN MY YEARS IN THE ANTIQUE AND COLLECTIBLE BUSINESS, I'VE RUN INTO MANY FOLKS LIKE THIS, WHO PESTER CELEBRITIES FOR AUTOGRAPHS…..SIGNED ONTO JUST ABOUT ANYTHING I HAND OR ON THEIR BODY….SUCH AS BAND SHIRTS ETC. A LOT OF THESE TARGETED FOLKS, CRINGE WHEN THEY LOOK OUT AND SEE THESE AUTOGRAPH HOUNDS, CARRYING EVERYTHING BUT THE KITCHEN SINK, (MAYBE BOB VILA GETS THIS) TO GET AUTOGRAPHED. AND MANY OF THESE COLLECTOR TYPES, HAVE THE AUTOGRAPHED ITEMS POSTED ON AUCTION SITES BEFORE THE END OF THE DAY. GET THE AUTOGRAPH, RUN LIKE TO HELL TO THE CAR, OR BUS, SCOOT HOME, SIT DOWN AT THE COMPUTER, AND START AN ONLINE AUCTION WITH YOUR NEWLY AUTOGRAPHED "WHATEVER!" I DON'T LIKE THE CONCEPT ONE BIT, AND I BELIEVE THE "ADVERSE" FUN PART OF IT, IS SHAMEFULLY EXPLOITING THE KINDNESS OF A CELEBRITY, WHO REALLY WOULD LIKE TO THINK THAT THE AUTOGRAPHED GUITAR OR BASEBALL BAT, IS GOING TO BE A FAMILY, PERSONAL KEEPSAKE. AN HEIRLOOM, PASSED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION. YOU KNOW, LIKE THE ONES YOU HANG ON A SPECIAL RACK IN THE RECREATION ROOM, AND SHOW EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO ENTERS THE HOUSE. IN OTHER WORDS, YOU'RE PROUD TO OWN IT….EXHIBIT IT…..AND PASS IT ON TO LOVED ONES, AND SIGNIFICANT OTHERS SOME DAY. TODAY, THIS IS MUCH LESS THE CASE, THAN AUTOGRAPH HOARDERS TRYING TO GET RICH, BY BEING PUSHY TO GET WHAT THEY WANT……IN ORDER TO INCREASE THEIR BUSINESS RETURN. GADS, THIS ISN'T ABOUT THE ENJOYMENT OF COLLECTING. THIS IS A BUSINESS ONLY THING, DON'T KID YOURSELF. AN OBSESSIVE BUSINESS THING, AND I'M WILLING TO BET, BY CONSENSUS, CELEBRITIES HATE THIS TYPE OF GLAD-HANDING AUTOGRAPH HUNTER……WITH DOLLAR SIGNS DANCING IN THEIR EYES.
THINK ABOUT IT FOR A MOMENT. IF YOU WERE THE CELEBRITY, AND YOU SAW THESE EAGER-BEAVER FANS, STANDING IN LINE WITH ALL KINDS OF GOODIES FOR YOU TO HANDLE, INSCRIBE AND SIGN, KNOWING FULL WELL, THAT THE TIME YOU SPEND HANDLING THESE CHORES, BY THE HUNDREDS, WILL MAKE THESE SAME FOLKS SOME PRETTY FAIR COIN, WHEN THEY FLIP THE PIECES SOMEWHERE DOWN THE LINE. AND THAT PARTICULAR LINE IS A SHORT ONE. IT'S NOT WHAT I CONSIDER A CLASS ACT, IN THE COLLECTIBLE INDUSTRY…..AND I'VE DEBATED THIS WITH MANY OF MY CUSTOMERS…..AND THEY THINK MY ATTITUDE SUCKS. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
I SELL A LOT OF AUTOGRAPHED ARTICLES, MOSTLY BOOKS, BUT THESE HAVE BEEN FOUND OUT ON THE HUSTINGS
From the time I began buying and selling rare and out of print books, back in the late 1970's, I always had a selection of inscribed and autographed copies. The ones that were most significant, were either associate copies, personalized to someone who was close to the book project, or those inscribed as friends……the note on the title page being more intimate than what would normally be written by an author at a typical signing event. All my autographed copies are found, by hard work, out on the antique "hunt and gather." I don't go to book signings, and buy ten copies, having them all signed, so I can start selling them immediately after leaving the store. I couldn't look the author in the eye, asking for a signature as a value-added aspect to the book they authored.
I have possessed some pretty substantial autographs in my career, including Canadian artists, A.Y. Jackson, A.J. Casson, and Franz Johnston. I've had the signatures of Canadian authors, like Wilson MacDonald, E.J. (Ned) Pratt, Robertson Davies, W.O. Mitchell, Stuart McLean, Paul Rimstead, Wayland Drew, Raymond Souster, David Silcox (Tom Thomson, Group of Seven authority), David Suzuki, and hundreds of others in my collection at one time or another. I have sold a portion off, but a majority of the texts were acquired for that purpose. I'm an old book dealer. I just didn't hound an author or artist to get their autograph, to eventually exploit….fifteen minutes later. Some of my autographs, for gosh sakes, are a hundred years old. I think I've waited an appropriate amount of time to resell….don't you think?
In my collection, there have been books autographed by politicians like Jimmy Carter, and celebrities like Ed Koch, former mayor of New York. I've had a book autographed by Hollywood Actor, James Mason, and many biographies autographed by war veterans; pilots who flew Lancaster Bombers. I actually owned a flight log from a Lancaster, with the signatures of all the pilots who had flown the craft from its base in England. Now that was a treasure. I can't describe how pleased I was, to find a book authored by Jack Layton, former leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada. Jack died shortly after the last federal election, and was mourned by millions of Canadians who felt he spoke for them, and their concerns, on Parliament Hill.
There are very few weeks, of hunting antiques and stuff, when I don't come up with at least one autographed and inscribed book. It's always exciting to find an autographed copy, or an associate copy, where the author has included a lengthy personal note…….for example, to someone who helped proof-read the manuscript, or who acted as a close adviser, prior to publication. I have found handwritten letters from the author to the owner of the book, folded inside, and these of course make the books much more significant. This doesn't always refer to valuation. It just makes them more collectible and interesting.
In some cases, being autographed means little to no increase, in the appraised value of books. Just because a book is autographed, doesn't mean there will be valued added to the original retail price of the book. I have many signed copies, that are priced well below the original retail price. There are others that are worth more, simply because the book was published twenty years ago, when prices were a lot lower. So while the autograph doesn't add even tens of dollars to the price, it will put up the value beyond the out-of-print normal retail scale. In other words, if a book is valued, second hand, as being worth eight dollars on the open market, an autograph and inscription by the author, could put the book up by about five dollars. This of course depends on the author, and the subject. For example, a Robert Bateman large format art book, has a used value of about fifteen to twenty dollars in good condition, in most second hand book shops. If it is signed by Bateman, it will go up about ten dollars, if it also corresponds with a good condition copy. Condition is still of critical importance, and a missing dust-jacket can mean a seventy-five percent reduction in the book's value……even if it is autographed.
We have found lots of entertainment autographs; our most significant one being a history of "The Band," signed by its former members. For his personal collection only, my son Andrew has hundreds of posters autographed by some well known musicians, guitarists, blues performers…..all from venues he has worked over the past decade. They're on display at his shop, but definitely not for sale. Most of them are personalized to him, and will be passed down to his family one day. Andrew is a sound technician, so he has easy access to performers. He'll tell you, the only time he asks for an autograph, is when there is no one left in line, to meet the performer, and even then, he feels as if he is imposing to ask. These performers instead, will notice autographs on some of his sound gear and drum skins, and ask if they could add their names to the collection. Andrew would never part with these very personal pieces……and autographs. And some of the performers he has worked with, have since passed away. But he doesn't let valuation get in the way, of his enjoyment of these specially inscribed equipment pieces, and posters he hangs in the shop. He knows what they're worth, but he has the same attitude as the rest of our family. We're not going to bother a performer to sign things so we can make money on their names. If we are out on the antique hustings, and find autographed posters, and other items that have been signed (and paintings are included in this), then we feel we've really done our job, without exploiting anyone, or wasting a celebrity's time. We do not buy autographed items from online auctions, for two reasons. Forged signatures are common. Second of all, we want to come by our autographs honestly…..by using our sleuthing capabilities in the field. We don't want to outbid someone else, during a lifeless online auction, in order to acquire the subject piece. We will always feel better, finding them ourselves, and knowing that our experience in the trade, has paid off.
When Bobby Orr was injured, back in the early 1970's, he came as a special guest, to a benefit game in Bracebridge, for local senior-league player, who had suffered a serious head injury, in a game several weeks earlier. He was in a special area of the arena, with controlled access, but it didn't stop us kids from lining up, over and over again, to get his autograph. I finished that night with seven autographs. I never once thought about selling them. I just loved Bobby Orr. By time I hit age twenty, my mother Merle had either given them away or thrown them out, as she moved our possessions and heirlooms, from one residence to another, in our hometown. I had dozens of autographs from Roger Crozier, a Bracebridge lad I used to work for, who had played for the Detroit Red Wings, the Buffalo Sabres and the Washington Capitals. I lost all the ones I got when I went to his Red Wing Hockey School back in the late 60's, but I got four more back, when I was the public relations director for the Muskoka chapter of the Crozier Foundation, in the mid 1990's. Never a thought of selling them for a profit. I remember coming into our antique shop one afternoon, back in about 1978, and finding my mother patting Frank Mahovolich on the back. He was one of her favorite hockey players, from the Montreal years mostly, and here he was in our shop. So I was able to get his autograph to go with a hockey card I'd kept from my youth. Once again, this has been given to son Andrew. I've split my autographs with both sons. Robert has quite a few political autographs, such as former Ontario Premiers Bill Davis and Frank Miller.
I love hunting for autographs. But I will never impose upon a celebrity for my profit. If I want one for my own collection, to be passed down in my family, then I might one day invest the time to stand in line. I don't expect this will happen though. I'm pretty good finding them on my own, without ever having to queue-up with a stupid look of expectation on my face.
Lots more antique hunting stories on the agenda. Some of the tales will read like fiction…..but alas, they're all true…..crazy or not. Thanks for dropping by. Please call-in again.
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