TAKING A FEW DAYS OFF TO HUNT AND GATHER LIKE WE DID IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS
A MINI HOLIDAY AWAY FROM THE ANTIQUE SHOP ROUTINE TO RE-CHARGE THE BATTERIES
LIKE CURRIE'S ANTIQUES, ON FACEBOOK, ANY TIME, BUT PLEASE JOIN US, ESPECIALLY, STARTING ON THE SATURDAY, OF THE UPCOMING EASTER WEEKEND, FOR THE FIRST OF A SMALL, ORIGINAL, TWELVE PART STORY, ABOUT A HAUNTED MUSKOKA LODGE. IT IS JUST ONE OF NUMEROUS FEATURE STORIES, COMING UP THIS YEAR, EXCLUSIVE, AND PREPARED FOR THE CURRIES ANTIQUES FACEBOOK PAGE, ALL ABOUT MUSKOKA. MORE ABOUT THE TWELVE PART SERIES, COMING UP THIS WEEK.
As I have written about many times, in these blogs, in my now fully ranking-as-folk-tales overviews, of the antique profession, as I have known it for the past four decades, there is, without doubt, an absolute need for dealers to re-boot regularly, in order to reconnect with their place in the heritage universe. There are those who only, by preference, barely brush shoulders with tradition; bumping lightly against what has long been known as an amazing and historic profession, and then moving on, preferring to flit about the profession, more interested in decorating with antiques, than worrying about the place in antiquity, these aged pieces might have held respectfully, in what could have been the domain of a thoroughly fascinating estate. Without actually immersing deeply into the heritage realm of the antique dominion, these surface skimmers, could probably miss these brush-up sessions, and show no disadvantage; because they seldom have anything to do with the matter of provenance of heirloom pieces anyway, as most of us do, as a matter of daily business. Suzanne and are practicing regional historians, to back up our stake in the South Muskoka antique trade, and we take our responsibilities very seriously. If we can uncover provenance of our antique pieces, we will do so with pleasure, and hope buyers will appreciate the significance of knowing where pieces came from, and who may have owned them in the past. Establishing provenance is just as important as physical, surface patina, and it has always been our experience, buyers like to know as much about what they are investing in, as possible; and if it is within our means to provide additional information, well then, we shall give it the old college try. This is what we expect as antique buyers. This is what we offer as embedded antique dealers, who find every day immersed in history, as exciting as the one before.
But today, we are offering our antique shop customers an apology in advance, for, well, being the way we used to be! Suzanne and I have taken very few days off from our antique business, here in Uptown Gravenhurst, during the past three years. As it is our retirement business of choice, and we love it to pieces, we don't really mind having our shoulder to the mill wheel, for most of the week; but we are getting a little weary of the routine of shop operation itself. Hunting and gathering antiques is what gives us our oomph as dealers. As we enthusiastically embedded ourselves in one of the world's most curious and storied professions, we have also gladly taken the good with the bad, and still arrived at work six days each week, with a hopeful outlook, that the day would be full of interesting interactions, and possibly some commerce to keep the cycle from getting a flat side. If all you're doing as a dealer, is buying, then you have morphed precariously, without realizing it, into a generalist "collector," who will one day awaken to the reality, they have passed, almost overnight, into the domain of "The Hoarder." You might be surprised to know how easy this can happen. We love hunting antiques, but the best part, is actually buying them; and then of course, as a counter balance, offering them back to our customers. If the customers like our taste in antiques and collectables, with stories attached, and buy some from us, then we avoid the flat-side syndrome, and it is business as usual. This past winter has been the closest we have ever come, in our profession, to having a genuine, no fooling, this sucks, "flat side," develop, for more than just a few days. Weeks of seeing only a few people each day. It was one of the toughest off-seasons, business-wise, we've ever seen, or endured, working in Gravenhurst, and whether it was the bitterly cold winter, which was about as Canadian as it gets (and like all the ones I remember from childhood), or the state of the financial union here in our home town, it was enough to scare the beejesus out of us stalwart retailers, who have invested longterm in our hometown. The question is, what comes next? Just because it's spring, doesn't mean it's going to be an upgrade from the bleak winter months; where we saw very few mortals every day for weeks on end.
I think there's a lot more going on here, than just the seasonal ups and downs of a tourist dominated economy. I think more than anything else, Suzanne and I, and both lads, Andrew and Robert, are just in need of a little toughening-up refresher before facing the summer season challenges. We've got to re-charge the old batteries, you might say, and for us, it means closing up the main street shop for a few days, and travelling about our favorite parts of the province, looking for bits and bobbs for the shop and our online business site via ebay; and to enjoy, and even celebrate, the allure of the open road, that inspires us most of all. It's how we conducted our antique business for most of the past quarter century, at times when we didn't have the shop to operate daily. And by the way, we have always worked Sundays in the antique business, but usually it is our special travel day, which we look forward to with great enthusiasm. We need our escape, but we're happy to look for antiques at the same time, as we are avoiding the trappings of business convention. We are still rogues in business compared to our contemporaries.
The boys have a party to attend in Toronto, this weekend, so Suzanne and I jumped at the chance to close the shop for the same days this week, being from Friday to Sunday, to get up to some personal mischief; and rediscover what we love most about the general freedoms of being antique dealers. Sometimes, running a shop, we do forget how we got into the profession in the first place. It's why, this past month, we have successfully re-activated our former ebay auction site, which we used extensively for more than a decade, to sell the interesting relics we were finding out there, on our weekly road trips, with some amazing results. Sensing that this was going to be a particularly tough year, business wise, with more competition opening nearby, and the same amount of money to divide as the years previous, we felt the time was right, to get back in the saddle, and utilize the world-wide marketplace we have long benefitted from by selling online. It's certainly not unusual for antique dealers, with store-fronts, to side-line their businesses, by also selling on ebay, or via other online auctions. For us, it has always been desirable, because of its efficiency, and the fact, we have a penchant for fereting out heritage items, especially antiquarian books, and ephemera, that require a much larger and specific audience than we can ever possibly achieve, just by opening the door of our shop each morning. We offer our regular customers open access, obviously, to whatever we are listing on ebay, and should they be interested, they can also bid and pick-up the items they win, without having to add-on shipping costs. We were doing this even before we opened the shop three years ago. The boys, who have been here more than a decade, offered their storefront to us, to use as a pick-up location, for those of our buyers who liked the option of picking up their auction purchases, and saving what can be, at times, and for certain items, a considerable expense being otherwise shipped. They could also pay by "Paypal," which is an option for ebay shoppers. We still have it now, for customer convenience, and have just today added credit card payment options, as a new convenience for customers. As we have always tried to keep costs down, in order to keep our inventory prices as affordable as possible, we have found ways of doing this, most recently (and with a little head scratching), without compromising our low pricing policy, (which we have always believed was most important and our trademark in the industry) and still allowing for credit card charges, which previously would have forced us to "up" everything to compensate. Our competitive edge has always been our ability to buy cheaply, and pass on the savings to our customers. It's what we want as customers ourselves, so why shouldn't you expect the same on the reverse side. I have a serious problem with some of the blatant over-pricing that goes on within our profession, and the best way to fight it, is in the streets; so expect more of the same from us in the future.
And we are also ready, willing and able as usual, to offer our Muskoka history resource services, to those customers who would like to know a little bit more about regional heritage, but didn't know where else to start looking. Some of our competitors might claim they are representative Muskoka businesses, but for sure, they don't have two local historians on staff, one rooted back into the pioneer heritage of the present Township of Muskoka Lakes. We love promoting local heritage when we get the chance; and this year marks the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Calydor Prisoner of War Camp, on Lake Muskoka, for German Prisoners of War. We are always interested in discussing such a nationally important heritage site, that also happens to be in our home neighborhood, here in Gravenhurst. If you really want the Muskoka experience in antique shopping, visit us, and for gosh sakes, ask us about the past. We put a little bit extra in the presentation of antiques and collectables. But then again, we have never brushed up against our profession, or considered our membership in such an historic enterprise, as anything less than an honor of a long and adventure-laden tradition.
Suzanne and I are looking forward to this coming long-weekend, which we are going to use wisely, to re-connect with our own old-time values, which admittedly, have dulled a tad, over what has been a long, hard but traditional winter season. Bet you feel the same. Time to break out your copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and celebrate the arrival of spring, by getting out onto that open road, and chasing down what ever appeals to you. Maybe even a little re-discovery, of those long forgotten ambitions of youth, that life responsibilities wore down to a minor speed bump. If we had choppers, Suzanne and I would head down the road like Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper, in the movie Easy Rider, looking for adventure to cross our paths. Well sir, minus the choppers, we do have a van, and the passion for the hunt and gather as we used to, way, way back, when the antique profession as retirement seemed a million years into the future. We want to take you on this minor league, low key, but somewhat wild and crazy, adventure and re-discovery, of an industry full to overflowing with intrigue, excitement, and best of all, the spoils of a successful treasure hunt. I was always fascinated by pirates as a kid, so maybe this will factor into the weekend as well. Hey, come on, do the other antique dealers invite you to join them on such an intimate adventure, that you can benefit up close and personal, by just visiting this blog, or our Gravenhurst shop. Pirate or Easy Rider, we want to share the real juice of being an antique dealer; and most of the flavor has to do with a good partnership, sharing, and the passion to bring heritage back to the light it deserves.
From The Archives
WEE GHOSTIES AND THINGS THAT GO BUMP…NOT JUST IN THE NIGHT EITHER
OUR NEW (OLD) HOUSE, ON THE FORMER ONTARIO STREET, IN BRACEBRIGE
I HAVE NEVER LIVED IN A HOUSE OR COTTAGE, THAT WASN'T OCCUPIED BY SOMETHING PARANORMAL…..AND NO, IT WASN'T JUST AN OVER-ACTIVE IMAGINATION. FROM THE HOUSE BUILT BY PROMINENT BRACEBRIDGE DOCTOR, AND FORMER MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, PETER MCGIBBON, TO A SIMILARLY AGED HOUSE, TWO BLOCKS AWAY, AND THEN ONTO A SMALLER 1920'S TWO STORY, BRICK VENEER HOME….OUR VERY OWN, FURTHER DOWN ONTARIO STREET, THE HOBGOBLINS AND ASSORTED GHOSTIES, SEEMED TO FOLLOW US…..YET THE INTRUSIONS WERE VERY MUCH DIFFERENT IN EACH DWELLING. FIRST OF ALL, BEING A CAREER ANTIQUE DEALER, AND MY WIFE, NOT FAR OFF, WE ARE USED TO FINDING PIECES THAT COULD WELL BE OCCUPIED BY A HITCH-HIKER SPIRIT.
WHETHER IT IS A PRIMITIVE PINE CRADLE, OR AN OLD ROCKER, CUPBOARD, BENCH, QUILT, OR STEAMER TRUNK, JUST TO NAME A FEW OBJECTS TO ATTACH ONTO, IT IS POSSIBLE THAT WE HAVE BROUGHT THE SPIRIT-KIND INTO OUR ABODES, QUITE UNINTENTIONALLY. I'VE BEEN SHOE-HORNING STUFF INTO OLD HOUSES FOR A LONG TIME NOW, AND WHETHER YOU BELIEVE IT OR NOT…..AND FRANKLY, THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT, THERE ARE PIECES THAT HAVE A PATINA HAVING NOTHING AT ALL, TO DO WITH THE FINISH OF THE WOOD. IF YOU WERE TO TAKE THE TIME, TO READ COLLECTIONS OF GHOST STORIES, SUCH AS THE ONES GATHERED BY CANADIAN PARANORMAL SLEUTH, JOHN ROBERT COLOMBO, YOU'D FIND MANY REFERENCES TO PIECES, THAT WHILE NOT NECESSARILY HAUNTED, AS A HOUSE MIGHT BE, WERE INTEGRAL TO THE STORY BEING RELATED…..THINGS LIKE CHAIRS THAT ROCK WITHOUT AN OCCUPANT, A PRINTING PRESS THAT RUNS ON ITS OWN, FURNISHINGS THAT MOVE, ARTICLES THAT SHIFT WITHOUT A HUMAN INTERVENTION. WELL, SOMETIMES, WE BUY THOSE KIND OF ITEMS, THAT MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE FACTORED INTO A SIMILAR STORY, THAT WHILE NOT CENTRAL TO THE ALLEGED HAUNTING, PLAYED A ROLE NONE THE LESS.
MOST OF THE TIME, WE WILL PURCHASE THESE ITEMS, WITHOUT THAT PARTICULAR PROVENANCE, AS SELLERS OFTEN FEEL THAT REVEALING A PARANORMAL CONNECTION, WILL KILL A SALE. NOT FOR ME, CAUSE I LOVE GETTING A HITCH-HIKER, BUT MOST DON'T WANT THE "UNINVITED" IN THEIR HOUSEHOLDS.
SO WHEN WE MOVED INTO OUR MODEST LITTLE HOME, ON ONTARIO STREET, WE CRAMMED ALL OUR OLD STUFF INTO THE SMALL, TWO STORY HOUSE, ORIGINALLY BUILT TO ACCOMMODATE EMPLOYEES WORKING AT THE BEARDMORE TANNERY, ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE VALLEY KNOWN AS "THE HOLLOW." THERE HAD BEEN AT LEAST TWO DEATHS IN THE HOUSE. WE KNEW THAT. THE FORMER OWNER, HAD PASSED AWAY WHILE HAVING A BATH. I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW DISTRACTING THAT WAS, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE LIGHT KEPT BEING SWITCHED OFF AND ON, REGARDLESS OF OUR CORRECTIVE EFFORTS. WE HAD THE SAME SITUATION AT A HOUSE UP THE HILLSIDE, (SEE PREVIOUS DAY'S BLOG), AND THOUGHT THERE WAS A POSSIBILITY WE'D BROUGHT AN OLD FRIEND WITH US, ON THE BACK OF SOME PIECE OF ANTIQUE FURNITURE SHIFTED BETWEEN HOUSES. NO WIND CHIMES HOWEVER, AND THAT WAS NICE. WHILE THERE WAS NOTHING DISTURBING IN THE HOUSE, AND LITTLE COMPARISON OF THE PARANORMAL ACTIVITIES WITH THE PREVIOUS TWO VICTORIAN ERA HOMES…..WE KNEW WE HAD SOME OTHERS LIVING WITH US. JUST NOT SURE WHO, OR WHEN THEY HAD PASSED, AND WHY THEY COULDN'T SEEM TO LEAVE THIS EARTHLY EXISTENCE. THIS WAS STILL, A VERY LOW KEY HAUNTING, AS HAUNTINGS GO.
It's worth noting here, that Suzanne and I make no claims of being psychic or clairvoyant, or that we "see dead people," or have any capability to run a seance. It is true, if you read back a tad, in these blogs, that we did use a Ouija Board a couple of times, to find out the name of an apparently haunted portrait of a young lady……which the board told us, had been "Katherine." That's as far as we've ever gone with "invitationals" to the paranormal, as such, and have absolutely no reason to gather wayward spirits to make our lives any more unusual, or action-packed. Gads. We already have too much on our plate with seven cats here at Birch Hollow. No more ghosts. Yet we do possess an open mindedness about the paranormal, and have both, since childhood, been experiencing strange interactions with the largely unexplained. I will detail this, as well, in future blogs. You can also access, in this collection of blogs, a reminiscence I wrote, about a childhood experience with what I believe was a guardian angel, and it has stayed with me for most of my life…..as clear and defined, as the dream it companioned, during a terrible bout of chest infection while residing in Burlington, Ontario. So we don't start our days, being obstinate to entities that wish to contact us, yet we don't wander around begging ghosts to contact us, for their redemption. To see Suzanne and I out on the antique hunt, you would never associate us with ghost hunters. I look like a former hockey player with a bad hip, and Suzanne, well, looks like a teacher. We don't carry around any ghost-busting equipment, or elaborate sensing devices, and there is no containment device in my dear wife's purse, for sucking up Casper or Slimmer, from the "ghost" themed movies.
So when we arrived at our just-purchased home, we didn't have a seance to determine who else, from a past life, resided at this address, and we didn't even own a Ouija Board at this point. We just wanted to settle in to a family home, with our soon-to-arrive son Andrew, our first born. As it always seems to happen, and we may have been the catalyst, with what antiques we owned, but we immediately began having problems with the bathroom light. I'd shut it off, and come back a half hour later……knowing I was the only one in the house, and the switch would be on. It happened on most days, and numerous times, and we just thought it was the lady who had passed in the bathtub, playing silly-bugger with the new couple. There was a time when Andrew was having a major crying jag, and when we went up to calm him down, we found him suddenly calm, looking to a corner in the room, where we had an old rocker, as if he saw something or someone in the chair. He couldn't speak then, so we don't know what diverted his attention from screaming to sudden silence…..and a wee smile on his face. Andrew was also visited by another unknown guest, at our second house, on Golden Beach Road, the experience documented in a book by Barbara Smith, entitled (I believe), Ghost Stories of Ontario.
There were the usual footfall on the steps, and no body to match, and the frequent sensation, in a room, of sudden coldness, and the feeling someone was looking at us……with nothing visible, no mist or figure, for the humans in residence to see. Once again, we looked at the hundreds of antique pieces we had brought into that house, and wondered whether the spirit residents, simply objected to the weight and volume of our intrusion, on their former domain. If so, well, they did let us know in a variety of ways, that we should get lost, and take our crap with us. We're well known in the spirit community as the "cluttering Curries."
This was a gentle abode, and a perfect place for those first years with a young child. There was a big backyard, with recreational space to the front and back of our property, which was a tremendous bonus as Andrew began to run. That's right. He started to run before he actually walked. He was fast. There were two unfortunate realities of the house, (the ghosts were not a big deal), including a busy road in front, and a steep staircase to the second floor, that while gated, made us nervous as Andrew's athletic prowess became more dominate. It was actually the reason we put the house up for sale, several years into our residency, in return for a house in the hinterland, very near a wonderful beach on Lake Muskoka.
But the little haunted abode, never let us down, and kept us warm, dry and cozy. Despite the two deaths in the house, we know of, and a tragic connection to a number of other deaths, in their family, it was a forgiving place, and we never felt anything malevolent that would fall into the category of threatening, or even unsettling. Now seeing as our next house, which was much newer, also had a haunted quality, we had to wonder which antique piece, the hitch-hiker had attached itself to…….
As just one additional point, to the kind of whacky, coincidental stuff that happens to us, there was a misadventure that nearly turned tragic for Suzanne, my mother, and wee Andrew, which occurred at the bottom of what we used to call Tanbark Hill, on Ontario Street, adjacent to the former Bracebridge High School. They were out for a walk, while I painted some brick-work on the house. I saw them coming down the hill, and my mother Merle went to talk with them. Previous to this, she had stopped to talk to me, as she was out for a walk from her apartment one block over.
I had a funny feeling…..and as a new parent, I was protective and safety obsessed. The intersection was busy at this time of the day, and I decided to go to the corner and move them along, a little quicker down the hill toward home. It was not a safe place to stand, and Andrew had wiggled out of his stroller numerous times. When I got close enough to see up the hillside, there was a blue car traveling at a much higher rate of speed, than was safe, if, for example, the driver was making a left sweeping turn onto what is known as Victoria Street. Even to make the slight turn to the right, onto Ontario Street, would have put him over a large patch of sand, left over from winter road maintenance. I yelled at them to move toward the grass of the High School, sensing that this jerk was going to slide, either way, and there was no way he could apply the breaks without losing control entirely.
Well, he never hit the breaks, veered to the right (which saved the car from rolling), but because of the angle downward, to the right, at the turn past our house, he began an initial slide on the sand. Due to the height differential, the car took off and flew sideways through the air, within a few yards from where my family had retreated up the lawn. It was airborne until it dropped into our neighbor's driveway, stopping perfectly aligned to the pavement and the bordering trees. From the beginning of the slide, it meant a distance of about thirty or so feet, most of it in the air. I have no idea how the heck it happened to stop that way, other than the passenger side tires took the brunt of the impact, and the car just flopped back onto the tarmac of the drive. It was a dustbowl, and for a moment we thought the driver would be dead, because of the impact that we couldn't see until the view cleared. The young driver with his first car, had survived. If Suzanne and my mother, had crossed the road, to take Andrew to the park, that morning….as they often did, there would have been three fatalities. I have no idea what inspired me to run up the hill, other than instinct, but it happened just as I have written.
The spooky part? The car the young lad was driving, a blue Mustang, had belonged to my wife, a short time before the accident. We had traded it in on a new car. Suzanne stood at the side of the road shaking, saying over and over, "That's my car, that's my car." We pulled the lad out, called the fuzz, and I hope he was fined into oblivion…….because he very nearly caused a family tragedy…..mine, because of his recklessness. So that was the unfortunate highlight, of our residency on lower Ontario Street.
IN UPCOMING BLOGS, I'D LIKE TO TAKE YOU ON SOME ANTIQUE HUNTS…..AND OFFER A FEW TIPS FOR YOUR OWN ANTIQUE FORAYS INTO THE WILDERNESS OF OPPORTUNITY. I'D JUST LIKE TO EXPLAIN, FIRST OF ALL, THAT I BEGAN AS A GENERALIST DEALER / COLLECTOR, WHO NEVER COULD STICK TO HIS LANE. I WOULD HEAD OUT ON AN ANTIQUE HUNT, WITH GIRLFRIEND, AND WITH THE MONEY IN POCKET, I'D BUY WHAT INSPIRED ME AT THE TIME. ANTIQUE DEALERS, WITH SHOPS, DO HAVE QUITE A NUMBER OF PICKERS ARRIVING ON THEIR DOORSTEPS, EVERY MONTH, OFFERING SOME WHOLESALE INCENTIVES TO BUY WHAT'S ON THEIR TRUCKS OR TRAILERS. MOST DEALERS HOWEVER, ARE GENERALISTS BECAUSE THEY BUY AND COLLECT WHAT THEY LIKE, AND USUALLY, WHAT IS AFFORDABLE, DESIRABLE, AND WILL SELL EVENTUALLY FOR A PROFIT. I HAVE ATTEMPTED TO PORTRAY MYSELF, AS AN IMPULSE BUYER, AND A DEALER MOVED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCE, THE OFFERING, AND THE AFFORDABILITY FACTOR. WHILE I'VE TRIED TO BE STRONGER IN SOME AREAS OF COLLECTING, AS AN ANNUAL RESOLUTION OF CONDUCT, SUCH AS WITH OLD BOOKS……, THE VERY NEXT AUCTION, OR ESTATE SALE MIGHT ECLIPSE EVERYTHING ELSE. I'VE DONE IT BEFORE AND I SHALL DO IT AGAIN. BUY SOMETHING THAT CATCHES MY EYE. THAT'S WHY I'VE REMAINED A GENERAL DEALER, COLLECTOR, BECAUSE I BUY FOR INVESTMENT VALUE AND FOR RETAIL TURN-OVER, AND WHEN THE VAN RETURNS FROM A BUYING TRIP, BELIEVE ME, IT'S AN ASSORTMENT OF HISTORICAL OBJECTS…..ART, GLASS, POTTERY, WOOD ITEMS, TABLES AND CHAIRS IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER. THE VERY NEXT TRIP OUT, IT MIGHT BE THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE……AND THAT'S THE ADVENTURE. THE MOTTO IS, "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO FIND OUT THERE." THAT'S WHAT MAKES THIS AN EXCITING PROFESSION, AND THE REASON WE LOOK FORWARD TO OUR REGULAR ROAD-TRIPS. IT IS MOST DEFINITELY ADDICTIVE.
More to come.
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