Our booth at the Hyannis
I think for my
next career, I will become an antiques expert.
For the
past 20 years, I have been the chief schlepper for my wife, who already is an
authority on a lot of antiques, like silver, china, and a few other
things. As schlepper, I get to load the
antiques onto a rented van, drive them to the site of the antique show, and
unload them.
After that,
Marty arranges the items, and then, at the appointed hour, in come the
customers.
We just did
an antiques show in Hyannis , on Cape Cod . Hyannis used to be known as the stomping ground for the
Kennedy clan, but from the clientele we saw at Barnstable High School Field
House last week, they must be down in the Caribbean, or in Palm Beach
When an
antique show opens, there are a few little beady-eyed men who dart into the show,
stopping at each booth long enough to sense whether there is anything there that
meets their discriminating taste. These
are the pickers, who hope to pick up something worth $500 for $50. After a few moments, all these eager little
people are gone, off to greener pastures.
Some pieces of antique silver
At the same
time, moving a bit slower, are the silver and gold hawks. These are the men who
sweep each booth with hawk-like precision.
They are on the lookout for precious metals. They can locate a beautifully tooled, elegant
piece of early 19th century silver, and see only how much it will
bring, melted down. For anyone who
appreciates the work of fine old silversmiths or goldsmiths---- delicate
carving, stamping, engraving and chasing... that probably took many days to do --- the idea of melting it down
seems sinful.
These men
usually carry a small scale to weigh any treasure they can get their hands
on.
Soon, these
hawks have flown on to their next feeding area, and that leaves the regular
shoppers.
First,
there are the breezy, well-dressed women in their 40s and 50s, often
accompanied by similarly well-groomed gentlemen in nicely pressed corduroy
trousers and Nantucket sweater. The
women are looking at everything, but himself is clearly just along for the
outing. These ladies are looking for a
little something for their Cape Cod summer
home. They are the best customers.
Then there
are the little old ladies, some in wheel chairs, some with canes or
walkers. They are interested in
everything, but buy nothing. They can often
show you an item in your booth that they have, or had, but only paid one-tenth
of what you are asking.
Then, there
are the rest of the shoppers—jolly people of all sorts of dress and age, tall
and short, fat and skinny, some decently dressed and some looking like they
just cleaned out their garage. Some are
interested in your things, but others are there because they’re not someplace
else.
There were
few of the breezy, affluent set at this show.
One dealer had a marvelous
collection of the works of Theodore Roosevelt, including signed letters, Roosevelt ’s 16-volume set, “How the West Was Won”, other
books and magazine articles that Teddy wrote, post cards, broadsheets, books
about T.R. and more. This being
President’s Day Weekend, and here at the stomping grounds of one popular 20th
century president, you might have thought this would be a good place to sell
some of his expensive books. But
apparently few had ever heard of the remarkable Colonel Roosevelt, hero of San Juan Hill .
All during the show Marty would
talk with a customer about a fine piece of early Sheffield ,
or describe the firing and decorating process for an Imari bowl, discuss a fine
Chinese ginger jar, or tell about the work of a Rockport artist whose work we
had on display.
Then, after two days of this,
bang!! Four o’clock on Sunday, and out
would come the packing boxes and the moving carts, and the scramble would start
to get everything packed up and moved out.
In less than two hours, there would be just a few dealers still
carefully wrapping their wares, while the janitors picked up tables and chairs
and swept down the gym.
After two
hours it was now dark, and all our goods were piled in an Enterprise
As we were
driving through Hyannis
I pulled
over, and sure enough, from behind we looked like a stealth van, a dark
eminence moving along the road. We could
both imagine the prospect of a large 18-wheeler behind us on the road to Boston
So, we
found a nearby Holiday Inn, and checked in for the night.
The next
morning, I called Enterprise and they located a
new van for us at the Hyannis
We drove
over, and in 30 minutes I had moved all our antiques from the old van to the
new one, and we were on our way to Rockport, again.
At the age
of 78, I am getting good at moving the stuff in and out of the van, faster and
faster. But I think I will ask my boss,
Marty, to consider me for the job as assistant “expert” at some sort of
antiques, and maybe we can hire some other poor soul to schlep our goods.
The Personal Navigator offers these books
and papers:
Cuban Scouts Going on Outpost Duty
Rough Riders at Camp
Wikoff
Cannons
and Camera: Sea and Land Battles of the Spanish-American War in Cuba, Camp
Life, and the Return of the Soldiers; First Edition Photographs and Narrative by
Hemment, John C.1898. New York ,
NY Cuba Adams . Hemment had earlier photographed the Battleship
Maine extensively, and when he arrived in Cuba Maine ,
life in American soldiers' camp, off to
the seat of war in Santiago Morro
Castle . Among the Cuban pickets.
About mules in the campaign. Siege of Santiago
Our Katie; or, The Grateful Orphan, A
Story for Children , with three illustrations by Myers, Sarah A.
1859 New
York , NY : Carlton & Porter,
Sunday-School Union . Author writes of her
childhood and poor Katie, whose mother died, then her father. Author's family
took in Katie…Katie in Disgrace….Katie's Reward. Morality tale. 90 pp. 10 x 15.2 cm. Dark cloth on board with blindstamped
design and gilt lettering on spine. On front free endpaper is "No. 41
Chesterfield Facty S.S. Jan. 1868" 2 cm piece missing from rear spine.
Good. (8196) $40.00. Children's
Navy
vs. William & Mary Football Game Program, September 24, 1955 1955 Annapolis ,
MD : United States Annapolis
Sweden: Vägvisare Sundsvall och dess Omnejd-- Almänna
Norrländska Industri-och Landtbruks-Utställningen I Sundsvall, 1882
[General Northern Industrial and
Agricultural Exhibition, Sundsvall , Sweden ,
1882] 1882 Stockholm , Sweden Sundsvall , Sweden Sweden
including northern part of Gulf of Bothnia ,
also ads for hotels and other tourist services. In Swedish. 18 panels 9 c 17.2 cm. Paper
on cloth, lightly soiled, very good. (8211) $38.00. Maps/Travel
Contact me at scoulbourn1@verizon.net
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