Wedgwood - where it's now made

It's confusing. Wedgwood was sold, became part of a conglomerate, smushed together with Waterford crystal and Royal Doulton. You go into a good department store, and yes, you can still buy newly produced items. They are *lovely*. They say "Wedgwood - England" on them. And NO, they are NOT made in England. Virtually all but premium manufacturing was outsourced (that must be one of the ghastliest modern terms coined) to Indonesia in 2009.

Quality is as good as anything produced in Barlaston. And yet - to mark these goods with the country name "England" is misleading.

To be clear: "Made In England" backstamped on items means the Wedgwood piece was made in England. "Wedgwood - England" is amorphous and is not an indication that it was made in the UK. For the record, Time Travelers deals only with the former, and passes on the latter. We do so primarily due to the age of the items we buy and sell. We also do it, though, in solidarity with the spirit with which the original company was founded.

Here's a link to the Wedgwood family blog, and their views on the state of what eventually befell the family business:

http://wedgwoodfamily.blogspot.com/2009/05/production-has-no-wedgwood-family.html

The photo of the lilac Jasperware 3-part tea set dates to 1959, when this delightful color was produced in limited quantities. The date stamp on the "Brewster" shape teapot is clearly marked, and makes this a desirable and unusual find. So often pale colors (in my opinion) used in Jasperware don't do the bas reliefs justice; but this is not the case with this lovely set.

November's show schedule

In keeping with the disappearing act that local outdoor antique shows have been doing, we opted out completely of the local indoor show at the Coliseum. The promoter had sold it to someone else, it dropped suddenly in its prominence amongst long-standing dealers of repute, and we decided that the angst - the sheer angst that we have gone through each time we've participated, virtually chewing our fingernails as we wonder if the expense and effort has been worth it - is not for us.

Nothing scheduled for the rest of this month. (I'm busy restocking the jewelry cases and still trying to sort out the inventory boxes, a hangover from my agenda of the past summer.)

November will start out with our local community garage sale. Scheduled for November 5th, it's an opportunity for us to get that Last Gasp, as I refer to it, from the items that don't come up to scratch in my book as acceptable items for inventory. NOT BECAUSE of quality, but because we don't consider them to collectible (hello!) nor antique. The people who shop the garage sales seem pretty happy with what we have. We are (again) happy to find the right home for the items. What is left is taken to the only local charity that I regularly donate to, CASA (Community Action Stops Abuse). This year we have the added interest, we're hoping, of some select furniture items left over from the downsizing that the in-laws went through in their move across state earlier this year. Anybody want a CD rack? Or 3?

Antique Alley's fall show, in Bellair Bluffs, is scheduled for November 13th. It can be a very popular show, and has been in the past. Since I obviously don't know how shows "go" these days, I am going to try to be ready for what is demanded of us. If we need a $5 table, then we'll whip one up. I have experimented with bargain tables in the past, and perhaps their time had not yet come. On the other hand, I don't want to rely on that particular setup if this show remains a genuine Antique show. (Up to and including the show in Dunedin, bargain tables and sale tables have been not only frowned upon, but disallowed by show organizers. Like I said, I had thought being in the loop had something to do with careful review of our contract, but I guess I was wrong last time out!)

And now, time for a photo. It's been too long since I posted any here: this necklace is from Senegal, Africa. It's made of Murano glass slubs and fashioned into a bridal necklace with the addition of brass elements. We found this treasure on our trip to Sante Fe, NM. Talk about a Statement piece of jewelry - this is a substantial necklace, weighing heavily and drawing everyone's attention the moment it's slipped over your head. (The earrings shown, silver and lapis, sold at an earlier show.)

About that Dunedin show

I'm going to say it.

It was a bad show for us. Nobody told us it had turned into a flea market. If they had, we would have brought the correct merchandise at the garage-sale prices that other vendors (I refuse to call them dealers, despite having seen some of them at other, indoor, higher-end shows in the past) had on offer. There were $1 tables, $5 tables, teapots without lids, lids without whatever they were supposed to go to, tables so heavily laden with cheap, plastic necklaces at a buck a pop that I wondered where on earth someone could find so much jewelry that clearly didn't belong at something called an ANTIQUE show.

It took us 4 1/2 hours to make enough money to cover the rent. The next 2 hours we made enough to cover lunch and the cost of fuel. Oh, our *time* is free. Apparently. The show turned from an absolute failure into barely scraping into "pass" category only as we started to pack up. We waited until the end of the show to pack - we wanted this to work. Someone came back to buy a necklace half an hour later than they said they would. Someone else bought a lamp right out of the padding and the box it was packed into. Those 2 purchases were the only things that saved the show. Too close!

As to the subject of inventory type and pricing... there apparently is an informational LOOP that we are unaware of. Such as when a regularly well attended regional antique show flips and flops and becomes a trash-to-treasures show. Frankly, we did a lot better at our community's annual garage sale, without the hassle of waking up at 4:45AM, setting up tables, coverings, bookcases and displays, than we did at this show. Although we do not calculate our weekend hours into the cost of doing business, this is only because we don't want to see the naked truth. Which is - this is a great way to become poor.

Fall 2011 season start

I wish I could drum up the requisite enthusiasm for this... we'll be setting up at the Dunedin Fall Antiques Fair on Saturday, October 15th, for the day-long show. I'll put it this way: summer was a snooze-fest, to the point of us deciding not to acquire any new inventory.

We had an amazing vacation in Paris recently, with the exception of the much-anticipated trip to les Puces. Bob had been there 8 years ago - admittedly, a long time ago. The website and tourism information looked encouraging. And then, we showed up at one of the biggest (I'm not even going to name it) flea markets established. And found it almost empty of dealers. Welcome, my dears, to the global economy. What sucks here also sucks in Paris. I understand (from doing some after-the-fact research) that this one particular market suffered from mismanagement and disputes between investors in the massive property and the dealer tenants, during which, the customers' needs were not served. But this I would compare to the colony collapse of a beehive. Gone.

We have a lot of work to do to prepare for this upcoming show. I want to be ready for the customers should they arrive and be prepared to shop with us. We are ready to do serious commerce! I mostly want to have my business radar on and do some serious listening to what the customers have to say. I know what we are doing in our own household: keeping a much tighter rein on the expenses and being less generous with where the dollars go. I hope a policy of meeting the consumers partway, with an adjusted view of our pricing, will help to encourage the continued success of Time Travelers.

Missed an entire month?!

August came and went.

(That was almost going to be my entire blog post.) I've been working like a fiend listing and selling compact discs since my in-laws radically downsized into their apartment. Their collection has been moved to a digital format, and the originals have no place in their smaller digs. It's been a brisk business going to the post office almost every day, as CD's are sent hither and yon. (I've always wanted to use that expression.) I take great delight in discovering just where the deliveries go.

There's a new camera on its way to us to replace the stalwart Olympus PowerShot I've been using all this time. (Thanks, HiltonHonors!) After years of service and calling upon it to do heavy duty in taking pics for Time Travelers' website, it was apparent that it was no longer up to the job. Sniff. Too many close up shots coming out not-so-great in my very controlled studio environment was a sure clue that something was amiss.

Kind of my roundabout way of saying that nothing has been happening. I sure haven't been taking any action in order to provoke it. (Bad month for me.) zzzzzz

And a brief departure while we tidy up in the corner

Wait a sec, wasn't I working on the website? Wasn't that going pretty smoothly? And then, SMACK! Let's throw a couple of obstacles in the path just for funsies.

OK, then. Having spent the last month intermittently listing about 200 CD's out of the 600 that have come into our home as a result of our in-laws moving into an independent living facility down the road, I find that I'm packing and taking said packages to the post office just about every day lately. Quite the impressive collection - and quite the range in price that I've found as I've explored as I went through the listing process on Amazon, where I'm an established seller.

It amazes me that I can take what is a hobby/business, and become extremely distraught with it. One day this week I had a customer on Amazon who had placed the order for a CD box set, and then sent a message that he was leaving the country by the end of the week and needed to upgrade the shipping to overnight the item. The hoops - the incredible hoops - of having to cancel the transaction yet noting the conditions concerning the cancellation so I wouldn't be "dinged" as a seller, upgrading the shipping, then relisting the product and notifying the customer to go ahead and make the transaction again, was aggravating. Not the least of which was the realization that the credit given by Amazon for the overnight shipping charge fell far short of the actual cost. Couple this situation with another on the same day where a customer received a CD which was by the artist they wanted, but it was the WRONG album. (That was a refund. Shake my head and thank my help for the - help.)

I was rather rattled by having both of these events happen in the same day. Lost money on both transactions. Did a lot of running around in trying to salvage my "seller" game face, particularly with the incorrect order - that stuff burns me!! How could I have not looked at the order more carefully?! (Beats own head against wall.) One saving grace is that my reactions in both instances rewarded me with very good feedback by both customers - believe it or not, I really think that's worth something.

So you may have noticed reading earlier that I've got 400 CD's that I was unable to list for sale. That's not saying I didn't go through the process of researching and discovering that they were not sellable. Each album was looked up, the price found (and found to be pennies) and put aside as "what do I do with this one now"?

I miss my garage.

Anyways, I took a small selection of the non-listed CD's to a local trade/swap/sell music store. The owner was impressed with the musical quality of the discs I brought. And then offered me $3 for 2 of them. So this is going to be harder work than I had hoped it would be. At this point, I'm thinking: "library donation". I am pretty worn down by this aspect by now.

And where the heck did all the energy that I'd been devoting to my website go? Pffft.

Workin' on the website

Nobody's harder on yourself than you. Boy, don't I know it. Having made several starts in good faith, going as far as sifting through entire boxes of inventory and picking out the pieces that I wanted to add before others, I then did - nothing.

Well, not exactly NOTHING. We hauled the tub of stock upstairs so I could start taking pictures. It's a big box. Takes up a lot of room; not an attractive addition to the living room. This was at the end of April. And you know, Life happened. (No excuses, other priorities made themselves known and we took appropriate action.) Life is still happening, what do you know? But I'm making the motions now to start adding more items to the eCrater store.

I have been in touch with another antique dealer friend of mine, someone with similar interests, and offered to carry some of her items in our store too to diversify her business model as we have. Of course, the offer was made right when I stopped doing work on the website, which compounded my feelings of guilt. But now I'm starting to schnibble away at the project; I'll never consider it work as long as I have the passion for the items we collect and offer for sale, which is the best part of all.

(I'm a little weary of this "baby steps" stuff, though - sheesh!)

And, from my friend's items added to the website, I present the double egg cup. This one is from Wedgwood Edme, in the "Conway" pattern. From the website description for the item: "The double egg cup from Wedgwood has several supposed uses. One is to protect a second soft boiled egg and keep it warm while the first is being held in the smaller of the two cup openings. Another is to provide a secondary type of consuming the soft boiled egg - in the larger cup, the soft egg can be scraped out of the shell and mixed with salt and pepper, and eaten with a spoon. In my house growing up, we thought the purpose was to serve juice in the large cup - and when we were done, the cup was turned over to serve the soft boiled egg in. (That seems to have been a use particular to our family!)"

Enjoy.

Breaking news (or what passes for it)

The Dade City Spring Antique Faire has been cancelled due to lack of response by dealers.

The message left on our voice mail said that they'd try again in the fall, and our check would be returned to us.

Hunh.

Ready for Dade City

Unbelievably, we have 2 weekends off between shows. The last of the season is the Spring Antique Faire in Dade City, setting up Friday April 8th, and ending Sunday afternoon, April 10th.

We're hoping it's a better experience than the last show in October, which was ill attended by dealers, and augmented by an art show whose participants came and went at their whim, which affected us all as a whole. Shudder.

So I've optimistically revamped almost all of the jewelry cases, and we plan to revise our pricing on items as we unwrap them as we set up for the show.

I'm looking forward to a break.

Tell me how you REALLY feel

I've been dancing around the subject of the outcome of my attempted fundraiser for the Red Cross to support the victims of the disasters in Japan. Elsewhere, I have coached my words in civility, in serenity, and in benign acceptance of the dismal response.

The bald truth: on the day, including the $20 that my mother in Canada will be sending me, we raised a total of $59. One was a purchase from an item on the table, and two were donations by customers of the change from their transactions in buying other items we had for sale.

I was really at peace with how it had turned out. I couldn't have predicted how it had turned out; but in fact, I had hopes that almost every single person coming through the booth would read and be moved into action by our well-placed and carefully worded signs about the donation; I had hoped that the table would be picked clean by noon.

It was not to be. Indifference, vague smiles coupled with glazed-over avoidant side glances, and the sideways-crab-like shuffle away from the table that confronted people with the challenge to make a donation, however slight, to benefit the Japanese people in their time of challenge and need.

I was alright about it until about an hour ago. I was running some errands, and got to one business where I had to go through returning an item (a process which I dislike having to do, but it was unavoidable). The customer service rep is one who has worked with me in the past and who has this broad, unmistakable streak of compassion that runs through her like a swift running river. A large soul, if you will. For some reason, I found myself telling her of what had happened. And the tears started to flow.

The truth is that my heart feels broken. I had hoped to have the love and compassion that we and our fellow dealers who'd donated items to the table returned in kind by generous and enthusiastic purchases and further cash donations. It's hard for me not to feel discouraged. At the same time, I commend the dealers who helped to make the lovely table display possible, and their spirit of giving.

I think I'd like to go hide under my rock, thank you very much.

Gathering Momentum for Saturday's Fundraiser

Today I paid a social visit to my fellow antique dealer, Lisa. We did a lot of catching up since we haven't seen each since Christmas - she's been working in a shop, and I, well, haven't.

I told her of my initiative to raise funds for the Red Cross for the Japanese victims of the earthquake and tsunami. She donated an item for the sales table - thank you!!

Then the owner of the shop next door came in for our opinion on a great piece of retro bar-ware she'd come across. (Super piece.) Lisa told her of what I'm doing this weekend, and Rebecca immediately went to her shelves and started handing me Japanese-made items to put on the table to raise funds as well.

So many heart-felt gifts; and some from a perfect stranger. It was difficult for me to hold back the tears of gratitude. (OK, so I didn't hold back...) For all the bad we see in the world, there is so much good as well. I hope that we raise a bunch of awareness AND monetary donations to send to the people of Japan. I still have a couple of days left to gather some items together.

Antique Alley a Success, and a Charity Fundraising Drive Coming Up

What a glorious weekend it was. So comfortable, and everyone, it seemed, was in a good mood. Even though sales are generally lower than they've been in the past, I wouldn't dare complain - we performed admirably. Changing up our inventory selection slightly - I'd acquired what seemed like an enormous amount of crafting and sewing lace trim and applique odds and ends - they made an interesting addition to the booth. An acquaintance of ours had come by some Victorian glass doorknobs, and they sold quite briskly.

It was great to have these items that were out of the ordinary from our usual inventory - whatever is unique and unusual is what sets one dealer apart from another at these shows.

The shift in merchandising, with more emphasis on jewelry offered in simple, low volume displays, is also working well. My hunch that people become overwhelmed at the sight of too much wonderfulness seems to be true - pare the offerings down and the sales actually increase. The challenge is to keep stock easily accessible to refill once an item is sold. This time around jewelry sales accounted for 38% of our volume, and we devoted about a third of the booth space to those items, so for this show we seem to have figured it out correctly.

Personally I struggled with the crowds a bit, and was uncomfortable :-( A couple of days afterwards and I'm starting to calm down. Darn this state of anxiety.

Coming up this Saturday is the "Antiques In The Park" show in Gulfport. I've been acutely aware of the disaster in Japan, and really wanted to do something relevant and create awareness of what the local community can do to help provide much needed aid. The idea sprang fully formed to have a table of collectible items that are all made in Japan - and we are going to send 100% of the proceeds of the sales of these items to the International Red Cross Response Fund. I've already signed the Third Party Agreement (the legal stuff) so I can collect money on the Red Cross' behalf. I've even been able to recruit another dealer into donating some Japanese-made items to sell from the table, too.

The magnitude of the disaster is so overwhelming. I felt I had to come up with a creative way to raise our local community - and indeed, the antique dealer community - awareness of how we can send whatever help we can.

Round-up of Dunedin show - um, Different!

As a participant, this show has mixed reviews. The city of Dunedin's strategy, if there was one, seems to have been to combine as many events as possible into a single day. There wasn't just the Antique Fair and Classic Car show going on; but the Green Market (a farmer's market), and a Doggie Wash fundraiser, with some kind of beer-festival related activities going on at the same time. My personal feelings are that having so many diverse events happening simultaneously, all targeting different customers and interest groups, tended to detract from each other rather than add to the total experience. Although the foot (2- and 4-) traffic was quite high, there were so many people wandering about who were just Not Interested in what an Antique show had to offer. Plenty of instances of partners being "dragged along" and looking unhappy at having to spend *any* time at the stretch of road where we were set up, because they were just interested in getting their doggy washed. Or in getting to the beer. Or in buying their organic veggies for the week.

I'm thinking "cluster - " something. What's that other word? Starts with an F and rhymes with "muck"?

The weather was DIVINE. No humidity, some gusty wind just to keep us on our toes, sunshine and not too warm. It *should* have been a rockin' day for sales. BUT. But. We were at the end of a two-week period when gas prices had risen $.33 per gallon. Nothing scares our customers into frugality like rampant, rising gas prices. I swear it creates a glue to be formed in peoples' pockets, and they can't take those hands out of them, not even to pick things up to look at them.

That said - all these apparent negatives working against us - we had what is passing lately for a decent show. I only had to retreat to the van once for a panic attack and case of the weepies. (More about this development later.) We did, however, experience the first customer return since starting in this biz.

I've posted the photographs of the item in question: it's a change making machine (like we used to see bus conductors wear around their belts) that is affixed to a two-drawer bill holder. Made by the McGill Metal Products Company (still in operation), this item came from a local marina and has a great patina, some delamination, and the metal portion of the item is lightly covered with rust, as you'd expect from a piece that spent its operational life in salty, sea air.

It was the first - and fairly substantial - sale of the day. Unfortunately, 3 hours later, the customer came back with the item, saying that once he got it home and took a closer look at it, he started to suspect that it wasn't a genuine piece, but rather, made up. That is, the coin changer might have been old, but he thought the wooden base was a later and newer addition.

Er.

The label indicating who the manufacturer is, is on that suspect wooden base. How would that have happened? And how out of the question is it that McGill would make such a product? - a portable, fairly secure and rudimentary cash register, for a business like, say, a fishing charter?

We were dumbfounded at the man's claims. I started to think, though, about how many shows we'd been to and witnessed dealers in heated arguments with customers over quality and veracity of items. Everybody loses - the customer does (or doesn't) get their money refunded; the dealer gains a reputation for attempting to pass off fakes or inferior goods AND they are branded as being difficult to do business with. I know a couple of dealers who are very strong on principle... and rather low on sales volume.

No protests from us, we cheerfully refunded the customer his money, wanting him to remain happy and hoping that he will take another chance with us in the future.

In the meantime, I offer these photographs of the item in question. Pretty certain that it will find a good home, and soon enough.

Second Act

(I don't quite feel ready for this!) *gulp*

It looks like March is going to be our busy month this winter/spring season. Just three shows, but that's the first three weekends of the month. I daresay by the time we get to the third and last one, we won't know which end is up.

This is a hobby, and we do it for the fun of it.

This is a hobby, and we do it for the fun of it.

This is a hobby, and we do it for the fun of it.

OK, OK, I'll stop with the whining. Saturday, March 5th: Dunedin's Spring Antique Fair and Classic Car Show. We had a great show the last time out, and the location is very good - the main street of the town is closed down for the day, and it intersects with the Pinellas Trail so there is a lot of foot traffic. They messed around with this show a while ago, moving it to another venue, then moved it back where everyone - shop owners, the shopping public, and vendors - were happiest. Fingers crossed!

Sunday, March 13th: Antique Alley, Belleair Bluffs. A well attended (by vendors and public) show that we'd tried for YEARS to get on to the regular sign-up list for, we think we finally did it as this is the second time in a row we've been able to get in. Yes, being able to get into shows can be an issue - if the promoter isn't familiar with you as a vendor and the type of merchandise you offer, it can be a challenge to get in and then become a regular attendee. Again, this has a lovely setting, with a maze of vendors spaces set up amongst a small shopping center. Um, slight grrr as there isn't a suitable link for the event.

Saturday, March 19th: Antiques in the Park, Gulfport. This event, which varies its location between South Pasadena and Gulfport depending on availability, finds itself back in its hometown of Gulfport. Love this show!

As for how well prepared I am for these upcoming shows? I think I can.

Intermission

Where's the damn popcorn?

brb

Yes, it's gone a little bit quiet here!

Time out for the holidays. Time out for wintery (as wintery as it gets around here, at least) weather; time out for some regrouping, even. Anyone who knows me well would be gobsmacked if they discovered I'd made anything resembling resolutions for the new year. Let's just call it some business planning and be done with it, eh?

The plan for 2011 is to get more of our inventory put on to the website, as the local shows are fewer and farther between. We even decided to forgo the January Sunshine City show in St. Petersburg altogether as we assessed the cost and benefits. Its proximity to home just couldn't trump the low sales this show realizes for us. Another major factor impacting our decision is the increased travel that Bob's day job entails. Working at such a pace Monday through Friday doesn't leave much time for preparation, loading and unloading - and definitely leaves Bob without the restorative down time on the weekends that is more necessary than ever for him.

I can't say that I'm saddened by this decision. The fact is that for myself, I have struggled with the shows this past year, finding them difficult as issues with my mental health just wouldn't Go Away as any of us who know, wished they would. I'm sure that things will change again, and we remain ready to adjust when the time is right for that. But economically, and personally, this shift is the way for Time Travelers to go for now.

I'm excited at the prospect of opening the doors wide on the eCrater store. I'll also be creating more jewelry and exploring more creative expression in that area.