Time Travelers Antiques and Collectibles

How the season is shaping up

2012-01-09T10:26:00.003-05:00

PLEASE: no liquids near the keyboard.

We've had 2 sales this holiday season. One transaction was with a gentleman in Belgium for a Wedgwood Jasperware item on the website. Despite daily (and sometime, hourly) attempts on both our ends, we were both unable to make the eCrater e-commerce work to our mutual benefit. It took over four weeks of back-and-forth emails, some good faith, and more than a little bit of "so THIS is why the global economy is messed up" on both sides before the transaction was SUCCESSFULLY completed. AND the customer, despite initiating the business in the first week of November, was able to take receipt of the item before Christmas. It was a real nail biter!

The second sale, not so exciting, is also not so successful. Seven soup bowls of Queensware, again shipped and taken receipt before Christmas. Only the customer ordered the incorrect variation of the design (one has a smooth edge - what I've got and shipped him; the other has a ruffled or scalloped edge, which is what they wanted, but I haven't any of). So that sale is coming back for a full refund.

No matter how many photos you take, or how careful the wording is in a description, people will see what they want to see and read what they want to read. Especially when Christmas is 10 days away.

Wedgwood - where it's now made

2011-10-31T12:33:00.004-04:00

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

2011-10-26T14:52:00.004-04:00

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

2011-10-24T13:44:00.003-04:00

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

2011-10-07T12:39:00.002-04:00

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?!

2011-09-02T09:09:00.003-04:00

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

2011-07-30T10:00:00.004-04:00

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

2011-06-14T11:02:00.003-04:00

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)

2011-03-30T14:17:00.004-04:00

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

2011-03-25T16:00:00.002-04:00

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

2011-03-21T12:27:00.002-04:00

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

2011-03-16T13:06:00.002-04:00

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

2011-03-14T16:35:00.005-04:00

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!

2011-03-08T16:06:00.007-05:00

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

2011-02-21T16:34:00.005-05:00

(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.

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

2011-01-17T16:37:00.001-05:00

Where's the damn popcorn?

brb

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

2011-01-10T09:52:00.004-05:00

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.

Show this weekend December 11th

2010-12-06T14:02:00.003-05:00

omg

How often do I actually write a post BEFORE we do the actual show?

It's.... it's.... the second Antiques In The Park show to be held at the Garden Club of St Pete. It's pretty cold right now. Woke up to temperature in the 40's. I hope this cold front has moved on by the weekend or it could push the kibosh on the show. Either I will give up or (if she's thinking straight) the promoter.

Florida isn't really built for cold weather. You don't want to get out of your car and wander around at a show when there is a brisk breeze near the water. Brrr! As brrr! as it feels up north, relatively. During the last show, even though the sun was shining and trying its hardest, I never did warm up, and I felt miserable because of it. If my fingers aren't working because there's no blood circulating to them, I'm very, very unhappy. Hard to make change, properly wrap an item and &$^@% !!! just you try to find the open end of a plastic bag.

So I'm sending sunshiny, warm thoughts our way for this weekend, long made short.

I guess this officially makes me a Floridian, eh?

No, wait. It gets better. I have a link to the weather report for the local area showing Saturday temps being up to the 70's, with a warming trend.

A little bird told me....

2010-11-23T12:50:00.003-05:00

....about a little promotion that American Express is doing this Saturday, November 27th. Read all about it and follow the link to register your card here: American Express "Small Business Saturday".

What a great idea to promote small businesses all over, and support a worthy charity.

Perception is a funny thing

2010-11-15T10:22:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we did a one-day show in Bellair Bluffs at Antique Alley. We've done it before, but not with any regularity; it's been difficult to get on the list of regular vendors for this popular show. It was a glorious Florida day. Cool and clear in the morning for set up, and no wind or humidity for the day. There was a steady stream of customers for most of the day, although, true to form, most of the commerce had been completed by early afternoon. (This is the only pattern that I have been able to detect amongst the different outdoor shows that we do during the season.)

Just about all of the dealers were grumbling about how traffic seemed to be "off" or down, and how sales were down along with that traffic. Bob and I jumped in with the rest of them, as our gleaming tables of goodies went seemingly untouched by a breeze, let alone any human hands other than our own. We packed up at the end of the day and trudged on home.

Where I finally whipped out the calculator and discovered that we'd just finished the best show we'd done at that location. Lower in sales volume but higher in sales total. So what on earth had we been complaining about? Making MORE money with FEWER sales? Wait a minute - isn't that the whole idea here?

Yup.

I think what had happened was that we - or more to the point, *I* - was listening too much to the wailing and moaning going on around us, instead of actually looking at my sales records. Yes, we are in a very poor economic state, and the outlook is grim. But Time Travelers is holding our own. If anything, we are getting a bit better at what we're doing in seeing our average sale climb when you'd expect to be seeing it go lower. We've cut back - believe it or not - on our purchases. We've revamped how we do some of the merchandising, and I'm thinking that it's paying off. Having the inventory well stored and accessible makes it easier to select items to take to a given show - a big stress reliever.

So there you go. We spent all day thinking we were doing stinko and it wasn't until we got home that we had to read the facts to set us straight. Now I know there is a lesson in there for me. Just who am I listening to?

Notes from the road - Santa Fe, New Mexico

2010-10-25T18:26:00.003-04:00

(I was going to call this post "Psychiatric Notes from the Road" but didn't want to scare any of my vast readership away. Let me say that traveling whilst undergoing a major medication change - this point being the washout period where I am between treatments for my ongoing chronic depression - is challenging, interesting, and not the nightmare that one might presume it to be. This post is not going to dwell on those experience solely, but also cannot help but be colored by them. Onwards....)

Finding the same niche that Time Travelers occupies as dealers in Florida here in New Mexico has taken us a day or two. Flea markets are not the same - the indoor market we looked at was much like a collection of what we'd think of as yard sales, hauled under cover and with high retail price tags. We moved quickly on from there, disappointed. The outdoor flea market, advertised as having hours of 8AM on, didn't actually start that early. We arrived at 8:30, thinking we'd have missed the best deals of the day (as you would have back home), only to find 3 cars in the parking lot and no vendors set up yet. Puzzling to us out-of-towners, but we decided to return later in the day. I thought that maybe 8AM was when vendors were to wake up, and that New Mexico Time is a different thing than Florida time when it comes to Flea Markets. I was right!

Antique stores carry top quality, top dollar merchandise. Where, oh where, were we to find the marvelous items to carry back with us on our adventures? The answer came from a different place than I thought it would - consignment shops and thrift stores. Very good quality items at fair prices abound.

Meanwhile, my nerves were jangling with the stark vistas and beautiful colors of northern New Mexico. I didn't know that I wouldn't be able to competently drive in the strange environment with the non-identifiable accents of the GPS' vocal directions, but I quickly became upset, saying, "What?? What did she say??" at every indication to turn, stay on the same road; you name it. Without Bob behind the wheel, I would not have gone beyond the hotel parking lot on this trip. My patience with myself and the rest of my world has evaporated along with the level of antidepressants in my system.

Our return later in the day to the outdoor flea market rewarded us with many vendors, but not selling what we were expecting. We kind of thought it would be a mix of packaged tube socks from China, yard sale finds, and fresh produce. Instead, it was largely artisan-generated jewelry, bulk beads imported primarily from the Far East, clothing, rugs, and the ever-present beautifully crafted silver jewelry of the area and from Mexico. We were delighted to find a vendor selling fair trade items of all descriptions from many African countries.

I'm finding that I am more sensitive than usual to my laundry list of triggers. It helps to build in some "down time" in the middle of the day to rest, block out the sensory input (some time soaking in the bath tub has been wonderful), and drink more water whenever I can. A visit to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum left me oddly dull, until I saw photographs from which some of her work was derived; I was just about overcome with emotion. (wtf?) A visit to a photography gallery with some truly stunning works (Steiglitz, Ansel Adams, Yosef Karsh; you name the iconic photographer and this gallery had their work represented) had the same effect. Good thing if I close my eyes I can stop seeing the pictures and the tears stop! What an unexpected effect of being without medication. I prefer to be not so very sensitive as this, and look forward to the end of my countdown when I start up on another antidepressant. Oh, and this isn't something that I asked for or wanted; the timing frankly has been awful, but I have been, as Bob says, a "trooper." Gawd, how I hate that word.

I don't currently have the mental facility to post my photos but will catch up when we get back and I'm all drugged up!

Off the Floor and On to Breathing Space

2010-10-21T09:50:00.002-04:00

The future has arrived, and her name is Sara Trautman. This dynamo has seen the chaos that is our storage "system" and an extended stay in our home propelled her to take charge of it. Thank you, Sara!

Replacing the towers of bins stacked all over Bob's work area are steel shelving. All of a sudden we have floor space; tables and bookcases that we use for shows are in the spacious closet that had formerly been filled with other materials unrelated to the business that needed to be tossed or recycled. The day of action came when Sara helped unpack from the Dunedin show and advised us that there was a better way to build our mousetrap. *I* wasn't about to argue with her 15 years' experience in retail, particularly in managing stockrooms. Bob took a microsecond longer to come around, though it sounded worse than it was...

And that's the photo for today.

Dunedin this weekend

2010-10-12T16:03:00.004-04:00

Well, I don't really want to talk about the Dade City show. Let's just say that someone decided to hold a show and no one came. We were missing vendors (about half of them) and some of the meager traffic consisted of people who happened to be blowing through town and stumbled upon us. I will say it here: this could a hiccup, or it could be the demise of this show, which would be a shame.

Onwards, then, to the Sunshine City show at the Coliseum in St. Petersburg last weekend. Sorry for not writing about it in advance, but I haven't exactly up to snuff - another factor that is making this beginning of the season kind of hard for me. Stock is all priced, sorted, wrapped, packed away and identified, but I am deep in my funk and trying very hard to get up to a semblance of normality.

The Coliseum show was a different one for us because we decided - at the last minute, and it was a good hunch, for us - to share our small booth rental with another dealer. It halved the cost and so we had a jump start on the profits for the weekend - woo hoo! It also meant that, given the space constrictions, Bob and I took turns manning our portion of the booth. Let's hear it for shift work at antique shows! There were several good sales that were bonafide "be backs", where Bob had negotiated the prices with the customers, and they came back to make the purchase while I was working the shift.

Generally speaking, though, there were more people looking than buying. We did bring our premium inventory and as a result our average sale was higher. The lesson for us is: whatever we bring is what people will buy.

This weekend we'll be participating in the Dunedin Antique Show on Saturday, October 16th, after a hiatus of a couple of years. The stars are aligned as Bob has some time to be able to do a couple of shows in a row, and we're trying to take advantage of that while we can. We can always gobble some ibuprofen afterwards to apologize to our backs.

The photos at the top of this post are of 2 of the theatrical robes we picked up at a recent auction. They are sumptuous and old - the silk lining of one of them is very fragile. I believe they date to between 1895 and 1933. We were quite excited to pick them up and they are a great draw for the booth.

Another Season Starting Up

2010-09-13T08:18:00.004-04:00

First show of the 2010-2011 season is around the corner with the Dade City Antique Faire scheduled for the end of this month. Looking back on our notes from previous years show that we've never been at this show without being partially rained out! - AND - it's consistently been a very good venue for us. Also, I have notes from other September Dade City shows that read "hot as h*ll!!!" and one year I was so uncomfortable that I had to retreat halfway through the day to the air conditioned iciness of our hotel room to gather my over heated self together.

Oh, boy - I can hardly wait!

I am trying out a revamped jewelry department to see how it impacts interest and sales. Usually I group items together by type, as other vendors do; earrings, necklaces, bracelets and bangles, and brooches. I decided to take a page from my jewelry mentor's book and try a different approach to merchandising, and so came up with several groupings according to color (one is white, purple, and deep blue). Another grouping is of higher quality, designer costume items that I've been able to add to the inventory. I have enough display props from our time in the antique store to be able to put coordinated items together in "stories." This is how my mentor displays her inventory in retail settings - she finds it can inspire her customers and she can mix inexpensive pieces in with higher end ones.

You do not see jewelry-only vendors at the outdoor shows display their items in this way. What you see are trays as I described above - by commodity. I am really hoping that this trial has some impact and draws the kind of attention that will make the effort I've put into the reorganization worth it.

Other than that, we'll be taking items to the show that we had otherwise tied up in the store inventory; it will be an overall new look, which is really what you want for venues that you sell at on a regular basis. Up until now we haven't had the opportunity to rotate our stock easily from show to show.

Cranking it back up at Amazon

2010-08-10T20:36:00.003-04:00

(There must be an association of book Luddites somewhere.)

In spite of the sales of eBooks surpassing those of paper-bound copies, my Amazon Seller account belies this hard fact. In pursuit of the organization of our coming season's reading inventory, I plowed through the heavy boxes to cull the most salable for the mega-website's store. This may sound like an utterly stupid thing to do; yet our book sales are kind of brisk, considering this is the slow time of year for retail in all sectors.

I'm not averse to acquiring a Kindle for myself at some point in the future. But I'm reminded of the advent of the Compact Disc, when all of us vinyl slobs were waiting with baited breath for our stacks and stacks of records to be re-released in this new electronic format. For the most part, those reissues didn't happen, except for the gazillion-selling albums. Everything else got filtered and sifted down into "Best Of" releases and Compilations that missed the point of all those two-sided albums' integrity. So many records in our collections sounded great because we played that whole album all the way through.

(Where am I going here?)

I have that hinky feeling that not all those lovely, keep-til-they-fall-apart quality favorite books currently in our collections will find their way into the eBook format. I fully understand that going forward, the way is on a tablet that I download newly released publications into. I'm also certain that I, and other book lovers, will continue to be keen to get their hands on the pulp and paper, honest to goodness cloth bound or mass market paperback, of their beloved stories from yesterday.

I know this because my book sales prove it. I am doing pretty well selling used books in great condition on Amazon. I don't try to sell poorly cared books, dog-eared or with marked up pages; I like to think that with my books, as I do with the other items in our inventory, only the best preserved are offered. So far this approach is working well.

Birmingham Post - Business - Business News - Manufacturing & Skills - Fears for Wedgwood heritage if historic pieces are sold to fund pensions

2010-07-24T12:07:00.001-04:00

Birmingham Post - Business - Business News - Manufacturing & Skills - Fears for Wedgwood heritage if historic pieces are sold to fund pensions

That's a big yikes. I have many fond memories of the Wedgwood museum on the Barlaston factory grounds. I can't fathom the collection being scattered to the four winds. What a mess! Although we have an inordinate number of Wedgwood Jasperware and Queensware in our inventory, I also consider the collection, beyond a resource for those who wish to add to their own personal collection, a good representation of 20th century achievements for the firm. I'm proud to have amassed it, and happy to be the guardian for future owners who recognize the history and beauty represented by the wares. There's NOTHING like Jasperware. Queensware was so named in honor of English royalty, for whom it was originally produced. It then became popular with us "common folk" and we each are able to have our hands on easily affordable pieces of history.

I hope that the Wedgwood museum has a fair and noble outcome.

eCrater still kicking!

2010-07-23T10:15:00.005-04:00

Incredible, and a bit eerie, how when I stopped working in the store, sales online started to pick up. Not one to ignore a celestial dope slap to the forehead, I have been plodding along in adding items to the inventory there and padding out some of the categories.

Not to be outdone, our cat Psycho decided to get in on the action. Here's one of her special poses.

Activities

2010-07-12T12:58:00.004-04:00

I've been using my down-time working on the paper jewelry, and just finished a large, bib-style necklace. I wore it out in public (I like to give each piece a trial run to see how it holds up to an entire day of wear, and whether it garners any reaction from peeps) and I think it scored a 10 out of 10. I have more to make before I would consider approaching any craft galleries or putting them online to sell.

I'm also slowing working through a pile of treasures to add to the website. I've had a couple of sales and it definitely helps, no question, to list several items a week to keep the Google attribute feeds current and fresh when the public does product searches.

The other rather major project I'm considering to learn is how to use a soldering iron in order to use my vast collection of real sea glass pieces, in order to incorporate them in to my jewelry pieces. It's more of an investment than I thought it would be, so I'm pondering. Me, commit to following through on an investment in myself? It's a tough one, and doesn't happen without a lot of angst!!

Packed up the last of it at Patty & Friends

2010-07-05T21:33:00.004-04:00

It is worthy of a time for reflection, since it ALL came home with us. I'm now inspired to do some decoratin' at home with our treasures, since the start of the next season is so far away. (I've already started with more pictures on the walls, and I'm getting excited.)

The wheels turn in my itty bitty head.

To the season approaching and taking yet another new direction in how I set up the tables. One of my most favorite things to look at are home design magazines, with their varied color palettes and every changing themes. I know I can pull a few interesting tables together with the heaps and heaps of fascinating merchandise we'd amassed. And now I can see it ALL - no more of having the best stuff sitting in the store. I can get as creative as my brain allows.

Dinner out this evening, and on our paper tablecloth, I started a mini brainstorm of table display ideas. Then came home, did an internet search, and found a dearth of information. As rare as hens' teeth.

So I call that a challenge.

Dark time of the soul

2010-06-26T07:42:00.001-04:00

Please do not adjust your set.
The picture will resume as soon as possible.

It's all change again

2010-06-16T08:43:00.003-04:00

Nothing remains the same except for change, correct?

I'm no longer working at the antique store.

Bob and I will shortly be leaving there as dealers and have no current plans to go elsewhere. (Which swiftly led us to the "where are we going to PUT all of this stuff??" quiet panic, but not to worry - bins have been purchased and so have puppy training pads.)

We're going to concentrate on doing shows this next season, and I will ramp up the website, offering a wider selection of items. I also added the shipping option to include the United Kingdom, as our present inventory consists of items that were produced and distributed there. So now we're shipping to the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK. Woo-hoo!

We're entertaining the possibility of becoming pickers for a few other dealers - I'll be starting out with one for now, and will see how the relationship develops.

I'm not at all put off retail for the future - but for now, I have some personal issues that take precedence.

A most amazing day

2010-06-01T18:10:00.003-04:00

I'm pretty sure things like this don't happen very often in the world of antique shops. I'm certain of it, as a matter of fact. I'm rather bewildered at what transpired; pleased that I got to take part in it and happy, so happy, that it happened successfully with all parties pleased with the results.

(Now that I've got you wondering....)

Saturday at the shop a whirlwind arrived, in the persona of a shopper with the energy of a tornado, the passion of a woman in love with life, and the eye that knew exactly what she wanted.

Which was - the entire contents of a jewelry dealer's case.

Now, I can relate to falling in love with a beautiful piece of jewelry; a certain designer's collection; and even the way a particular dealer has merchandised their space to maximize the beauty and eye appeal of their offerings. I can totally relate to being presented with a lovingly prepared case and thinking to myself, "Wow, I would love to have *anything* from here - it all looks so good!" And then I would do a double take, pare down my expectations to one or maybe two pieces out of that case, sigh heavily, and say my tender goodbyes to the remainder of the contents as being beyond my reach, reasonably speaking.

But this force of nature was someone different. This passionate, exuberant individual just about threw her arms around the case (as best she could), and announced, "I want it all! I love every single piece that's in here, and I could never decide on one piece or another; I have to have it all!" I took in her enthusiasm, and said, "Really?" (pause.) "Are you interested in buying everything in here?"

"Absolutely." was the prompt reply.

And so started the odyssey of negotiating the sale of the entire contents of a jewelry dealer's case, minus the props and non-jewelry items. It was a hair-raising process for me; my blood pressure medication was tested for its effectiveness. There were times when the buyer had to be soothed at the magnitude of what we were going through - this was extraordinary for all of us involved.

Certainly there are times when dealers are known to sell off their inventory when they have decided to get out of the business or retire; this transaction, though, where a single, non-dealer purchaser has decided to acquire such an inventory, is not a common occurrence, if it ever happens at all.

But truly, it went rather smoothly. My anxiety-induced hysterics (hidden from most, especially on the job!) might have been necessary in the process for ME, but the transaction was completed within two days, leaving a very, very happy customer; a dealer who sees this as an opportunity to rebuild a collection with an almost clean slate; and a shop owner who is happy to have a significant sale during a time of year when such sales are certainly not expected.

I have also made a lovely new friend in this excited customer. Her enthusiasm is infectious; her spouse is charming and bemused, and they are, it turns out, neighbors of ours.

You simply never know what's going to happen when someone walks in the door of the shop, and that's what I love about it.

Fell in love with a little box

2010-05-06T16:49:00.002-04:00

One of those times where the more you learn about a piece, the more you come you admire it. This is a Victorian trinket box in a style called "jewelry casket". Made by the Jennings Brothers firm, the box is marked on the bottom with the initials "J.B." and in the opposite corner, the numbers "336", probably referring to a style number.

The elegant swirls of the Art Nouveau twines of stems and leaves are so lovely. I think I am going to keep this one in my active collection.

Show at the Museum of History in St. Petersburg

2010-04-21T08:05:00.004-04:00

This weekend we're doing an antique show at the Museum of History in St. Pete. It's being run by the same promoters who do the show at the Coliseum (and who are presently dealers with us at Patty and Friends Antiques). It's a small show due to the venue - we'll all be set up amongst the museum's exhibits. I know it will be a challenge but I also think it will be a fascinating opportunity to promote the city's museum and its rich history. It's a natural extension to have an antique show at the same location, to my mind.

I'll be helping Bob to set up our booth on Friday; but he will be manning the space by himself during the 2-day event, as I'll be working at the shop.

In other news, I have been working on creating the Facebook page for the Patty and Friends Antique Village (note the rebranding - part of the mall's 30th anniversary celebration coming up later this month). I am on a learning curve with this project, but having fun as I do it. (Er, note the number of Fans that Patty's has - please feel free to join us!)

And lastly, I've secured the final spot in the "red house" area of Patty and Friends where I work most of the time as our secondary booth space. I'll be preparing it - painting and installing some lighting - and slowly moving over from our upstairs booth space from the main building. This will allow me to monitor a sales area of our own while I'm working, and allow Bob and I to have a presence in both buildings. It also means that the red house, which had been a furniture gallery just a scant few months ago, will have made its conversion complete, once again, into an antique shop. I'm glad to be a part of that healthy growth and change.

And today's word is SKOOKUM

2010-04-09T20:14:00.004-04:00

I admit I resorted to the Wikipedia listing, after not getting the spelling right on the first couple of tries. What I see in the store are Indian dolls made for the tourist trade, dating to many different ages. I did find a terrific resource from the Wikipedia page that is devoted entirely to the subject.

It's not a type of item that I personally find to be of interest, but since there are such a number of these dolls in the store - and of such variety - I knew that it was worthwhile that I read a bit more about them.

Comes under the category of "whaddya know"?

Patty and Friends Antiques and what I'm doing there

2010-04-07T07:45:00.003-04:00

I have the pleasure to be a part of the staff of Patty and Friends Antiques in St. Petersburg, where Bob and I have booth space. It is so rare in this life to be able to work in a field that is also your passion - I can say that this is the first time it's happened to me.

It's a dynamic place, with many recent changes as the mall absorbed dealers from a store that closed elsewhere in St. Pete; it's those additions that necessitated the extra staffing that allowed me to come aboard as a member. I find that every single day that I work I get the opportunity to learn about another aspect of collectibles and what people find desirable and valuable. Whether it's Depression glass, celluloid animals, restored furniture, or vintage designer jewelry, I get to go to school every day that I show up to work.

I took the initiative to create a Facebook page for Patty and Friends, and slowly I'm learning about how to manage it as an informational and promotional tool for the store. Just as I learned about the building of my own website and store on eCrater; this very blog, and those darn Squidoo pages, I am determined to make the Facebook page yet another destination for Patty and Friends' fans and customers.

Dade City Spring Antique Faire Wrap-Up

2010-03-28T16:43:00.002-04:00

Boy, do I love this show. Once again, this show conflicted with an event being held at Mount Dora, "The" destination for antiques in our area. As a result, even though dealers had prepaid for space at the Dade City show, they headed instead to the Mount Dora event. Although dealer attendance was way down (by *20* dealers, what a wallop to the promoter of the show!), Gayle advised us ahead of time that our booth space was being expanded as a result. Right now we have not one but two mini vans in our fleet, so we were able to take full advantage of the extra room. We brought ALL our tables, and larger items that we don't always have space in the vehicle to haul. Our booth was the best looking it has EVER been; and Bob thought it was the nicest looking one at the show. (Shucks.)

Saturday was a fantastic day - sunny, not too warm, a light breeze; perfect for all of the cabin-fever Floridians who have dealt with such a harsh winter. We were busy right out of the shoot, up until pulling the tarps and securing them over the tables at day's end. We had a great day's trade and it was nice to see some regular customers from previous years' shows.

We had a special treat in having a fellow dealer from Patty & Friends come and make the trip to see the show and visit with us. I walked the show with her and it was exciting to watch such a passionate dealer in action as she made her purchases, and for me to say hello to the other dealers at the Faire. I'm usually scurrying from place to place and don't often take the time to truly enjoy other peoples' booths.

Sunday was pretty much a bust as a large front with lots of rain blew in with dank, blustery weather. Some dealers started packing up as soon as they arrived in the morning, but we held off for a few hours until it became apparent that the weather was not going to improve. We still managed to 1) make several sales, including a piece of jewelry that I'd already packed away, but remembered exactly where I'd put it, and so was able to pull it out as neatly as a rabbit out of a hat; and 2) beat the rain by a good bit, so there was no panic at all in our packing up, and we weren't completely exhausted, beaten down by the sun and/or wind or rain.

So, even though the show seemed like it should have been a bit of a dog's dinner (so few vendors, really only one good day to sell instead of two), overall it was a success for us.

I did a little bit of shopping. I am trying to expand my areas of interest and expertise; so I have gathered a small collection of celluloid toiletry articles. Interesting that these are extremely flammable, and an extensive collection should be stored in a freezer - I never knew that before I did some research. I also found some nice red painted wooden handled kitchen implements, some with white stripes, that date to the 1950's. I believe their condition, with no paint loss, make them attractive to collectors of such articles. Oh, and some old-fashioned wooden clothespins. They sure look great, and I think I have a little basket they will be charming in.

Thieves Market wrap-up

2010-03-14T11:11:00.003-04:00

Yesterday's Thieves Market on Anna Maria Island - our first chance this year due to inclement weather - was held in brilliant sunshine with a light breeze.

Shoppers were fierce with their bargaining skills, though, so it was tough work to keep our ground. We sift through our inventory and drastically reduce prices on items that we bring to this market, so it was quite a surprise to have one person after another offering us HALF of the marked prices! Wow, that is some rough work. Negotiating on every single transaction isn't a pleasant way to do business when you deal with middle- and finer- material. There are definitely businesses that are happy to operate in this end of the market, but it's a marked change from the way the Thieves Market was a year ago for us.

We're not certain that we'll go through it again next month - it has a definite whiff of a garage sale, rather than a fair market, at this point. Took the stuffing out of us, to be honest.

More Bunnykins hopping into the eCrater store

2010-03-09T19:48:00.004-05:00

I put an evening aside and put a bunny generation's worth of Royal Doulton tableware on to the eCrater site this evening. I do like doing it once I get in a groove - not too many items at a time (to photograph); items all cleaned, researched and camera-ready before I start; and I have a storage destination at the ready so I know exactly where I put the bunnies once I've entered the items.

(Can you tell I'm on my own this evening? I have a difficult time doing this intensive type of work with company, besides the cat, in the house. I keep the CD's playing, I keep a cup of tea at my elbow, and I crank away.

Here's the link to the category in the store. I even put a BONUS item in the mix - a teacup and saucer combination that would normally be sold separately. Since the saucer has a chip on the underside, I have bundled it together with a suitable cup in the most desirable "Casino" shape, and put it on the site at a special price.

(That's the photograph at the top of this post.)

Online world is waking up!

2010-03-05T08:07:00.002-05:00

OK, now I know there is some voodoo hoodoo mojo going on with having a blog. No sooner do I write about the stone silence of the eCrater site, than it starts banging empty cans together, and I've started to receive orders again. Hmmm. Never mind that I tried that "is there an echo in here?" post, and had an email that negated my theory of emptiness :-)

And my first foray into the wacky (wacky? maybe not, but nail biting, at least, for me) world of eBay did result in a successful auction. Not wildly successful, oh no; and I understand that the ground of that world will shift again come the end of this month. But I am glad to get yet another "first" behind me - whew! - and have had an auction that had bids!

Meanwhile, in the Real World of brewed coffee, sore backs and feet... Bob worked the Trash to Treasures show by himself because it was raindated to Sunday, and I was unable to assist him, because I was working. Yes, take that word in, you read it correctly. This Time Traveler was on her feet, indoors, in an antique mall, working for half a day. Is this the effect of the full moon, you may well ask? Is this the same madness that has turned on the machinations of the internet and its commerce in its suddenness? We must ponder and wonder, but all this Time Traveler knows is that she (that is, I) is a part time helper at Patty & Friends Antiques, and it's a fantastic place to find myself. Great co-workers, great bosses, great dealers (with the new ones coming in as the "red house" has been revamped to accommodate them). I'm feeling like some sponge, as I'm learning SO much each time I put in a shift. The other day it was about celluloid animals. (Hint: just ask the avid collector who is shopping for them about their passion, and BOY, will you learn a lot!)

Today's picture is of the Bunnykins Money Ball that sold yesterday at the eCrater store. What a sweetie!! I'd be putting my allowance in that for sure.

Finds of the week - yes, from the same place

2010-02-27T13:27:00.006-05:00

The first is the most impressive personal collection of Wedgwood Queensware I've ever seen, anywhere. I received advance notice of an estate sale and was able to procure this incredible, *131* piece collection of the cream-on-lavender dishes, with a few lavender-on-cream. It comprises 12 5-place settings with a generous number of serving dishes: platters, oval bowls, a covered casserole, a gravy boat, cream and covered sugar, ashtray and cigarette holder (used as a toothpick holder and tray), and 2 different styles of soup bowls, 6 of each.

My understanding is that the owner's mother acquired them in the 1960's and 70's. The condition of these dishes is excellent - there is a single cup that bears a crack; everything else is pristine.

Queensware was developed by Wedgwood for Queen Charlotte, who was so delighted with the result that she allowed the design to be named in her honor. It has been in production ever since - that is, up until the company's recent journey into receivership (the British term for bankruptcy). A private venture firm has purchased the company, but the future of Wedgwood remains uncertain.

And then there's this other acquisition. This would be a musical, mechanical, casket shaped cigarette dispenser. When wound up and the wooden button depressed on the side, the "Death March" plays. Open the top of the casket and a single cigarette is presented as the music is played. I can't say I'd ever seen one of these before! (And from the same estate.)

OK, so I'm a liar...

2010-02-24T12:42:00.001-05:00

We just had a sale on eCrater.

I swear, you write something in a blog and it causes the universe to take action. Or someone might be reading.

Nah.

This Saturday - Trash to Treasures in Tarpon Springs

2010-02-23T15:14:00.006-05:00

The weather's warming up, the sun is shining again, and it's time for Trash To Treasures, the flea market sale in Tarpon Springs at the other end of Pinellas County from where we are. We are well prepared this time around with the appropriate inventory; we'll have our portable shade with us, and items priced to sell! Bargains for everyone, from books and ceramics to jewelry and glass.

We passed on the chance to set up at the Thieves Market earlier this month on Anna Maria Island, as it was simply too cold, windy, and the sun was nowhere to be seen. Not conducive for customers to stroll and shop, and it would have been utterly miserable for us (well, ME, as Bob seems to be able to handle any weather condition thrown his way) to set up wearing mittens. This can be a capricious time of year with the weather, and I don't blame the snowbirds for their dismay at our out of whack seasonal temperatures.

Meanwhile, sales at Patty & Friends are holding their own, although my Teapot Extravaganza sale has been a fizzle. I don't think it was a wise idea with the coincidence of the Tea Party, perhaps. I could be all wet here (antique and collectibles folks certainly cover the gamut of political views), but maybe my choice of merchandise struck a nerve with some people. I'll finish it up at the end of this month and try a different promotion for March, and try to give the selection more thought.

One place that has definitely gone silent has been the eCrater site. I added a large number of items before the holiday season, but there hasn't been a single sale since October. I don't know what could have caused the sudden drop in sales, but I am just happy that I have no cash outlay in that part of the business, because if that was the case, I'd be very upset. At the most I'm just really puzzled and disappointed.

I am continuing to develop my paper and found object jewelry necklaces, and am really enjoying the creative outlet it affords. When the glaze is dry and the findings are crimped on, I'll take some more photos and post them here.

Now listed at Collectible Detective! and other neat stuff

2010-02-08T10:23:00.004-05:00

(I just think that's the coolest name for a search site!)

Time Travelers was submitted and accepted for listing at the Collectible Detective site, where over 6,000 links to vintage and collectible websites can be found.

Interestingly enough, our submission of website information to the ACNA hasn't been listed yet. I'm hoping they are doing a massive re-do of the site.

Patty & Friends Antiques is undergoing changes as more dealers are joining during this start of the store's 30th anniversary. The Furniture Gallery is in the process of being altered to accommodate dealers who were affected by the recent closure of the Central Avenue Antiques store. It's an exciting time to be a dealer at Patty's with all the new, old wonderful enticements about. Currently we're running a teapot "extravaganza" with reduced prices on some really whimsical pots, practical pots, and collectibles all. Also to come will be an improved jewelry department as we better highlight our selection of necklaces, brooches, and earrings.

Merchandising at the store

2010-01-20T20:12:00.005-05:00

These are some photos of the remerchandising that I've done using color themes in our booth space at Patty & Friends Antiques. Previously I had grouped items together by type or function - now I'm trying out a more decorative approach.

Today I worked on the jewelry display in anticipation of Valentine's Day, using heart motifs - earrings, ankle bracelets, pins, and necklaces; and the color red. I consider the display a work in progress ( = I'm not totally pleased with the result yet!) but we'll see if it has any impact.

What I took away from this year's ACNA meeting

2010-01-17T13:45:00.002-05:00

I am so glad that we decided to attend this year's ACNA (Antiques and Collectibles National Association) meeting in New Orleans. We met with other dealers and collectors; mall owners and auctioneers; and received expert instruction in several areas that we're able to take directly back to our business and apply immediately. Now THAT'S what I call a well-placed investment.

The association has 3,000 members nationwide and the meeting attracted 50 attendees. Bob and I attended seminars on furniture construction, rhinestone jewelry, going green with antiques, and ceramics. We participated in a charity auction that raised over $1600 for St. Jude's Children's Hospital (and came home with some treasures!). We took the bus trip to Magazine Street, ogled the high priced French antiques, ate some enormous and delicious oysters at Cassamente's, and - came home with a couple of treasures.

We took to heart the message that part of the greening of the antiques business is the repurposing of our own inventory: fine dining sets of china have fallen out of favor with the buying public, as have those small, 2.5 oz. wine glasses from the 1950's. Any wine pour these days is of 6 ounces or greater. So what to do with those small glasses? What to do with those sets of luncheon and salad plates, when all people want now are large dinner plates? (And forget cups and saucers.) It's not a matter of waiting for these items to come back into fashion - it's more important to identify the need for those items now and repackage the merchandise so that it's more attractive to your customers.

Those small luncheon and salad plates, especially odd ones out of sets, make lovely stands for pillar candles. Display them with coordinating colored items in your booth, and your dead inventory items have a second life.

Small wine glasses come back to life with a tealight placed in them and similarly displayed. What are the new wine glasses? Water glasses with stems - they exist in many older glassware patterns. It's not always necessary to go out and source new inventory; we often just have to take a fresh look at what we already have - that's part of the greening of the antiques business.

Candles can be purchased in bulk at little cost and when paired with these re-purposed housewares from our existing inventory make easy point of sale items for your business.

Break up that stuffy dining set by placing coordinating colored items amongst them to add variety and flair. A white china set with a grey floral pattern is instantly modernized by adding some pink glasses and candles sitting on pink glass side dishes to the setting.

I came home from this meeting, and immediately started to rearrange my booth space at the shop, shelf by shelf. (I've got 3 displays done so far and I've been back for a couple of days. I'm fired up!) Today's project was to spread our remaining inventory out and categorize it all by color so that we know exactly what we have. Which is: a lot of BROWN. A lot of GREEN. (I had no idea until this morning, honestly.)

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I'm so excited to be excited!

We just went out for ONE garage sale, honestly!

2009-12-12T13:31:00.002-05:00

...And came back 2 hours later, 5 sales later, the car full. Jeez, we thought it was late in the morning to be sale-ing, but I guess the weather (coolish and overcast) was on our side; and most of the shoppers MUST be at the mall.

I was getting a wee bit panicked with 2 shows coming up quickly in January and so much of our inventory tied up in the retail store. We really stopped doing any kind of serious buying months ago and have been working on trying to sell our existing inventory, but since one of the shows is the second Sunshine City show, the sister show of the one we did in October, I had that deer-in-the-headlights feeling that we'd better not have the same old, er, old things to bring. So we found some new old things today.

A glass topped bamboo cocktail table. A 1970's era framed abstract floral needlepoint in the colors of the age, orange, green, and gold. A Penguin round ice bucket (I love these!!) - every time we find one of these, we flip it fairly quickly. It needs a bit of TLC that my newly-tended to elbow can now give. Two cute vintage mini Santa mugs from Japan, very timely. A 1948 Zenith radio in a beautiful Bakelite case, a Tone Register model. The cord looks like it would set a house on fire nicely. A very pretty set of Alessi salt and pepper shakers from Italy - stylish and they have that instant vintage look about them. And a green glass sugar bowl of a pleasing shape. Oh, and what we went out to shop for - some assorted Wedgwood Queensware dishes in cream-on-cream.

I can relax now. Ahhhh.

Antiques are Green!!

2009-12-07T10:23:00.007-05:00

Say it again. Repeat. And again. It's true! This year, National Antiques Week was promoted and celebrated in Great Britain during the week of November 23 - 30, 2009. This week long event with the theme Antiques are Green came at a pivotal time for the antiques trade when public and media interest is heightened by campaigns such as "Antiques Are Green" spearheaded by Nigel Worboys and the petition on "Antiques" designed to persuade the British government to provide more support to the Fine Arts and Antiques Industry.

Why hasn't this caught on here in the land of consumerism and mass consumption? Oops, wrong question. Why aren't more people educated to the high value of recycling housewares, decorative articles, and furniture that are widely available in the antiques and collectibles market?

Let's take a look at some facts about the purchasing of antiques as recycling:

Purchasing antiques antiques results in minimal greenhouse gases; no rainforests are depleted, and no additional minerals are extracted from the earth. Their carbon footprint has long been eradicated.

When looking at purchasing antique furniture, look for pieces that are solidly built and made to last - in stark contrast to the made to items that eventually self destruct, but provide instant gratification that are manufactured for big box stores today. Also, it's helpful to try to buy local - look for styles that are native to your region, rather than ones that might have been transported at great cost over long distances to end up in the antiques store.

With a little bit of effort, we can each do our part to encourage our customers to appreciate the impact that they can have on the earth by recognizing the recycling process in purchasing antiques and collectibles over newly manufactured products.

It's mighty quiet

2009-11-30T08:28:00.004-05:00

The eCrater store has been silent since September. I've been adding items dutifully, posting about them on the member forum, and blogging here. Still (gritting teeth) have not paid for any advertising anywhere. Search after search for collector forums have turned up few, if any results, for me to post about our offerings. The odd hit here and there has new rules for those wanting to post about selling collectibles. No surprise, really, since the competition is so very fierce. But the few collectible forums that exist now exact a payment - nominal, but still - for those who want to post about their e-stores. As long as we're paying rent for booth space at Patty & Friends here in St. Petersburg; that is, paying out money there, I'm not keen about paying out more money on the internet to attract sales for the eCrater effort. One money pit at a time, as it were. This year it's the retail booth space. Next year maybe I'll try a marketing budget for e-retail.

The saving grace is, of course, that the eCrater store is not costing us any money. It's just sitting there. And sitting there.

I could be writing more Squidoo Lenses - but I'm still rather at a loss about best to utilize this tool. I know that it's a directional, traffic building internet tool; but I'm at a loss at how to fill the content to my satisfaction. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, or what a Squidoo even is, just try Googling it, and see if it makes any more sense than I can explain it here!! To me, it seems like more of an informational tool, rather than something that sends buying traffic to the store.

In the meantime, then, I've taken up with some limited jewelry making designs to use the odd, single earrings and broken necklace and bracelet bits that surface from our purchasing. Lately I have been dealing with a strained elbow injury, and so I found that a project using magazine pages actually used my non-dominant hand, allowing the injured arm to continue to rest.

The photo is of my first ever necklace. I am pleased with the colors, and the use of a single earring.

Trying to Hold our Own

2009-11-17T09:02:00.006-05:00

What kind of a title for a blog post is THAT? Oh, it's about diversity, not putting all of our eggs in one business basket, and trying several different approaches to see what works best for us. We think we have whole heartedly determined that indoor shows - even the Coliseum in St. Petersburg - are not ever going to be the best return for the money for the likes of us Time Travelers. They are expensive to sign up with; on the order of three and four times the cost of an outdoor show. Yes, we get the shelter and comfort from the elements; but it's a nailbiter to get to that break-even point on the cost of the show, and we've yet, after three years of attempts, to find the magical mix of finding what it is that people want to spend money on at our booth. If anything, the detailed records that we have been keeping have been showing that average sales are tending to go down, requiring higher and higher volumes. It's very difficult.

The website at the moment is in a dormant state. There has been a lot of chatter on the support forum about how the Google feeds have changed lately, not in our favor as independent vendors, but towards the big-box (and no-box) stores, like Target, Amazon, and other retailers with more clout. That would mean advertising dollars. Yes, I admit I'm in the doldrums on that front, what with the intense work that the eCrater site involves; but I'm still faithfully adding items on a fairly regular basis, as just doing that helps to keep the store in a more prominent position in the Google feed. (Of course, I have yet to spend a single penny on AdWords or any other type of advertising!! Note to self: get to work on another Squidoo lens, or two, or four.... mutter, mutter, mutter.)

Which brings me to the antique shop we have booth space in. I've linked to it a couple of times in the past - Patty & Friends. Bob and I are truly enjoying the sense of community that exists by going in to the store once a week or more, checking on our two booth spaces, sprucing things up; catching up on dealers' news, and of course looking at everyone else's booths. Sometimes I swear we are all supporting one another, buying each other's wares. (Hmm.) We secured a prime spot in the store when the season was slow, counting on being in the right place when business started to pick up again. That is proving to have been a good decision. The secondary space in the store has been less productive, but we are letting the entire shop have a full year of experience before we make any further moves.

The next outdoor show we have booked is not until January 2nd, 2010!!! There have been other shows around but this thing called Life gets in the way of participating in them all. Bob's Other Job has its demands too, and darn it if that position isn't the one that pays ALL the bills and keeps us with a roof over our head. So - the shows we book are the ones that we're able to do.

I think the overall tone of this post is not so happy and optimistic; I hope, though, that it comes across as realistic. We look for the business opportunities as best we can. We try not to be foolish. We're cautious but we're still trying new things (this year it's the antique store space). For myself, this mirrors how I'm feeling about the nation's economic picture at the moment. We aren't backing down. We aren't retreating. We aren't planning on "making a killing" either. We are hoping, instead, to hold our own.

The photo is of a B & C Limoges blank of a teapot form, dating between 1900 and 1907. These are usually seen hand painted with detailed floral designs and gilt edging; yet sometimes the blank forms were left unpainted for the sheer beauty of the shape itself.

A special addition to the website store

2009-11-02T11:38:00.005-05:00

I'm very happy to add this beautiful, 1930's era Wedgwood Blue Dip tea set, in the St. Louis shape, to the Time Travelers store at eCrater. Items such as this come up rarely at auctions such as Bonhams and Sothebys, and we're thrilled to have found the set and have it on offer. It's in perfect shape and was obviously in the care of a loving collector before we came across it.

This link takes you directly to the item in the store.

Still in the process of transferring files from the eMac to the new laptop. Yesterday spent a LONG time moving all the photographs of items in the inventory over; important, because I still want links to work on tools like Squidoo and this blog, so I need the source files in the right places.

I rediscovered another resource for my Wedgwood knowledge in the course of going through my old bookmarks, too; and that's a comprehensive listing of the color names and visual representations of the Jasperware that Wedgwood has ever issued - what a wonderful tool. It's the Wedgwood Jasper Color and Date Guide, and there's the link to it.

Whew! What a lot of work for a morning - time for a cuppa tea :-)

Laptop is Working for Adding Items to Store

2009-10-28T17:08:00.005-04:00

So maybe I'm the only person excited about this - but I'm up and running with my new laptop computer and am starting to add items to the eCrater store with this new tool. First on was a piece of Bunnykins tableware, a Don mug of marching bunnies going to camp.

It was also my first experience uploading photographs from my camera to the laptop, which went well. Putting the photos into a folder was the most challenging part (I kept confusing "tags" with "folders", duh).

Nice cup.

'Tiquing and Bargain Hunting In Pittsburgh, PA

2009-10-27T08:51:00.005-04:00

Last week we visited family outside of Pittsburgh (in Ambridge, PA) and got to see riotous fall colors, experience chilly weather and then Florida-like temperatures. In addition to seeing the city itself, we saw Falling Water (and drooled at the genius of Frank Lloyd Wright), ate some strange salads and sandwichs, and SHOPPED.

We decided to concentrate primarily at the bottom of the food chain, and aimed for thrift stores. This would seem to be a booming retail sector throughout the nation as people look for the best ways to stretch their dollars, promote recycling, and in many cases make charitable donations to worthy causes. There were stores we stopped at where we struggled to find a parking spot, so successful this retail model has become.

I had sworn to myself that this was not going to be a hunting and shopping trip. We have so many treasures already! I even packed a relatively small bag so I wouldn't be tempted to tuck those very items in amongst my belongings. Well, that plan went out the window within 24 hours of our arrival in the area. Bob started out with an internet search of the area for thrift stores - rated by consumers, no less - plugged the addresses into the GPS dohickey, and we were off. Sigh. Irrepressible is the word. Who am I but to go with the flow (or stay at home and watch the well fed squirrels rushing like mad with their nuts in the backyard)? So I flowed. It was easy.

So we found bits and pieces - jewelry, Wedgwood, a teacup, some kitsch (our favorite). It did require the borrowing of a duffel bag in order to get everything back home. And I should know better than to think that a trip to a new place won't include a hunt for us. And yes, I enjoyed it as much as Bob did; well, I think my fun center gets filled quicker than his. I do get burned out, and I'm the one to ask for the hunt to end. I didn't meet any resistance, though.

A Transition

I'm writing this post on our new laptop. Now begins the joyful process of transferring our files, photos, music (it feels like our entire life, sometimes) from our eMac, way past its "best by" date, to this machine of the Evil Empire. Thank you, HP. So far, so good. I hope that I'm back to adding some of the treasures into the eCrater store soon; especially as there are not as many shows for us to participate in so far this season.

Digesting the Sunshine City show

2009-10-14T09:11:00.005-04:00

It took several days of recuperation following the 2 1/2 day show. I guess we're out of practice. Bob was plum worn out - Friday he put in a full day at his regular, paying job, while trying to set up. It was maddening. I'm thinking that if another show requires a Friday set-up, we'll hire a porter (that would be the young, strong types at the venues, usually provided by the promoters for hire) to do the hauling and Bob can help me as he's able. As it was, I didn't handle the two-fer career day well at all and showed no grace under pressure, I must say. Feeling sheepish? Baaaaahhhh.

Of course, we were set up in plenty of time and the booth looked fantastic. Of course!! It must have been my artist's tantrums that did the trick there. Er. Or not.

We were in a very good traffic spot, in the aisle straight ahead from the entrance. I do wonder what the official door numbers were for the show. There were a couple of moments during which the place felt great and mobbed, and others when we were wondering where everyone had gone to. Another marker that I make note of is the appraisal fair - we've been at this show when the appraisals have been so stacked up that they've had to assign waiting numbers to people with items, then call out on the P.A. where they are up. That hasn't happened for the last 3 Sunshine City shows.

Which is my overall way of saying that, once again, we didn't do spectacularly well here. Comparatively, though, we did just as well as last year and the year before; so, given the economic picture, that is very fine indeed. It does feel, however, that we can't seem to get the "mix" right. This time, we tried bringing more jewelry and less glass, ceramics, and porcelain, yet our sales figures were exactly the same.

One thing of note: the value of our higher sales is way down. We didn't have a single transaction over $30.00, whereas in the past we've had much higher single item sales. So people definitely are spending less money in our booth this year than they did last year, but we are doing more transactions. (Aren't math and statistics fun?? I'm so glad I didn't flunk out of high school altogether!)

I did enjoy the air conditioned environment by being able to dress up a little bit. I wore a dashiki that I'd brought back from a vintage clothing store in the Haight in San Francisco on our last trip out there, and a filmy beach cover-up (with plenty underneath, thank you) along a similar vein. I thought the outfits really captured the vintage theme of the show, and I had many positive and admiring comments about my wardrobe. I tried walking around the show like a Pied Piper, but didn't get any rats to follow me back to the booth...

Today I'm revamping the jewelry display at our Patty and Friends booth to try to glam it up. Never a dull moment, specially when you're working with rhinestones. Ah!! Pun alert!

Necessity, creation, etcetera etcetera...

2009-10-04T15:27:00.005-04:00

This coming weekend is the Sunshine City indoor antique show at the Coliseum, a beautifully restored dance hall smack dab in the down town of St. Petersburg; readily accessible from the highway and main streets; free parking and air conditioned!! Again, it's early for the season, but it will be a good barometer of the economic condition we face for the coming year in our business.

We've changed our approach already in restructuring the allocation of space devoted to different types of items. It would seem that for the time being, ceramics and glassware are taking a back seat to costume jewelry. We therefore have concentrated more on trying to make our displays innovative and different from our neighbors'. We already purchased more of the standard glass top cases for earrings, plus scratched our heads as to how to make the affordable and fun bracelets more accessible for trying on. (A breakfast tray holding an array of bangles makes them much more inviting to try on than keeping them behind a locked case - after all, most of them are priced less than $20 and we can easily keep an eye AND ear on them. They make quite a clatter while being sorted through and tried on. So they are secure but still accessible.)

An influx of men's cuff links, tie clips, tacks, and rings into our inventory made us realize we should probably showcase this category on its own rather than mixing them in as we had amongst the other jewelry items. I wanted a display solution that would accommodate all these various types of items in a single place, so that a pair of cuff links could be shown with the coordinating tie tack close by. I would not have thought that a ring display would be the thing had I not seen another dealer (and then another, and another) using just this display item to do just this. I think it does wonders for showing the best the of the jewelry while hiding all the fiddly bits like the chains and fasteners. The finished case is shown in the photo at the top of the page.

Another display issue that came up was long, dangly earrings. The standard earring cases are great for most smaller pieces, but BIG, mega hoops, elaborate pieces from the Disco Age (long may it rest, but sell in our booth!), many fine ethnic examples of worked silver and brass simply get lost in a tangle when forced into those cases, even into larger sections. We've tried laying them out flat on the tables, and it just can't do a piece justice when it's supposed to be hanging down to one's shoulders. I needed to be able to hang these beauties up without having one hide the one below it. And I didn't want to buy the usual acrylic earring stand - boring! Overpriced!

I used my search engine skills and found directions for making my own earring display - which sounded Oh So Easy. One quick stop at your local craft shop (yeah, right!!) would be all I'd need to do to produce a cheap and pretty display for our long lovelies. Well, it took several stops at some various stores, but I did it! I found a reproduction of a luggage trunk (overkill - a smaller, briefcase sized object would have sufficed. What I found was life sized.) on clearance at a home decorating shop. I had to repair the hinges as they were ripped out. Screwed those in and hot glued them in place. Hot glued a bunch of places on the article because the entire case appears to be made out of paper board.

Then I hot glued strips of fabric ribbon across the insides of the case. Then I nailed them down because I could picture the glue giving way in the middle of the show. I think the overkill, given the size of the case, was probably a GOOD thing. Anyways, now I have this homemade, funky display unit for my long, dangly earrings (I fit 75 pairs into the thing during its dry run at home). All are earrings that would not have otherwise made it easily on to our sales table for the show. I took a picture of that, too. I spent $12 on creating this mahhvelous display.

Enjoy, and please don't laugh too loud or spray coffee over your keyboard looking at my handiwork...

First show - GASP - of the season

2009-09-28T08:19:00.002-04:00

Ah, autumn in Tampa Bay (or, more precisely, Dade City), where it still feels like the inside of a pair of pleather pants after a night of salsa dancing.

I'd say doing an outdoor show in September is pushing the season by at least a month. It's sweltering, it's a crap shoot with the weather (which we utterly lost this time), and people who choose to walk around a parking lot in this kind of heat are just plain crazy. Well, perhaps not as crazy as the people who choose to set up their booths and stand there before them...

Big bro Steve, though, did great business at the show. Our photos sold well. I did well studying last year's sales figures and we took the correct items for the show. It made for a relatively easy set up - fewer items of china, porcelain, and glass; and more fiddly things like the jewelry. It made (thank goodness) for easier cover up and break down when the storms came. We gave up and went home early on Sunday after the third storm had just started; I had already changed once out of my completely soaked clothes, only to go through it again. Neither of us was mentally prepared to do it one more time, and frankly, it takes a toll on the stock that is not weatherproof. A couple of torrential rains came through on Sunday, and Bob and I had preplanned how we would move the tables for quick cover up, and had the tarps to the ready. Some other dealers were not so fortunate, including the man across from us, who had books lying on the pavement on blankets. When the ground turned into a stream, he lost a fair amount of inventory. But, as he noted, he had plenty more where they came from. (At this remark I shook my head mentally - I can't abide throwing any of my hard found treasures away!)

At one point we were down to a single table all piled with bits and pieces of items that hadn't yet been packed away, under our tent. Bob was methodically wrapping and packing the bigger stuff, and I was trying to make sense of what was left on the table so it wouldn't get all tangled up upon unpacking once we got home. We pretty much had just a straw basket of earrings and a tray of bangle bracelets that I was trying to get put away. In the midst of this chaos a Mexican family - mom, grandmother, and 3 small kids - started rooting through the basket and trays. We sold 5 items in the last 15 minutes to them, while we anxiously looked at the approaching clouds. It was one of our best sales of the day.

Now we have a 2 week respite before, thank goodness, an indoor show in St. Pete. It's still quite early - the local population will not have swelled to its seasonal numbers yet - but we'll be comfortable in the air conditioned splendor; and it will be an opportunity to show off what we've collected since the last season.

Seasons change, and so do we

2009-09-08T14:25:00.006-04:00

One of the two stores closed. We're in Patty and Friends still, and in two booth spaces instead of one. August was our best month yet, and we ran a glass sale to further things along during this the slowest season. It helped us to wean down our impressive (read = overly large) glass inventory that came with the original purchase of the business. There are only so many vases and bowls that you can carry to any given show! And we never seemed to whittle down the numbers.

The glass sale did the trick.

In the meantime, my brother Steve has sent on an incredible quantity and quality of jewelry to us for selling. Some truly exquisite items. Looking at our past record of jewelry sales, it makes sense for us to expand the selling space of this type of merchandise. I've been sourcing display ideas, trying to stay away from the conventional locked glass cases that you see, crammed with everything under the sun. Yes, they are easy to travel with and set up; but as I pointed out to Bob, they are visually overwhelming, and when was the last either one of us stopped and asked a dealer to unlock a case in order to take a closer look at something? The answer is: NEVER. We just keep on walking.

I think for us the key is accessibility, good visual merchandising, competitive pricing, and keeping the items sorted by color, type, or perhaps customer preference. We now have enough cuff link and heavy chain necklaces to have a "Manly Stuff" case, and we'll see how popular that proves to be.

The other experimental approach we are doing is working with another jewelry designer who will incorporate elements of our jewelry into organic, woven bracelets and necklaces that she makes herself. We are always left with bits and pieces of jewelry that have become separated or broken off from where they started; Cecile will be able to repurpose those items into new pieces that retain their charm.

The website has been stumbling along, with no help from me (as evidenced by my lack of posts here). I'm averaging a few sales per month, with international sales to Canada and Australia starting to happen. I have some great Wedgwood pieces that we found this summer and also Bunnykins that I have yet to add to the site.

As I feel better and sometimes not so well, I devote my time and energy to the site, to blogging, and to the business overall.

This picture is of a Wedgwood Queen's Ware vase, flared and fluted, with blue oak leaves in bas relief and glazed overall. This type of stoneware was reintroduced after 1946 by Wedgwood.

So you sit.... and you wait...

2009-05-13T19:08:00.002-04:00

Our stock is in the two stores.

I'm adding a couple of items to the website every week.

This is what we call the Slow Time. A time for tweaking, critiquing, making refinements, perhaps taking another look at the pricing policies. Are they way out of whack with the current reality? We are seeing the errors, perhaps, that had been made in the past year of buying. Not saying that I Told You You So, but - not sure just what niche some of these items belong in now, that we've defined ourselves a bit more clearly. It's all part of of that learning process.

I've had a few inquiries from Australia, but had to tell them that the cost to ship to such a destination actually exceeded the cost of the item :-( (Which is why I don't have the country as a option for shipping - who would want to double their cost for ANY desirable item?)

Still, it's nice to be getting emails from so far abroad.

Venturing into Retail - Antique Stores

2009-05-06T17:02:00.003-04:00

Bob's decided to take the plunge and put our wares into two local antique stores. The first is a locked cabinet space in Patty and Friends Antiques in St. Pete, a business that's been established for a long, long time in the area. The cabinet has narrow shelves with short spaces, so we've had to think small in setting the retail area up. The store is in the process of doing a lot of upgrades cosmetically, so it's nice to be part of a refreshed retail environment.

The other place we've literally set up shop in is in Hannah's Antiques and Retro, which is in the Grand Central District of St. Petersburg, close to the revived Kenwood neighborhood, with its beautiful Arts and Crafts era cottages. We've got an open cabinet space there close to the check out area, with stock scattered throughout the shop as well.

We've had a small sale at Patty's already, and it's going to be a challenge to keep the areas in these stores looking fresh, interesting, and relevant. This is pretty much Bob's area as I am sticking to my guns of concentrating on the website (which had two sales in a single week once I restarted working on the site - wonderful).

I'm continuing to work with my health care team and trying to become more productive, as at the moment I'm able to do about one task a day. (Not really what I'd like to be able to do.) Medication adjustments, wait and see, patience - not my best virtue.

The photos show our current set up at the Patty and Friends store, showing how we are trying to utilize as much of the space as possible.

Evolution of this Blog

2009-04-24T15:30:00.002-04:00

Trying to stave off those feeling of guilt for not having posted for so long! We had a fantastic show in Dade City - the best we'd ever done - in spite of having had the most challenges to date. First off, our wonderful Live Oak tree that provided so much welcome shade and retro "Old Florida" feel to our booth was gone! As were at least two others, upon suspicion that they might have harbored some dread tree disease :-( :-( :-(

And the second day of the show, Sunday, was not the best of weather - intermittent showers, and gusts of wind. It all cleared up around 12:30pm, and then we had to start packing up at 3. But in spite of these downers, we did very, very well.

We also got to get to know another couple of dealers a little better, by going out to dinner with them. We pretty much yapped and laughed and screamed and finally remembered to order our food before the kitchen closed. I think we were all surprised by how much we enjoyed ourselves.

That show, at the end of April, was the end of the season for me. I've been working slowly but steadily on the website again, after a break of (gulp) four long months.

And I've been so quiet on this blog front, and so much has been going on, kind of like this extremely strong undercurrent that's been commanding all my attention and energy, yet it hasn't seemed to be the correct venue to address the subject here, either. But I've come to the conclusion that in trying so hard not to address that very subject - my personal elephant in my very little room, if you will, I do myself more and more of a disservice; and I also don't give my the credit for the struggle that I am, indeed, winning, in spite of my own expectations at times.

So that's a lot of words for trying to say that I think I'm slightly changing the character of this blog: to focus just as much on this antiques and collectibles business called Time Travelers; but now also to address how I manage to maintain (or not) the business while at the same time taking care of my mental and emotional health.

For you see, I haven't held a "proper" job for several years now, due to some troublesome issues. This business is the most responsible venture I've been able to apply myself to, and I'm so grateful for it. But there are days, if not weeks, in these past four months, when it's not been possible for me to attend to the business in any way.

I guess I'm trying to say that I'd like this blog to become more about what it's like to manage our business while I live daily with the issues of depression, anxiety, and PTSD. (Whew! There, I said it.) It casts rather a different light on the whole consistency of the business; the continuity; and yes, the integrity. I'm more determined than ever with Time Travelers to keep moving onwards and upwards, even as sometimes I make entirely backwards strides in my mental health :-\

Whether or this blog keeps its readership will be interesting. But in the name of authenticity and professional and personal growth, I think it's the right time to take this turn...

St. Petersburg Antique Fair (groan...)

2009-03-18T13:30:00.002-04:00

Last weekend we did Jeff Francis' alternative offer to the Tampa and Sarasota shows of 2008 that he had to cancel, held at his warehouse property in St. Petersburg.

I could say a lot of things about this show, but will keep it short: the worst one we've EVER done. Hardly any dealers, hardly any customers, and on Sunday we made one solitary sale.

OK, I'll expand a bit.
Awkward location. People had a lot of trouble following Jeff's directions to the show.
Poorly promoted - so poor dealer participation, and poor customer turnout. It's tough to hold randomly scheduled shows like this - at different dates and locations than his previous shows - and expect to get a good turnout. But I can't for the life of me figure out why he wouldn't at least put an ad in one of the trade journals to attract vendors. More vendors means more rent income for him, and more money to spend on promoting the show locally... it just wasn't going on.

It left me in a real funk, with a sore back, and it took two days to really get myself off the sofa, to mull over this coming weekend's show. It's the "Trash To Treasures" event in Tarpon Springs and last year we were surprised to discover it was basically a flea market. This time we're prepared with the right quality and price of merchandise so it SHOULD be an OK show for us.

I no longer expect great shows.

First 2 shows of March done

2009-03-09T10:33:00.003-04:00

March has been booked solid - we're doing shows every weekend. We started off with The Thieves' Market on Anna Maria Island on Saturday the 7th, the last of the season there for us, as April is too hot already and the snowbirds will have flown home for the season. It was sparsely attended by vendors as the date had changed from the usual 2nd Saturday of the month (due to some community scheduling conflict with another event). But the crowds came, fairly early on in the day, and we did a steady business in books, jewelry, and some ceramics.

As ever, it's a pleasure seeing the other vendors that we've come to know from the previous season, and to see visiting vendors from other shows who came by to check the show out for the following season. Bob and I both enjoy the sense of community that we've already discovered from just one cycle of shows doing these shows.

Yesterday we did another one day event, Antique Alley, up in Bellair Bluffs. It's an outstanding show that is well advertised, very well attended, and we were lucky that the weather was perfect (a bit breezy, but that was welcome, and I had protected our booth as best I could, so we suffered zero casualties). Bob did the - yawn!! - very early set up, then a panic as no sooner than he had the booth all but set up than he was offered the empty spot next to us as well, as the promoter had a no show. Someone had prepaid but then became ill and was unable to use the space. Talk about a scramble - he pretty much had to tear down an entire side of the booth space, then spread everything out to fill up that extra spot AND unpack absolutely everything that he had brought. It's not as if the van was packed with inventory ready for a double spot!

I joined him several hours later, having been able to sleep in, have a leisurely cup of coffee, snuggle with the cat, and read the paper at home first. By the time I arrived the early shoppers were out in force and the place was buzzing. Although sales are still way off compared to last year - every single conversation that I overhead was about the economy, the economy, and more of the economy - people still shopped, but spent less. High value sales are not the norm for now, and we've adjusted what we bring to the shows to reflect that.

Another strange thing we've noticed is that people are more apt to negotiate for "your best price" - and then walk away without making a purchase. I don't think there's an intention to buy, but there's still the desire to go through the motions of making the deal. I swear I could even see the emptiness in people's faces as they went through these motions. I could tell, as we would go through these little dances of price negotiations, that there was no sale to be made; but still the dance would go on.

Then there was the lady who licked my pearl earrings (is this a check to see if they are real or what flavor they are?) who left lipstick on the display card and of course, did not buy the earrings. Someone told me that elsewhere at the show the same woman was licking silver plate dinner ware. Ewww...

So, more shows to come. The website will continue to languish as we concentrate on the live activities this month; then as the summer heat descends, I'll turn my attention back to the eCrater store.

Just glad that I'm doing as much as I am.

I've been mighty quiet...

2009-01-01T14:15:00.002-05:00

But it's been a mighty quiet season.

And I haven't been well. (Less said about that the better.)

There are fewer shows to do, so fewer opportunities to get out there and show our beautiful stuff. The folks are not as willing to part with their harder earned - and less valuable - dollars. We've seen a shift in what people are attracted to this season, as well. They are loving our single old photographs, loving the jewelry, and mostly price checking everything else we have on offer. (Personally I think they are looking to see what the items they own themselves are worth.) Foot traffic is also down compared to last year.

It's tough times.

The eCrater store, if I could pay more attention to it, would be tickling me pink. As it is, it's pickling me a very, very pale shade of pink, but only because I haven't been able to put the effort into it that it really needs. We've had sporadic sales there, and I do have a little pile of goodies waiting to be put onto the website. All in good time - I still have some healing to do, and my priorities, truth be told, are a little shuffled around at the present.

But I see that I'll be back at the shows shortly, ready to help Bob out. He's been such a trooper. I'll be able to work on the website soon too. Once I'm up and running, I'll be back up to speed pretty quickly.

I've missed my blog, this world, the newsiness of it all. It's waiting for me, patiently.

A Bummer

2008-10-31T15:04:00.003-04:00

We got our deposit for a couple of shows returned with the following letter today. Seems the economic hard times have hit the local show promoters, which is really no surprise - a disappointment, for sure, but understandable. The note from Jeff reads in part:

"It is with my sincere regret to announce the cancellation of all 21st Century Shows scheduled in 2008 and 2009. The sluggish economy, reluctance of dealers to travel to shows, weak customer spending, and continuing increase in the costs of renting facilities, advertising, and energy costs, have forced us to make this decision which we feel is in the best interest in our dealers and customers."

Bummer, like I said. (Interesting to note, though, that it was just last week that we ran into this same person at the international airport in Atlanta, where he was returning home from making a purchase of 10,000 license plates. I know that you have to invest in your business in order to grow it, but maybe he could have managed to put on a few of the shows instead of canceling ALL of the them had he not decided to buy all those mother lovin' pieces of metal? Just a thought.)

So that freed up our calendar a bit, again - there's a show that we had rejected out of turn because it was immediately after one of the 21st Century Production ones, so we'll look into getting into that. And we've been able to book a spot in this fall's Antique Alley show on November 9th in Bellair Bluffs. This is one of those shows that we've faithfully attended as shoppers for years now and have had our eyes on as dealers. Last spring we failed to get called on the stand-by list; this time Bob was proactive and gave the organizer a call to see if any spots had opened up. (The squeaky wheel gets the grease!) And what do you know - she had a dealer cancel due to medical reasons, so in we've squeezed.

I think that we'll find other shows to cobble together the season, but perhaps they won't be what we originally planned to do - I'm not averse to some creative thinking :-)

A Jewelry Purchase

2008-10-17T12:21:00.005-04:00

Here's a photograph of a jewelry lot purchase made this week in St. Petersburg. My magpie eye did the choosing, I'm afraid, and I probably passed over some other, perfectly wonderful pieces in favour of these that most definitely caught my fancy.

They range from an Austrian brass belt buckle that's inlaid with enamel and malachite; to a Peruvian stylized bird brooch of hand hammered, oxydized sterling with plain sterling silver overlay; A Taxco pin by Bernice Goodspeed; a figural brooch of sterling and mother of pearl; a Norwegian sterling and enamel bar pin; a German pendant of an Edelweiss flower; a Star Trek-like pin with an onyx stone; an old Mexican brooch of a flower basket with green turquoise stones; a cross-hatched rectangular sterling pin; a cast sterling bracelet with a lovely turqoise stone with fine spider veins - it doesn't show at all in this group photo, and a pair of Georg Jensen earrings that have been converted to clutch-back from screw-back type.

Quite a lovely collection, if I say so myself - and I sure have, haven't I?

Hurtin' for certain

2008-09-29T08:33:00.005-04:00

Oh, well. It was a nice weekend for sitting outside! We did about a third of the sales at this Dade City's Antique Faire as compared to the same event last spring. So much on the economic landscape has altered - gas prices are at a new, higher standard; many people have watched their investments take their own wild rides; the silly season of the election has many people on edge as the future leaders of the country are a couple of question (and perhaps some exclamation) marks; - it's a much different world to be trying to do business in.

I did a side-by-side comparison of the sales records of the events from this past weekend against the same one several months ago. The same type of merchandise was selling, so we made no missteps in what we brought with us; but the volume was just way, way down. C'est la vie, as they say.

One of the marketing tools that helped us slightly was to set up a table with value priced items on it - in our case, it was everything for $5.00. It was a popular choice for the bargain hunters - who, though not out in any kind of numbers, made up the majority of our shoppers. So we're doing the right thing, you know? And also, just asking our customers just what their price range is is often very helpful. We're a lot more familiar with what's out on the tables than the casual eye can pick out. That helped us sell a teapot.

Finally, I wanted to share some photos of how we had out booth set up, showing the $5.00 table, our shade canopy (and matching chairs!), and the very lovely setting under the Live Oak trees in Dade City.

I do think that this will be a difficult season for us all, but we're in this for the long haul - Bob and I both believe that it's important that we continue to put ourselves out at these shows. You can't do business if you don't put yourself out there to attract it, after all.

Dade City this weekend

2008-09-23T08:45:00.003-04:00

We're spending the weekend in Dade City for the fall Antique Faire, being held on September 27 and 28. When we did this great show in the spring, we commuted back and forth each day - but gas prices are substantially higher now. Bob had some hotel points to use, so we were able to check in to a local Hilton property gratis. The long range weather forecast has been calm, so my fingers - and toes - are crossed that we'll have no news to report there. The mornings have been starting to become a bit cooler. We're almost approaching what approximates autumn for these parts.

I'm happy because we've been assured of having the same spot at this upcoming event, and we know that we'll be able to spread our stuff out pretty comfortably. I'm looking forward to being able to debut the jewelry made by Susan Olivio, of Trinity, Florida. She's a gifted crafter who has made a range of earrings, rings, and some necklaces and bracelets in vintage-inspired designs. I am delighted to be able to offer her wares through our booth at these local shows.

Adding more items to the store again

2008-09-11T08:46:00.004-04:00

I think I needed an extended break. For whatever the reason, I feel my batteries are recharged finally and now I'm starting to add items again to the store on eCrater. This time I've decided to concentrate on glass - we have a wide variety of decorative and functional beauties.

One of the more whimsical lovelies is a cranberry glass basket. It's medium sized, about 7 inches tall, with a gorgeous shine and a deep ruffled edge. It's one of the inventory items that we acquired when we originally purchased the business. It gets a lot of admiring looks when we bring it to shows, but hasn't yet been scooped up. The right home is still waiting for it :-) I don't mind, really, as it's a joy for us to hang on to until such time as the correct buyer is matched up with it.

Isn't it a beaut, though?

I wrote another Squidoo lens

2008-09-05T15:35:00.002-04:00

It's been a long time since I paid any attention to Squidoo - and I'm still not sure what the heck it is. But I decided to write a lens about Bunnykins tableware, since I think there's a scarce amount of information compiled in one place about the history of this type of china. When you google it, all you ever get are eBay listings (grumble, grumble) - and that's not about to change unless I make my own contribution. So, there it is.

I had a busy week!

2008-08-29T20:02:00.003-04:00

Three sales this week - I am flush with success. Two teapots and a book, and I'm so happy that the eCrater store is truly bustling - and that the listings on Amazon have come back to life. Something having to do with the school year starting up again, I think.

I do hope that the customers are pleased with their purchases. That's the only suspense of shipping the items off - I don't get to see their happy faces when they open the boxes.

Bob came back from a business trip (er, that would be with his day job) with treasures that he found at an antique shop in Savannah that was having a moving sale. Some Wedgwood Jasperware - great! - and a pile of interesting photographs, which I'll take the time to sort through, slip into protective plastic sleeves, and leave for others to wonder just who the people in the pictures are...

Seems all I do lately is polish silver!

2008-08-23T18:23:00.003-04:00

Not that I'm complaining - but my shoulder is :-( Not the arm doing the rubbing, but the one that's doing the bracing. I decided to dose up with some ibuprofen and forge onwards. I'm still working through that box of silver and brass that Bob brought home a few weekends ago. Thinking that if I rub long enough, a Djini (that would be a Genie to us modern folks) would bubble out in a cloud of smoke - but, no. I have to content myself instead with the inherent beauty of the piece that is revealed by the effort of applying paste, over time, to a heavily tarnished piece of silver plate.

The favored paste I like to use is still Goddards, which I order directly on the internet. I can't say enough about their products, as the shine comes up quickly and stays for a long time.

I'm not planning to put these items on the website, but only because they get snapped up so quickly at the shows that we do. (Well, also because I find them to be dastardly difficult to photograph, but that's not reason enough!) But a nicely polished piece of silver is pretty easy to maintain. Keep it wrapped up when not in use - that is, away from the effects of oxygen in creating more tarnish on it - and it will stay shiny and lovely. The best way to stay lovely looking, though, is to USE IT. There is something wonderful about the dining experience when silver is involved. A meal prepared with love and care becomes memorable when you are using utensils that have heft to them. I know that I treasure my own set of silver cutlery when I bring it out for holiday get togethers. (Never mind that my mother gave it to me after my parents divorced! I can handle that sentiment...)

Even the brass candle holders have polished up very satisfyingly - they become so warm and gleaming. I'd be likely to cover them up with a hurricane glass cover to prevent spattering if I was to use them myself, but they too are likely to find welcome homes this year.

Just checking in

2008-08-18T12:49:00.005-04:00

Nothing's really doing, but I thought I should write *something* to keep my hand in. It's a long stretch until the next show - at the end of September in Dade City. We're confirmed as having the same spot in the parking lot, under some beautiful Live Oak trees with Spanish Moss draped from the branches, as we had when we were there this past spring. If the weather cooperates (we're just now expecting our first major storm of the season to bear down in the next couple of days), it will be lovely. Hot, most likely, but a good show.

Bob came home from his foraging last weekend with a big box of "silver" - was it silver or not? We spent a few days digging in and marveling at the beauties that we've adopted. Silver (plate and sterling) items are always in demand at our shows, so it's wonderful to have an inventory from which to choose. Also in the lot were some brass candlesticks, some German Silver wine goblets - which is not silver at all, but an alloy similar to what coins are made of, and which came clean easily with brass polish. Most of the items were really heavily tarnished, so I've been taking my time with each piece, really giving them a workover with the ol' silver paste and sponge. Somehow uncovering the beauty of an elegantly executed piece of silver gives me great satisfaction, and I don't mind the elbow grease required to discover them. (Though I did manage to do something to my shoulder in the process - it hasn't felt right since I spent the afternoon polishing a bunch of silver items several weeks ago!)

We went through most of the boxes brought home from the last show, and repacked them. We hadn't run out of wraps at all - there were unused ones in virtually each box we repacked, which means that they were in a hurry at the time, and that Bob's help was inexperienced. Um, and maybe didn't relish the thought of ever being asked to help us out again? Clearly Bob and I have evolved in our works patterns so that we've become fairly efficient in the packing process. It was easy enough to recover the "lost" wraps and economically repack the boxes, so everything had a home again.

We're a better team than we give ourselves credit for, undoubtedly.

Next in the pipeline is to put more glass on to the website - we picked out a box full of suitable items. I've got a huge box of jewelry from Steve Cope that needs to be priced up - that will take quite some time to do it correctly. So I think the stretch to the next show is going to feel pretty small.

Lessons Learned

2008-08-04T08:14:00.003-04:00

We probably shouldn't book shows that we haven't attended ourselves as customers. Fort Lauderdale was not an appropriate show for Time Travelers, unfortunately, but we couldn't have known it unless we had gone to it in the past. It was high end - what I would consider museum quality merchandise; and there we were, with our quaint and kitschy teapots and painted plates and depression glass. Kind of country mice come to the big bad city. We, er, didn't do well at all. Did not manage to recoup in sales what the fee to enter the show cost us. Oops. Put this one down as a show to have learned from - noted.

But, having said that, here's something downright strange. We sold, in a single day at the show, five sugar and creamer sets. That's astounding! I actually stopped unpacking more sets because I saw how many we already had out, and muttered to Bob, "we gotta stop buying these things!" And what do you know, five of them went in one day, during a show when we weren't selling much of anything.

Which is another lesson - you never know what is going to sell at any given show. (How many people do YOU know who regularly use sugar and creamer sets, or even collect them?)

So, yes, the show was a great disappointment to us. But it was also kind of quirky. And I consoled myself with a fabulous pair of Yves Saint Laurent (the genuine article) sunglasses from another dealer's booth. Diane got a pair for helping us out - Christian Dior, huge honking ones from the 1970's or early 80's, and selected a pair of Guy Laroche, equally as enormous, for her sister Sara.

Next month's show in Dade City is a known quantity for us - we did this show in the spring (and it was lovely and wonderful and one of our best shows ever). No qualms there. And the following month's show in St. Petersburg is one that Bob and I have been attending as customers for 7 years, and we're very happy to have been able to get in to - we'll do just fine.

So, we're down but not out.

Indoor show coming up in Fort Lauderdale

2008-07-28T12:25:00.002-04:00

Of course (of course!) I'm filled with anxiety about our first indoor show, our first show in Fort Lauderdale, coming up next weekend - August 2nd and 3rd - who would I be without my stories of anxiety that never come to fruition? Gotta keep that monkey mind busy, is the order of the day.

We have our lovely and to-code fire retardant table covers. We are amply - AMPLY, that is - stocked for the upcoming season. Nothing has been packed away even unless it's been priced and tagged, which is pretty methodical if I say so myself. We installed the passenger seat in the minivan because Bob's daughter will be accompanying us, both to help us set up for the show, and to visit with his parents. This does mean that we'll have less room to take things with us, but, on the other hand, we're not having to take tables and chairs with us. I'm thinking it'll be a toss-up.

So what on earth am I so worried about?

Worried that we won't be successful. Several months have passed since our last show, and the nation's economy has been in steady decline, particularly in our part of the state. Gas prices have risen steeply. I know that I am not going out for shopping trips as often, and I'm feeling the impact that higher food and gas prices are having on my own discretionary funds - times are feeling tighter.

But Fort Lauderdale is worlds away from here. Just the other side of the Florida coast from us, the local population is much more affluent and the economy more stable than ours presently is. There's more of year-round population than our transient one, too (the traffic is horrendous!). Having an antique show during the summer in Florida is kind of, well, weird. You just wouldn't do that where we live - there's no business, and no dealers, either. They all go up north. But we're making the presumption that this show in Fort Lauderdale will have customers, and plenty of dealers.

I would love to say that I'm excited rather than anxious about this show. And perhaps it's partly because we've had this gap in our selling season, and I just don't have a pulse on the shopping public at the moment. All I know is what I'm exhibiting as behavior - which is, stagnancy. I'm not doing much shopping, and I'm not doing much driving either. I'm holding my breath, really. Which is also uncomfortable! And makes for more anxiety. (Note to self - remember to breathe!!!) Maybe it's just in my nature to worry so before an event. I do know that on the day, I will be able to relax and enjoy the moment, enjoy the buzz of seeing other dealers and their treasures, and really enjoy engaging with the public. As much anxiety as I've ever felt, it doesn't interfere with the business itself, which is good :-)

We have a Spooner!

2008-07-22T08:57:00.005-04:00

No, it's not a sleeping device :-) It's a bit clunky for cuddling up to. It looks like a sugar bowl that outgrew itself. Some people just put a cup on the countertop and stick their teaspoons in it, but you're supposed to use a spooner. During Victorian times they were not only a symbol of ready hospitality, but also a sign of increased affluence among the expanding middle class who could now afford silver spoons. They had almost completely disappeared by the 1930's.

Because some dealers at flea markets and malls do not recognize spoonholders, they are often mislabeled. The beginning collector or dealer needs to look closely and study to differentiate spooners from open sugars, sugar bottoms, celery vases, goblets, and tumblers. Spoonholders are narrower and more cylindrical than sugar bottoms or open sugars. Unlike goblets, which always have a smooth-rimmed lip, stemmed spooners are usually scalloped, serrated or beaded at the top, and the stems are shorter. Though many flat-based spooners have smooth rims, old tumblers tend to be slightly shorter and narrower than spooners and are slightly flared toward the top.

So, now that you know all about spooners, here's the one from our store: a leaded crystal example. It has a small ding on the rim (there's a close up photograph of it - we always fully disclose condition issues when we're aware of them) but that really does not detract at all from the beauty of this piece.

First Sale at eCrater!

2008-07-19T12:22:00.003-04:00

We opened shop at eCrater on May 30th, and today we got our first sale. Processing the transaction through Google Checkout was a breeze - the address was verified without my having to do anything, and they automatically sent the customer a confirming email. Once I processed the transaction (again with a click of a button), had the item boxed up and ready to take to the post office, Google sent another email confirming the shipment to the customer. I fiddled a little bit with the eCrater screen in order to print out a packing slip to put in with the item - I just didn't want to send something out without any documentation. Google doesn't seem to have the option of printing out a packing slip, or it's possible in my excitement and rush to get the order to the post office before it closed (today's Saturday) I just couldn't find it.

Then I looked at Google Analytics to see exactly how the customer had found us - we had been Googled. So that stuff is all working well for us - we show up on targeted searches there and on Google Shopping, with a thumbnail photo right from the website. Every item in our inventory has Google attributes associated with it, basically descriptors that identify the brand, product type, material, and country of origin - this helps items get picked up by the search engines.

I also noticed that the message boards I've posted at, for collectors, have resulted in some hits. So that's nice so see, that some of the work I've been doing is starting to pay off. And all this, so far, without having to pay for advertising, or listing. It takes my time and effort - but it's so satisfying to now see the reward.

Mostly, I must say that I am impressed with the comprehensive help that's available at the online forum at eCrater. What a motherlode of information, ideas, guidelines, out-of-the-box and inventive bunch of individuals that have collected there. Although I found it mind-boggling at first, and overwhelming, if you tackle the building of the store according to the simple instructions available to dealers, it's pretty hard to go wrong.

A little blip

2008-07-18T12:23:00.003-04:00

I sent out postcards to my very small database of customers regarding the upcoming show in Fort Lauderdale on August 2nd - and got an interesting phone message on the machine from one lady. She was the dealer from the Dade City show who had bought the picnic tin basket. (I could have guessed that she might have had something to say about the invitation to the show, having remembered our fractious customer-salesperson relationship!)

Gist of the message was that there was No Way On Earth she would consider driving All The Way to Fort Lauderdale for a Lousy 60 Dealer Show. You could just about hear the capitalizations in her voice! Oy vey. But, since we were at it and had her on our mailing list, we could send her 4 free passes for the Sarasota show in December. You gotta love the nerve of this woman. Oh, and she wants to look at any beaded purses we might have to sell to her. Actually, I'm a little afraid of showing them to her - what a bully she was! I'm thinking, instead, that perhaps she needs to be deleted from the mailing list. I don't need to get feedback like this from my tiny customer base.

I've taken a little break from the nonstop work on the eCrater store. There's no shortage of work to be done - and I'm not even midway through the Expo 67 project - but I'm acknowledging that I'm suffering a bout of depression that has broken through and left me feeling, for lack of a better word, utterly paralyzed. I see the work that needs to be done, but I don't have the energy to do it.

So I'm allowing myself a bit of a break while I allow some adjustments I've made in my self care and lifestyle to take effect. Trying to be good to myself. This internet store will be waiting for me when I'm ready to tackle it again. It could be just a few days, but I'm not putting myself on a schedule, but letting my mind and body tell me when they are ready to enjoy themselves again. This is such an enjoyable part of my life - I refuse to let it become the chore that depression can make it.

Bits and Pieces

2008-07-14T09:41:00.003-04:00

So the experiment with stopping the garage sale shopping hasn't exactly worked out. I think Bob was able to go 2 weekends without shopping, and both weekends were clearly torturous for him. Who am I to keep him from his bliss, then? The important thing is not to let his activities interfere with my own projects with the business - he has to be able to do the stuff that he's been handing off to me to take care of in order keep me smiling and complacent.

It's a bit of a struggle.

But, I've been able to work on my Expo 67 project, and it's coming along nicely. I have a nice little category started at the eCrater store devoted to the memorabilia from the world's fair. I do get a bit lost from time to time in doing my research bits - there are a few pages out there with audio files, and news archives from that year. I find that my fascination has not flagged - a true sign of a collector. Yet by putting these items into the store, I'm also releasing them from my closet, where they have been stored - and NOT been enjoyed, as they should be. At the very least, by photographing, researching and writing about all these souvenirs, I'm rediscovering my memories about that special year. But I'm also allowing others, for the first time, to share in my enjoyment of them.

My mom asked me whether I wasn't putting things up for sale that have sentimental value for me, and the answer is - everything that we have for sale has sentimental value. That's what makes them valuable. But sentiment is one thing, and a family heirloom is quite another. What thrills me in the selling process is seeing someone else identify the same qualities in an item that I have felt myself - the "I remember this!" moment, or "Look what I found!", or "I've been looking forever for this!"

I've realized that this antiques business is really a catch-and-release process. That we don't actually own any of these items forever. We capture them, we value them, enjoy them for a time - perhaps years - and then, we release them, on to their next home. The sentimental value for me is the recognition that someone else sees the same quality that I do in an object, and are as happy as I was when I "discovered" it.

The other thing that I have come to learn in these few short months of being an antiques and collectibles business owner is how easy it is to acquire more and different interesting objects. Over the course of the selling season, we found homes for some very special objects: a generously sized McCoy planter; an Alfred Meakin commemorative plate celebrating the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway; several lovely teacups and saucers; some glorious pieces of silver plate. Anyone could argue that these were sentimental pieces that we should have held on to because of their value, their beauty, their historical significance, or their desirability. Yet in each case, we were more than happy to send the item home with their new, thrilled owners. And, as Bob has shown in his weekly shopping sprees, there are treasures galore in the immediate area, just waiting to be discovered. More McCoy. Italian Murano glass ashtrays. Depression glass. Music boxes. Dolls. Wedgwood. Royal Winton. Clocks.

It really never ends, if you just keep looking. Sometimes, the treasures come to us, as when we were at the show on Treasure Island, and a customer approached us and we did a trade. Her box of things for a selection of things from our booth. It just goes on and on.

And isn't that wonderful?

Expo 67 Nostalgia

2008-07-11T18:39:00.007-04:00

Wow, I have just begun to go through the collection of souvenirs and memorabilia from Expo 67. That would be the World's Fair from 1967, which was held in Montreal, Canada - my hometown. I found out some totally neat factoids from Wikipedia ((((wikipedia)))) about it, of which I'm inordinately proud:

It was considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with over 50 million visitors and 62 nations participating.
It also set the single-day attendance record for a world's fair with 569,000 visitors on its third day.
Expo 67 was Canada's main celebration during its centennial year.
The fair was originally intended to be held in Moscow, to help the Soviet Union celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Russian Revolution but, for various reasons, the Soviets decided to cancel, and Canada was awarded it in the fall of 1962.

Since our family lived in Montreal North, we made several excursions to the fair over the course of the summer. It felt like all our relatives came to see us that year (probably just the ones with cameras, because we have loads of photographs from that year). I was very young - I turned 5 years old at the end of the summer - yet I retain many vivid memories of the sights and smells; the crowds, the fantastic architecture and cultural exposure of those months. From Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome of the United States pavilion to the austere, sail-like roof of the Germany pavilion; to the stoic concrete pillar of the Great Britain pavilion, to the exotic tent structure of the Ethiopia pavilion - these and so much more made huge impressions on my very young mind.

I do recall that my oldest brother Stephen performed with the Montreal Youth Symphony, dapper in his red and white striped jacket and towering over the other teenagers with his bass cello.

I remember the great logos of that year - the stylized maple leaf commemorating Canada's centennial - the signing of the nation into confederacy. The theme of the fair was "Man And His World" - and the accompanying logo was a circle of stick-figure people with arms outstretched towards each other - that's the image in the photograph of the lighter.

Even music played its role that summer:

The song that most Canadians associate with Expo was written by Bobby Gimby, a veteran commercial jingle writer who composed the popular Centennial tune "Ca-na-da", which went on to sell over 500,000 copies. Gimby earned the name the "Pied Piper of Canada".

A few years after Expo 67, Bobby Gimby was still doing his schtick as the Pied Piper of Canada. I was one of the rats (um I mean, amongst a group of children) he led through a downtown building concourse, singing the Ca-na-da Song while he led us with his jeweled cape and oversized horn.

So, I'm having a lot of fun in going through the bits and pieces that have found their way into my hands over the years. As I get the items photographed and put into the eCrater store, I'll continue to throw up some links here for come of the totally cool stuff.

The show season is trickling in

2008-07-08T10:18:00.005-04:00

Like the snow melt at the start of spring, we've begin to see a show here and there get booked for the season which is almost upon us.

The first is a pre-season show, really, and such an exciting departure for us, because it's an indoor event. AIR CONDITIONING!!! NO WIND!!! NO SUN!!! (Can you tell I'm charged up about this one?) We'll be at the Fort Lauderdale Antique and Collector Faire on August 2nd and 3rd. We'll stay with Bob's folks and so will save on the hotel expense. We invested in some classy looking navy blue flame retardant tablecloths that reach to the floor for our tables, because we do plan to do more indoor shows in the future. The fees are higher than outdoor shows for a vendor, but the advantages - particularly at this time of year, with the weather so capricious, makes it a no-brainer for us.

We had considered doing a dry run of setting up the booth in advance of the show. On Sunday we cleared the garage of our vehicle and set up a table, put the new tablecloth on it (looks great!), and then kind of stood there... because it dawned on us that we didn't really need to do any more preparation than that. We've already determined that our merchandise is substantially better than most at the outdoor venues, and the last show we did we already weeded out what we would not be taking to an indoor show, by putting those items in a separate bin and marking it appropriately. So the work has already been done. I guess we were just a bit nervous, eh?

But I don't think we'll change what we take to the Ft Lauderdale show. Our teapots, the other porcelain, ceramic and glass items; books and jewelry; and pictures. As I've written here, Bob's done plenty of restocking for this upcoming season (ahem), so there's no worry that we won't have a good variety to bring. I do have confidence that the quality of our merchandise is up to the standards of any indoor show we've been to.

In September, we've got a show in Dade City booked, on the 27th and 28th. We did their spring event and really loved the setting and the show was a great one for us. I've requested the same booth space - since we prepay for the spot, rather than reserve it and pay on the day of the event, we'll probably be granted our favored spot. It was under several large trees in the municipal parking lot. We'll bring the shade canopy with us, though, since we won't be able to rely on the weather's cooperation on the day, and we've learned the trick to anchoring the canopy on pavement without being able to drive stakes into the ground. (That would be attaching gallon bottles of water to the canopy with bungee cords - that sucker will not budge. Sometimes you need to add a couple of cinder blocks to the base for extra measure.)

And a few weeks after that, we do another indoor show, this time close by in St. Petersburg. On October 10th through the 12th we'll be at the Sunshine City Antiques and Collectibles Show at the Coliseum. (A note about the link for this show - it hasn't been updated since the January 2008 show, grrr. Oh, and there's a typo on the title of the link too. I hate stuff like that! Why do they start promoting the shows when the websites aren't up to date? Drives me batty.) We've gone to this show as consumers every year since we've lived in the area, and started talking about having a booth there as soon as we bought the business. It will be interesting to see if it lives up to our expectations. The venue is rather wonderful - a Jazz Age dance hall that is still used for weekly Tea Dances, across from the Lawn Bowling Club. Can't get any more "old St. Pete" than that. It's always really well attended, with some wonderful vendors.

So the summer has barely started, and we already have the new season starting to get booked up. I think it's pretty wonderful - I guess I'm in the right business.

Here's a photo for today - another piece of Bunnykins. This is called a Hug-a-Mug. Such a cute name for a practical shape, made for little hands to easily bring a cuppa something safely to their mouths. This design is called Unravelling The Knitting, for obvious reasons! Everybody is pretty cheeky on this cup, even the design on the reverse side, showing a bunny with a piece of knitting wrapped around his head. You can see why I love these adorable pieces so much.

All about Bunnykins Tableware

2008-06-30T14:34:00.004-04:00

I'm more than halfway done putting the Bunnykins collection on to website. What's impressed me most in doing my research has been how little information there is about the pieces available for sale on the internet; and also how much incorrect information is out there. I thought I would clear up a few misconceptions that I've keep reading about.

Many items for sale on the internet claim to have been made in 1936, based on the backstamp on the item, which reads Copyright 1936. This is FALSE. 1936 is when the Bunnykins trademark was copyrighted by Royal Doulton, but there are very few items for sale in the market that date that far back. Many surviving pieces show a great deal of wear from the enthusiastic eaters scooping up their porridge to enjoy the scene underneath. Collectors also like to find scenes incorporating Barbara Vernon's facsimile signature, although sometimes this was cut off the transfer. Barbara was the daughter of the manager of the Royal Doulton Stoke-on-Trent pottery and she first imagined the exploits of the Bunnykins family to entertain the children in the class at the convent sch00l where she taught. She began to send her sketches to the factory where they were adapted for the lithographic printing process by one of the resident designers, Hubert Light. He also designed the chain of running rabbits which has appeared around the rim of the Bunnykins pieces since their launch in 1934.

Many of Barbara's designs had been withdrawn by 1952 and are amongst the most desirable today. Collectors appreciate her simple designs and the charming subjects which evoke her era. One of Royal Doulton's art directors, Walter Hayward, took over the range after the Second World War. Initially he adapted the remaining Barbara Vernon drawings for production but he soon began to create his own scenes although her facsimile signature continued to appear on on the ware until the mid 1950's. Walter Hayward's work can be identified by the presence of some lively little mice that became his trademark. Eventually, no longer was Bunnykins intended exclusively for youngsters, but scenes were developed for grown-ups, featuring briefcases dashing to work.

In 1987, Colin Twinn was commissioned to produce a set of Bunnykins books, and many of his drawings were adapted for use on the nursery ware. His scenes are known for having pastel colors and fluffier bunnies than the originals. While this approach worked well in little picture books, established collectors felt that the Bunnykins characters had lost their identity with these new designs. Production of Colin Twinn designs had ceased by the early 1990's.

Frank Endersby is a freelance illustrator who works from his studio in the the Cotswold region. He assimilated the essential qualities of the original Bunnykins style and his scenes feature the strong outlines used for the original characters as well as their bright blue and red clothes.

I've been collecting Bunnykins tableware items since my mother brought home a plate, well worn with the design all but missing, from the Salvation Army, late in the 1960's. When I lived in England I was fortunate enough to have lived close by the Potteries region, and so was able to make several visits to the Royal Doulton (and Wedgewood) factories, and take full advantage of their on-site stores. I've taken great delight, over the years, in enjoying my morning cup of coffee, or a soft boiled egg, from these happy pieces of china. I've never thought that they should be solely within the realm of children, but should instead inspire the child in each of us.

Here's an example of a money ball, for saving your pennies for a rainy day. I've been careful in my store listings to use the titles of the scenes and also the design numbers, as Royal Doulton issued them. Another thing I noticed while doing my research was that most items for sale on the internet used the most generic of terms to describe Bunnykins items - a frustration for the serious collector.

Time to ease up on those garage sales, buddy!

2008-06-28T17:17:00.002-04:00

Yikes, is all I can say. Weekend after weekend of relentless pursuit of hours of garage sales. The dining room table never really gets emptied of Incoming! - that is, items to be logged in, to be researched, to be priced, to be cleaned, tagged, and wrapped up for future sale. It started to get to me. I missed seeing the wooden surface of my dining room table.

So I've called a halt, for the moment, to the influx of Finds and Treasures into the House of Trautman. Just long enough probably to clean the place up for a little bit, but it feels good. I have a really lovely table underneath all the stuff!

And yes, let me say it here - I'm not the person who has been doing all that shopping every weekend. I'm perfectly content to sit with the morning newspaper for a few hours, enjoy my coffee, and relax. Bob, on the other hand, is a man on a mission. He's prepared with the newspaper listings for the sales for the weekend, and his GPS unit for the car, and raring to go before 7AM!! As I've mentioned before, I don't really enjoy the garage sales, for several reasons: the quality of the items offered is often quite suspect; the prices are all too often way beyond what they should be (more like retail); and, more and more, we're spending the precious commodity of increasingly expensive fuel dashing all over the county - for the UNKNOWN. Never mind that it's summertime in Florida. By 9AM it's already insufferably hot and you really can't stay outside for very long.

So, most times, Bob has been doing the garage saleing solo. But he's been coming home with some substantial hauls some weekends, and we're quickly running out of storage... I'm running out of patience as far as being able to keep pace with the onslaught of treasures coming into the house.

So we're taking a little break from shopping for now. Thank goodness.

I don't think I should blog about the books...

2008-06-26T20:24:00.003-04:00

Sales dried up as soon as I did! I swear, there is simply no rhyme nor reason to sales there. It's a mystery. Maybe it's the phases of the moon - I sure don't want to make any predictions at this point.

We went to a great estate sale this afternoon. 3 teapots, a small footed glass dish chased with silver in a thistle design, a letter holder in the shape of a peacock on a marble block (looks a lot nicer than it sounds, honestly!), a glass llama figurine, a small porcelain clock, a lovely Japanese hand painted creamer and sugar, and a set of depression glass salt and pepper shakers. Plus a few odds and ends for the house, not really meant for resale (too new!). Tomorrow I'll try to take a couple of photos and throw them up here. Some of the items will definitely go into the store. Others we'll put aside for the shows, since we've been making the store more of a specialist destination.

We are definitely using this hot summer season to do our "stocking up" for the winter selling season ahead. We plan to be doing shows most weekends, so having a variety of inventory from which to pull for various shows will give us some peace of mind. I definitely prefer estate sales to any other type of venue for finding items: pieces are almost always very well cared for, though you still have to do the "feel" test for chips and keep your eyes open for condition issues.

Amazon Bookselling going great guns

2008-06-23T20:59:00.002-04:00

I can't figure out, for the life of me, why some weeks are busier than others. Last week we sold 6 books in 7 days, which I think is a record for us. A couple of the titles I had just added on and they sold the next day. I'm running around 95 titles or so. Every now and then I'll get ruthless with my own bookcases and have a run through them, cull a few out, and put them up for sale. I'm still working through the many cases of books I acquired at the same time I bought all those teapots - but at the moment I'm actually selling more of my own collection than those I'd acquired.

And the nice thing is that I feel perfectly fine buying myself a book here and there, knowing that I can recoup some of the money back later on when I'm finished with enjoying my reading. Some books are "keepers" - I have no intention of selling them on to someone else. But others have languished for ages - I'm unwilling to pitch them into a garage sale as they're "too good" for a 50 cent pile.

The only books that are really impossible to resell at Amazon have been best sellers - there are just such high quantities of them around, and the values get driven down just by sheer volume. But last week I decided to put on a textbook about the honeybee that I'd hung on to for no good reason, except as a reminder that I'd once taken a course at an agricultural college for beekeeping (which I was absolutely dismal at, but really enjoyed doing for the short time it lasted). It sold within a day, to some guy at a genomic biology company in the midwest. Way cool. It had gone out of print.

Meanwhile, back on eCrater, I've been adding more and more items to the store. I got some feedback from another dealer about how I had some of my products categorized - so great to get constructive criticism that I can put to immediate use! I implemented those few changes, updated some of the photos at the store's home page, and have been diligently putting additional Bunnykins china items into the inventory. Oh, and I added specific language in our Terms section that we won't ship orders COD :-)

Sometimes blogging feels like a very lonely thing to do.

2008-06-22T10:11:00.000-04:00

And on to Bunnykins!

2008-06-19T16:33:00.002-04:00

Just the name makes you giggle. But the first piece I grabbed failed to be easy to research - I've got the pattern number and name from my trusty Charlton Standard Catalogue (note the spelling, ahem) of Royal Doulton Bunnykins as the Letterbox design - but there's a drought of information about it out in the ether.

Harrumph. I guess Wedgwood was a walk in the park!

Scratching my head on this. There's the book value, that's the one that makes your eyes water and you marvel at the astounding Find you've got on your hands. But you really have to know the retail value, what it's worth in the marketplace, in order to be accurate. I'd be scaring people off to put the book values on the collection - and really, that's funny money. It's what you hope the item to be worth to a collector - but it's not usually a reflection of the current going price.

So, it looks like I've got my work cut out for me. It also doesn't help that, although there are proper names given by Royal Doulton for each of the patterns issued, many times, if you do a search for just "Bunnykins", you'll gets results that describe the shape of the piece, like plate, or two handled mug. Well, duh - they issued those shapes for virtually ALL the designs they created. So it's quite a slog through the information bog - I mean highway - just to filter out to what you're exactly looking for.

For example, a search this morning turned up a cup described as "two handled with cute bunnies scampering and getting into lots of trouble." OK, then - I don't think I can really pin that one down without having to take a much closer look. Oh, and while I'm at it, can I just mention again my pet peeve about how many poor quality photographs there are out there? It staggers the mind how people manage to sell their items from blurry or poorly lit images. I'm presuming that they're selling.

Yes, I'm frustrated. This will be a more labor intensive batch of collectibles than I'd anticipated. But I'm hoping they'll be worth the effort and the wait.

The Wedgwood just keeps on coming

2008-06-18T11:59:00.005-04:00

(Blushing)

I guess I didn't realize how much we'd amassed over the years until I started to catalog everything for the store. I'm not done yet, though, and I'm up to 37 items. That even beats out the teapots, which I thought was spectacular. I'm almost at the end (I hope), I'm starting to dream about Jasperware, and seeing Dancing Hours every time I close my eyes.

There have been a few surprises along the way. Things like I thought I've seen items when I've searched on Google, yet when it came time for me to research the thing, I haven't been able to find any information at all. Things appear on the internet, and things drop off. (I guess as items come up for sale and then the records are deleted.) So it's made me appreciate the necessity of jotting down notes as I go, and putting them with the objects whether I'm ready to work on it at that time or not. This happened to me just the other day with a cachepot, sometimes also known as a jardiniere. When it came time for me to put it on to the website, I had the hardest time doing my research - many of my searches turned up auction sites that required a registration in order to find out any real information, like what the thing actually sold for. Persistence pays off, though, and I was able to cobble together a great description from multiple sources.

And here's a real wowee-cowabunga one: a perfume atomizer. I got this at the Wedgwood factory in Burslem, England in the late 1980's, not long after the color went into production. Perfume atomizers are highly collectible; Jasperware in rare colors is highly collectible - what this is is what's called (in the parlance of the trade), a "cross collectible", or desirable to people for multiple reasons.

I get it, now

2008-06-15T19:50:00.004-04:00

It just dawned on me what that whole COD I-want-those-teapots-but-only-if-I-can-get-them-Cash-On-Delivery... it was a tidy little lesson in boundaries for me. So here's your first transaction being dangled in front of you, but let's violate your business terms straight out of the chute. How's them apples? I actually lost sleep over this last night, because I extrapolated the transaction out to where we actually made some kind of arrangement. And it scared me because I wondered where the next boundary infraction would come from - she wouldn't like the teapots when they arrived, or they wouldn't be shipped quickly enough - all this spouted from the emails that we had sent back and forth over the last week or so. With me repeatedly stating our policy, and the other person, just as often, trying to run it over with a steam engine.

I was relieved that the outcome ended up to be - if she can't get a hold of a credit card to do the transaction, then she'll go elsewhere to get those teapots on the terms she desires. And good luck to that.

As with any time that I've held my boundaries firm, it's felt scary and empowering at the same time. I didn't cave in, and I also didn't make a sale. I think, though, that in a case like this, it's a win-win for me :-) I not only didn't make the sale, but I also didn't have to worry about the rebound effects of having made it. And it will be easier the next time someone suggests an alternative to our clearly stated purchase terms, to say, Sorry, but No. (Which was what I said all along with this - it just wasn't heard until the third time.)

Well, I'm impressed!

2008-06-12T12:45:00.002-04:00

The store at eCrater has been open around a week or so - and we've got our first sales transaction in progress. I've specified that we'll accept payment of money orders and bank checks in addition to being able to go through Google Checkout, and we've had an inquiry from a customer who doesn't have a credit card. There are plenty of folks out there who either choose not to have them, or don't really trust the privacy of their information on the internet, I'm thinking. We won't accept personal checks, and we'll only take money orders in US funds - I think this covers our behinds fairly completely.

So I've told her the total amount necessary to buy and ship the product - in this case, the Big Bob Goes Fishing Teapot - and, as they say, "the check is in the mail."

This is already more traffic and business than we ever had at that Other Place, so I'm tickled pink. Of course, the real satisfaction will be when the money order arrives, but I'm sure we've got a transaction in progress here.

So happy, so relieved, so - yes, I'm going to say it here - proud of what we've done in this short time!

This is what a squidoo looks like

2008-06-10T15:15:00.002-04:00

I made a Squidoo lens about Wedgwood Jasperware. I still don't quite know what a lens is or what it is supposed to do, but I did it. Along the way I found a site for the Wedgwood museum, which was kind of cool. And I also found out that in the 19th century the company supplied a dental firm in London with the porcelain required to make artificial teeth!

Kind of a neat loop given my experience working in a dental laboratory, and then a dental practice. Synchronicity...

Growing the store

2008-06-09T11:10:00.003-04:00

I've got the Attributes thang down! And figured out how to copy an item, so now when I add something new to the store, I select something that is similar (in type and maybe color, if I'm lucky), and the attributes are copied over along with the rest of the file. This rocks - it saves SO much time.

I put Bob on to the task of the metatags and description, since I totally didn't know what I was doing there. He found a free metatag analyzer through the eCrater forums (which also rock - so many resources there) and spent over an hour tweaking the words to get the percentages up. It turned out that my blind shot in the dark wasn't so bad in the first place - we had a better than average outcome with the keywords I had originally chosen. Dropping the extraneous "ands" and what I call fluffy words helped to get the numbers up.

And every time you add more items to your store, or you sell stuff, it's worth running the analyzer again, because it can change your numbers. I don't know if this is hard science or snake oil, though... hard to tell without any sales yet.

And Bob was flummoxed by Squidoo! At least I wasn't the only one :-) I'm going to give it another go, though, and see if I can't make some more sense of what on earth those lenses are all about!

Today's picture is of an absolutely lovely piece of Carnival Glass that Bob found this past weekend. This is a tumbler from the Dugan and Diamond's Storks and Rushes pattern, which was made between 1920 and 1931. This color is called Marigold - you also see it in Blue. The iridescence is just so very pretty in this piece, and it's in perfect shape. The mold markings are very bold and pronounced, which is perfectly acceptable. This pattern was reissued later on, by Westmoreland, but was marked as such with a "W" - which this tumbler lacks. By deduction, it's an original.

Google Attributes

2008-06-05T12:47:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I logged on to the eCrater account and saw a new button next to all the items in our inventory - the unmistakable G of Google. eCrater supports a certain number of Google Attributes, which are like keywords that describe your stuff that's for sale, and that the Goggle search engine will look through first when someone types in a search.

Here's a great article from the Search Engine Journal, from February 2007, that explains them really well. The upshot is that the more attributes you assign to describe something, the more particular you can get about your search, and the easier it becomes for your potential customer to find their exact match with your product.

I must admit that when I first started to read about attributes and how to assign them, my heart fell - I had already put 53 things into my store without knowing what an attribute was or that it was a good idea to assign them to each one! And it wasn't a matter of doing one record, and copying and pasting it into the rest of them; I had to go into each record individually and put the criteria that described that particular item itself. I tried to take plenty of breaks to give my eyeballs a rest (I tend to not blink often enough when looking at the screen), and also to stretch my back out. After about a day's work, I'm all caught up. And from here on in, when I add anything else to the store, I can select a similar item, copy that record, and the attributes will also be copied, for me to fine tune as necessary.

Once again, I am learning so much by doing this all myself. I guess there are plenty of people out there who hand over the running of their internet stores to a Web Master - and also hand over the money to do it - but this way I am gaining a real sense of ownership, and a depth of knowledge that I never would have imagined acquiring a year ago. Such a richness! And there's still room in my brain for more stuff!

The Google Help Base Center - a place that's dry as burnt toast, highly technical, crammed with information but not exactly geared for low-tech klutzes like myself, is also a good bookmark to have, because every single attribute that Google supports is listed, explained, and an example given.

Now I'm feeling slightly more in control of how the website is developing. I did write a Squidoo lens, though ya got me as to how those really work (maybe I'll have to do another one to get the hang of it?).

Today's picture is of another piece of Wedgwood Jasperware. This one is a commemorative pin dish made to celebrate Canada's centennial, in 1967. The applied white relief is a stylized maple leaf - no mention of Canada or the year anywhere on the piece. If you didn't know what it was or what it represented, you'd think it was a Star of David gone wrong! But in our house, mom had even made a needlepoint chair cushion using this motif. When I spotted this piece at the estate sale last week, I got all excited (that's a Canadian living in the United States for you!). Enjoy - and look forward to many more souvenirs celebrating that year in history.

Building up a store

2008-06-02T11:36:00.004-04:00

I've got this sense of deja vue that I just can't shake - and for good reason. Taking photographs, doing research, putting items into the online store... I've been here before. Yet this time around it feels so much better. I feel so much more my own boss at eCrater, a freedom and a responsibility at the same time. I don't quite know what a metatag is, but I know it's important! And what the heck is Squidoo? Yet another form of self promotion, and it's free, so I'm going to do it.

I've begun putting some of the Wedgwood Jasperware items on the site. We have so many, it is going to be a regular department store by the time I'm done. Today's picture is of a very pretty, deep rose teapot. Yes, it's fully functional, glazed on the interior. Unusual in that it has a trivet or stand on which to place the teapot. I think we found this piece at an antique store in Tarpon Springs, long before we ever thought of having our own business.

The most famous of Josiah Wedgwood's inventions was Jasperware. The unglazed vitreous body provides the perfect background for classic scenes in bas-relief.

Venetian Decanter and Glasses Set

2008-05-31T19:36:00.005-04:00

I just think this set is stunning, especially after we cleaned it up at home. Hand blown Venetian glass in a turquoise, almost teal color, with a gold, lacy applique overlaid in a beautiful pattern. It's right out of the 1960's and you can just picture it on somebody's kidney shaped coffee table, serving up some sherry.

Evocative.

I just love how some objects we find can transport us to another time like these can - one look and they definitely are NOT from a 2008 Crate and Barrel catalog. They are swinging; they are lounge music from an enormous console in your rec room; they are air blue with cigarette smoke, and ladies' hair teased into Dippity-Do gravity-defying shapes. All this from looking at a bunch of glass!

Yes, I love what I'm doing.

I hope that the photo does the set justice.

Time Travelers now at eCrater

2008-05-30T10:06:00.002-04:00

Wow, my head is spinning, and so early in the day. I've been working on setting up shop at eCrater, and getting Google Checkout ready there, and we even bought a domain name. I think I have the forwarding set up so that it will bring people automatically to the eCrater storefront.

Let's give it a try, shall we? Try this link: timetravelersonline.net

That should take you to a very small storefront at eCrater. At the moment, we've got it on hold until all the kinks are worked out. I think we'll be opening it soon even though it doesn't have many items in it as of yet, because now that I've got the hang of all that taking photographs and writing descriptions down, the process is a bit more efficient than it was 6 months ago.

But please, take a look at the store, with all its 4 items in it. I like the look of the place, myself. It shouldn't be unfamiliar compared with the TIAS store, apart from looking rather empty... just a virtual change in geography, as it were.

I can't believe that I've done as much as I have. We've had to forward the domain name to eCrater instead of masking it because bookmarks won't work properly, and there is some glitch with the Checkout unless you do it this way. But I don't mind. I like the domain name better than the clumsy one we'd been using before, and we'll be able to take it wherever we end up. I have a feeling, though, that we'll be at eCrater for some time. They make it very easy to set things up, it's completely personalized, and all the promotion - the really important stuff - is also, totally up to the seller.

So we'll give this a try.

Quite a nice bunch of stuff

2008-05-29T18:48:00.004-04:00

The estate sale we went to couldn't have been better. Close to home, and just overflowing with lovely, well cared for items that had seen a lifetime of love. We whizzed through the home and quickly built up a pile of some very special things to take away with us.

I took a quick photo of what we found. Briefly - some Wedgwood Jasperware ashtrays, including a Winston Churchill, and, to my delight, a Canadian 1967 Confederation one (which you had to know what it was just by the abstracted symbol of a maple leaf on it - no mention of Canada or 1967 at all). I was tickled pink to find it, because I'm a closet 1967 memorabilia collector. Also a covered trinket box, and a horse and chariot ashtray, both in the classical Grecian relief that you often see on the Jasperware pieces.

Silverplate - some serving pieces, like a large ladle, a small lade, a cake server, a sauce boat, and a sugar and creamer set. All terribly tarnished, but with TLC, some time and my favorite silver polish, they will all soon be gleaming, and will command decent prices.

A very pretty hand painted teapot in a soft teal color with gold handle and spout. So pretty and a practical size.

A covered cheese dish - something you just don't see any more. Very old, most definitely antique. It's lightly crazed all over and does have some staining from age, but I don't think it's a detraction. It's a special piece and in great condition.

A Stangl 1960's flower vase. I'm just starting to learn about and appreciate American pottery, and I'm glad I spotted this tucked away in a china hutch at the sale. It's in some very "Florida" colors - turquoise and gold - and still has the label on it from the factory. Mint condition.

A Venetian glass decanter set. Something special for company in a deep turquoise glass with gold lace decoration. It has all 6 glasses present in the set.

We also picked up a covered casserole dish that caught our eye, cream with green relief decoration. It just looked like something that people might like.

So that's the shopping for today. We are really pleased with what we found!

Doing some Shopping, and Looking Ahead

2008-05-28T15:49:00.006-04:00

We're going to an estate sale tomorrow afternoon. What a luxury - a sale during the week and without a show facing us! It's been a while since we've felt the absence of any pressure to restock, but we have officially ended the show season. We won't be doing anything until an indoor event in Fort Lauderdale at the beginning of August.

So now we are able to catch our breath and really take a close look at what we have left from the shortened season that we just got through. I want to do a review of exactly what has sold well for us - I bet it won't be what we think it's been. I know that Bob gets excited every time we've sold something that takes up a lot of space! even if it hasn't been of high value; he's also been pretty happy when something heavy has sold, because it's meant that he wouldn't have to lift and carry it again... So does that mean we should only be buying light, fluffy things??

I can see us developing several different levels of merchandise. One level for outdoor shows, where people expect to find and see the "bargains" of the collectibles world. The $5 table at the Treasure Island show was truly a good thing for us, because it allowed us to pull together a bunch of items that we wanted to clear out of stock and reduce their prices to sell. It was the right thing to do, and it created some room for us.

Bob and I want to start doing indoor shows, which cost more to participate in - usually three times the cost of doing the same show out of doors. But you don't see the same merchandise indoors as outdoors - once inside, you see a higher quality of merchandise, expect to see higher prices, and you might not even negotiate on the prices as you would outside. All this just for airconditioning!

The good news is that we won't have to buy all new (old) merchandise in order to start selling at these indoor shows. We already have a broad range of prices and values in what we offer. We will have to go through the bins and decide what exactly is appropriate for the indoor show, and what we should leave at home - and that brings up another point: we'll likely have less space, so we'll have to be more discriminating in what we bring.

I'll also take a look at table coverings that can help make our lovelies pop! The right color and texture can make a big difference. At the higher end of the shows you see retailers getting into elaborate displays, spot lights, and cases. Again, since this is our first year, I'll be trying to keep things as simple and inexpensive as I can for now.

Realistically I think we'll be doing both types of shows, as weather permits, and where it makes sense to do business indoors and where it will be expected that we show outside.

Meanwhile, eCrater awaits. I've been toiling on putting the correct values into the dreaded Shipping Matrix, the place where you can make or break your own store. I've read easily 20 pages in their online forum about the subject, so it's worthy of extra study up front, before I get too deep into this new store. Once those values are in (how much to charge for shipping by weight), then I can start to enter some items into inventory, which will require me to enter a weight in for each at that time. If I don't have a value for weight, then I can't enter an item. Luckily, I just happened to have bought a postal-grade scale when I was setting the shop at at That Other Internet Place - which we didn't end up using, but should have, in hindsight.

But first things first. Shipping Matrix. Then I get to pass go.

Sun, Sand and Swing?

2008-05-24T20:03:00.004-04:00

No, no, and no.

Not at 84% relative humidity and over 80 degrees F with a constant breeze. It was what I would imagine a slow roast in a convection oven would feel like. Totally unpleasant. And absurdly inappropriate to have the vendors come to set up at 7AM, when the main attraction, which is live music (that would be the Swing part of the event's name) doesn't even begin until 3:45PM. So for 6 and 3/4 hours we were pretty much twiddling our collective thumbs, waiting for the crowd to arrive. What were the Treasure Island Chamber of Commerce thinking when they planned this act of stupidity? What a complete and utter waste of our time.

Note to selves: we won't we doing this event next year.

The ultimate in recycling

2008-05-23T16:44:00.006-04:00

As we continue to fill our landfills more quickly than new ones can be created, it's worth looking at how green it is to market antiques and collectibles. What could be more wise than to reuse an object, rather than to discard something to a garbage bin and purchase a new one to replace it?

This is more than clever marketing - this is about reducing our production of refuse in our world. If we encourage people to buy gently used glassware, linens, clothing, dishes, and decorative objects, we are preventing those very objects from becoming fodder for the overburdened landfills. It makes huge sense.

I often speak of the treasures that we find at garage sales, estate sales, and auctions. We also have things just outright given to us to resell - and these things would not otherwise be used. We aid in finding these items their new lives in peoples' homes. Buying used items means that you're not contributing to the mindless cycle of always buying new, and discarding your old, things. You're breaking that cycle - interrupting it - and also extending the life of an object by enjoying it for many years, before in turn, sending it on to another home yourself. And likewise, when you're done with enjoying something in your home, think about donating it to a charity shop, gifting it to someone else in your family if it's a precious heirloom, or have a sale of your own, instead of putting it in the garbage. Just because you're done using it doesn't mean someone else won't get years of enjoyment from it - if anything, it's kind of wonderful to think of the extension of life it will get by being passed on to another household.

It's another way, however small, to green your small corner of the world.

Internet store to live another day

2008-05-20T12:36:00.008-04:00

First of all, wouldn't you know that we got an order on the TIAS site yesterday??!! Massive panic as we searched through multiple storage bins to find the item that was purchased - I knew this would happen! After months of packing and unpacking for show after show, never being able to pack a bin the same way twice, it's become complete chaos to try to find anything that we've listed on the website that is also something that we take to the shows.

Which is our complete internet store inventory.

And now approaches the end of the TIAS store, and an opportunity to start fresh someplace else. We are going to set up shop with eCrater, a free web store builder and a free online marketplace. With this new store will be different merchandise, however. I have seen (and did see, the entire time) the sheer folly of listing the same inventory in the old store that we were taking to the live shows. Keeping track of items sold was never a problem - I keep very detailed records - but that nightmare of actually putting my hands on something that's been carefully wrapped and packed away in a box that's buried 3 deep and 2 back in the spare room - well, that dream was realized and it wasn't pretty! The air was blue with the language coming out of my mouth, oh my!

And we never did set up our shipping rates properly at TIAS, which meant that we hadn't covered our expenses properly. So this time we'll be doing our homework more diligently, and also, having to weigh each item as we put it into the new store. The shipping rates will correspond to the postal service's Priority Mail rates, which is how we prefer to send items out.

My head is spinning at the work ahead of us. I've got the postal scale already, as I'd bought one months ago, then not used it when setting up shop at TIAS. Hopefully, this will dovetail nicely with the end of the live show season here. As we slow down with the shows, we'll be ramping up the new internet store.

Time Travelers Antiques and Collectibles

How the season is shaping up

Wedgwood - where it's now made

November's show schedule

About that Dunedin show

Fall 2011 season start

Missed an entire month?!

And a brief departure while we tidy up in the corner

Workin' on the website

Breaking news (or what passes for it)

Ready for Dade City

Tell me how you REALLY feel

Gathering Momentum for Saturday's Fundraiser

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

Round-up of Dunedin show - um, Different!

Second Act

Intermission

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

Show this weekend December 11th

A little bird told me....

Perception is a funny thing

Notes from the road - Santa Fe, New Mexico

Off the Floor and On to Breathing Space

Dunedin this weekend

Another Season Starting Up

Cranking it back up at Amazon

Birmingham Post - Business - Business News - Manufacturing & Skills - Fears for Wedgwood heritage if historic pieces are sold to fund pensions

eCrater still kicking!

Activities

Packed up the last of it at Patty & Friends

Dark time of the soul

It's all change again

A most amazing day

Fell in love with a little box

Show at the Museum of History in St. Petersburg

And today's word is SKOOKUM

Patty and Friends Antiques and what I'm doing there

Dade City Spring Antique Faire Wrap-Up

Thieves Market wrap-up

More Bunnykins hopping into the eCrater store

Online world is waking up!

Finds of the week - yes, from the same place

OK, so I'm a liar...

This Saturday - Trash to Treasures in Tarpon Springs

Now listed at Collectible Detective! and other neat stuff

Merchandising at the store

What I took away from this year's ACNA meeting

We just went out for ONE garage sale, honestly!

Antiques are Green!!

It's mighty quiet

Trying to Hold our Own

A special addition to the website store

Laptop is Working for Adding Items to Store

'Tiquing and Bargain Hunting In Pittsburgh, PA

Digesting the Sunshine City show

Necessity, creation, etcetera etcetera...

First show - *GASP* - of the season

Seasons change, and so do we

So you sit.... and you wait...

Venturing into Retail - Antique Stores

Evolution of this Blog

St. Petersburg Antique Fair (groan...)

First 2 shows of March done

I've been mighty quiet...

A Bummer

A Jewelry Purchase

Hurtin' for certain

Dade City this weekend

Adding more items to the store again

I wrote another Squidoo lens

I had a busy week!

Seems all I do lately is polish silver!

Just checking in

Lessons Learned

Indoor show coming up in Fort Lauderdale

We have a Spooner!

First Sale at eCrater!

A little blip

Bits and Pieces

Expo 67 Nostalgia

First show - GASP - of the season