Show at the Museum of History in St. Petersburg

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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.