Pat’s Antiques of Shelby, IL had some unusual estate finds. There was a birds eye maple doll dresser c 1920 for $125. They also had a small, doll size iron bed c 1910, priced at $225. I loved the child’s Elite Tool chest with tools (including extra tools) and an apron which looked like it was never worn for $175. Finally, they had a two piece small cross saw and stand, with the saw being only 4” wide priced at $200. Some of these like the cross saw and iron bed could have been salesman’s samples, but hesitant to identify them as such.

Barbara Elden McDonald Antiques of Knoxville, TN had a large, 42” wide vineyard basket that was in wonderful condition with a beautiful dark patina, listed at $250. They had it displayed on a wall and it was quite striking.

I love industrial antiques and Wilson’s Antiques, Inc. of Ashville, N.C. had a large 6 drawer wood industrial counter with a metal top for $795. It would make a fantastic check out counter or could be used in a workshop where it was probably originally used.

American Spirit Antiques LLC of Murphy, N.C. had some exciting toys. First was a working tin alligator with a black native boy riding on his back. It was c 1920 by the Chein Toy Co. of N.J. listed at $250. Next was a working German pull toy of a cow from late 1800s that would moo when pulled. It was about 14 ½ inches long and sits on a wood base and fake hide covering in working order. This one had lots of detail and priced at $650 and was in good condition, especially compared to others I saw online. Finally they had a large store display tennis shoe of Bata Super Bullets for $350.

Chuck Bachmann of Thornville, Ohio had a deco theatre marquee for movie posters c1925 with its original fluorescent tubes and a non working clock on top. The metal was not in good condition with some rusting and spotted, priced at $495.

I found this oak railroad ticket cabinet with roll down door made by Pool Bros. Mfg. of Chicago from Beaver Creek Antiques of Glascow, KY. It was listed for $1895. They also had this toy Bestmaid Mechanical Marionette Theatre with patent date of 1921 in its original box @ $650. On the slightly macabre side they had this authentic wooden electric chair c 1915 from Pulaski County, TN. Priced at $6500. Next was a bit of Nashville history since this was a Nashville show. It was a pair of original oak benches from the Grand Old Opry’s  Ryman Auditorium which came out of the auditorium when they renovated it in 1993. They were donated by Oscar Sullivan of Lenzo and Oscar fame. There was a small brass plate on each showing the above information and these were listed for $2500 each.

Finally, there was an entire booth of original hand carved wooden papier-mâché molds from the Philippines. I had always wondered how they made all of these papier-mâché objects so cheaply. After WWII the demand for these inexpensive objects created the demand for this Philippine export industry. Skilled carvers would carve these wooden molds and then they would layer the molds with layers of paper soaked in rice paste. After drying, the paper shells would be sliced in two with sharp razor knives. Then they would be rejoined and usually covered with a final coat of brown paper. He had mold mostly from the 60s through the 90’s. They came in all sizes and were priced from $5 for some small stars and other shapes to several hundred dollars for large molds. They all had in common the marks left from the sharp razor cuts. The molds are called takaans and the finished products are called takas.

I loved the booth of Antiques, Art ‘N Treasures of Scottsville, KY. They had a neat milk glass Santa Claus mini oil lamp with nutmeg burner. It has original nutmeg burner and near perfect fired on paint. From the early Santa figure, probably late 19^th century. This was listed for $12,000. They also had a Mt Washington 3 glass banquet lamp that had been electrified, $1495.

The Hallett’s of Antiques, Arts ‘N Treasures had a 1870s brass double light student light signed E.M. Miller which had been electrified, $1495, probably replacement glass shades. The last oil lamps were  pair of nickel plated Kinks Dulex No. 2 which were 18” tall from about 1865. They were bringing a pair of antique cranberry shades to go with them and would be priced at $6500 for the pair. They also had a tall Weller Woodcraft vase in shape of tree trunk with an owl in a hole and a squirrel climbing the tree, 18” tall for $1500. There was a duck decoy from about 1895, a Mason Premier blue wing teal drake with its original weight for $9,500. Mr Hallett had an auction result from 7 years ago where a similar decoy sold for $16,500. And finally they had a lovely mahogany glass showcase with original glass and mirrors except for the added glass shelf. The cabinet was c 1880 and priced at $2800.

The inventorialist.com, actual name of business, from Indianapolis, IN. had a display of three industrial wheels hanging on a wall which would be a neat wall display for a large wall. The wheels were priced at $275 for the smallest, $300 for middle size and $375 for the largest one.

Poor Horse Antiques of Springfield, MO. had a late 19^th century forged iron meat rack with hooks from a butchers shop. The rack was made by Bernard Gloekler Co. of Cincinatti and featured a cowboy riding a horse on right side chasing a steer on the left side with a longhorn head in the middle. It was too high in the booth to get accurate measurement but estimated about 8 feet wide and priced at $2200. This version seems to be hard to find, saw several more common examples online, but none like this one. He also had a reclining nude ink well on marble base for $775.

My wife loved this pair of light green metal railroad bridges for a model train set for $195 for the pair. These were presented by Worden Select Objects of Burr Oak, MI. She also had a large pair of industrial lights, $575 each. These had a great industrial look for a loft or similar large space with high ceilings.

Finally Don & Marta Orwig of Indiana had a large booth again. They had a fun pair of folk art “wrench” chairs made from large wrenches for $2850 for the pair. There was a very detailed unusual tramp art frame for $595. Finally they had 10 metal industrial chairs priced at $120 each. These are new chairs with a vintage industrial look.

Talking to dealers at both shows, traffic and sales were down from the shows there in February. Some wondered if the fall shows would return next year. More common things were really slow, but the more unusual things were still strong.

Fiddler’s Antique Show took place at Fiddlers Inn Hotel, 2410 Music Valley Dr., Nashville, TN 37214.

Tailgate-Music Valley Antiques Show was at the Hendersonville Expo Center, 90  Volunteer Dr, Hendersonville, TN 37075

The show promoters for the two shows are listed below.

Fiddler’s Antique Show

P.O. Box 17457

Indianapolis, IN 46217

(615) 686-8202

Info@fiddlersantiqueshow.com

Tailgate-Music Valley Antiques Show

Jenkins Management

P.O. Box 580

Fishers, IN 6032

(317) 598-0012

jonjindpls@aol.com

Portuguese Palissy

There was a good turn out the first day and like most antique shows today, some dealers were happy with their sales and some were not. I was helping a friend in his booth so I was there for several days. Here are some of the things that I found while visiting the many different dealers. Gary Bonner of Portobello Antiques in Dallas had a nice collection of 19^th century Portuguese Palissy ware ranging in price from $895 for a smaller plate to a large pitcher complete with top and under plate for $2500. It is hard to find these pitchers with their top and under plate. They are so delicate they often get broken. He sold a couple of the smaller pieces during the show .If you are not familiar with palissy, it is a type of majolica known for its reptiles, including snakes and lizards with a background of grass.

Some other interesting finds in his booth were a set of six Victorian graduated copper measuring jugs priced at $1950. Again it is unusual to find the full sets. He has most of his copper professionally polished and they really shine. I saw Gary on the last day of the show and he said he was probably going to have to price the jugs individually because several people wanted to buy just one or two instead of the set of six. I also loved his English Wedgwood 11 piece Argenta majolica fish set consisting of the larger platter and 10 dishes priced at $2,700, c1860.

Early 19th Century Chest of Drawers

Gary also had two quality chests of drawers. One was an early 19^th century mahogany three drawer chest with contrasting banding on the top. It stood 30” high and was priced at $2395 and was sold during the show. The other chest was a Victorian bamboo chinoiserie lacquered 4 drawer chest with two smaller top drawers and then two larger drawers beneath priced at $1550. Both of these chests were in great condition.

An outstanding table was found in Mitra Kilburns’ booth and she is located in the Mews in Dallas. It was a fabulous 17^th century Tuscany table that was 8 feet, 10 inches long and had its original paint, quite remarkable for a table of this age. It was priced at $12,999. She imports all of her furniture finds from France.

Perhaps my favorite booth at the show belongs to Don and Marta Orwig of Indiana. They find so many neat and unusual items. There was a pair of massive (four feet wide) pre Civil War cast iron planters made by the Kramer Brothers foundry of Dayton, Ohio. These were so heavy that it took four men to move them. They were $15000 and sold during the show. He had a large cast iron, red Enterprise store sized coffee grinder priced at $795. There was also a pair of darling French cast iron garden ducks about 15 inches high and priced at $875 each which also sold during the show. He had a huge, 11 feet, 6 inches tin sign with a picture of a World War I ship, priced at $2200. It served as a backdrop for a US Naval display at a New York City pier when a World War 1 ship docked at the pier. This exhibit was in the 50’s.  During the spring show he sold a large copper model of the ship.

Kramer Bros Planter 18th Century

On the whimsical side, there was a giant clothes pin which was about five foot tall, originally a store display priced at $1450. One of my favorite things was a very rare salesman’s sample Home Craft cook stove with the original carrying case that a door to door salesman would carry with him as he was trying to sell these cook stoves. It was priced at $2200 and many of the customers just assumed it was a child’s toy cook stove without a closer look. I made the same mistake until I took a second look. Many of the first day buyers miss these types of things because they are in such a rush to see everything. Admission is good for all the days of the show, so a second visit to take a slower look is advised. This is good advice for any antique show.

French cast iron garden ducks

Don showed me a photo of a paper poster that he sold at his tent in the fields right before the show. It was an 11 foot tall patriotic sign from WW1. It would have been used as a recruiting poster and most of them were plastered on the sides of buildings or barns in the area. This one was from Boston and was found in the original shipping tube. It was probably was now the last of its kind since all of the original paper ones were destroyed long ago. He built a frame for it to keep it from tearing. A huge American flag was the center of interest in the poster. He sold it for $15000.

Finally, from a variety of signs Don displayed were a couple of my favorites. The first was a metal Mel Tillis, “I’m a Coca-Cola Cowboy” sign priced at $695. It would be great in a room with the framed Roy Rogers and Dale Evans framed children’s outfits (see below). There was also an old lighted RX sign with flashing bulbs for $1950. The last item from the Orwig’s was an old wooden barber pole with an electrified light on top.

Carnival Ride Sign

Martin Hayter of Greenville, TX who also shows at the Mews in Dallas had an interesting 11 foot carnival merry go round sign with the word “HORSES” on it. He had it priced at $1900 and had a lot of interest from horse ranchers. Also in his booth were five French starburst mirrors from the 1920’s. The largest being 36 inches in diameter was priced at $2200 down to the smallest priced at $900. There was a green English majolica urn and matching pedestal with Art Nouveau decoration priced at $750. He had several sterling silver napkin rings priced from $125. There was a large selection of English sterling silver fobs or metals that were given as prizes from about 1880 until the 1920’s for different activities. These were priced from $79 to $125. Finally there was a classic sterling silver ink well with a tortoise shell top priced at $750. Martin had a nice Victorian cast iron outdoor garden table about 5 feet long priced at $750 which sold at the show. He also sold a Victorian 27 inch round convex mirror for $410.

Child’s Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Outfits

Across the aisle from Martin, Polly Hitt of Tyler, TX had another of my favorite items. It was a custom framed child’s Roy Rogers and matching Dale Evans outfit which had been priced at $1450. She also had a fabulous Victorian English breakfast table with four matching carved legs which were wonderful dogs. We have imported English antiques for over 20 years and I had never seen a table like this. It was priced at $3800 and sold at the show. Polly makes these wonderful lamps made from the bark and moss of tress. My favorite had a hole in the base of the “tree” and she had added a taxidermy squirrel. For those that didn’t get freaked out by the squirrel, it got lots of comments. It was priced at $695. Polly also had an unusual deer foot thermometer from Germany that was 12 inches long and priced at $195, probably mid 2oth century.

19th C Folk Art Squirrel Cage

Another Dallas dealer, Shannon Poppino of Clutter Antiques had the most fabulous pair of large Black Forest hunt plaques. They were 40 inches tall and priced at $13,500. There was a carved dog at the top with a bird and antelope hanging down from a ring in the dog’s mouth. She also had a great Folk Art squirrel cage with two chambers connected by a tube. Each chamber had a weather vane on top. It was a mid 19^th century piece from Maine priced at $4600.

One of Pair Black Forest Hunt Plaques

Some general trends we noticed was original art not selling as well as years past. Some dealers like Gary Bonner are not even bringing near as many paintings as he used to display. English Staffordshire dogs and figures have slowed down. On the positive side, there were lots of sold signs on painted furniture, especially the chalky gray color found on early Swedish pieces. Many of these pieces were vintage pieces of French styled furniture that had been repainted.

The weather was much better than a year ago when temperatures were over 100 and many were just miserable. Overall most dealers had a good show, with some having record shows and others not covering expenses. It is so important in this economy to stay up with the trends. In general, brown furniture is still dead. For those not familiar with the show, most dealers set up in giant tents. There are a few older buildings that have been moved to the site. The site is near Round Top, a tiny town with a population of 90, yes 90. There are other shows in surrounding towns and fields. Marburger Farm is the biggest paid shows, and is known as an outstanding show ranking in the Top 10 Antique Shows in the country in one poll. Many of the fields open the week before the major shows open, so you could easily spend two weeks here. Many come and spend 3-4 days and you can’t see it all even in that time. The whole Round Top antiques experience is one of those things that you have to experience to understand it. Then you will either love it or hate it. Many people have standing hotel reservations in many of the small towns in the area of central Texas. The next show will be in the spring 2013, April 2^nd through April 6^th.

I must say that my first impressions were very positive. It made me feel I was back home in Texas. What really impressed me the most was the quality of this show since it held every month. Most monthly shows have a lot of flea market things in them. There is nothing wrong with that, so I’m not trying to put those type down.

But most of the dealers would fit in very nicely at the better shows at Round Top. And you should know how much of a fan that I am for Marburger and the Big Red Barn at Round Top. I am sure that several of these dealers show at Round Top.

This Market Is Huge

It is hard to get a grasp at how big this show really is. You read that there are over 3000 dealers and you think, that is a lot of dealers. My friends said they shopped for three days. We mainly came to just check the place out to see if we might want to set up here ourselves. We brought some of our English antiques with us when we moved from Dallas to northern Alabama.

But European antiques are not popular in northern Alabama, especially at Dallas prices. And our prices are not high because we went to England and shopped carefully to buy our antiques and imported them on our own container. We also took people on buying trips which covered most of our expenses. We were known for very reasonable prices in Dallas.

I am getting off the subject which is Scott’s. At least 80% of the show was European, much like Dallas. That is why we felt right at home. The show is actually at two different locations, but very close to each other. It is held at the Atlanta Exposition Center which  are huge buildings, a total of 366,000 square feet. We looked for two days and we were not carefully shopping.

What Kind of Things Will You Find Here?

I said a majority of it was European. There is a lot of furniture, both French and English, as well as some American. You will find furniture in all price ranges. You can find barley twist occasional table under $200 and their was some high end pieces priced in the thousands.

There were many art dealers, maybe 30 or more, with paintings of all kinds. Most of it was in the $1000+ range although we found one dealer with decent paintings under $500, most of it was English. She said she worked with several dealers there to keep her prices low. There were of course paintings in other booths, so if you are looking for original art, this would be a great source.

The same is true for jewelry. I wasn’t jewelry shopping, so I didn’t look at the variety and prices, but there were many dealers with just jewelry, everything from costume to high end. If you love jewelry, and I know many women do, you would love shopping here.

There were collectibles of all kinds. We saw lots of English Staffordshire and majolica, but there was just a huge variety of all sorts of things. I will try to show some videos that will help show some of the booths.

What Are the Show Dates?

The Atlanta show takes place the second weekend of every month. Their web site shows the days of the show as Friday through Sunday, starting at 9:00AM. But we got there Thursday afternoon about 2:00 and there were many buyers packing their trucks with their purchases. So if you want the good buys, go early. The dealers start setting up inside at 6:00AM, not sure when they will allow buyers in, but I would try to be there by 8:00 or 9:00. The outside dealers set up on Wednesday, and there was some good stuff outside.

There is some junk for the junkers who like to dig. But generally it is a wonderful antique show. Of the two buildings, the north building was a little more high end, but the soth building also had some great dealers. The outside area at the south building was more of a flea market atmosphere. The area there called the garden center is similar to what you see on “American Pickers.”

Everything But the Kitchen Sink?

Nope, can’t say that, as you can see from the photo, there are even kitchen sinks. I took several photos in this area because I liked much of the stuff, like the giant gears and such. For those that like to repurpose things, you would enjoy digging through the things in this area.

There were several dealers that made lamps out of all sorts of things, mainly architectural pieces. I sold one dealer that had several lamps made from metal horse heads, like you would find outside. Most of them already had sold signs on them.

In conclusion, we will definitely go back again, although I’m not sure if we will try to sell there. Our things were not quite the quality I wo9uld like to have for this show. Our prices are usually less expensive, but not enough unusual and “wow” pieces.

If you live within several hundred miles of  Atlanta and love antiques, you ought to check this market out. Atlanta is a great antiques town and there are tons of other places to shop there. I hope I have given you enough information to help you make a decision of whether you should visit there or not. Check out other articles on this blog, buying and Selling Antiques to see many other interesting places to shop for antiques.

It is wise to contact them before bringing things in to make sure they will accept it for sale. We photographed ten items and emailed it to them. You can find their site at Gallery 63. There you can find all of the information you need such as auction times, location, etc. This is a big operation, so if you email them you may need to follow up with a phone call. When going to the auction gallery, you have to look carefully, and it is on a very busy street. The familiar building you see on TV is actually at the back of their property. A historic church building is street side, so it’s easy to miss.

After we had got the OK to bring some things for their next auction, we made the three hour drive to Atlanta, with our things all packed away in the car.  Being out first experience with them, we brought a variety of things. Included were a couple of pieces of furniture and the rest were “smalls” (antique speak for non furniture items.) I would suggest you do the same if you are considering sending some things to this auction, or any auction for that matter. Some auctions seem to do very well on furniture items and others  do better with art or smalls. Remember when you are considering whether to send things to auction, the big advantage is your things will most likely sell, at some price. The only exceptio0ns are they did not bring a bid or did not meet the reserve price. A reserve price is an agreed upon minimum price between the seller and the auction house. But unless it is a very special item, many auction houses will not accept items with reserves. They don’t make their commissions unless an item sells.

You always want your items to sell for high prices when you are selling, but want low prices when you are buying. The price an item will bring depends on how many people attending the auction want that particular item. It takes at least two people who want it to get the bidding above the opening bid. At most auctions, many of the people attending are dealers. They will only bid about half (or less) of what they think they can get for the item. Remember they have overhead and may have to keep the item for quite a while before selling it. So if you see an item similar to yours selling in an antique store for $100, don’t expect to get near $100 at an auction. Usually the dealer will have to discount the item, say 10%. So if they sell it for $90, they will not want to pay more than $45 and hopefully less. The economy is still slow and when it is, many dealers are not buying. Just be realistic in your expectations. You have to be prepared that some items may bring a lot less than you wanted, and hopefully some will do better. That was the case with our things also. We have sent many things through auction over the years, and most of the time you are disappointed in the final results. A big example for us was when we closed our antique store in Dallas. We had been antique store owners for over 25 years and had a lot of things. First we had a “store closing” sale and discounted things 50% off the price on the tag. Then we moved most of the things to our warehouse and had a big 3 day sale there, with final discounts being 70% off the original price. Then we sent most of the remaining inventory to auction. So we had to be realistic, these things had been through two sales and had been in the store inventory before that. These items had not sold, even at 70% off. So these items must not have been real desirable items, even though when we bought them we thought they were. At that point, sending these to auction was all that was left. Most of the things we took to this auction were left over from those sales and our Dallas antique store. Just because we loved these things, as they were some of the things we saved, didn’t mean others would love them like we did.

Enough with the stories, I have included a few photos of some of the things. We ended up bringing nine items to the auction. They told us the antique sampler would not bring what it was worth, which was the tenth item.  We had two pieces of furniture and seven smalls. Here is the list of items. See if you can guess what these eight items brought at auction, don’t cheat (one item has not sold.)

1)      Victorian Beaded and Needlework Arm Chair

2)      Victorian Papier Mache Tea Poy

3)      Red British Military Jacket

4)      Large Bronze of a Lion

5)      Mahogany Lap Desk with Inlay

6)      Brass Mirrored Fire Screen

7)      Inlaid Tea Caddy

8)      Oak Cigar/Cigarette Box with Silver Accents

Here are some other general impressions of the auction. The staff was very friendly. As you can see from the photo, Paul, the owner took time to visit with us (my wife forgot she was wearing shades). He was thankful for the TV program which had really helped the business. He said he was a third generation antique dealer, but the antique business isn’t what it used to be. He said antique furniture was just not bringing very much and he hated accepting it because the sellers were usually disappointed. Being in the auction business he doesn’t own any of the inventory. The sellers pay a 30-35% consignment fee and the buyers pay a 15% buyers fee. So the auction makes 45-50% of the sold price of each item. But as I said this is a big operation with lots of employees and overhead, so it is an expensive operation to run.

If you have ever watched “Auction Kings” on Discovery, you know they love the unusual things. When we were there the gallery was full of unusual items. There are a couple of photos of the merchandise getting ready to be auctioned, or maybe I will do a short video of all the things we brought and the photos of the auction house.

We enjoyed our visit to Gallery 63. As far as the results of our items being sold, we were very pleasantly surprised at what one item brought and extremely disappointed with another item (can you guess which ones.) The other items were about what we expected, although we had hoped for more.

Here is the video of our visit.

Here are the auction results for our items.

1)      Victorian chair………… $100

2)      Papier mache tea poy………$2,200

3)      Red jacket……………..$95

4)      Bronze Lion…………….$400

5)      Lap desk………………….$250

6)      Fire Screen……………..$60

7)      Tea Caddy……………….$75

8)      Cigarette Box…………..$45

The overall results were actually more than we expected because of the high price paid for the tea poy. If you are not familiar with this, let me give you a brief description and history. During the mid to late 1800’s, papier mache was very popular both in decorative items like large trays and also furniture. You can see the oriental influence in the design. Tea at this time was very expensive and was often locked for protection. Most of the time tea was kept in small boxes known as tea caddies. But some wealthy households had these large tea poys and are quite hard to find. The top opens to reveal two covered storage containers to keep two kinds of tea as well as a glass bowl to mix the teas for a custom blend.  So you will not see many of these come through an American auction, most are kept in England. The English still prefer a hot cup of tea to coffee. The bid price was actually higher than what we had it marked in our store. The Victorian chair with all of the beautiful bead work, the photo does not do it justice was the big disappointment. But Victorian furniture is just not near as popular as it was several years ago. This chair was originally priced around $4000 and cost about $1500 in England. The price had been reduced several times and had been in our inventory for at least seven years. But it was still hard to see it bring so little, but I was afraid of that kind of result when we took it. I would rather have the chair back than the money it brought. But those are the chances you take when you send things to auction. In fairness, I would have been happy if the tea poy had brought half of what it did and thought the total of all the items might bring what it did. Therefore if you look at the bottom line, we were happy with the final results. You have to be able to do this and not worry what individual items bring.

If you have things you would like to auction or just want to attend a neat auction gallery, may I suggest you visit Gallery 63 in Atlanta. If you can’t, be sure and watch the “Auction Kings” on the Discovery channel.

]]> http://www.buyingandsellingantiques.org/gallery-63-the-auction-kings/feed/ 0 http://www.buyingandsellingantiques.org/junk-gypsies-of-round-top-fame/ http://www.buyingandsellingantiques.org/junk-gypsies-of-round-top-fame/#comments Tue, 22 May 2012 20:29:21 +0000 Chuck http://www.buyingandsellingantiques.org/?p=1375 If you are one of the many regulars that make the twice a year trek to Round Top Week, you no doubt know the sisters, Amie and Jolie Sykes, known as the Junk Gypsies. They are known for all of their funky creations and unusual antique finds.. These talented ladies now have their own TV show on HGTV. Unlike the other Texas ladies that had the “Picker Sisters” TV show, these two really are sisters.

If you are a really die hard follower of Round Top you know about these girls’ Thursday night Prom Night. This is a giant party to let down your hair, put on your favorite 50’s prom dress and enjoy a night of partying. Originally, they were just going to have a few friends over after the shopping day was over. But now it has turned out to be the place to be on Thursday evening and well over a thousand show up. Many ladies spend weeks trying to find the right outfit to wear to this giant party. But that is just part of the fun of Round Top. Besides all of the wonderful antiques and junk, seeing all of the outfits that people wear. It is a great people watching place. Just wanted to share that these ladies know how to throw a party.

Courtesy of HGTV

But back to their new TV program on HGTV. I have seen two episodes, as it is a brand new program. In the first episode they had a job to do a complete remodel of a Airstream for country music star, Dierks Bentley. Some of the highlights included using a guitar as a hanging light fixture. They found a couple of old doors and used them as an entrance ton the bedroom. They made a resin table full of old posters and used a cut down church pew for part of the seating. A small buffet was used as the basis for the kitchen sink. They tried to incorporate the two halves of a motorcycle gas tank, but ended up using just one half as a unique wall light. It is fun to see how they take their finds and repurpose them into unique decorating ideas. They do it in a similar way to the way the “Picker Sisters” did on their program. These young ladies are also attractive like those other two but maybe they will not take the criticism for the way they dress. So far I have seen no shorts, mainly jeans.

The second show I saw was redoing what had originally been a daughter’s bedroom. Now they were redesigning into a workroom for a creative client who loved crafting and scrap booking., as well as just spending some alone time on her computer. Probably the most unique piece they did on this job was taking the top, upright part of a nonworking pinball machine and repurposing it into a unique table top.

If you love antiques and junking, you should love this show. I get so tired of many of the design shows that never incorporate antiques in their design ideas. These girls not only use antiques, they take many pieces of what many would consider junk, and repurpose it into something unique. You will not love all of their ideas, but it fun to other people’s creative ideas, especially talent ones like the Junk Gypsies. You can see their program on HGTV on Saturday evening at 6:00 CST. Also be sure and not miss their set up at that wonderful antique week known as Round Top. If you are there on Thursday, don’t miss their Prom Night. You can follow them on their blog @ http://junkgypsyblog.com/. You can also catch past episodes at HGTV. The photo also comes from HGTV.

Recent Update/ October  2012

Just came back from the Round Top antique shows and saw that the Junk Gypsiaes have just about completed their new store in Round Top and should have it open real soon. So if you are a fan of the sisters and their show, stop by and check out their new store if you are in the area,

If you get a chance to watch the TV program, please feel free to leave your comments below and share this article with others. Let me know whether you love or hate the program and why. For similar articles, please read some of my other articles on Buying and Selling Antiques.

Before you buy the printed version, check to see if the title you are trying to find is available in electronic form. It makes carrying your reference books much easier when you are out searching for your favorite antiques or collectibles. I would see people looking through their price guides trying to see if the item they had just found is a good price or not. Sometimes they would have six or seven different price guides in their car. But if you have the Kindle Fire or similar eReader or tablet, you can carry it everywhere and have it available when you go shopping or attend an auction.

I can’t tell you how many times I would see something at an auction or shopping and wonder what it was selling for now. Too many times I missed a good buy because I just didn’t know how much I should pay for a particular item. It is just not practical to carry a lot of books when you are traveling or shopping with friends. The portability of tablets and readers is what has made these so popular. Many will fit in a purse so they will be there when you need them. If you have several of your favorite antiques price guides downloaded, they are available whenever you need them. Unfortunately, many are still not available as eBooks, but more and more are becoming available as authors realize the potential of this growing love of eBooks.

I told you this was going to be short. So if you have the ability to read eBooks on a portable device, see if some of the books about antiques and collectibles is available from the Kindle Store on Amazon.

I just watched a new program, “Flea Market Flip” on HGTV. The show is hosted by Lara Spencer, an anchor on “Good Morning America.” The show centers around two teams, with two people on each team. Each team receives $500 to go on a hunt to find some flea market finds.

Each team has a check list of several things they must purchase. These include such things as a table and chairs, good “bones,” and other things. They then take these back to a workshop which has tools, fabrics, paint, and such so they can redo or even repurpose the items into something new. There was a program in England that we used to watch that had competing teams searching antique shows and markets and then trying to sell them at an antique auction.

But “Flea Market Flip” allows the creativity of each team as an important factor. Lara is around to give encouragement and suggestions. She is an antique enthusiast and was even the host of the “Antique Roadshow” for a while. So not only do the teams have to have a good eye for the good buys, they also have to be creative in how they redo the pieces. At the time of this article there has only been one episode shown. I was really impressed with the knowledge of the contestants. One team bought a chair for several hundred dollars. I as well as Lara and her team thought they had overpaid, but research showed it was good buy.

So we get to see the teams out shopping and see them look for the different items on their checklists, which are the same for each team. An item like a table and chairs can prove to be a challenge. After the purchases are made and the items are brought back to the workroom, we see the contestants work on their projects. One team took a pair of matching chests with contemporary lines and painted them in all black. To really set them off they took mirrors and cut to fit the drawer fronts. But, even after Lara warned them to be careful screwing on the handles, they screwed one hand too tight, and it cracked the mirror. They decided to take the mirrors off the one chest and just paint the drawer fronts, now breaking up the matching chest. I disagreed with some of the things they bought and the way they redid some of them, but that is some of the fun in watching the show.

After they have finished with all of their projects, they then have to try to sell all of their things at another market. This brings another whole set of variables into who will be the winner of the competition. The winning team gets to keep all of the profits that both teams make. So they have to decide how to price each of their items and then as the show progresses, what kind of wheeling and dealing they will do. On this episode it was pouring down rain on the day of the show. So there were not as many customers as usual. It was interesting to see how much they would discount the different items, especially with a limited amount of shoppers.

I am really looking forward to watching more episodes of “Flea Market Flip.” For those of you that liked watching “Picker Sisters,” you see how these contestants try to repurpose different things. What kind of fabrics will they choose to recover that chair?  Will they paint the chest of drawers, if so, what color will they choose? How will they price the different items? I might add that Lara and the staff will give input on the price of similar items on the internet. Then we watch as the big day of the show progresses to see how each team is selling. Does the team with the best items win or does one team just outsell the other team by making better decisions?

The first episode of “Flea Market Flip” aired on HGTV on Friday, April 20. I hope you enjoyed the article and will consider sharing it with your friends. If you enjoy these type of shows, check out the next episode of “Flea Market Flip” and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.

I did not include all eleven of the items included, but will give a link  so you can see all of the items. The photos also came from the article. Hope you have some fun with it and aren’t able to identify ten of the eleven like I did, or you are old as dirt like me.

From Mental Floss:

11 “Modern Antiques” Today’s Kids Have Probably Never Seen

Read the full text here:  http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/122762#ixzz1s89iOcH5

1. 45 rpm Record Adapter  

2. Skate Key

4. Self-Service Tube Tester

8. Milk Chute  

I tried to pick the harder ones to identify. Again you can read the whole article here: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/122762#ixzz1s89iOcH5/ The one I could not identify was the milk chute. I remember the milk man coming to make deliveries. They had a little circular thing that you could turn to reveal anything special you wanted delivered in addition to your regualr delivery. I would get up early and turn the gadget to chocolate milk, I was either 5 or 6. But the mile was left on the doorstep, so I don’t remember the chute. Do you think any of these items will become the collectibles of tomorrow? That is the fun of trying to think what will become the next hot collectible. Who knew all of those baseball cards, including the Mantle and Mays rookie cards that we bought  for a penny wuld be worth what they are today. But if we had all taken good care of them, they wouldn’t be worth near as much. So the next new hot collectible will be something that m,ost people threw away, because the demand has to be bigger than the supply for it to becoe valuable. It could also be something that that was made in limited quanities, again making the supply less than the demand. You can always just do like most of us and just wait and see which of these ”modern antiques” will become a valuable antique or collectible several years from now.

For those of us that love antiques, this is a disturbing, but understandable trend that we hope doesn’t continue. But if your family is struggling and you have your grandmother’s sterling silver dinnerware stored away and you rarely use it, who can blame you for taking advantage of these high prices. Some of these sets are bringing several thousand dollars if it is a large service. The prices for precious metals have come down some from their recent record highs, so many wonder if these prices will ever be this high again. Not wanting to miss this window of opportunity, they are selling their gold and silver to take advantage of these high prices.

Of course these high prices of precious metals have caused many people to search through their jewelry boxes and drawers trying to find any old, unused or broken jewelry that can be sold for scrap. It doesn’t take much to be able to make a few hundred dollars to sell some old broken pieces of gold jewelry.

On the other hand, as an antiques store owner, I can’t tell you how many people were bringing in silver plate thinking they had a fortune in their dinnerware. Nearly all sterling silver is marked, but different countries mark their silver different ways. We recently had to serving pieces of silver that was from a European country, I don’t remember which one, that had an unusual marking for their silver. We didn’t even know it was not silver plate until I did some research on the internet. So we were able to make a decent little profit by knowing this mark.

As an antique dealer, I love the marking of silver in the United Kingdom. The markings on each piece will not only have the sterling mark, but each piece has a date stamp also. Some even have the stamp of the maker. These marks allow you to accurately date each piece, although some of the marks are very similar and many times have worn so much you can’t identify the date letter. But when these different marks can be read, it is very helpful for both buyers and sellers to be able to give accurate dates. Many times a customer will ask how we were able to date something we were trying to sell. With these silver pieces it was quite easy to show them our handy little silver book that showed all of the letters corresponding to the appropriate dates. I only had problems trying to photograph these tiny marks to post pictures on the internet. It possibly could be my lack of skill with the camera. But the combination of a shiny surface and tiny marks made it difficult to get a good, clear photo.

I would hope people would see what they could sell their pieces for their antique value or even the value of the particular silver pattern before selling for scrap value. Take a few minutes and see what similar sets are selling on eBay or one of the antiques sites on the internet. Young people seem to not be buying sterling dinnerware like the older generations did, again because the high prices of silver now. So once these sets are melted down, they are gone forever. I don’t blame people for taking care of their families. If something is just being stored away and rarely used, why not turn it into money. Some have kept it for that unforeseen emergency, and who knows when that will be needed.

One of the things that many lovers of antiques really appreciate is how these many beautiful things are passed down from one generation to another. Antiques were the original green industry before green was cool. But once these things are melted down they are gone forever. But I guess all is not lost, because they will be transformed into something new. But the antique value is lost. With these tough economic times, it is understandable why people are turning their precious metals into cash. Be sure and check to be sure you are getting the highest prices you can if you are selling gold or silver. Many people are taking advantage of this huge market, and the prices being offered vary widely. Get two or three offers before selling.

If you need some extra cash, be sure to see if you have a few pieces of broken jewelry that might be worth more than you realize. Or maybe you still have your high school class ring that we just all had to have, but haven’t worn since your senior year. Take advantages of these high prices and turn your unwanted pieces into a nice little payday.

Courtesy of http://www.aetv.com/storage-wars-texas/

I am not sure where they found these people, but they definitely don’t reflect most Dallas dealers. We were in the antique business in Dallas for over 25 years. I recognize most of the stores that these people take their things to for appraisals. But most of these people have no idea of what real things of value are worth. How they could ver make a living doing this I have o idea. The people in the other shows that make a living from the storage auctions are knowledgeable about most things. No one knows about everything, and that is part of what draws people, at least me, to the shows. It is interesting what some of the things they find are worth. But the dealers in “Storage Wars Texas” seem to have the worst tastes.

 The Stars of “Storage Wars Texas”

Let’s start with Lesa Lewis, the thrift store owner. The things she thinks are wonderful make me want to never go to that thrift store. And who in this business would not know that some cookie jars are worth a decent amount of money. Again, you can’t know about everything, but you need to have a basic knowledge so you can recognize a bargain when you see it. She is not a twenty year old and brand new in the business. I think her store is located in a small town but not sure where. Jerry, her employee seems to have better tastes than her most of the time.

Next is my favorite, Ricky Smith. He grew up in the auction business, and seems to be able to recognize good things when he sees them. His nephew, Bubba Smith, works with him. He says in his bio that the influx of new people attending the auctions have driven up the price of the units. He say most have no idea what they are doing. They have just seen the TV shows and want in on the auctions. I have talked to several people that have said this is a growing trend across the country. Everyone is coming to find that needle in the haystack that will make them a fortune, not realizing that most abandoned units are what you would expect to find in a unit that people just abandon rather than paying the rent.

Then comes the antique dealer and collector, Morris “Moe” Prigoff. I have never seen this guy in the Dallas antique scene. And for someone who has been collecting antiques for over thirty years according to his bio, he is not very knowledgeable about what things are worth. In one episode, he had someone who could repurpose things that he thought were so unique and wonderful. One thing was making a bench from a bed. I first saw this in the 80’s. Some of the other things were pretty tacky. And I don’t mean to think I know everything. And I realize most viewers have not been in the antiques business for over 25 years like we have. But his bio says he has been doing this for over 25 years. I hope I get a chance to visit his store next time I am home.

Victor Rjesnjansky is the villain of the show. The ex New Yorker who left New York for the less expansive living in Dallas. He seems to be the one the others dislike the most, and seems to cherish that role. He has made some real mistakes on some of his buys, like the Chinese motorcycle without a key that was basically worthless.

They recently added ex-Cowboy Roy Williams to the show to try to add some star appeal.He teamed with Ricky and his nephew on his first show, and overspent according to Ricky. We will see if he knows what he is doing on coming shows, although I doubt I will be watching many of these. Most of the bio information and the photo came from the show’s site:http://www.aetv.com/storage-wars-texas/.

Video of “Storage Wars Texas”

Being an antique dealer from Dallas, and knowing the antique and auction scene there. It is disturbing that the show cast these people. I didn’t attend storage auctions since we were at our store six days a week, so I can’t speak from experience about the people that attend storage auctions in the Dallas area. Maybe these people reflect the people who actually do attend. There are articles on most of these shows on this site, Buying and Selling Antiques. But compared to all of the other shows, the people on “Storage Wars Texas” just seem so much less informed about the value of things, and bad tastes to boot.