Before I get started, there are a few definitions I would like to supply to provide clarification as you read:
Antique mall: (n) large indoor space, subdivided by dealer. The mall takes a percentage of the sale from the dealer, which is why you will find items marked "firm" (the dealer has proportionally more money sunk into that item than in others, which he is able to discount, have a percentage taken, and still profit from).
Dealer: (pronoun) one who is knowledgeable about a certain set of collectibles, scours the globe for them, cleans them up, and sells. Dealers can be found at antique malls, flea markets, antique shops, and dark alleys.
Antique shop: (n) a store of varying size which sells antique and vintage things; one owner and one seller, although you can often find things on consignment (usually from a collector who is needing to prune their personal cache)
Flea market: (n) usually an outdoor event which requires a quick set up for the dealer, a willingness to wake at incredibly early hours (for all parties), and fantastic haggling skills. Beware of reproductions, damaged items, and other crap.
Auction house: (n) can be an indoor or outdoor space, in which items are divided into "lots". These lots are brought up by auction assistants for the auctioneer to call. Items are usually boxed by similarity, although things can often wind up in strange combination. Auction houses are great places to get a lot of stuff for cheap (if the crowd is uneducated or uninterested in your items of choice).
Antique show: (v & n) a group of dealers selling items from a specific theme, time period, or mode. I participate in Antique Elegance (Richardson, TX), which is a pretty good mix of bigs (furniture, etc) and smalls (jewelry, dolls, ephemera, etc) from the Victorian period through the 1940s.
Also, for purpose of preservation of trade secrets, I have intentionally left out the names of all of the places we visited. Know that we were in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. If you have further questions, or are interested in going on such an adventure, please contact me!
Antique adventure
Day 1 3.3.09
1-auction house
2-auction house 2 - Picturesque drive down to 95 and them into the city. Under the Ben Franklin bridge and past the old night clubs and perhaps the future Trump towers and casinos of the downtown docks.
3-auction house 3 - one of the best auctioneers I've ever heard. His calling is reminiscent of oooold country music. Melodic. Rhythmic. Interesting.
Day 2 3.4.09
8a on the road! This Hwy thru PA reminds me of being on the autobahn through the German bath towns.
1-antique mall - Lots of everything
2-antique mall 2 - Huuuge antique mall. Bring a coat.
3-antique shop - very expensive, small selection. Car picnic!
4-auction house 4 - lots to choose from! We came on a good auction/consignment day, but things seem to be going expensively. The auction starts at 2p and is scheduled (by lot and room) through 8p. The auctioneer has a rather annoying/grating call--difficult to understand and he has the tendency to contiue speaking in the rhythm and tone after a bid is over. Also, there isn't much order to the way he's pulling boxes. New caller. All in the fam? He looks like the first caller's dad. And now another caller--another annoying one--this one too young to know much. (three hours pass) Ok. We've moved to the garage. They have a table on wheels with a stand for the auctioneer. They move the scaffolding with auctioneer along the perimeter of the room. Hahaha!! But this group of people could use a good scrub down!
Day 3 3.5.09
7a let's go!
1-auction house 5 - all indoors so warm :) There is a snack stand with delicious egg and cheese and sausage sammys. Nice layout--very clear; however the books and folk art are in a separate gallery while china and smalls are going. Bad decision-making to do both simultaneously. The concierge reports that the auctioneer goes about 80-90 lots per hour--so at a good clip. There are auction books that are beautifully photographed for the jewelry and fine arts show next week--compete with full descriptions and approximate value. Attractive crowd that has showered lately! Auctioneers & staff are in suits--things look and run very smoothly. And quick! These folks mean business! But the caller is having a good time and is joking around. Yay!
2-tour guide's basement - Although not open to the general public, Pat's had a lot to offer my mother--mostly because she loves to dig and sort. I certainly found a few good things, too!
Day 4 3.6.09
Late start! But for a reason: we needed to pack the FedEx boxes to ship the goods purchased so far, and we are slowly making our way to the big flea market tomorrow! We'll be hitting shops the whole way down, so it should be an interesting trip.
1-FedEx - There's a bathroom in the basement that you can sweettalk the lady at the desk into giving you.
2-antique mall 3 - don't drive too fast down George street or you'll miss it! This mall was obviously severla different establishments before the mall--the rooms are disjointed and there is not a good flow through the building. We just found an entire back hallway full of great stuff--that we found by getting lost!
3-antique mall 4 - set in a fabulous old farm house, the tiny doorways and severly twisting stairs open to rooms full of beautiful handcarved furniture and glass cases full of surprises. If you close your eyes and tune out the sounds of traffic outside the windows, you can picture a warm home full of laughing childrren and hardworking adults. People perhaps taking respite midday or from the hard toil of battles and war inside this safe haven. I'm reminded by these nonexistent hallways, low ceilings, and tiny walkways that we are a much larger people than those who came before us.
On to Maryland!
4-antique mall 5 - meh.
Across the Potomac and on to Virginia (it's for lovers!)
Day 5 3.7.09
1-flea market - 6 hours later.... It's worth the $10 admission only if you know exactly where you're going or if you're willingto dig for what you want.
2-antique show-cranky people. Maybe because of Richard Wright's death, but who knows.
Day 6 3.8.09
4am let's go!!!
1-flea market 2 - bring a flashlight! This place starts EARLY (there is a Dunkin Donuts nearby) and people are packing up by the time the sun makes her debut.
2-flea market 3 - bring a flashlight but there's a huge indoor section. And restrooms! The best deals are certainly outside, especially because all of the merchandise is staffed with it's dealer--inside you run into dark or roped booths that you cannot look at or purchase from because the dealer is not there.
3-flea market 2.5 (indoor market) - 4 hours later and the flea is totally cleaned up
4-antique mall 6 - cranky staff, but decent selection of smalls.
It was exhausting, it was educational, it was definitely worth it! If you are interested in going on your own Antique Adventure, please let me know!
