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It was more than 28 years ago when Don & I sat down with my mom & stepfather to talk about opening an antiques shop together. We looked at lots of properties and eventually settled on a run down pre-Victorian rental property on Route 4 in Northwood. Don & I agreed to manage & live at the shop and our adventure began. We started as a weekend  “barn sale” in the original 18 x 24′ barn. The next 28 years brought weddings, babies, renovations, additions, and a lot of personal growth. About 5 years ago, my mom decided that it was time to slow down a bit so Don & I bought my parents half of the business & property. My mom continued to occupy space in the shop and to work on the weekends (while we followed our kids to soccer fields and theatre productions). But time moves on and things change. My stepfather died a year and a half ago. My mom has been creating a new life and has decided that she’s ready to fully retire from our business venture.

I grew up antiquing with my mom. I remember visiting May Atkinson (a renowned dealer from Newburyport, MA) back the seventies and helping my mom select oil paintings for our antique colonial home. I remember taking my lunch to school in an antique Cottolene Lard tin instead of a run-of-the-mill lunch box. I remember babysitting my brothers while my mom served as president of our local historical society. I remember learning about Betty lamps, cast iron peels, dutch ovens, candle molds, flax wheels, linsey-woolsey coverlets, turkey red damask, sponge ware, and on and on.

Though I will miss seeing my mom every Saturday, she will still be my resource for all things old. And she will still be my mom.  And she will still be the kick-ass antiques dealer & business women who helped me become a kick-ass antiques dealer & business woman. So here’s to you Carla Penfield! Much love and gratitude from your favorite daughter.

Even in arctic temps, we are out there on the hunt! Last week, we were wandering around an abandoned optical factory with iphone flashlights in hand. Factory buildings are always fascinating and this one was no exception. The manufacturing equipment was massive–giant glass cutters, huge non-conductive slab work surfaces, and built-in sliding file systems. We brought home boxes of high-end glass lenses that were produced for medical & scientific equipment as well as some industrial stools & lockers.

We also bought some amazing industrial work tables that we couldn’t fit in our truck. Fortunately for us, the demo company that we work is very accommodating and offered to deliver the work tables/benches to us before demo. So we are anxiously awaiting delivery which is scheduled for next week. If you’re looking for a great industrial kitchen island or bar, check in with us! All of the tables that we bought are counter height–the smaller tables are metal with secondary wooden shelves underneath and the larger tables have metal frames with solid maple tops and a secondary shelves at the back. We are hoping to squeeze at least one of these work benches into the shop but some will definitely be heading for the storage barn.

 

As with the “chicken & the egg,” it’s hard to say whether trends in interior decorating drive trends in antiques & collectibles or vice versa. But one factor that has indisputable impact on both is nostalgia. We’re in the midst of two trends right now–Mid-Century Modern & Industrial. These two styles harken back to the 1940s & 1950s. The customers that have driven these trends (the people with nostalgia for the style of their parents & grandparents) are now in their 50s & 60s.  From Flea Market Flip to Fixer Upper, designers are repurposing & combining elements from both of these aesthetics and are blending them with a decorating palette that is generally neutral. As we look forward to future trends in decorating & collecting, we can safely assume that our younger customers will be nostalgic for the 1960s and 1970s. And that means color–lots of color!

The color revolution of the 1960s was a cultural reaction to the dreariness of war time and a celebration of non-western culture. Textiles, electronics, home furnishings, fashion–everything was bright & beautiful. Though the Mid-Century Modern & Industrial are still going strong, it’s time to add a little bit of hippie color to the neutral palette. Think pink and orange and yellow. Give a nod to pop art and color your world!

If you haven’t already recycled your Goldmine record guides (and we certainly have), it’s probably time. These days, the most accurate record values are found on the internet. Websites like popsike compile online auction results that give you the most current sales figures for albums in all genres. As long as you are accurately grading your LPs, popsike will give you an idea of the current market value of your vinyl. Other web sites, like Discogs, are selling web sites that will show you what collectors and dealers are asking for similar records. As always, condition is critical as are the specs of any album (import, original pressing, mono/stereo, cut-out/stock).

 

Customers often ask about polishing their antique & vintage metals. My general advice is that (unlike wooden pieces where value can be greatly affected by altering an original surface) metals can be certainly polished. With regard to copper and brass, polish to your taste but I personally prefer hand-polishing. People do use polishing wheels but my feeling is that this kind of aggressive polishing can give your antique brass and copper a finish that is so bright the character of the piece can be lost (until Mother Nature takes over and everything darkens up again). As far as silver & silver plate, hand-polishing is essential. The depth of the design in silver & silver plate comes from the tarnish that is left in the grooves of the scrollwork–when you remove all of the tarnish, you lose the beauty of the detail.

So what are best polishes? My favorites are in the grocery store. If you have water available, try Bartender’s Friend for copper & brass and Wright’s Silver Polish for silver & silver plate. If you are in your antiques shop 24-7 (without a kitchen sink available), try one of my favorites, Nevr-Dull.  The polish is in the cotton wadding so it’s soft, it’s easy, and it works on a wide variety of metals without water. Just buff your metals clean with the wadding and wipe with a dry paper towel or cotton rag.

Why did this week’s road trip require a ladder and needle nose pliers?  To remove original Boston Tea Party & Fillmore West posters from the walls of an old New Hampshire barn, of course! Until we pulled the tacks and staples, these posters had been hanging in this barn since the 1960s.  All are “as found” but they are rare finds in any condition.  The Fillmore posters include The Kinks & Taj Mahal; The Mothers of Invention; Otis Rush, The Grateful Dead & The Canned Heat Blues Band; and The 13th Floor Elevators, Sopwith Camel & The Great Society (handbill). The Boston Tea Party posters include Lothar & The Hand People with The Hallucinations; The Velvet Underground; Lothar & The Hand People with The Raven; The Grateful Dead; Quicksilver Messenger Service; and Ultimate Spinach with Canned Heat.

We have spent our morning gently brushing off the dust with cotton balls and soft toothbrushes! Though in all honesty, the tack holes & dirt just add to the story of these pieces. These posters traveled to New Hampshire from historic Sixties concerts in San Francisco & Boston and were proudly tacked in the owner’s old barn. Incredible. Now the dilemma begins…which ones to keep and which ones to sell…

This week’s road trip took us thru a wrinkle in time…straight into the 1950s! We spent the day in an old abandoned ranch so overgrown with brush that, when we arrived, we sat in the driveway wondering if we would find anything salvageable. Though water and small animals had gotten to some areas, the bedrooms and sunken living room (so fab) were virtually untouched.

Don started in the basement bar area and I started in the master bedroom. We gathered up old beer signs, vintage clothing (including silk stockings in their original packing), old medicine bottles, lucite dresser pieces, and lighting. Then we moved to the main living areas where we were amazed to find this yellow tufted Hollywood Regency sectional sofa (in pristine condition) along with French Provincial side chairs, plaster statues, glass top side tables, and various other decorative mid-century pieces.

In some ways,  it’s sad to sort through someone’s life by going through their belongings but in other ways it’s absolutely fascinating. The people who lived in this home were vibrant, fashionable, and very hip. They obviously entertained a lot (did I forget to mention the cases of unopened bottles of scotch & whiskey) and they lived their lives with exuberance as illustrated by the shag carpeting, yellow velvet furniture, and nude statues. A little bordello…and a lot of fun!

We are constantly amazed by the fascinating people we meet in our little state! This week’s road trip took us down a gorgeous dead end road to an old farmhouse where we met a woman who worked for concert promoter Don Law back in the day. As head caterer, she spent 30 years cooking for crews & musicians…and her stories were hilarious. Before looking through her memorabilia collection we sat on her porch and listened to tales that only a backstage crew member would know…like the time Freddie Mercury asked for the dressing room guard to be swapped out for a cuter guy…like the time Iggy Pop grabbed a homemade lasagna from the crew buffet and threw it over his audience…like the time she had to prepare dinner next to a backstage whirlpool with a naked Graham Nash in the tub. (Needless to say, many of her stories aren’t fit for a wholesome blog like ours so stop in the shop and we’ll give you the dirt in person!)

After an hour on the porch, we sorted thru her very cool collection of music related memorabilia. We bought a double-sided quilt made of vintage concert t-shirts; several framed pieces including a Boston Tea Party poster and a Fillmore West handbill; some vintage sweatshirts & t-shirts, and assorted backstage passes. But our most fascinating buy was a collection of original show riders specifying the requirements of each artist. Did you know that Jimmy Buffett must be served sauteed prawns on Sundays? That the Grateful Dead bar order always included 6 quarts of green Gatorade? That The Eagles required McDonald’s three days a week while on tour? That KISS needed a dressing room with 4 banquet tables, 80 bath towels, 4 full-length mirrors, 4 trash cans, 2 sinks & 2 showers? That Queen required a large assortment of nuts (heavy on the cashews)? Well–now you know!

 

Our favorite part of this business has to be “the hunt.” Every person has a story to tell and we are fortunate to be able to hear those stories and relay them to our customers through the pieces we acquire. Here’s to next week’s road trip!

We were thrilled to welcome the crew from WMUR’s NH Chronicle to the shop today! Several Antique Alley shops will be featured as broadcast locations for upcoming shows. As regular viewers, we are happy to report that the whole crew is as even more fun in person!

Our days rarely unfold as expected and this week’s “on the road Tuesday” was no exception. We started out with plans to hit two of our regular haunts, a favorite antiques shop and a consignment shop that was holding four 1970s Steel Case chairs for us. As we headed out, we called two of our favorite pickers to see if we could come by to look at their recent acquisitions…so our 2-stop day was now a 3-stop day.  After an hour and a half in the antiques shop, we left with a 1960s crystal rock lamp, a few pieces of vintage clothing, records (of course), a 1950s cat statue, some jewelry, and other assorted smalls. At our second stop, we loaded the Steel Case chairs and then spent an hour picking everything from vintage Dickies coveralls & a 1960s faux leopard coat to industrial gauges & a 1950s siamese cat lamp. As we were loading our purchases, our friend/shop owner said “Hey, do you have time to make another stop? There’s a man in town who has some great beer lights and bar stools in his basement. I haven’t been able to get there and I’d love to give you the call.” So we called our picker friends to delay our arrival time and we set out to meet Rocco (and visit his basement).

Rocco was a charming, wheelchair bound gentleman who was waiting for us when we arrived. He told us that he had lost his wife two years earlier but he was making the best of it. After telling us about the parties they used to have in his 1960s man-cave, he sent us down to the basement to see it in person. With Rocco’s approval, we found a screw driver and removed two 1960s Budweiser lanterns and a Knickerbocker light from the cement wall behind the bar. We also bought 4 vintage wooden slat bar stools and a pair of kitschy plaster statues (a pirate and his busty sidekick). Rocco showed Don his LP collection (opera, classical, and jazz vocal) and told us about his favorite operas. He tried to persuade us to stay for cocktails but we still had another stop to make and we try not to BWI (buy while intoxicated).

So off we went to our fourth stop of the day! We hadn’t seen these folks since last spring and discovered that a prostate cancer battle had sidelined their picking. But they had just received a cancer-free report and were ready to get back on the hunt. Despite being sidelined for 4 months, they still had some great things for us including an industrial mannequin, a pair of 19th century iron handcuffs, a cement greenman plaque, some Roseville pottery, and a 1980s jewelry mannequin head. After we paid them, we left them with a wish list and headed for home.

So our 2-stop day turned into a 4-stop day. Fortunately, my picker instincts told me that we should take the truck and the van…and we filled both! But more than the hunt, the best thing about our road trips is seeing old friends and making new friends. Because in this business, it’s all about the story.