Thursday, August 29, 2013
The Vacant Era! What Era of time do you collect?
It seems everyday I will get a call from someone asking what something they have is worth. In general it is hard to suggest any value over the phone or via email with pictures. Many times the caller will use terms like Antique, Vintage or Victorian and they have no idea what those terms mean. In fact I am often confused myself and that is easy to do. A recent call by a young man wanting to bring his "Antique" furniture by the store to sell it has generated this blog. When he arrived he had a truck full of put together furniture, an entertainment center, microwave cart, and a stereo system. At first I was kind of in shock as I looked around for the camera. Surly this was a set up by some friends to give me a hard time! Alas it was not. The young man in question did indeed have some of his grandmothers stuff she had given him. All was made in the 1980's or later but to him it was old and antique. It is all a matter of perspective. I have only been in this industry for a couple of years and everyday I make mistakes finding the right words to call something. I thought I would take a minute to relay some of the more common phrases and what periods of time they refer to.
Antique - Generally anything over 100 years old. But this varies depending on what you are referring to. Guns for example must be produced before 1898 to be classified as antique. For cars it is generally accepted they are antique if they are over 45 years old. This will vary from state to state in regards to licensing. Furniture is probably the most common item referred to as antique.
Vintage - In general anything from the 1970's or early 1980's. Again the term becomes confusing depending on what you are talking about. Clothing for example is considered vintage when it is anywhere from 20-80 years old. Wine is called vintage when 85-90% of the grapes used were picked in the same year, and that varies from country to country.
Retro - Many people consider things to be Retro if they are from the 1950's-1970's. As you can already see different terms will cover the same period of time.
Mid-Century Modern - Mostly a term used to refer to furniture from the 1930's-the 1960's.
Brass Era - This was a term that applied to early automobiles that used a lot of brass in their construction. Generally the time frame of 1902-1916.
Victorian Age - The Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901.
Mod Period - In general the time of the 70's, 80's, and early 90's.
Primitives - These can be from any era and are generally considered hand made, rusty, junky looking things like wooden boxes, saws, and other tools from the farm.
And the list goes on and on. Steam Punk, Industrial Age, Depression Era, Turn of the Century, Art Nouveau, Art Deco ...............
Now its time for my favorite period - I have taken the liberty of naming this myself. 1990-2013 I refer to as the Vacant Era!. Most younger people go around with a vacant look in their eyes only seeing I pods, Video Games, Computers and Social Networks. They all use new technology that is obsolete the day they buy it and if they buy furniture or things for the house it is compressed cardboard, sawdust and made in China. The Vacants will inherit the world and have no appreciation of the time, art and creative minds that actually conceived and built most of what we have in this life. Before long they will just use their 3D printer and make anything that has been created before.
Antique - Generally anything over 100 years old. But this varies depending on what you are referring to. Guns for example must be produced before 1898 to be classified as antique. For cars it is generally accepted they are antique if they are over 45 years old. This will vary from state to state in regards to licensing. Furniture is probably the most common item referred to as antique.
Vintage - In general anything from the 1970's or early 1980's. Again the term becomes confusing depending on what you are talking about. Clothing for example is considered vintage when it is anywhere from 20-80 years old. Wine is called vintage when 85-90% of the grapes used were picked in the same year, and that varies from country to country.
Retro - Many people consider things to be Retro if they are from the 1950's-1970's. As you can already see different terms will cover the same period of time.
Mid-Century Modern - Mostly a term used to refer to furniture from the 1930's-the 1960's.
Brass Era - This was a term that applied to early automobiles that used a lot of brass in their construction. Generally the time frame of 1902-1916.
Victorian Age - The Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901.
Mod Period - In general the time of the 70's, 80's, and early 90's.
Primitives - These can be from any era and are generally considered hand made, rusty, junky looking things like wooden boxes, saws, and other tools from the farm.And the list goes on and on. Steam Punk, Industrial Age, Depression Era, Turn of the Century, Art Nouveau, Art Deco ...............
Now its time for my favorite period - I have taken the liberty of naming this myself. 1990-2013 I refer to as the Vacant Era!. Most younger people go around with a vacant look in their eyes only seeing I pods, Video Games, Computers and Social Networks. They all use new technology that is obsolete the day they buy it and if they buy furniture or things for the house it is compressed cardboard, sawdust and made in China. The Vacants will inherit the world and have no appreciation of the time, art and creative minds that actually conceived and built most of what we have in this life. Before long they will just use their 3D printer and make anything that has been created before.
Monday, July 1, 2013
July 4th Celebration!
Welcome back to my blog - after a long hiatus trying to figure out why it would not show up we have it working again!
Join us this 4th of July Holiday Weekend! Free Popcorn from the 3rd thru the 7th! We are also proud to announce that Hearts On Fire BBQ Competitive Cooking Team will be in the parking lot on the 4th, 5th and 6th of July! Come try some of their award winning sauces and BBQ
Also in the parking lot is R & R Fireworks - they have been at this same location for decades and offer the best in Fireworks!
Check out our face book page and get your coupon for a free buffalo nickel with your purchase on the 3rd or 4th of July. Good while supply lasts and limit of one to each customer!
We also invite everyone to check out the ads banner on our site. You bill see a banner for Sureshot Custom made jewelry. Click on the banner and check out the great deals from our friends at Key of A! 
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Are you a Collector?
Why do you collect? For many of us it is by complete accident. I fell into collecting hot sauces by chance. I love hot and spicy food and would buy sauces from the different areas I visited when traveling for work. In the beginning I would only buy one bottle but if I liked it I would wish I had bought more. I then began buying two bottles. Before long I had a lot of bottles all over the house so I made a display cabinet for them. Friends and relatives would see it and soon they were on the hunt to find me a bottle of something I did not have. Within a few years what started as a quest for great hot sauces to use turned into a Huge collection of bottles from all over the world.
Number One Rule of collecting. Do it for your OWN personal enjoyment! Unless you collect something of intrinsic value like silver, gold, or very high end items - the value of your collection will likely decline the more you add to it. I guess the best way to illustrate and explain this is by a friends recent inheritance. She was lucky enough to have her grandmother leave her a large collection of salt and pepper shakers. The grandmothers thoughts were she was leaving a valuable asset that the granddaughter could use to go to college, pay off her house or raise her own children. The sad fact is that when she attempted to sell the collection she could not find any buyers!
With most collections the fun and enjoyment of collecting is finding the items you do not have and adding them. If you can just buy everything at once then what's the point. So my friend was left with a collection that costs 10s of thousands of dollars to accumulate but could not sell. Fortunately for her I had just started my store and convinced her to get a booth to sell her collection piece by piece. After over three years she is finally getting near the end of selling the majority of her collection. She is keeping quite a few of the special sets that her grandmother was really proud of to pass on to her children.
How and where to find things to collect? First you should never collect anything that is going to cause you to spend money you need to live on. Only spend a little of the extra money you have. Make a budget - decide on a maximum amount you will spend on anything for your collection. There are a lot of places to look to get the best deal. Ebay, Etsy, Craigs List, Estate Sales, Auctions, Local Newspapers, Garage Sales and of course Antique Stores and Flea Markets. Learn the value of what you collect so you can make intelligent offers or bids when you find that special item you just 'have to have'. Clearly (of course I am biased here) The most fun can be found when searching in Flea Markets and Antique Style stores. Most of them have vendors who scour the country side looking for things to buy and put in their booths. They will buy storage units or boxes of things at garage sales and price everything low to sell it quick. They have done all the work and spent all the money going from garage sale to garage sale or estates sales and auctions. Vendors do not have the time or patience to look up everything they get in a sale so you are the benefit of great deals if you look hard. In many stores you can shop in heated and air conditioned comfort and even bring your pets with you! You can spend many enjoyable hours searching and finding treasures for your collection and have fun doing it.
It is important once again to note "Collect" for your own personal enjoyment. Please realize that most of what you collect only has value to you. Buying collector plates from late night TV with the hopes that they will go up in value should never be done. Be careful of buying fads and paying too much for something. A great example is the Beanie Baby Fad that swept the country a few years ago. People were paying huge amounts of money for some Beanie Baby's that you can now buy for 50 cents. Unless you are very knowledgeable or an expert do not buy anything with an expectation of leaving a valuable inheritance for your children to count on. Collect and have Fun!
Number One Rule of collecting. Do it for your OWN personal enjoyment! Unless you collect something of intrinsic value like silver, gold, or very high end items - the value of your collection will likely decline the more you add to it. I guess the best way to illustrate and explain this is by a friends recent inheritance. She was lucky enough to have her grandmother leave her a large collection of salt and pepper shakers. The grandmothers thoughts were she was leaving a valuable asset that the granddaughter could use to go to college, pay off her house or raise her own children. The sad fact is that when she attempted to sell the collection she could not find any buyers!
With most collections the fun and enjoyment of collecting is finding the items you do not have and adding them. If you can just buy everything at once then what's the point. So my friend was left with a collection that costs 10s of thousands of dollars to accumulate but could not sell. Fortunately for her I had just started my store and convinced her to get a booth to sell her collection piece by piece. After over three years she is finally getting near the end of selling the majority of her collection. She is keeping quite a few of the special sets that her grandmother was really proud of to pass on to her children.
How and where to find things to collect? First you should never collect anything that is going to cause you to spend money you need to live on. Only spend a little of the extra money you have. Make a budget - decide on a maximum amount you will spend on anything for your collection. There are a lot of places to look to get the best deal. Ebay, Etsy, Craigs List, Estate Sales, Auctions, Local Newspapers, Garage Sales and of course Antique Stores and Flea Markets. Learn the value of what you collect so you can make intelligent offers or bids when you find that special item you just 'have to have'. Clearly (of course I am biased here) The most fun can be found when searching in Flea Markets and Antique Style stores. Most of them have vendors who scour the country side looking for things to buy and put in their booths. They will buy storage units or boxes of things at garage sales and price everything low to sell it quick. They have done all the work and spent all the money going from garage sale to garage sale or estates sales and auctions. Vendors do not have the time or patience to look up everything they get in a sale so you are the benefit of great deals if you look hard. In many stores you can shop in heated and air conditioned comfort and even bring your pets with you! You can spend many enjoyable hours searching and finding treasures for your collection and have fun doing it.
It is important once again to note "Collect" for your own personal enjoyment. Please realize that most of what you collect only has value to you. Buying collector plates from late night TV with the hopes that they will go up in value should never be done. Be careful of buying fads and paying too much for something. A great example is the Beanie Baby Fad that swept the country a few years ago. People were paying huge amounts of money for some Beanie Baby's that you can now buy for 50 cents. Unless you are very knowledgeable or an expert do not buy anything with an expectation of leaving a valuable inheritance for your children to count on. Collect and have Fun!
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Much to the chagrin of the masses LOL I am BACK! We have been fighting internet access issues with slow DSL at the store. It was so slow that if I was online on the computer and the checkout used the credit card machine it would knock me off line. Got tired of fighting it. Fortunately another service finally extended their reach to our store and now we are back with a vengeance! LOL Things are really happening now. We just expanded our furniture store area with custom booths designed for furniture and home decor! Watch us Grow!
Thursday, July 19, 2012
For Immediate Release For More Information
Floyd & Bonnie Durk
11225 E. Robb Cook Rd.
Centralia, MO 65240
573-696-3619
Dlites208@aol.com
Antique Lamps To Light in Missouri
Coal-oil, or kerosene lighting, is often “mystic” to those who are too young to have experienced the warm glow that illuminated our homes in years past. Collectors restore and light the old lamps that were essential for our parents and grandparents. Many young people today are discovering the nostalgia and beauty that antique lighting add to their home décor—especially family heirloom lamps.
Collectors who prize old lamps will hold their 40th annual Gathering (convention) August 1-4, 2012 at the University Plaza Hotel, Springfield, Missouri. The Gathering is sponsored by The National Association of Aladdin Lamp Collectors (www.aladdincollectors.org)/
Floyd & Bonnie Durk are the General Knights (hosts) who plan and organize events. Calling themselves Aladdin Knights, the group is America's largest club of antique lamp collectors. More than 500 are expected to attend.
Lamp and lighting collecting clubs in attendance will be: Aladdin Knights of the Mystic Light (www.aladdinknights.org), The Rushlight Club (www.rushlight.org), oldest lighting club in America, who will hold their summer quarterly meeting in Springfield, MO; The Night Light Club (www.nightlightclub.org), collectors of miniature lamps; The Historical Lighting Society of Canada (www.historical-lighting.on.ca); Historical Lighting Club of England; the Guild of Lamp Researchers (www.lampguild.org) and the Fairy Lamp Collectors (www.fairy-lamp.com).
Collectors and students of antique lighting attend to study and learn history of lighting ranging from rushlights and whale oil to discovery of new fuels and technology in lamp improvements. Aladdin Lighting Technologies, Inc., manufacturer of Aladdin lamps, will be present. Gathering events include an auction, educational seminars, memorabilia display room, raffle, banquet and the huge Show & Sale. The “Ladies of the Knights” donate their time and talents to make a beautiful, handmade quilt that a lucky member will win at the annual banquet.
The Antique Lamp Show & Sale opens to registered members at noon Friday and to the public on later Friday and on Saturday. Spectacular, rare, and beautiful are words that describe this unique and unusual show featuring antique lighting. World-class dealers will offer an immense variety of antique lighting and accessories. Lamps of all kinds including colored pattern oil lamps, Gone-With-The-Wind, art glass lamps, opalescent lamps, miniature lamps, student lamps, finger lamps, Victorian hanging fixtures, floor lamps, center-draft lamps, as well as the collectible early electric lamps, plus the world-famous Aladdin lamps including their Deco style figurines!
The public is invited to the 23rd International Lamp Show & Sale on Friday, August 3 from 3 to 7 PM and Saturday from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the University Plaza Hotel. There is a nominal admission fee. See the website: http://http://www.aladdincollectors.org/ for details.
For more information, contact Floyd and Bonnie Durk, 11225 E. Robb Cook Rd., Centralia, MO 65240. Email: Dlites208@aol.com
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Sunday, April 15, 2012
New Items always arriving!
Wow - the only word to describe the new china hutch and buffet we just added to our store. This is a custom unit made out of solid wood - no sawdust here! In face we believe most of the wood is walnut which is very rare now. You can buy both of these for $2299 and if you act quick we will throw in a matching walnut table with seating for 8! We are always adding things to the store that pique my interest - here are a couple of things we just added last week. One is a night light for a man cave! Every man needs one of these. It can be had for the low price of $49.00
Also new in the store are a great pair of old phones. One is a wall hanger and is complete - it is on sale for $159.00. The other is a operator phone from the early part of the century and has the separate box with ringer on it for just $100.00
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