Giddy for Antiques
You love them.
You love the history of the thing, or the imagined history. Which could be what you make of it, since history is written by the victorious anyway (those who lived to tell the tale), and it might be that the actual truth could be less rosy, or rosier, or be in the in-between (yeah, maybe not much there).
(fact could be fiction and fiction could be fact – but what is reality anyway?)
Well, I love them.
I have been fascinated by antiques since, well, I don’t really know. I have not been exposed to them since houses in our family were demolished with abandon and new ones constructed and the old stuff (furniture, clothes, bric-a-brac, pictures, vinyl records) were stashed away some place or thrown or burned even before I had the consciousness for antiques.
My actual interest started with old houses, though, and old windows (with glazed, colored glass), that then flowed into furniture in solid wood with soft curving patterns, and into old glass vases (green, or purple-hued), to teapots (yes, yes, yes) and then iron (clothes-press but charcoal-powered), all of which I collect (not the old houses, or windows, though, and not as much as I would love to – yet).
I was not able to bring most of my collection to Canada, much to my chagrin (hubby re-packed the boxes and left 2 of them – and I only chose 3 antique articles to bring – at home. of course a not-very-epic fight ensued). But to my delight, there are many antique shops here in Vancouver Island where we are vacationing (for a much needed rest before we let real life in), and I need not have shed a tear (did not, but was close to) – because there were many to replace them, much more detailed and beautiful and precious, and at cheaper prices too since the stores were offering at least 20% off (maybe to get rid of old stock, yey).
So I am in antique paradise.
And another treat that I discovered – thrift shops – that sell antique pieces too, and for sooo much less. They have gone in on my radar, especially here where people seem to be okay with buying second hand stuff. And I see the wisdom in that now – it is recycling and charity at its best – the owner can unload, and the buyer can get a great deal. Really – someone’s trash could be someone’s treasure. Incidentally, one of my favorite TV shows here is Storage Wars where professionals scour repossessed storage units and find, in most cases, forgotten treasures. And that is what it is like for me hunting for antiques – you can just imagine the excitement it brings.
And today I met one man who has done it all his life, collecting antiques, being the owner of the oldest antique shop in Qualicum Beach. When people have something to sell, he said they usually approach him first. But interestingly, Christmas items were not on sale in his shop when I dropped in (when everywhere, there is like a 70-90% off sale of Christmas items). He explains it is because his wife is big on Christmas. Awww. And then I began to wonder, how wonderful it would be to own an antique shop too, to be surrounded by beautiful things, things that belonged to someone once, and then to find out that those things could be valued at a million dollars.
(dream sequence mode)
I digress.
But according to Andrea Woroch, one of the shopping trends from the 2011 holiday season included dollars stores and thrift stores and that consumers were not too embarrassed to hit the low-end shopping outlets in an effort to save as much as possible.
I think that is great.
Yup, I definitely have my eyes on them this year. I just have to be careful and keep my minimalist motto, er, motto to be a minimalist.
Happy treasure hunting to me and to you.
Article by Issa. Photo by Danvic. Copyright 2009-2012.
Website: www.YouWantToBeRich.com
Email: issa@youwanttoberich.com
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