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November 2008 It's been two months since the last issue. We have a new President-elect and hopes of many changes good in the future. The economy is a problem but many local businesses are doing well or better. The pipeline snaking over hill and dale through Broome Co. is employing workers and local services. The Press is loaded with ads. Folks are still selling, and buying, antiques and household goods so the auctioneers all are busy. Since our area never had the boom times many other spots have had we never have had the extreme valleys to weather. Not to say there are not challenges to overcome. Beginning next auction we will have a Barrel to accept donations for Chow's local Food Pantry. Two of our favorites died lately. Paul Newman, who seemed to defy the Hollywood odds, was his own man to the end. We saw him a few years ago at Watkins Glen race track. He was racing that Sunday and dressed in his coveralls. He was much smaller in stature and looked old compared to his screen face but what an example he set for service to mankind and humility in spite of his super-star status. Studs (Louis) Turkel was such an interesting character. Author of at least 18 books, gravelly-voiced orator, historian, interviewer and Master of Minutiae. He died in Chicago, his adopted home town, October 31st at 96 years old. Studs never drove a car or sent an email but his Chicago Radio Show run more than 45 years. For his book, THE GOOD WAR, he won a Pulitzer Prize. NPR's FRESH AIR with Terry Gross is re-running an interview next week. Also Ralph Kovel, husband of Terry Kovel, died August 28th at 88 years old. Probably the best know of any couple in the Antiques hobby they authored almost one hundred books expanding the knowledge of collectors and dealers alike. Indeed their price guides and especially their two books on Marks are bibles in the business. Ralph, like Paul Newman, seemed to be down-to-earth and approachable while wandering flea markets all over the country. He was a collector to the end. JUST SO YOU KNOW Whenever you drive a rental or borrowed car do you always try to
guess which side the gas filler is on? We have, until we learned to look
at the gas gauge and note which side the gas pump icon is on. It's on
the same side as the filler flap! Stupidly simple isn't it? WEBSITE OF THE
MONTH www.925-1000.com It shows in detail hundreds of marks, well categorized plus much more silver information including silver plate. NOVEMBER AUCTIONS TUESDAY, NOV. 11 We didn't plan on another Tent sale this year but a gent from Whitney Point is clearing out the old family farmhouse. The Barn was loaded with old farm tools, horse-drawn plows and sleighs, good old books, and tons more. We will have lights, and the gallery is full too. TUESDAY, NOV. 18 A large collection of 20th century COINS including many Proof sets, US, Canadian, and other Foreign including GOLD. Also Silver Dollars, Costume Jewelry, plus 19th and 20th century furniture and accessories. FRIDAY, NOV. 28TH Our 28th ANNUAL COLLECTOR'S CHOICE AUCTION: Highlighted by choice items from the Estate of Joyce Dacey who was a well-known interior decorator for many years and had exquisite taste. Also The estate of a Chenango Bridge gentleman who, with his wife, furnished their house in FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT TALIESIN Furniture by Heritage Henredon. Plus Interesting Silver from the Louis Sharpe Kilmer family and a framed photo of the Kilmer Yacht. This is one of our best yet so plan to attend. Chris is planning a delicious PINO's RISTORANTE Specialty dish and her home made deserts. Go to www.mapesauction.com for the latest news. Better yet, Sign up for Automatic Updates – click on the NEWSLETTER Box and enter your email address. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AUGUST 2008 We lost a good friend and customer July 20th. Harry Gilbert. If you cannot place him by name he always sat in the middle aisle last row. He was a big man with a big heart. We enjoyed hearing the latest news from Harry. Last year he was happy telling us about going to Lake Placid with his wife for a conference. The funeral was in Elmira where he lived until recently moving to Johnson City. Our condolences also to Ed Dingman and family whose wife Harriet died July 20th. They attended almost all our good antiques auctions, especially those with good watches and jewelry. MOVIE REVIEWS The ART MISSION Theater is where we often go to see foreign, quirky or just odd-ball films GONZO, The Life and Times of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson was there last weekend. This extraordinary documentary was an eye-opener and had a terrific sound track to boot. To refresh your memory, Writer Hunter Thompson wrote Fear and Lothing in Las Vegas among others. Much time is devoted to his losing run for Sheriff of Aspen, Colorado in 1970 and his Political articles, especially during the 1972 George McGovern presidential campaign. Interviews with Jimmy Carter, Pat Buchanan, George McGovern and friend Jimmy Buffett are fascinating and, sometimes, humorous. Jann Wenner, Editor of The Village Voice, was a long-time friend and related tons of stories of their escapades. Rated "R". 3 ½ Gavels. We also had to see THE DARK KNIGHT, The new Batman movie
starring Christian Bale and the late Heath Ledger. The special effects
were almost non-stop and most impressive (to someone who barely knows
how to use a cell phone). Ledger should have an easy Oscar nomination
for his creepy portrayal of The Joker. It seemed about a half hour too
long and the Love facet was lame, but overall: 3 GAVELS MAD MEN, the highly touted TV series on AMC started the new season last Sunday. Not as interesting as the first season. Hoping it will get better. JUST SO YOU KNOW Did you read Exxon- Mobil made a net profit of over 14.5 BILLION dollars, for the last QUARTER!? This is more profit than any American company has ever made in a quarter. Even so, Investors were hoping for more so the stock was down $2.00 for the day. On the plus side if gas stays in the $4.00 range it will, and has, spurred renewed development of alternative energy sources, wind and solar power notably, This being much better than sending billions of dollars out of the country to buy foreign oil. Plus it will cut down on number of monster SUVs some Americans think they need to take the kids to soccer practice. Pet Peeve department 1. Speaking of Exxon-Mobil, does it irk you that many Mobil stations have large signs advertising Regular gas for less than every other nearby station but when you pull in to fill up you notice, in small letters, you need to buy a car wash to get the lower price.. If not, you pay MORE than the other area stations. We have seen this tactic at the BCC exit off Route 81 and a while ago in Endicott and Syracuse. Never seen another oil company use this deceptive practice. Does Exxon-Mobil REALLY NEED to do this with a $14.5 Billion dollar quarter?? 2. Four years ago we finally had it with the poor service at a large Sporting Goods store in Vestal. We never went back, until this week when new golf shoes were needed. It was a slow Tuesday morning and we were all alone in the golf department except for the clerk behind the counter. We browsed with no attention paid to us, as expected from previous experiences. This was OK though because the golf shoes are all boxed and available for self service. We tried on several pairs and still no acknowledgment from now two employees, one appeared to be a manager. Finally found a pair that worked and left for the checkout leaving the boxes of tried-on shoes on the floor for the clerk to notice when we left. At checkout no mention was made of the 10% coupon available so we paid 10% more than necessary. All I can say is AMAZING!. Readers are welcome to send in their pet peeves. We will try to publish a few each month. It will make us both feel better. Be more than happy to publish KUDOs also. This will make us even happier. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JULY 2008 We were sad to see Gladys Comstock died June 17th at the Vestal Nursing Center. Gladys was a long-time customer, friend and occasional co-worker. Some of you may remember her at the Emporium where she always had a booth full of interesting paper and Postcards. She faithfully previewed our sales every week until she had a stroke a few years ago. Her daughter, Susan Zwart. Inherited Gladys’ collecting expertise. Look for her booth at the Emporium. Many years ago Gladys shared a booth with our dear friend Helen Welsh. Helen died last year in her home town of Ogdensburg, NY. She lived her last years in a nursing facility overlooking the majestic St. Lawrence river. The last time we visited she still had that impish smile. DID YOU KNOW? An Earthworm lives, on average, 14 Days. A Rat and a Squirrel are both rodents but the Rat lives 3 years and Squirrel can live up to 25 years. Lobsters, on the other hand apparently show no signs of aging. One eluded fishermen and grew to almost 50 pounds before he was caught. (Thanks to Radio Lab on PBS) Speaking of Radio, XM Satellite Radio and Sirius are the best thing since sliced bread if you travel a lot in your car. Especially good is The Bob Edwards Show - Channel 133 on XM Radio. Great interviews, and the best thing - NO COMMERCIALS! (Almost). Plus you can generally receive the same broadcast on a long trip. Home Receivers are available for the same programming. MOXIES WOOD FIRED GRILL Conklin was Saturday's destination for dinner with friends . We had always heard it was crowded and the food was excellent. What no one reported was the building, formerly a Chinese Buffet, is Great Design par excellence! Approaching one notices the clean modern design building, large, easy to read sign and very large paved parking lot. Inside it’s quite apparent someone with advanced design credentials was used to renovate into an extremely impressive perfectly lit bar and adjoining two-level dining area. All done in contemporary dark tones, the ambiance is top quality from the seating upholstery, wall treatments, modern lighting fixtures. Something we always check out are the rest rooms. Not to be disappointed the entry doors are paneled with amber translucent glass. Inside are two modern square porcelain basin-type sinks with neat faucets. Tile floors of course. And no McDonald’s type hand driers, just two stacks of neat paper towels. The hostess was busy but efficient and pleasant and, after a short wait at the bar, we were seated at a roomy corner booth. We had been counting on ribs or steaks being the prime focus. Not so. The menu is impressive with many dishes we had never seen anywhere. Our White Shrimp appetizer was 6 large shrimp served atop a cone of ice. The Chesapeake Chicken was excellent and served with delicious crab stuffing. Two of us had the enormous tender scallops. You can pay $68.00 for a Kobe steak but most dinners are in the $13.00 to $20.00 range. The extensive wine list covers the entire reverse side of the menu. Be sure to call for reservations. Credit cards OK. There is a similar-named chain restaurant all over Canada. This is not our MOXIES. JUST SO YOU KNOW Puffs Tissues box is 9 ½ inches wide. However the tissues are 8.4 inches wide leaving over one inch of air in each box. Maybe that’s why they’re called Puffs. Kleenex leaves a half inch. A Letter Opener you can buy at STAPLES bears a Caution label stating: "Safety Goggles Recommended". Another example of possible public liability. Not that many years ago parents could by their kids toy electric stoves you could actually cook in and miniature motors which heated water to steam to make them run. (Thanks to Consumers Digest) NEXT AUCTION, TUESDAY, JULY 15th comprised mostly of two estates. One from Syracuse had a house full of STICKLEY CHERRY TRADITIONAL FURNITURE, The other includes tons of interesting glass, china, collectibles and Jewelry. Ann Marie will be busy during preview. Remember you can sign up to receive email notices of all our auctions. Thanks for reading. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
June 2008 Just this week I chatted with a customer/friend who reminded me we first did business when we both were 16 years old. Jack bought a 1935 Ford sedan from me for a few hundred dollars. Here we are still doing business almost 50 years later. HOW TO TELL POISON IVY WHEN YOU SEE IT: If you have had this, here is some great information about this nasty plant we found in the 2008 ANNUAL GUIDE issue of ADIRONDACK LIFE magazine, page 22. The plant is pictured but if you don't have a copy (check out Barnes & Nobel or Riverrow Books) It looks like this: Three leaf clusters (we all know this), but the CENTER LEAF HAS A LONG STEM and the two SIDE LEAVES HAVE SHORT STEMS. Watch out for it. Cars were lined up into the street this week to fill up at $4.00 per gallon. It was $9.00 a gallon two years ago in Italy so the US has a lot of catching up to do. Heard today a local dump truck company's fuel bill is $60,000 - A WEEK!. MOVIE REVIEWS SHINE A LIGHT: Directed by Martin Scorsese, is sort of a Documentary
about Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones. Scorsese is a big fan from way
back. The Stones are amazing and Jagger is even better now than back in
the 60's. Lots of Concert footage and behind- the -scenes shots.
You won't recognize Keith Richards in shots from the 60's.
3 GAVELS SEX AND THE CITY: We liked it a lot, in spite of the majority of the
critics. They complained it was too long and focused on the women's
shallow adoration of Designer labels. Isn't that what the story is
about? They could keep this story going for quite a while and
probably will. 3 GAVELS INDIANA JONES, KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL: Not as good as Raiders
of the Lost Ark but still plenty of great action scenes and stunts.
Harrison Ford starring with his earlier Indiana Jones co-star Cate
Blanchett (now in her 50's). Both do a good job. 2
GAVELS THE COUNTERFEITERS: A really good movie based on a true story of how
the Nazis conscripted a group of Jewish prisoners adept at printing, and
forced them to counterfeit foreign money, primarily British Pounds, to
be dumped in Britain during the war. The purpose, to bankrupt England.
Their next plan was to counterfeit U. S. Dollars. Was 2007 Oscar Nominee
for Best Foreign Film. B & W. in German with subtitles.
3 GAVELS GALLERY NEWS Next auction is Tuesday, June 17th. It's an excellent Antique Estate Auction from the Estates of Eugene Gerhart, well know Binghamton Attorney, Leonard Levene, Jeweler, appraiser and terrific man -about- town, and Judith Holliday of Ithaca. Judith was the fine arts librarian at Cornell for many years. She worked for James Owen Mahoney who chaired the Art Department at Cornell and painted some very interesting pictures. We handled Mahoney's estate auction several years ago. Judith has at least eight of J. O.'s paintings. His record price so far according to Askart.com is $37.000. J.O. painted the infamous nude mural behind the bar at the old Tompkins House in downtown Ithaca, now the box office for various art organizations. You can still see it there while visiting Adam Perl at Pasttimes in the DeWitt Mall just across the street. Back to a "regular" Tuesday sale JUNE 24TH. Outdoors under the big top, and in July we are selling a nice Syracuse Estate with a housefull of Traditional style STICKLEY Cherry furniture, coins and Royal Doulton figures. See you soon. CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE CALENDAR PAGE
|Home| |Directions/Lodging| |Place
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1729 Vestal Parkway West -
Vestal, NY 13850 |
You can
see the trailer on YouTube.