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17 February 2007
Greetings Everyone
I’m going to jump straight onto
the 'soap box' for this editorial and get this 'off my chest' because
this has been largely bought about by the ever increasing frequency of
shops or similar establishments advertising they sell antiques. And some
do. But a hell of a lot don’t, make no mistake
about that! I would like a dollar for every time I have walked into a
shop with that great 'come into this shop, step back into time words,
Antiques sold here!' plastered all over the front of the place, only to
find in pure frustration, to find nothing older than you might find in
say a modern timber furniture shop that sell antique reproductions. And
just for the record, gee they hate that word, 'reproduction'. I guess
sometimes the truth hurts.
Thankfully, they don’t all sell
'repros' under the guise of being antiques, but
you’ve gotta know your stuff, because at the
end of the day to some businesses in this industry, and I’m pretty darn
sure they know who they are, a sale is a sale and business is business,
regardless of the authenticity of the article for sale. I really do
wonder though how it can be nothing short of false advertising when they
say 'Antiques' sold here, when really, the words 'Reproductions and
Collectables' are much more appropriate. Somehow, I don’t believe the
word 'reproductions' is likely to appear anytime soon on these particular
shops. It just doesn’t have the same ring to it now, does it?
Which leads me
into the next area of concern, fakes and reproductions, particularly
those that have appeared in more recent times in carnival glass. Of course, we
all know or hopefully know, of the limited antiquity value of a piece of
modern contemporary glass. But I’m becoming very frustrated indeed when
these are being sold as antiques, and worse still, reproductions being
sold off as the original article. One would hope this only occurs when
the shop honestly does not know the difference, however, I suspect this
would be very rarely. The worse part is, that
it does absolutely nothing but create damn frustration to the purchaser
and those of us who are fellow collectors and purists in the collection
of genuine carnival glass.
Just recently, whilst on a trip
travelling through country New South Wales, Carissa and I were absolutely
flabbergasted at the hide of one of these 'so called' antique dealers who
were attempting to sell reproduction china as genuine antiques. Worse
still, was once we had brought this fact to the attention of the shop
keeper, she then attempted to convince us both that these items were
still of considerable collectable status, and therefore would 'qualify'
for something reasonably close to antiquity value even if it wasn’t in
actual fact the 'real McCoy'. So, the bottom line was, the amount she was
selling the item for was four times greater than that of one of our local
kitchen décor stores. So, I guess it only goes to show that there really
are three prices for anything, what it cost, what its
worth and what you can get for it… caveat emptor!
Anyway, now I’ve got that off my
chest, I’d just like to say what a success the February meeting was! Not
only was the meeting, hosted by Cindy and Kevin Mackley
once again a credit to them both, but those of us who attended managed to
raise between us approximately $240 towards the club kitty from the Dutch
Auction and the raffle combined.
The upcoming meeting, as you may
recall, is now going to be held on Sunday, 27 May 2007 (the Fourth
Sunday) for this meeting only, as voted on by the majority back in
November last year. Carissa and I are hosting this one and would like you
to bring along your Carnival Glass pieces that you have purchased from
long distances and Whimsies, as this is the theme for the day.
Directions on how to get there can be found in the newsletter. A sausage
sizzle and drinks will be provided on the day, or there’s a good little
takeaway shop is just 1 kilometre away if you prefer.
It's important to remember that
this is our Annual General Meeting so I would like to see, if possible,
all members in attendance for this one. Its also most crucial that we don’t just rely
on the same club officers, year in year out, to fill the club office
roles. If you would like to be nominated for a club office position or a
committee member, or would like to maybe find out more about what is
involved, don’t hesitate to ask myself or the other club officers, as we
would be happy to answer any queries you might have.
Once again, I really do forward
look to seeing you all at this meeting!
Please take care and drive
carefully.
And as always, Happy Carnival
Glass hunting!
Your Club President,
Maurice Geake
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Some of the beautiful carnival glass
on display at this meeting
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Club members enjoying the convivial
atmosphere of the meeting
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Back to Last Meeting Report
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