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.
