Wanted   Do you have a passion for antiques and collectibles - and writing?   The Wayback Times invites you to submit freelance articles for use in print and on our new web site.   E-mail your text submissions to The Wayback Times.   Articles published in The Wayback Times since 1995 have covered a wide range of interests, from Golliwoggs to toy VW collecting, and from collecting insulators to hunting old books.   Most authors of our online selection of articles have included their e-mail addresses and they are always delighted to hear from other collectors.

Ad Rates / Articles / Classified Ads / Editorial / Home / Links / Showtime   Antiques and Collectibles Articles   Follow the arrows to other stories Appreciating auctions, book hunts and dealers   By Ted Currie I used to get invited to shindigs all the time as a journalist. I was a useful resource, you might say. Those who sent the invitation figured I'd pen something nice about them in the newspaper's social column. I usually just enjoyed the grub and imbibed for awhile, leaving with notepad in hand, giving the impression something had indeed inspired me.   As an antique dealer, I've had a few invites to select, conservative, wine tasting affairs, and of course some antique show and sales. As an historian, well, I've never been invited to anything more than a genealogical workshop or two, and a few archaeological digs as a "to be seen and not heard,” observer.   The fact that I am still writing after all these years has kept the invitations coming, but considering I'm working for antique and travel publications these days, I don't get come-hither requests to the same society events of once. Being both a collector and dealer of antiquities, and a for-hire historian, has somewhat diminished my stock value as a party guest. “Boring beyond belief,” that Currie. “All he talks about is old stuff. Books and art, books and art, books and art!”   I've written a number of columns over the last half decade about antique dealers and collectors as “historians,” and they have at time riled both sides. Antique dealers wishing to have no association with those “purist” historians, and historians who believe antique speculators are profiteering at the expense of our national heritage being shipped everywhere else but to our badly-in-need museums.   It's quite true that there are dealers out there only interested in cash and by the shovel full, for the sale of their antiquities. I've bought plenty of pieces from these folks, who have little interest in my historical anecdotes about a subject item, just that I have enough folding money to complete the transaction. On the opposite side, I've met the same percentage of historians having little or no respect for diverse opinion and the cross referencing of historical record in the preparation of their self-serving tomes, full by the way of blatant errors and editorial bias.   The majority of antique dealers and collectors I have dealt with over a lifetime in this enterprise of buying and selling old stuff, are astute, learned, respectful folks, who have untold devotion to the preservation and conservation of our important pieces of material history. They're mindful that with each important piece sold, their part in its rescue, maintenance and security, is then the provenance of the subject antiquity, whether it is an ancient vase or a pine cupboard from a log homestead; a landscape painting or a turn of the century sculpture. They are proud to add their contribution to the history of the subject piece, and I have been absolutely delighted on occasion, to have a dealer chat with me, at length, about where a select object came from, the region, the maker, its construction, and all related provenance. And I proudly add the dealer's critical stewardship to all the other details related to provenance, and I let my customers know the dealers who have contributed to its welfare along the way.   If it weren't for dealers and collectors, and their ongoing working relationship with museums generally, a great deal more history would be lost in commerce. Dealers and collectors have dedicated their lives to labor in the field of historical conservation, and although this may make the purists cringe, if it hadn't been for the meddling, frequently over-zealous collectors, always on the hunt, there would be a lot less for historians to display, and documents to fill out the public archives.   While they don't get a lot of credit for their efforts, antique dealers and collectors have worked side by side museum curators, and countless pieces have been donated and offered for exhibit by the same antique hunters frequently scorned and labeled tomb robbers by the ill informed. Consider the massive number of antique reference books that have been prepared by collectors over the last century, and how common it is to find these guide books in the archives of many community, provincial and national museums.   The company of antique dealers, collectors, archivists and historians I keep, is in entirety a cherished relationship. They see the relevance of both sides, and while some dealers are wary of the cunning ways employed by historians to “save for posterity,” it can be said there are historians deeply indebted to collectors for turning over materials of national historic significance for the price of a tax receipt.   I was at an auction in Gravenhurst one afternoon, and I saw a guy literally hanging out of a big box of old paper and books. And then three large boxes to the left, another gentleman was on his knees half in a box and half teetering on uneven terrain. When they emerged for air, one was a well-known book collector, David Brown, of Hamilton fame, and the other an historical chum of mine, Bob Petry, author of two regional histories in the District of Muskoka. And while they might have growled at one another in the heat of the search, they chatted for some time later about their respective missions and most recent acquisitions. I quite enjoyed being sandwiched between two great minds, two powerful opinions, on the subject of antiquity and historical record.   I won't get a lot of fan mail for making the declaration that antique dealers and collectors are historians but I think if nothing else, it may evoke some thought about the mission to preserve history and the role we each play in honoring the past. I will gladly sacrifice my place on the “who to invite to the party” list, to keep this invigorating company of people who really do care where we've come from, and where we're all headed, because if any one truly knows, it's those people who have reverence for the way it all began.   Antique dealers and collectors love to talk. Ask them their opinions about history; about conservation of antiquities and the stewardship we should all practice to preserve history for future generations.   As I began this column with a rider, about having met some reckless, “for money only,” characters in the antique enterprise as well as in historical authordom, you can find parallels in almost any profession. Whether it is acknowledged or not, policing does occur from within both industries, and the veterans of enterprise are not adverse to admonishing a dealer, collector or historian for poor conduct and blatant misrepresentation of a piece or historical fact.   I have never missed an opportunity to correct an associate dealer for improper or inaccurate information noted on an item's description, particularly a book, a District of Muskoka collectable or artwork, of which I'm particularly familiar. Maybe it's an honest mistake that an item is mislabeled. On the other hand, it's critically important to represent history with accuracy. There is no justifiable exception. If you don't know, admit it! It's infinitely better than perpetuating an identification error which can carry long into the future. The same goes for an historical fact in error, published in a newspaper column or in the content of a book. Think about the shelf life of a book and how long that error will be affecting researchers down the road. The same with a misrepresented antique piece. The error will live through many, many owners until finally rectified by some collector with a bent on accuracy.   With subject material such as the diatribe above on the tip of my tongue, is it any wonder my invitations to social events are getting kind of thin these days. Such is the patina of the writer-gone historian, the journalist turned collector.   Thank you for picking up a copy of The Wayback Times. Enjoy your antique hunting adventures this autumn season. Good luck.   Other articles by Ted Currie   Regional book collecting Books on local history Book sleuthing Christmas traditions         Return to top of page   This Is Livin' Publishing © 2007 581 8th Line West, RR1 Hastings, ON, K0L 1Y0 Phone/Fax: 705-696-1833   webmaster