By Vera Clark-Kavanagh
March 10 – Too nice of a day today to stay home, so Marjorie and I headed south. At Madoc, a bright yellow wicker chair and stool caught our eye and we discovered the Red Door Antiques shop was open at 84 St Lawrence St West (right at the stop sign). We sure had a good look around there – her prices were excellent! Marjorie picked up a huge speed sign right inside the door, and I ended up with several things, including a beautiful iron fancy grille door and frame from an old coal furnace. We got a rare blue enameled washboard, galvanized bucket, then headed over to visit Fitz in Tweed. He has recently reopened his antique store in his basement and garage on Gallagher Road, just off Hwy 37. We got an antique oak student desk, organ stool and a promise for a visit next time he’s in Bancroft.
March 22 – We’ve been waiting anxiously for this sale! Frank Fowler from Kingston was a good friend of Marjorie’s, and a member of the Quinte Timekeepers. He was a true gentleman, obviously well loved by all who knew him, and this was just one sale in a series of five sales of his unbelievable estate being auctioned by Sullivans. Boyd Sullivan explained that he was overwhelmed by the quality and quantity of Frank’s collections, and that he felt that after 37 years of auctioning, this was the pinnacle of his career – that’s how good the collections were. The bidding was steady and reached high numbers as they should for this quality.
I won a fantastic buffet, admired by many at the auction, and a very old butlers desk in immaculate condition. A cherry gate-leg banquet drop-leaf table went home with us, as well as a three piece set of walnut trimmed sofa and two side chairs with matching upholstery, a silver cruet set, and the shiniest copper coal scuttle that I have ever seen! Of course Marjorie scored a clock, but it was her bidding on some of the important paintings that were auctioned off that fascinated us… there were several paintings by members of the Group of Seven, including AY Jackson who happens to be my favourite (although out of MY price range for sure!) Marjorie will give you more information about the paintings following this. She was bidding on one painting by Franz Johnson but despite my encouraging her to bid higher, she quit at $9,500. It was a lot of fun! Sister-in-law Mary had wanted to score some items for the North Hastings Museum in Bancroft, but came away empty handed unfortunately.
We loaded our heavy items into the horse trailer, and called it a day – a very educational and exciting one at that!
Well, another season of yard sales and antique shows and sales is about to start, so put on your most comfortable shoes, turn your hat backwards, grip the steering wheel firmly, and hit the road! Until next time – happy trails to you!