April 28, 2000
Greetings Accumulators!
This is my first newsletter sent from a remote location! We are at the
country house, building a new deck. Working on a project like this one
gives you a new perspective on the differences between the sexes. Artie,
since he's a guy, loves to do the hammering and sawing part, but he's not
big on planning. So far, I've mostly been doing - well, cooking. I'd keep
saying, "Tell me what to do", and he'd say "Oh it's okay". Translation:
"You're a girl. Go back inside and cook some more". But, after his third
or fourth trip to the next town for some forgotten item, I sat down, did a
drawing, and made a shopping list of materials. I then took the
instruction booklet out there and started measuring. We are now
progressing nicely - and I'm back inside, typing to you.
Before I go on, I must tell you about a most wonderful place. Last weekend
Artie and I went to the Ferndale Marketplace in Ferndale, NY (Sullivan
County) right off Rte 17. What a lovely place, friendly proprietors,
excellent inventory, great garden - everything about it is quality! We had
a great time taking the tour and bought several wonderful items. We'll
surely be going back and, since it's everything an antiques center should
be, you should go too.
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF NOT EVEN CLOSE TO BEING ANATOMICALLY CORRECT
Mattel just doesn't seem to know what to do next to Barbie. A couple of
years ago they announced they were making her body more like a real
human's, as opposed to the bimboesque victim of plastic surgery she has
always been. They never went through with those plans, opting instead to
give her more of a smiley face. Now it seems they've moved one baby step
closer to making her look real: they've given her a belly button. Oh,
great. What she really needs is a boyfriendectomy. And speaking of navels,
the GI Joe Sailor looks pretty good to me. Besides, the Man of Action
isn't likely to take more than thirty years to pop the question.
NOW WE KNOW WHAT CAUSED THE PENNY SHORTAGE DEPARTMENT
Schools and civic groups have been trying to raise money for a new
sculpture of Abraham Lincoln. To the rescue: Jim Huska of Lincoln, Nebraska. Huska
has donated his entire penny collection to the cause. He's been collecting
pennies since his college days and has amassed somewhere between 30,000
and 50,000 of the coppers. His generous contribution is expected to put
the fund over the top. No word on who is going to actually move the collection.
SUITS OVER SUITS
According to the Boston Globe, Debbie Reynolds and Warner Brothers are both
suing a former Reynolds employee over ownership of some famous movie
costumes and props he has just put up for sale on Auctionfun.com. Included
in the lot, for which the employee, John Lebold, is asking a minimum bid of
2.5 million dollars, are Julie Andrews' costume from "Sound of Music", the
stone tablets from "The Ten Commandments", Marilyn Monroe's pink satin gown
from "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and James Dean's tee shirt and jeans from
"Giant". Lebold claims to have receipts for almost all the items in the
collection. He says several copies of each costume are commonly made for
films, so they can be quickly changed if they are damaged in some way. He
says his items are some of these multiple copies.
So, Accumulators, it is now after dark and Artie is inside again, making
those "I am hungry, so do some more cooking" noises. Gotta go grill some
salmon. We'll be spending the weekend giving ourselves black and blue
thumbs, and maybe even building a deck. Hope you have great weekend weather
and can get out there and poke around at some great sales and shows. Have
a terrific week, Accumulators. Happy hunting!
Best,
Judith
© 2000 Judith Katz-Schwartz. All rights reserved.
Antiques and Collectibles Newsletter #118
U.S. Library of Congress
ISSN 1520-4464
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