November 9, 2001
Greetings Accumulators!
Greetings from cool, sunny, windy New York City! Guess what? My book is
doing really well! Reviews have been consistently excellent, sales are
brisk, and I am now in interview mode. Radio interviews are the easiest, as
they're almost all done via the telephone. So, I may be popping up on a
radio station near you. I've tried to keep up with posting the schedule on
the Upcoming Events page of the Twin Brooks Antiques web site. Sometimes
the interviews are done on short notice, so you may want to sign up for the
email notification at the top of the page. If the show in your area is
live, and they ask for callers, call in and say hi. I'd just love it if one
of my Accumulators phoned in! Here's a link to the Upcoming Events page:
LINK
.
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HOW ABOUT THEM APPLES, MONSIEUR!
As we all know, the French government, stalwart fighter and supporter of
whatever is moral and right that we've always known them to be (smirk),
ruled a year or so ago that Yahoo would have to remove all Nazi material
from its site. Well, a U. S. federal judge just ruled that France has no
jurisdiction over anything in this country, and that it is a violation of
our Consititution to impede free speech, which means the Nazi memorabilia
stays. France, of course, can censor whatever it likes within its own
borders, but hands off America! No, of course I'm not saying a single word
in support of Nazis. Let's get real here. Sometimes free speech entails the
broadcasting of things we find repulsive, but that just comes with the
territory. If we allow censorship of even the most evil free speech, we've
allowed censorship to get a foot in the door, and that doesn't bode well
for any of us. Besides that, how anyone can equate the sale of Nazi
memorabilia, which are, after all, legitimate war relics, with support of
the Nazi regime, is beyond me. I don't want to touch it, or even see it,
but I acknowledge the rights of other people to buy and sell it. Who knows
what is motivating the French? Perhaps guilt....
I TOLD YOU, THE FIRST RULE OF LIFE IS "NEVER THROW ANYTHING AWAY" DEPARTMENT
Let's hear it for Leroy Green, the facilities foreman at the College of
Physicians of Philadelphia! He was instructed to get rid of an old beat-up
wooden box once used as the top of a lecturn. Mr. Green heard something
rustling around when he picked up the locked box to throw it in a dumpster,
broke the lock and found a priceless cache of 18th century letters,
including some signed by Alexander Hamilton and Doctor Benjamin Rush, one
of the signers of The Declaration of Independence. There were 85 documents
in all. They included case studies, and meteorlogical data, and some dealt
with a yellow fever epidemic that killed 10% of the population. There was
even one document that detailed the case of a farmer who had contracted
anthrax. Charles Greifenstein, the college's curator of archives, and the
man who ordered Mr. Green to dump the box, said he'd "never throw anyting
away again". Just kidding. He actually said he felt "the vicarious archival
thrill," and that "you can really feel like you're there, like you are part
of the community." If anyone else has experienced an archival thrill,
please write and tell me about it. Somehow I've missed out on that one,
even in my wilder days.
IF THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER...
Want to collect something lovely? Oyster plates may be for you. There's a
wonderful French site (Okay, I'm making it up to them) that will show you
what's available in the world of oyster plates. Even if you've never eaten
an oyster in your life (it's an acquired taste, believe me), you'll love
these beautiful plates, made to nestle several of the tasty mollusks in
specially shaped indentations. And every fine maker of china, glass and
pottery has produced them, so there's a wide variety available. The site is
part museum, part store, so go have a look, if only to familiarize
yourself. You'll find the site at
http://oysterplates.homestead.com/home.html. Don't tell 'em I sent you.
They're angry with me right now.
So, my dear Accumulators, we come to the end of another week and another
newsletter. Artie and I are headed north to spend the weekend with our dear
friends, The Sussmans. He Who Is The Light Of My Life intends to play golf
with Steven Sussman, as long as the cold air doesn't fuse the clubs to
their hands, and the lovely Ellen Sussman and I will lay waste to every tag
sale and antiques shop we can find (the phrase "a swarm of locusts" comes
to mind). I hope all of you will be having just as enjoyable a time as we
will, and that you'll find many treasures along your way. Have a great
week, Accumulators. Happy hunting!
Best,
Judith
© 2001 Judith Katz-Schwartz. All rights reserved.
Antiques and Collectibles Newsletter #161
U.S. Library of Congress
ISSN 1520-4464
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Your comments, as always, are welcome. If you have something to say, write to me.
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