March 2, 2002
Greetings Accumulators!
This will have to be a quickie. He Who Is The Light Of My Life and I are
doing the Triple Pier Expo antiques show this weekend, and we are on the
run. In fact, he's in the shower right now, so I have a few moents to type
to you. We are dry as a bone in The Big Apple. Rain coming tonight, but
just a trickle. Not good. Yesterday we were up at the country house, and
you could walk across our brook without getting your feet wet. Next thing
you know there'll be steer skulls lying around all over the place, and
cactus growing everywhere.
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF BAD TASTE IN MARKETING
In honor of the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death (no, I don't know
why anyone would celebrate anyone else's death - except that in this case
it's for the purpose of making lots of money) Elvis Presley Enterprises has
licensed someone to replace George Washington's image on some of
Tennessee's 2002 quarters with a color image of Elvis. Although defacing
American coins is a crime, it is apparently never prosecuted, as you know
if you watch cable TV at all. And people are going to buy these quarters! I
hope none of them ever contact me and ask me to appraise any of them.
Still, if people insist on throwing their money down the toilet, who am I
to stop them?
POP CULTURE IS CULTURE DEPARTMENT
I'm sure we've all seen reports about Enron memorabilia up for sale on
eBay. The US is nothing if not a haven for entrepeneurs. But, guess who's
collecting Enron memorabilia, most notably their ethics manual (now that's
a hoot - their ETHICS manual!)? Why, The Smithsonian Institution, of
course! According to Reuters, a spokeswoman for the Smithsonian's National
Museum of American History on Tuesday said curators have
started to collect Enron memorabilia as part of an effort to record one of
the nation's biggest business scandals. As if we'd be likely to forget it.
"We have acquired one of the administrative booklets that talks about the
code of ethics, with a letter from (former Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer) Kenneth Lay and we have collected a coffee mug," spokeswoman
Melinda Machado said. Oh good - a coffee mug. That's certainly likely to be
significant. When told of the Smithsonian's new acquisitions, Enron
spokesman Vance Meyer said, "I guess the Hope Diamond doesn't stand a
chance." Shut up, Vance.
HOW NOT TO START A COLLECTION
Sometimes when you find a great item for an amazingly low price, you tell
friends it was a "steal". A daring criminal in Vancouver, Canada managed to
acquire quite a large collection of fashion items in a Gap store. Why is
this news? The man, who heisted 10 pairs of pants and six leather jackets
managed to escape in a stolen car. And he had no legs. Witnesses agreed on
that fact, and it would seem that this particular characteristic would make
him both easy to identify and easy to apprehend. Not. Next up, a female
shoplifter in Florida who, while running away from security guards, noticed
a car with an open door. Clever thing that she was, she jumped into the
car, screaming "Help me!" Brilliant, no? Except that the car's driver and
passenger were two off-cuty cops, out doing some shopping. They helped, of
course.
Okay, Accumulators, it is now Sunday morning, and we're off to do the
second day of The Pier Show. Guess this newsletter was NOT a quickie, after
all. Business at The Piers has been low-to-moderate so far. But that gives
us the opportunity to socialize, which we love. If you're in the
neighborhood of the Piers, stop by and socialize with us. And bring money.
Have a great week, Accumulators. Happy hunting!
Best,
Judith
© 2002 Judith Katz-Schwartz. All rights reserved.
Antiques and Collectibles Newsletter #172
U.S. Library of Congress
ISSN 1520-4464
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