July 12, 2002
Greetings Accumulators!
And welcome to my little respite. Consider this a mini-vacation away from the stock ticker. Jeez, that thing is scarier than film noir! Now that the great heat wave (you know, the one that followed the drenching rains - or drought, take your pick) is over, we can all stop complaining about the failure of our air conditioning and concentrate on the important stuff, like tomorrow morning's yard sales. As a person who is only happy between fifty and eighty degrees fahrenheit, I can empathize.
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF SELECTIONS FROM THE VAMPIRE DESSERT MENU
Charles Saatchi, the well-known art collector and London gallery owner, may be steamed but then again, so may one of his prized artworks. The various London tabloids are in disagreement about what actually happened, but the story goes that a sculpture by Marc Quinn, owned by Saatchi, is no more, or at least is no more intact. It apparently melted when builders working in Saatchi's home kitchen unplugged his freezer. That's because there among the frozen bagels and popsicles was Quinn's sculpture - a cast of his own head. Oh, and it was made out of 9 pints of his own blood. Talk about your Type A personality! The workmen reputedly unplugged the freezer to perform some task and when they moved the freezer back into place found a pool of blood on the floor. I know what you're thinking right now. Eeeeeeuuuuw. Who would want to own a blood sculpture? Other than Bela Lugosi, of course. And what genius would waste nine pints of his own blood on something like this? A very pale and shaky Marc Quinn, of course. What a genius must do for the sake of his art! Perhaps it was the $23,000 Saatchi is said to have paid for the bloody head-cast that may have inspired him. No word on whether Quinn's muse is actually Elsa Lanchester.
INVOLUNTARY COLLECTOR DEPARTMENT
Some people are born collecting, some achieve collections, and some have collections thrust upon them. Yes, I know that Shakespeare is now spinning in his grave whilst shaking his fist at me. Try telling that to Mr. and Mrs. David Tomlinson of Seminole, Florida, who awoke one recent morning to find more than 40 lawn ornaments neatly arranged in their front yard, according to the St. Petersburg Times. And we're not talking tasteful here, either. There were concrete geese, plastic flamingos, ceramic frogs, turtles - you get the idea. Mr. Tomlinson was the first to look outside and see the menagerie, so he went inside and told his wife, "You won't believe this." The Tomlinsons, good citizens that they are, called the Sheriff's Office to report the uninvited company on their lawn, just in case any of their neighbors should awake that morning to find their statue of Jesus missing. After all, this stuff had to come from somewhere. Sure enough, people all over town began calling the Sheriff to report missing artifacts such as the three plastic windmills, a planter in the shape of a little boy fishing, and a statue of a fox belonging to the Grier family. And weren't they amazed when the Sheriff's Office returned their calls and directed them to the Tomlinsons' front yard, to be reunited with their possessions? All but ten of the ornaments have since been reclaimed by people from the area, most of them laughing as they drove away. No word from the owners of those remaining ten items - probably too embarrassed to admit they own them.
GREAT SITES
America As it Was - A Tour Of The USA In Vintage Postcards. This delightful postcard collection is organized by state. There are a broken link or two, but very much worth a visit.
LINK.
Celebrate Something Bizarre - Sure, everyone celebrates Mother's Day or Valentine's Day, but don't you want to be the first on your block to celebrate Hermit Crab Day (April 12th)? What about Carnivorous Plant Appreciation Month - they really are underappreciated - in January? Or Sarcastic Fringehead Day - it's a fish, although it sounds like a mother-in-law - on October 20th? C'mon - live a little!
LINK.
So, Accumulators, we come to the end of another newsletter. It is a simply gorgeous day in The Apple today, so Artie and I are about to do some urban hiking. I love walking around this town! Tomorrow I plan to spend the day with my dear sister, Evelyn. Maybe she'll let me sneak in a yard sale or two in her neighborhood. You do the same - yard saling I mean. And don't forget to visit those great antiques shops and malls in your area. Have a great one, Accumulators. Happy hunting!
Best,
Judith
© 2002 Judith Katz-Schwartz. All rights reserved.
Antiques and Collectibles Newsletter #186
U.S. Library of Congress
ISSN 1520-4464
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