July 2, 1998
Greetings Accumulators!
Coming to you a tad early this week, as we're about
to get away for the
holiday. I hope you have some excellent plans too,
or, if you don't, I
hope you will be enjoying your complete freedom from
obligation!
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HOW WILL THEY SLEEP WITH THAT
BRIGHT LIGHT ON ALL
NIGHT?
The U.S. Government giveth and the U.S. Government
taketh away. They've
been turning over the country's remaining
lighthouses to state and local
governments, and non-profit organizations. However,
the Government is not
fixing these buildings up before it gives them away,
forcing the locals to
assume projects that cost hundreds of thousands of
dollars. Since, in this
age of sophisticated shipboard electronics,
lighthouses are now almost
completely obsolete, the need to preserve their
unique architecture is
great. So, some of these local groups have come up
with a novel fund
raising idea. All you have to do is donate $1,000
to The Lighthouse
Preservation Society and you get a night's stay for
two in one of 15
refurbished lighthouses around the country. And the
contribution is
tax-deductible. For more information, call
(800)727-BEAM. And bring your
eye shades.
THE ORIGINAL DIRTY OLD MAN DEPARTMENT
On July 8, the London branch of Christie's will sell
the last known copy in
private hands of the first edition of Geoffrey
Chaucer's "The Canterbury
Tales", printed in 1477 by William Caxton. The pre
sale estimate is
$820,000 to $1,100,000. Those of us who were
English majors remember
struggling through the annotated copy of this book,
trying to "get" Middle
English. Middle English looks and sounds like a
foreign language, which is
why few modern folks outside the classroom have ever
read this work in its
original form. That's why I wonder how many people
know that this book has
some REALLY DIRTY STUFF in it. It's full of bawdy
humor (the Wife of Bath
was a shameless character) and frank biological
commentary. The head of
Christie's book department calls it the "greatest
work of Middle English
literature". I guess Playboy Magazine hadn't caught
on yet.
WHAT'S NEXT - MOUNTAIN DEW AND TINKER TOYS?
Later this month, toy stores and drug chains will
begin carrying items that
result from the collaboration of Mattel and Coca
Cola, two marketing
giants. There will be Matchbox cars and trucks with
the Coke logo, as well
as an UNO collector's tin with the Coke Polar Bears
on it. Look for other
additions in the near future. Perhaps Barbie in a
Coke romper?
GRANDMA RIDES AGAIN
If you haven't yet read any of the Grandma
articles, you might
want to get some background by going to Judith's Articles About Antiques & Collectibles
and
reading everything with
"Grandma" or "Dr. Bob"
in the title. More to come.
So, Accumulators, I wish you all a happy and safe
holiday weekend. Please
drive carefully, and keep your eye on the other guys
on the road. If
you're drinking, give the car keys to someone else
who isn't. If you're
outside the U.S., I should tell you that we're
celebrating the birth of our
nation this weekend, a holiday that traditionally
turns up some frightening
statistics - and I don't want any of my Dear
Accumulators to become a
statistic.
Artie and I will be visiting the Stormville Airport
Flea Market, and the
Goshen Festival. If you're in the nabe, please say
"hi". Happy hunting!
Best,
Judith
© 1998 Judith Katz-Schwartz. All rights reserved.
Antiques and Collectibles Newsletter #48
U.S. Library of Congress
ISSN 1520-4464
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your comments, as always, are welcome. If you have something to say, write to me.
If you like, I'll subscribe you to the free short weekly email newsletter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RETURN TO INDEX OF NEWSLETTERS