February 27, 1999
Greetings Accumulators!
Albuquerque was quite a change from New York City. The temperature was
nearly 70 degrees every day, and the air was very dry. I needed to keep a
bottle of water with me at all times, as did most of the natives. Many of
them mentioned that it had been a long time since they'd had any rain.
What a welcoming place Albuquerque is! Located in the high desert area of the American Southwest, the breathtaking views it affords are amazing. I'm happy to tell you that Albuquerque's residents don't take them for granted, either. We're not accustomed to an environment where you can see things 100 miles away, so Artie and I both stared a lot.
Antiqueing in Albuquerque is alive and well, and the selection is
wonderful. Unlike on the West Coast, oak, mahogany and cherry furniture is
popular there(and it does look great in all those nice adobe homes). I saw
great examples of everything from pottery to glass to vintage clothing to
toys to books to architectural elements. But the place to shop for vintage
jewelry if you're in Albuquerque is undoubtedly The Antique Connection
Mall, owned by our hosts, Jane and John Clarke. Artie picked up a killer
Trifari sterling necklace for me there, as a belated Valentine's Day gift.
The mall is large and its many dealers maintain an attractive display of a
wide range of items. For my money, it's the best antiques shopping in
Albuquerque. The appraisathon we did went well, and I loved meeting those
of you who came to it
.
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF WOULDN'T HE HAVE GOTTEN A LOT MORE MILEAGE OUT OF A
HOUSE?
I imagine the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were
experiencing some mixed feelings at the auction of OJ Simpson memorabilia
at Butterfiled and Butterfield in Los Angeles two weeks ago. OJ's property
was being sold to the highest bidder to help pay the 33.5 million dollar
judgment they won against him in a wrongful death suit regarding the
murders of their relatives. Considering what sports memorabilia is
bringing at auction these days, the $382,000 earned by Simpson's items
wasn't much, but then, he's not a hero to most people any more. The Brown
and Goldman families must have wanted the prices to be high enough to help
settle the suit, but low enough to reflect Simpson's diminished status.
And what motivated the bidders to shell out the "sort-of-big" bucks for
Simpson's things? Bob Enyart of Denver, CO, bought $16,000 worth of OJ
stuff, including two Number 32 football jerseys, a Professional Football
Hall of Fame induction certificate and two trophies. The jerseys and
certificate were burned, and the trophies smashed outside the Criminal
Courts Building in Los Angeles, while bystanders cheered and booed.
Enyart, a Christian radio talk show host said they were destroying OJ
Simpson's property because "the criminal justice system is destroying
justice before our very eyes". Tom Kreissman of Philadelphia bought
Simpson's Heisman Trophy, the only Heisman trophy ever offered for sale,
for $255,500, two thirds of the total auction take, to impress his
girlfriend. He says they were reading the auction notices in the newspaper
and saw that the pre-sale estimate on the Heisman was $100,000. Kreissman
told his girlfriend, "For $100,000, I'd buy it". His girlfriend laughed at
him. So, he bought the trophy for more than double the estimate. Now,
Kreissman has a Heisman. True love or a weak ego? You be the judge.
MORE THAN YOU THINK DEPARTMENT
For music fans out there who think the late Linda McCartney's claim to fame
was her marriage to Paul Mc Cartney, you may be forgetting that she was a
highly acclaimed photographer and a celebrity in her own right, long before
she met Paul. The Bruce Museum of Greenwich, CT is the first stop on a
nationwide tour of an exhibit called "Linda McCartney's Sixties: Portrait
Of An Era". It's a star-studded collection of photos taken by Linda,
Rolling Stone Magazine's first staff photographer. The exhibit consists of
her intimate portraits of such luminaries as the Rolling Stones, The
Beatles (of course!), Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan
and many others. It will remain at the Bruce Museum through May 23 and
will travel through the US through 2000, constituting the first exhibit of
these photos in the nation. The Bruce is located at 1 Museum Drive, and is
open Tuesday through Saturday, from 10AM to 5PM; and on Sunday from 1 to 5PM.
GOOD-BYE ELAINE
Maybe it was the end of "Seinfeld" that did it. The J. Peterman Company
(yes, the one that offered props from the movie, "Titanic" at such
exorbitant prices), the character Elaine's employer on the show, is about
to go under. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last
month, but has failed to find a buyer, so a federal judge has ordered them
to file a going-out-of-business sale plan. An auction is set for March 9.
REPRODUCTION ALERT
Watch out for these:
Roseville La Rose pattern - the 9 inch handled vase, with an RV mark on the base is being reproduced. You can recognize it by the lack of detail in the molded pattern.
Sixties Rock Posters - the original editions of these were very small. The fact that they are being seen in the market in abundance is a tip-off that they are being copied. Watch for differences in colors, printer's name, cardboard stock and method of printing.
Motion lamps - Econolite scenic lamps are being reproduced. A clue: the
tops and bottoms on the new lamps are plastic. The old ones were cardboard.
That should wrap it up, Accumulators. Artie and I are going to check out
the sale at one of our favorite auction houses tonight: Roberson's in Pine
Bush, NY. If you're in the nabe, stop by. They get great stuff!
Have a great week, Accumulators. Happy Hunting!
Best,
Judith
© 1999 Judith Katz-Schwartz. All rights reserved.
Antiques and Collectibles Newsletter #74
U.S. Library of Congress
ISSN 1520-4464
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