March 5, 1999
Greetings Accumulators!
Last night John Bruno and I appeared on a local New York City cable station
called the Metro Learning Channel. We did a show called "Metro Home", with
Robert Vero, a completely charming host. The show was about garage sales,
something John and I both know quite a bit about. As do you, I'm sure.
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT THEY COULDN'T COME UP WITH
ANYTHING DUMBER...
Remember the Tamagochi? It was that little electronic pet that you had to
feed, play with and clean up after. And if you neglected its frequent
demands, it just might die. Scores of parents dragged the annoying little
things to work every day, caring for them so their kids could go to school
and not come home to the guilt and sorrow of a dead pet (don't get me
started on the mental capacity of parents who would do this). And the
noise! Thank goodness our frantic consumer culture grew bored with them in
just a few months. But now something even stupider has hit the market, and
it just might be the next big novelty pet fad. Ladies and gentlemen, I
give you...The ExploraToy Sea-Monkey Watch. Seriously. It's a Swatch-type
digital watch that is also a habitat for brine shrimp, better known through
the magic of pulp comic book advertising as the sea monkey. So now your
kid can wear his pets to school. They do almost everything the Tamagotchis
did: they sleep, they eat, they even die. But they don't beep. Thanks
goodness!
BRING THAT BACK HERE! DEPARTMENT
During the past several months, several stories about theft of outdoor
sculptures and cemetery items have surfaced, and at least one large art
theft ring has been exposed. There's a website that deals exclusively with
art theft, from holocaust-era paintings to outdoor statuary. It's the Art
Loss Register, at http://www.artloss.com/intro.htm. ALR is a place to
search for your lost treasures, to see what's been recovered, to report a
theft or to follow the progress of more than one story reported right here
in the newsletter. I recommend it highly for keeping your finger on the
pulse.
WHAT'S HOT
Metal furniture - there was some magnificent stuff on the show with us last
night, including a funeral casket gurney that had been made into a coffee
table.
Arts and Crafts purses - saw a great selection at Antiques Connection in Albuquerque (505) 296-2300.
Jadeite - I don't understand it, but there's Martha Stewart shopping for it
all over the place.
HITTING THE ROAD
I'm leaving on a bit of a tour today. If you're in the vicinity of any of
these places, please come by and say "hi":
Saturday and Sunday, March 6 -7,Greensboro, NC - I'll be at Superflea, at the Coliseum, doing a seminar and free verbal appraisals each day.
Monday through Wednesday, March 8-10, Las Vegas, NV - I'll be at the ACDA Convention at the Imperial Palace Hotel, giving a speech with a title so long I would be violating my pledge of a short newsletter if I listed it here.
Wednesday through Sunday, March 8 - 14, San Diego, CA - I'll be at my
brother's house, worshipping the delectable Miranda Lauren, who is now a
whopping six months old. But, I'll also be shopping. If you own a shop or
are holding a garage sale during that period, look out!
Needless to say, Accumulators, there will be no newsletter next week. I
toyed with the idea of bringing the laptop along on this trip....Naaah.
You have to cut the cord sometime! Artie will be going to Greensboro with
me, but he'll be all alone next week, batching it, so send him a casserole
or something. See you in two, Accumulators. Happy Hunting!
Best,
Judith
© 1999 Judith Katz-Schwartz. All rights reserved.
Antiques and Collectibles Newsletter #75
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