Now what?

After the question, "What did we just do?" The next question we asked was, "Now what?"

We decided on breakfast. The Medina Diner didn't serve alcohol, plus it was 9:45 in the morning... a shame, because we both could have used a drink!

While we were in Medina we decided to stop in at our attorney's office and let him know that we would need his assistance with some paperwork. We told him we had just bought the little train depot on Liberty Street at an auction at the court house. He proceeded to tell us that was impossible, had the depot been up for auction today, he would have been there and bought it! He had been hired by a private party to buy the building when it came up for auction. That date was the 28th of September. We showed him our receipt for the check we wrote for the 10% down on the sale. He studied it carefully for a few minutes, he then said, " Oh #%&#! " To comfort him, I said "Larry, we are as shocked as you are!"

We got the keys to the Medina Train Depot on my birthday, September 14th. I spent the next week planning what to do. There were business classes available at the Medina Career Center. I thought that should be the first thing to do. I signed up. The classes started on the Tuesday of the following week. My mother-in-law, Erna, always wanted to take a business class, so she signed up with me. Wow, this was definately a different direction from nursing school.

I knew I had to make adjustments in my schedule now. I had just too much on my plate! I thought the thing to do to ease up some time would be pull out of The Heirloom Cupboard. I went to see Jane to tell her about my new shop and about my decision to move out. Of course, I wasn't telling her news she hadn't already heard. Everyone was buzzing about the train depot sale, and that Dennis and I had bought it. Before I could say anything, Jane said," Shirley, congratulations, this doesn't mean you are moving out of Heirloom now does it? I looked her straight in the face and said......Of course not!!

What can I say? I told you about that stern school teacher voice she has, it gets me everytime.

What did we just do?

It was a Tuesday...the first week in September 1994. I was working at the Heirloom Cupboard with Jack. It was a slow day. People were more concerned about school shopping for their kids, than about browsing in an antique shop. I understood, I had just bit the bullet on that one myself. Our household was growing up. This fall, we only had two left in high school, two were in college and one was working, deciding on what she wanted to do with her future.

I hadn't seen Pam for a few weeks. With her quitting the nursing job, and not being in The Heirloom Cupboard any longer, we had to find specific times for us to get together. Our schedules didn't permit it to happen very often lately.

Karen came into the shop and while putting some fresh merchadise on her shelf, she mentioned that there was going to be an auction of the old Train Depot in Medina, on Friday of next week, the 11th of September. I thought about Pam and how she had been so excited about opening a shop and ended up losing rent money on the deal.

At dinner that night I told Dennis.( By the way, have I even mentioned him yet? He is my other half... my better half...in alot of ways.) I told him about my day at the shop, and mentioned what Karen said about the little train depot going up for auction, the one Pam had rented. Nothing more was said about it.

Friday, on the 11th of September, I got rudely awakened at 8:00 in the morning by Dennis. I was going to enjoy a much needed day off and planned on sleeping in.
He said, "Get up! Get ready! Let's go see what the story is with that little train depot. Let's go to the auction! "
I had totally forgotten about it. I was surprised he remembered. But...say the word auction to me and I can be ready in no time.

We entered the west side door of the Medina Court House at 3 minutes to 9. The room was packed. I glanced around at the faces looking at Dennis and me as we walked in, and recognized some. The room was filled with quite a few antique dealers! In the corner, with her husband, was Karen. I wasn't surprised. Why wouldn't she want a chance at her own shop, she ran The Heirloom Cupboard for Jane when Jane needed her to, so she certainly would know how to run one of her own.

The bidding started exactly at 9:00. Karen was the first to bid. Dennis looked at me, leaned over and said, "Honey, just how serious are you about having your own shop?" That question made me chuckle. I had stood in the train depot one time with Pam. I had no clue what condition the building was in, and Dennis knew even less than I did about it. He had for the first time, looked it as we drove by it on the way to the court house. He hadn't even pulled into the driveway to take a better look. We couldn't take the time to, because we would have missed the auction if we had of! Then, there was the question...what did I know about opening and running an antique shop? As much as I might have dreamed about it, I knew practically nothing!

I replied, "Well, it might be fun..."

So, Dennis bid against Karen. A few more people jumped in to bid. The volley of bids was fast, first one then another. Two woman that were standing together looking nervous, wanted to bid, but as the bidding continued...they never did. The amount kept going higher. At each increase Dennis would lean over to me and ask, "Are you sure?' I would shake my head yes. All eyes shifted back and forth as Karen and Dennis bid. Finally, Karen stopped bidding. There was silence.
Then a business man in a grey suit, standing kind of to the side of me, looked at the clip board in his hand and raised his pen in the air. He added the next bid. Dennis again leaned over to me and asked, " How bad do you want this?" By now I had the fever. I was at an auction! We were in the thick of the bidding. I wasn't stopping now! I didn't even know if we had enough money at this point... I just hoped Dennis knew if we did! I just wanted to win the bid! Dennis raised the bid. Again and again he leaned over, asked, "keep bidding?" I would nod yes, he would bid...until finally the man in the suit stopped bidding.
We had won.
The auctioneer announced, "This property is sold." Dennis and I just stood there. All eyes were on us. We were stunned. I looked at the clock on the wall over the auctioneer's left shoulder, it read 9:08. I looked at Dennis, he looked at me and we both started laughing. In a little more than a hour from the time Dennis had woke me up that morning ... we had bought the Medina Train Depot. We whispered almost in unison to each other, "What did we just do?"

Wallace Nutting...number 2 of my favorite artists....

"I am under no illusions as to my pictures. I am not an artist, and it is most disagreeable to me to be called one. I am a clergyman with a love of the beautiful."
Wallace Nutting, 1936

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wallace Nutting is my second favorite artist. His artistry was with a camera.

My mind is always wandering down a new path. I always want to take a new way when I go some place. Years ago, the first pictures that I came across of Wallace Nutting's were just that, pictures of a path or road trailing off into a woods or along a river or creek. I felt them beckon me. I found myself wanting to hop into the picture and follow the path. I started to collect them.

His pictures also have brilliant patches of color in them...a sunrise of bright pink or sunset of deep scarlet, with vivid blue waters of a pond or stream. Just beautiful.

Wallace has aways been a favorite because of who he was. He used to stand in the church pew next to his mother, at the age of three, and preach out loud along with the minister giving the sermon. No amount of shhh-ing would hush him up. At eight he was giving sermons to his family members sitting in the parlor.
He was smart, talented, and driven. Wallace graduated from Harvard in 1883,with honors. He then moved to Maine to be a minister in a church in the middle of nowhere...much to his professors' disappointment.

Wallace loved nature and when he found time he would ride his bicycle around the countryside and take pictures. He loved old buildings and tried to educate people of their value to future generations.

He said, "America with its abundant materials every where for dwellings that might outlast the ages, will fail disgracefully unless she can learn that the monuments which are nearer than any other to feeding the heart and enshrining history, are old dwellings."

After reading that quote, my mind yelled, "So true!" My first trip to England was when I was a teenager, to learn about and see where I was born. I visited the church my parent's got married in. I took a picture of a sign in the side garden of the courtyard, it read "Watch out for Falling Bricks." The old chapel was built in the 1600's! I remember thinking, where I live they would have torn that wonderful old building down! Up with the new! In the United States the mentality is...new is always better. My eyes were opened to the many buildings that are being left to ruin, or torn down, with no value given to them for what they were, what architectural period they were built in, or what history the building represented to the community. I photograph old homesteads and barnyards and old buildings, and houses where ever I go. I feel the need to at least preserve them, even in a small way, for the memory of what once was. For his insight, and the passion that insight validated in me, I will always be grateful to Wallace Nutting.

Wallace died at his home in Framingham, MA in 1941, at age 79. Even though he was reluctant to be called an artist, he recorded America as it was. As it will never be again. He wanted people to have an appreciation for the beautiful. He labored more to develop character than monetary success. He was a remarkable man.

Wallace Nutting also write many books, and was an authority on American homes. A section of his photographs were dedicated to the colonial home life of early Americans. He had a hard time finding the right props for those pictures. He started making pieces of furniture for that purpose. He ended up with a furniture factory making reproduction period pieces and employing over 200 people! His furniture is highly collectible today. He was a business man of great wealth. That never changed him, he remained a humble man.

Pam and I dream.....

It was summer 1994... Pam and I were getting a good rhythm down. Working our nursing jobs ...and every chance we got, we would be at an auction or off to a flea market or estate sale. "You couldn't have great sales if you didn't have great things to sell!" was our motto!

Most everything in my life was secondary to my little antique venture. As they say , I was getting the disease bad....Antique-Pox.

Pam and I were toying with the idea of our own shop. We were dreaming big. I even talked to Dick Stoskoff, who owned a building in downtown Valley City, about renting the space next to the little grocery store to put a shop in. After talking him into it, Pam and I realized the space wouldn't be big enough... but the seed now was planted in our minds...

July was my first anniversary in the Heirloom Cupboard. Pam and I spent it busy scouring flea markets searching for treasures to sell. The competition was fierce. We soon learned if you wanted to get the really cool things you had to get there before Karen did. She had an uncanny way of being every where we were, but we were always a little bit too late. She would be there before day break, flashlight in hand making her purchases before the people could get their possessions off of their trucks. She also had a network of pickers that saved things just for her. Remember I told you she was a shrewd business woman!

Another of the places Pam and I looked at to rent was a little train depot in Medina. A man named Bruce owned it and he had a section of it to rent. Pam jumped at the chance! I got the phone call from Pam and I went up to see what it was all about. It turned out to be the front section of a long narrow building. There were other businesses in the building, all with their own entrances off of a long narrow platform that ran the length of the building.

One of the businesses was Seven Sisters. They made cut out wooden pieces in the shape of buildings ... each painted with one of the buildings in Medina on them....the court house, the Medina fire station, the gazebo on the square, the Medina Train Depot ( the place we were looking at! I got oneof the wood cut outs of the Depot a few months later... it is the picture posted here with the seven sisters on the porch ), and The A. I. Root Company, to name a few. The A.I. Root Company is the business Medina was built around. It is Medina's largest company. Mr. Root founded the company to supply the world with honeybee equipment. He also was the creator of Gleaning Magazine. A monthly magazine about beekeeping. Medina is also known world wide for A.I.Root Candles. The Medina train depot was used by A.I.Root for all their shipping, way back from the early part of the century. It was situated in the long wide driveway of A.I. Root..right next to the railroad tracks.

This picture shows the Depot by the tracks and the large main building of the A.I.Root Company with the driveway running between. The rail road tracks are on the east side of the depot...the entrances to the shops in the building with the long walkway was on the west side of the building. This picture was taken in the 1970's.

The another section of the Depot was rented to a man who made intricate metal railroad cars and engines. I thought that was appropriate for him to have his shop in a depot.

The back section was rented to The Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad Company. They had an office used for dispatching men and train cars from this area to Brewster where the main office was, south of Medina about 60 miles way.

When I met Pam at the Depot, my first impression was ..What a great place for an antique shop!! This will be perfect! Pam paid Bruce the rent. We started to plan.

I wasn't a partner in this venture... Pam had just quit her nursing job and wanted to do something with antiques full time. I would be a dealer in Pam's new shop. I was happy with that. She grew up knowing her Mom's antique business and I had enough on my plate with 4 teenagers at home, a son in college, my nursing job, my husband's business ( that I did all the paperwork for ) and.... my space at the Heirloom Cupboard. Adding another antique spot to fill and work 4 more days a month in the shop was really putting me on over load. I really didn't need the responsiblity of also running a shop. I was glad Pam was going to do this and I supported her 100%!

Pam and I were celebrating!! It was happening! Pam was getting her own shop! We were in a panic to find a few more dealers wanting to rent a space. We were planning road trips to large estate sales to get fresh merchandise. Time was wasting! Pam wanted to open the doors as soon as possible!



It never happened....



The Medina Train Depot was in foreclosure. Bruce rented to Pam knowing full well she would never open her shop. We went to see him and he was gone. The Depot was closed. Pam never got her money back.

those wonderful hand painted trays

Notice what a nice effect a hand-painted tray has ...used as a backdrop in a display...

Hand-painted trays are very collectible and are both beautiful and useful. The serving tray is a symbol of hospitality. Almost anything... sparkling crystal glasses filled with iced tea, an assortment of elegant appetizers. a selection of rich desserts – or even just finger sandwiches, all look more inviting when arranged on a serving tray lined with a paper lace doily.
I have a small collection of hand-painted metal trays that I've picked up in my wanderings over the years. None are truly antiques – most are from the 1940's through the 1960's – but each one has a certain vintage charm. Some are simple and round with a single rose painted in the center. Others are more elaborate with cut-out handles or fluted and scrolled rims.

My favorite one is the black one I have pictured here. It is from the 40's and artist signed.

These trays are often mistakenly called "tole" trays because they are painted in the folk-painting style which uses certain strokes to create the image of flowers and other objects and effects. But tole painting is a specifically French term.
Tole painting is a more disciplined style of painting...where as these trays are painted free-style.
Painted metal trays have been popular in this country since colonial times. Later they were mass produced by companies like Nashco Products in New York.
Painting on tin continues to be a popular craft.
Most of my trays are black, which is the traditional color. But I also look for other colors, particularly sage green and dark red, but one of my favorites happens to be one painted yellow with sunflowers ( I have it pictured here).
It is obvious that the vintage trays I find have been well-used because the paint is faded and scratched. I like that shabby chic look. A few, in better condition, have spent their time on display. They make a dramatic effect when hung strategically on a wall. A number of the trays in my collection are scattered throughout other rooms of my house. They make great backdrops for grouping of things on display.
Some would say that these trays aren't art pieces because they don't have the same quality as the truly rare examples of hand-painted tin that were created more than 100 years ago. That doesn't matter to me. Most of my trays were painted by amateurs, people like you and me. I admire the time and energy that went into the colorful, stylized flowers and geometric designs painted on each one. I recently bought 12 plain trays at an restaurant auction...they are oval ,black and about 14"x 10"and they are already worn from years of use. I can't wait to paint them! Oh, if we didn't have to sleep, there might be enough time in a day to get done what we want to do!
Painted metal trays had increased in value up until the mid 1990's but because of them being so readily available on E Bay and other online auctions the prices have dipped. The artist-signed ones have held their value.
We're entering the season of entertaining, a time when our homes are opened to friends and family for cookouts and picnics. It's the perfect time to bring out a pretty tray!...

Listen for the compliments!!

creations on a canvas, with a needle and yarn...

An oval framed floral needlepoint is a classic addition to any home decor
.Needlepoint pillows are one of the fun finds in an antique shop and
they add a vintage
look and pretty
visual
to a settee or chair.

This framed needlepoint piece is from the early 1900's. Needlepoint is an artform that I love. I can not believe the detail in this piece done with a needle and yarn. The shading in it amazes me. It is 32" x 24" and very pretty...my picture of it doesn't do it justice...I have it hung above my fireplace.


Needlepoint is a form of embroidery where canvas is stitched with yarn. Needlepoint stitches are actually easy to learn. This needlecraft is often referred to as "tapestry," due to its woven look. The basic supplies needed for needlepoint consist of: canvas, needlepoint/tapestry needles, yarn, and a frame to tack your canvas on to keep it taught as you do your stitches.

There are conflicting opinions as to the terms describing needlepoint. The differences may result from the fact that needlepoint has come down to us from various countries and in various stitches, the most common stitch is half of a cross-stitch, which is also called ‘Tent stitch’.
Needlepoint-tapestry is an often-used expression which shows the relation of needlepoint to the tapestry designs of the middle ages. This is especially true when the needlepoint is worked in an upright Gobelin stitch, which gives the effect of woven tapestry.
This early work was done on a loosely-woven material like coarse linen. Later, canvases were made specifically for the purpose. As with all forms of embroidery it is very difficult to give exact dates, and even places where the technique originated. Canvas work dates back to the sixteenth century, but reached its peak during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.
Needlepoint was extremely popular in Colonial America where it was used for pictures, as an upholstery fabric, and for fashion accessories. Many parlor chairs have needlepoint seats and of course needlepoint pillows are popular finds in antique shops today.
During the Victorian era, Berlin work came into popularity. It was often characterized by brilliant worsteds (which is smooth compact yarn from long wool fibers used especially for firm napless fabrics, carpeting, or knitting)and combinations of geometric and floral designs. The majority of designs were developed as hand-painted patterns on squared paper, especially made for copying on canvas as a pattern to follow. The best of these designs came from Berlin, hence the name.
It then became popular again in the late 1920's. Now in the last few years it has increased in popularity again, as the "thirty something" generation has begun to appeciate the crafts of their grandmothers, such as knitting, crocheting, embroidery, and yes, needlepoint. You can find designs and ready-to-sew packs available in many speciality shops all over the country.

one of my four favorite painters...R.Atkinson Fox

My Great Granny and Grandad Wilkes...on their farm in Shropshire, England . You can see the vines of the rambling rose bush all around the cottage door.




Back in the early decades of the 1900's, most middle class Americans adorned their walls with prints by R. (for Robert) Atkinson Fox. Later generations considered them old fashioned. Many turned up in the windows of thrift shops, or antique shops as families got rid of their grandmother's pictures to replace them with more modern looking ones. Now, the pendulum has swung back... Fox prints are eagerly collected and since the mid 1980's prices are rising...a sure sign of a hot collectable.
My collection of R. Atkinson Fox prints started when I saw a framed print of his of an English cottage, with wonderful informal gardens painted in vivid yellow and reds and blues. I had to have it!



My mom was born in Shropshire, England, on a farm, with a large cottage that had ivy, and rambling rose bushes growing all over the sides of the brick walls... only the leaded glass windows, and doors were left uncovered. It was situated on the hilly open fields by the Welsh border. When I visited the place of her birth, now, with my Uncle living there, I fell in love with the storybook image of it.
My Uncle Ron had kept up the rambling gardens of years past. My Great Granny and Grandad Wilkes were gardeners and took great pride in their flowers. Their gardens were like an English postcard. When I saw the Fox print on the wall of a consignment shop in Medina. I had to have it! He had captured my memory... of the feel of England... in a picture.

Fox was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1860, but immigrated to the United States somewhere between 1885 and 1890. A prolific painter, he worked as an artist both in Toronto and in the United States and appears to have enjoyed great commercial success during his lifetime. He worked for various publishers, including Brown and Bigelow of St. Paul, Minnesota, Edward Gross & Co. of New York, Master Art Publishers, Chicago, The Red Wing Advertising Company, and the Thomas D. Murphy Co. of Red Oak, Iowa among others.
His subjects ranged from landscapes, probably the most collectable today... to houses, gardens, portraits, Indians, ships, animals (horses, dogs, sheep, bears and foxes) and historic figures such as Washington, Lafayette, Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt. So far 400 Fox prints have been documented, with undoubtedly more to come.
Fox prints appeared on calendars and advertisements for railroads; some were done by framing companies. They showed up on postcards, puzzles, and even in the 1913 edition of the Farmers Homestead Almanac.
Fox was a talented and facile painter. He frequently painted from memory, aided by sketches, sometimes finishing a painting in a day's time. According to the research done on his work, many of his original paintings were oil on canvas.
Although many of his prints bear the signature R. Atkinson Fox, you will find many unsigned and untitled ones, due to the croppings of the print when framing it. Fox used pseudonyms as well. Perhaps he was unhappy with the way a painting turned out. Then sometimes the publisher insisted he use another name.
Fox married Anna Gaffney in 1903. They lived in New Jersey until about 1924, when he moved his family to Chicago and continued his work until his death in 1935 at the 74. Five of his eight children still survive and many of his paintings are still in their hands, as well as with private individuals.
I have heard many people say that Fox copied Maxfield Parrish,( my third favorite artist) I don't agree. Although they were artists and illustrators during the same era, they had different styles and techniques. Fox was also the more prolific painter, with more than 400 pieces already documented.

I always have my eye open to add to my collection... but now I have to pay a lot more money for one!

My first visit to the Amish....

We were having a great time! Pam and I would work our jobs and then on our days off we would go antiquing, or to an auction, or out to Hartville, south of Akron, to the great flea market there. Pam was showing me many things about buying antiques.
I enjoyed it so much that it didn't seem like work, although it was hard work! We bought a lot of furniture. To get furniture into our spaces at the Heirloom Cupboard, we had to haul each piece up a narrow metal fire escape staircase attached to the back of the building that went up to a door on the second floor. It was a struggle! In winter it was treacherous.

Pam moved out of the Heirloom Cupboard in March 1994. She had a friend in Homerville that had a very cool antique shop, Village Antiques. Pam rented a space in there. Homerville was south west of Medina by about 20 miles, an area where there were a lot of Amish families. The Amish bought antiques. There was a list of things dealers could find that they knew would sell instantly in the shop because it was a staple for the Amish household. For example...porcelain pans and tubs, wooden handled utensils, gardening tools, old wool blankets, and treadle sewing machines to name a few.

That summer I had bought an old Singer treadle sewing machine and had it at my house. I hadn't brought it in to the shop because it was very heavy, and I was dreading the horrible trek up the fire escape stairs to get it in my space. Pam told the owner of the shop in Homerville that I had a machine. He told the Amish. I got a message that someone wanted it. It was to be for a fourteen year old girl. It is a big day for an Amish girl when she gets her own machine. This is probably something that she will be making money with to help support her family, both now and when she gets married. Plus a sewing machine was a necessity. The Amish make all their own clothes, quilts, and other cloth household items.
I offered to deliver the sewing machine. I wanted to see where and how they lived, and to meet the girl who was to have this old Singer.

The address took me to a secluded road that had only Amish farms on it. The house's had no electric poles or wire going up to them. No telephone lines either. The farm was back off the road down a long dirt driveway. It was clean and organized. There were many vegetable gardens...with all the plants growing in neat, weeded rows. On the other side of the driveway were long beds of flowers, zinnias and marigolds all bursting with color. Cows and horses were grazing in the field. Geese, ducks, and turkeys were wandering around the barnyard. It was like stepping back in time.
I looked over at the farmhouse. It had a long porch extending along the whole side of it, with about 5 girls standing on it, had they all stood in line by height they would have looked like stairs. They were all clustered together watching me, each wearing a long grey dress with a white pinafore. On their heads was a white bonnet-like cap. I don't know if they weren't used to a strange person coming to their home, (they call non Amish people English), or if they were just that happy to get the sewing machine. In any case I was greeted with excitement.
The girls walked down the porch steps and gathered around me and shyly spoke, asking me questions about where the machine came from? I wished I had a better story to tell them than just getting it at an auction.
The father came out of the barn with a little boy trailing behind him. He was wearing a flat straw hat, a blue shirt, and black pants with suspenders. He was dressed in miniature of what his dad had on. He was a cutie.

I got paid for the sewing machine in tens, fives, and ones. The oldest girl told me she had saved money from selling her chicken's eggs to buy the machine, but it was her dad who gave me the money. The father then bear-hugged the machine off the back of my truck and the deal was complete. They all stood by the sewing machine and waved me good bye as I drove down the long driveway onto the dirt road.

Up the road a bit, I smiled and waved at two Amish boys riding in a buckboard drawn by two draft horses. They were dressed in the same identical attire as the dad and little boy at the farm I had just left. They shyly smiled and gave me a curious look as if to say...what would you be doing on our road?

They were right, I didn't belong there. I live in another century.

The Queen of the Victorian look...

Karen was another dealer in the Heirloom. Karen was a serious " this is a business" type person. She was competitive and worked hard. I was intimidated by her but I wasn't alone...most of the dealers in the shop were too. They gave her a wide birth to not make her mad.

That said I need to say I did like her. She viewed the Heirloom as a work place not a social thing so when everyone was getting together to chat she took no part, except to throw a comment over her shoulder at us, as she steadily worked on her area. When Jane was in Florida, Karen was the gal in charge and she did a good job.

I liked Karen's spot a lot. She was mainly Victorian in her theme and she had beautiful things. Medina being a Victorian town , and at the time the "Victorian look" was also popular in the lady's magazines. She did very well. I never saw her house but I was told by Liz that it was a big farm house, done totally in Victorian style. I can only imagine how beautiful it was. She was a detail person, so I am sure every nook and cranny had a treasure in it.

When I did open my own antique shop, Karen was one of the dealers that asked to rent a space from me. I was surprised, and thilled to have a really well known dealer in it. But....she knew that a shop's Grand Opening was a draw. and sales would be good. I opened my shop in November so as to get the boost of the holiday shopping. She knew this and like I said, she was a business woman. After the season was over, January 2nd I went to my shop...and she had moved out. It would have been nice had she told me first. That was 15 years ago.

Karen was blonde and dressed in pretty cotton dresses all summer long. I liked that and vowed to wear dresses more often. She had a son in my daughter Kassidy's class. I never saw her at any school function. Her son didn't participate in any sports or extra activities. I hadn't seen Karen in years, but recently an exclusive beauty salon in Medina had an ad on a cable channel for "Appreciation of Their Staff ", and Karen was in the picture as the salon's masseuse! I guess this means she had found a new career, and left the antiquing business.

Two weeks ago I was at the drive-in of my bank, waiting for my receipt to come down in the tube to me. A lady in the next isle was leaning out of her car, the car door half open, she was waving and yelling at me...I looked over and listened. The lady called," I know you! Hi ! How are you ?
It was Karen. She was smiling and friendly.
I yelled back Hi!...fine!! Nice to see you! "
What a shock...I hadn't talked to or seen her for at least 10 years.
I have to say...that made my day.
I made another vow...I'm going to check out the salon she is working at, because she looked really good!

just for a laugh...

...In the years I've had a shop I have accumulated some funny stories and have heard some hilarious and unbelieveable tales...I thought I'd share some of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A lady came up to the counter with a hodge podge of things in her hands. My son collects so many things she said.,as she put on the counter a box of old superman cards, a canning jar filled with marbles, two Hulk comic books and a railroad spike. I smiled at her and said,"Don't discourage him...I have read that it is a sign of intelligence when people collect things." An older man was off to the side of the counter looking in a case of old tools and pocket knives. He had overheard what I said, he looked over at us and exclaimed, " Then I must be darn near a genius!"


````````` Jack Davis was a dealer in my shop. I met him when he and I were dealers in the Heirloom Cupboard together. He was retired and collected and sold Heisy Glassware. Anyway! Jack had a daughter that lived in Florida. Every year he and his wife, Joyce, went down to visit her. Every year they took a detour off the interstate to stop at the same old antique shop up the side of a mountain in Virginia. Every year they would look at an old oak ice chest on the side porch ...haggle over the price, and tell the owner, we really should buy this. Maybe the next time we drive through we will. Ten years go by. The shop is still the same, the oak ice chest is still on the side porch. Eleven years now. they stop in as usual...look at the chest. Get in the van, start driving...Jack tells Joyce, when we come back through here on our way home from Florida we will swing in and get the chest! Joyce is thrilled. Two weeks later they pull into the driveway of the antique shop, almost colliding with an old pickup truck pulling out, that is how in a hurry they were. Jack and Joyce go into the shop, walk up to the counter and tell the owner, " We are done haggling we are taking the oak ice chest! The owner looks at the two of them in disbelief! Jack then peeled off 6 crisp 20 dollar bills onto the counter. Joyce stood next to him smiling from ear to ear. The old guy looks at him and said, " Did you see that old truck leaving here just now? Well....he just loaded up your ice chest! After 11 years of going to buy that oak ice chest... Jack missed out on having it by just a few minutes!


``````````` Jack Davis was a grumpy old man. He was retired from Firestone, in Akron, after a career as an engineer. He was very particular and a bit anal. He was crabby and set in his ways. He didn't care if it made sense to others, he had his ways and that was that.... and that is why I loved him.
One day I got a call at home. I had the day off because it was Thursday...and Jack worked every Thursday at the Depot.
I got many calls when Jack worked. The cash register hated him , so he said. I was forever trying to figure what he did to it to mess it up as bad as he did. My paperwork was a nightmare on Thursday's.... Oh and nothing was ever in the right place from the last Thursday when he worked. "Why do people have to constantly hide thing from me!" He used to say. So sometimes I wondered why I let him work because I was always on the phone with him. But I did because he was the best story teller ever. When the shop was slow and Jack would get bored, he would call and say ,"Shirley, do you have time for a story?" I always did. He took his time telling a story and embroidered it with many details. He was one of the smartest men I have known. His stories were an education, with a twist.. Jack style. I only wish I had written them all down.
Anyway, I am filling you in about Jack because many of the future stories in this section are about Jack ...he was hilarious and never knew it ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~

So it was Thursday...the phone rings, Jack says," This is Jack at the shop. Shirley, I might be calling the police!"
I say, "Why Jack??"
Jack says, "A very supicious character just walked in the shop... you know the kind, he has long hair in a pony tail. He rode in on a motorcycle. He has tatoos of a questionable nature on both arms. He is wearing a bandana. Oh, a surly looking person for sure. I don't trust him and I will keep my eye on him! Shirley, don't worry, when he steals something I will catch him!!" Jack hangs up.
I wait. A few minutes pass. The phone rings.... Jack says, "Shirley, this is Jack at the shop.
I say, What's happened!!"
Jack says, "I think my first call was a false alarm....I think we can trust him, I just sneezed, and this nice young man said, Bless you!
`````````

Artsy Esther...of the Heirloom.

On the first floor back before you get to the big brick archway that takes you through to the back section of the Heirloom Cupboard, was a spot that was pure class. In this section was beautiful pottery and jewelry, and vintage furs like what you saw Hollywood starlets wear in the movies. This was Esther Litton's spot.
When I said pottery, I wasn't talking about pottery like I had in my spot, your usual McCoy, Brush, Conley, or California pieces. Esther had Rookwood, Weller and Wedgwood, Royal Bayreuth, and Roseville. You know, the kind that was put in glass cabinets for fear someone might break it.
Esther's jewelry was the same. She had very little costume jewelry. She had the real deal... gold brooches and real ivory cameo pins, rings with sapphires, and rubies, emeralds and diamonds. Also designer pieces by Eisenberg, Trifari, Coro, Haskell and Cartier just to name a few. She had Bakelite galore. Her specialty was Art Deco. She knew her stuff. She had to, what she was dealing in was expensive and you could loose a lot of money if you didn't know the real from the fake. Esther wore jewelry with a flair. She could sell a piece by wearing it.
Esther was the first "artsy" person I had ever met. She was from California, and worked around Hollywood. In exactly what capacity I am not sure. Her husband was a writer. They knew famous people.
Esther was probably in her mid sixties, she had sleek shiny dark hair, cut in a pageboy with bangs. She had her reader glasses on a beaded chain, expensive vintage amethyst beads. hanging like a necklace around her neck. She was the type that if she would have smoked, she would have used a cigarette holder like in the movies of the 30's. She wore expensive designer clothes that flowed when she walked and she usually wore a shawl of rich dark colors that was lavishly embellished with bead work and fringe. Not many woman can wear a shawl as well as she did. When it got in her way she would knot the ends of it together and twist it to the side, off one shoulder. It made her look like a model right out of Vogue.
How Esther ended up in Medina in a little antique shop I never knew. I do know that she owned a big Painted Victorian Lady on South Court Street and her husband had it redone inside to her specifications. It was fabulous. Some time after that, her husband passed away. This glamorous lady was a widow.
One day I was working with her and we were talking about Hollywood. One thing led to another and soon we were talking about favorite movies. She was saying she saw a movie that just delighted her and she, for the life of her, could not remember the name of it. It had Ruth Gordon in it and she was in love with a young guy. I said, "Oh no!! That was one of my favorite movies... it was Harold and Maude!" We went over the details of the movie and roared over the absurd parts. We both said in unison, " I'll just throw my wedding ring in this lake so I will always know were it is!! We were rolling. I brought her my copy of the movie... (a VHS tape back then) and gave it to her to keep. I mean how often do you find a woman like this, that you shared such a silly bond with! We were good friends after that.

Esther and I got our first cell phones together. 'We were both clueless as to what we were getting, but we knew we had to have one. That was in 1994.

One time all of us dealers were working on our spots together. Some gals started complaining about their husbands. Esther said, " Ladies, you know what bothers you the most about your husband, what gets on your absolute last nerve?" Everyone shook their heads emphatically! "Well," she said, " That is exactly what you will miss the most about him, when he dies. We were all silent for a long time. All complaining stopped.

I fell in love with a ring Esther had in her case. It was a gold ring with a square gold flat piece on top, with a diamond set right in the middle. It was different, kind of deco style, and expensive. Well, Esther knew I wanted it. She told me it was a ring from the 20's and the diamond was a rose cut. They don't cut diamonds that way anymore. I could tell it was different. The light reflected differently when it hit it. Well... Esther gave me a deal I couldn't refuse! I wore the ring for years. My daughter loved the ring also. So about the time Heather got married, I let her have the ring. My son-in-law, (who happens to be a jeweler) took my rose cut diamond out of the square setting and created a new setting for it after he melted down my wedding band. Then he put another diamond in the old square ring for Heather.

I was at a garage sale once and almost kicked over a tall vase sitting on the concrete floor. I picked it up and after looking at it I bought it for a dollar. It was different, made out of a clay that was kind of a reddish brown swirl with cream. It was not glazed and It was about 12 inches tall.
Years later, Esther was telling me about the unique pottery she collected. It was called Niloak Pottery made in Arkansas. Boy, that sounded familiar... I exclaimed ," Hey, I have a piece of that pottery! I know exactly what you are talking about!"
I brought it to the shop for her to see. She promptly offered me $150.00 for it. I said, " No! I can't have you pay me that much!!" She said," Shirley, yes you can...I'm not an idiot... it is worth $350.00! Take the money!" I did.

Esther is one of the ladies from the Heirloom Cupboard that I have not seen in years. I wonder if she went back to her glamorous life in California. I miss her.

Smutzy...what a hoot!

Jeanie Smutz was another dealer in Heirloom Cupboard. Jeanie's spot was upstairs by my new section. Her space was half of the upstairs and packed with the most eclectic group of things you'd ever want to see. As a dealer you kind of specialized to a degree, steering towards buying the kind of things that you liked. What you liked was what you usually researched the most so you felt comfortable selling that. Also if that is what you personally collected ... as you upgraded your collection... the things you didn't want anymore, you could sell them in your space. After a while customers were drawn to a particular space because it was where they had a feel for the dealer and their tastes were similar. That is how you got a following.
Jeanie's spot was probably the most popular in Heirloom in some ways. Her collection of antiques were wild and she had fun in displaying them. She loved anything old. She could have an African carved teak wood tribal mask hanging on the wall, and she would have it wearing a wonderful woman's Victorian hat with a huge peacock feather. She was just bizarre. You can see why every one had to go to her area to see what was new.
Jeanie was a perfect example of an antique dealer out-of- control, buy buy buy and then... where do you put the stuff?! She was in 3 shops and had a surplus of plenty of inventory, but still ...she would buy buy buy! If we were all talking and someone said they went to an auction, some one would always ask, "Was Smutzy there? Then next, "What did she buy!?" So consequently she always won the contest when everyone would get together and complain about how much stuff they had and where to put it all. Jeanie would trump us all ! She would start out with, "Don't tell Tom ( her husband... she started every conversation that way when she was talking about antiques. Poor Tom! )...but I rented another storage locker!" Of course the next obvious question was, "How many does this make Jeanie?" She would proudly say "Well...with this one, now I'm up to seven!!"
That was status! The only one that could half way come close to that was Shirley Moon, but that is yet a whole other blog !
Getting to know "Smutzy," as everyone affectionately called her, was an experience. She had an "eye" for the weird and could decorate with it and make people want her odd groupings. Now that is marketing! I have seen a couple buy a whole wall display and say they were going to take it home and put it exactly the same way on their wall. I would be thinking... Oh my...NO! People...Jeanie wasn't serious when she put that set of 50's pearls around the stuffed deer head's neck, and hung vintage beaded purses from it's antlers, and put the carved wolf head cane in it's teeth! But hey, if they think it's art, who am I to argue?
When I needed a name for my new "antique business" Smutzy was the one who named it. She walked through my spot and said, " Shirley, your spot looks like my spot, just a hodge podge of stuff!
I took that as a compliment! I became Hodge Podge Antiques.

Meet the Talented Lady...

Erna Mastney

Since I have told you about my mother-in-law.. I thought it was only fair to let you meet her. One of my favorite pictures of her is with my father-in-law Ed....so here she is.
Every occasion that a gift is given, members in our family can look forward to Erna giving each of us one of her wonderful, hand painted, porcelain treasures.

This porcelain box is one of my favorite presents. The roses here are on a cloth lined oval box, it is beautiful. Roses are the biggest challenge for painters. I can quote Erna as saying, " You can paint a thousand roses before you can create even one that resembles a rose!" Need less to say, I have yet to fire one permanently on a really nice piece of porcelain! Another example of one of Erna's gifts is a painted plate of morning glories. I am thrilled to have this plate hanging in my kitchen. Today's china painters are keeping alive a beautiful ancient art form. It requires delicate brush work and close attention to detail. A piece consists of multiple firings. After the pattern is drawn, a light coat of paint is carefully put on, leaving strategically placed highlights for where light would hit it, if the sun was to shine on it. This leaves areas that then you know would be in shadow. This is how the dimensions are put in your work. Then it is fired in a kiln. Next the second coating of paint is applied where more detail is placed... and shading, and highlights are emphasized. When you are finished, another firing is done. The third application of paint sometimes is the last, depending on what you are painting. This third step is where you put in all the strong "punch" accents to make the image "pop". This gives it the depth, and can make the difference between a mediocre piece and one that grabs your attention and draws you in, to study it further. This is a simplistic description of what china painting is. I hope it was enough to intrigue you to look closer at the old porcelain painted pieces you see in antique shops, and in stores you go in that carry modern day items of this medium.

porcelain artistry: an ancient art form

A flowered poppy pitcher I painted last year, one of my favorite flowers to paint.

I am very fortunate to have the best mother-in-law ever, and a husband that lets me travel with his mom on her many trips where she teaches and demonstrates her talent. Erna Mastney is a world renown Porcelain Artist. She started china painting in the early 1970's and has since traveled the world sharing her various techniques, and her personally designed studies. Her painted pieces are breathtaking. I have several of Erna's vases displayed in my antique shop. They are regularly mistaken for Oriental, Nippon pieces... which represents some of the most expensive, collectible, painted porcelain there is. What a compliment! But actually her style of painting is reflective more of a German, Dresden influence. She has visited the porcelain factories in Germany and seen first hand how the many artists there paint. Another strong influence in developing her own style, was Catherine Klein. A wonderful German painter that came to fame in the 1920's in Europe.

It wasn't long before I wanted to take lessons. What a privilege to be taught by such a remarkably talented person. I have been painting for a few years now. I have years of painting to get under my belt before I will consider myself a "porcelain artist." But it is a passion I share with a wonderful woman that I love dearly, and since she has the patience of Job... I might actually get good at this ancient world artform!

wild and crazy Liz

Another dealer in the Heirloom Cupboard, next to Shirley Moon's section was Liz Scala. Liz was tall and thin with wild blonde hair. She wore 50's cat's eye glasses and red lipstick. She was in her 50's and you could tell she had been very attractive in her day, still was. No one had let her know she was getting old, she walked like she was on the "runway" and dressed like a 1950's movie star. She was from the "Burg"...as in Pitts "burg" and nothing in Ohio could compare to PA. Liz was a genuine character! She talked with an accent, don't know from where... not Pittsburg at any rate! It was sort of a mix between southern belle and the Bronx...it added to her appeal. We all said that if Liz's arms were tied to her sides she wouldn't be able to talk. You had to give her plenty of room when she was telling you something because her arms would be a'swingin'! She was entertainment with a flair. I enjoyed Liz. She was the one Shirley Moon did her impressions of the most, and Liz loved it!
Liz was a shrewd business woman, had her own shop at one time in Medina and she taught me about vendor's licenses, sales tax, and keeping inventory records. I owe a lot of my success today to that wild haired, crazy lady.

History...the mystery of antiques...

Antiques aren't just objects, they are not something that should just be put on a shelf and forgotten. They represent fragments of history, and history is made up of events and people that lived those events. Everything from the past has it's own story to tell. Every antique had a life all of it's own. If you look close enough you can feel what message there is to be had. Only a few people truly get the messages. When you do make the connection... your life becomes richer and takes on new meaning. You receive a renewed sense of what life is about, and a new appreciation of the people that made the world you now live in, the place that it is.
Most old things were hand crafted by someone who took complete pride in their work. What they made was usually out of something that meant many hours of labor to obtain before they could even start on what they wanted to make. For example, to make a table or dresser, required cutting down a tree and doing the many steps to turn that wood into a board to be used to make what it was you had in mind. To weave a blanket or knit a sweater also required getting the wool in the first place. Shearing a sheep! And most people back then were raising that sheep! What a thought. Antiques represent hard work, initiative, forethought, and ingenuity. Having respect and appreciation for antiques and the people that made them can take you down a whole new path of discovery. History lessons with very interesting props.

Two of the Heirloom family....

After moving into the Heirloom Cupboard, I spent the next year concentrating on learning the antique business. I felt like I had joined a new family, and was starting a new part of my life. The Heirloom Cupboard had 12 dealers. I can't just clump them together as a group of dealers. I need to introduce them because each one of them has a story and each represents a friendship and learning experiences to me. Plus, quite frankly, each one was a character! To this day I still think of them fondly and with appreciation for their taking me under their wings and teaching me so many things that would have taken me many years to have learned on my own.
As you came in the front door of the Heirloom Cupboard, on the left was Jane Riegger's section. It was her shop and she set the standard high. Everything in her spot was a true antique. She spent the winter in Cape Coral, Florida and spent those months buying antiques from great off-the-beaten-path shops and markets. Her prices were high but the quality and uniqueness of the piece, was what make the price worth it. Where would you find another one like what she had? There lay the key to her success. I scoured her spot with a fine tooth comb reading her descriptions and memorizing prices of what things were. I ordered all the latest price guides, Judith Miller's, Kovel's... my Schroeder's became my new best friend. I'd look up all her things and soon realized she know very well what things went for. Jane was a professional and a great business woman.

On the right as you came in the door was Shirley Moon's area. Anyone who was in the business, knew Shirley Moon. Shirley was delightful. She was in her mid 60's then, with white, blonde hair and piercing blue eyes that always had a twinkle in them. She had a great sense of humor, and could do impressions of the people in the shop. She did them so well that you would be laughing uncontrollably. That only made her do them more. Shirley was an actress, did a lot of community theater. Her maiden name was Barnum, her relatives were of the Barnum and Bailey Circus fame. She loved theatrics and was very quick witted. Shirley was an authority on "TheVictorian Woman". She gave talks on this subject at the Institute of Chatauqua in Jamestown, New York, and Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. She lived in Berea near the college in a big Victorian home, the kind that looked like the southern plantation mansions with the long porches on the front both on the ground floor and with French doors opening out onto the porch on the second floor. Shilrey had it decorated completely with antiques and white wicker furniture. I loved visiting there. Her house was my dream home.
She also knew everything there was to know about English Tea's and High Tea. One time she called me and said get dressed up I'm taking you to Tea. She picked me up in her big black Cadillac, dressed to the 9's with a big floppy brimmed hat on with huge roses all around the rim with a big satin ribbon floating down her back. She had on white gloves that went up to her elbows. We drove all the way to Sandusky for Tea...with her talking all the way... telling stories one right after the other. I sat listening, all the while amazed how one person could have such an interesting, fun-filled, accomplished life. Sandusky was a two and a half hour drive away! You had to love Shirley Moon.
Shirley's spot reflected her personality. Light and bright, whimsical, and flowery. It was full of flowered fabric covered pillows and floral china dishes, white wicker, lace and frills. She was shabby chic... before shabby chic was the craze.

My chalk ladies....

Back in the 30's mothers and daughters painted chalk ladies as a craft. They are all different sizes, cast from a mold. I have a vast collection of them. A lot are from the same mold ...just how she has been painted makes them look so very different. Some are beautiful and perfectly painted, with intricate details of painted flowers on the bodices of the molded chalk gown, and garlands are painted in her hair. I have other ones that I love just as much because a little girl has painted her. The lips are smudged with red paint and the eyes are not quite aligned right, and usually the dresses are painted in all the same color. but they are all lovely in their own way. Every once in a great while I will find another one in my wanderings. I always have to get her, and feel happy as I squeeze her into my already crowded china cabinet shelves with the others.

the sound of music...

My victrola... a princess style from the 1920's

Milan, Ohio, is the birth place of Thomas Edison. There is a museum in this small town full of his inventions. You can tour his house where he grew up, a small white clap board house, modest and quaint, but the antiques in it are beautiful. Milan also has a few great antique shops. One which only deals in vintage phonographs and other sound equipment. It carries a slew of old 78 records too, that would take you a full day to look through. I love this place! It is called The Sights and Sounds Of Edison... Antique Shop. I recommend a visit to Milan as a great way to spend a day.

He made the right decision...

I think one of the most valued possessions anyone can own is a hand sewn quilt made by a Grandma. What can possibly be more treasured than something made from the clothes that your relatives wore, cut into pieces and tediously pieced together with needle and thread. Then lovingly quilted onto a backing to hold it together. They are works of art with a functional purpose that require many, many hours to complete.
I have a newly found friend that told me of his Mom passing away, and the family's possessions were being divided up among him and his siblings...He was given the choice between picking the many photographs of the family...or his great grandmother's crazy quilt top...A wonderful collection of vivid silk fabrics all sewn together and embroidered with fancy stitchings along the seams where the pieces were joined. The quilt never got finished for one reason or another...but it was still a wonderful masterpiece. What a hard choice to make! My friend was a young man in his mid twenties then, and surprisingly he picked the quilt. When he shared that story with me, it gave me an insight into who he really was deep inside. I had found a kindred spirit.
Things have changed since the 1970's. Now he can borrow the pictures that his sister got and scan them into his computer and have a CD made of his family's photos ... But nothing can duplicate his precious quilt. His heart had made the right choice.

(The quilt picture in this post..is not the quilt made by my friend's great grandma)

ya godda love him...

...why do we all have such a strong desire to again live a life that exists only in our past?

At times, we all search for meaning in our lives, often in vain. Perhaps the answer is not to find meaning, but to give it meaning...

Meeting Jane Riegger...

To be a dealer in The Heirloom Cupboard first you had to be interviewed by Jane Riegger. She was the owner (along with her husband). Jane was a very intimidating woman. Her reputation preceded her. Around Medina, people either really liked her or they really didn't! Most respected her. Her family had owned the Longacre Furniture Store on the Square for many years. They were a prominent Medina family. She was no nonsense, a retired school teacher from Medina City schools. Her husband, Bob, was a retired Vice President of the Old Phoenix Bank on the Square. They made an attractive, distinguished couple.



When Pam took me to the the Heirloom to meet Jane I was in a panic. I know nothing of the business. What was she going to do, give me a test? Quiz me on the value of specific antiques? What I knew about the value of things was from a 1985 Schroeder's price guide. How pathetic was that! Good old Pam promised she would teach me everything.

Jane Riegger shook my hand, and asked where she knew me from. I said from coming in the shop most likely. She asked if I had gone to Medina schools? I said," No... Buckeye." She said, "Hum." She then looked me square in the face for a full minute. I didn't looked away. It seemed like forever to me. Then she said, "Let me find you a key. You can move in upstairs next to Pam's section. Nancy Slaymaker is moving out you can have her spot. You can work Nancy's days on the calendar. Four days a month is required and pay your rent on the first of the month."

You could have knocked me over with a feather. I held out my hand and a old brass key to The Heirloom Cupboard was placed in it. I don't remember if I said anything or not. But as I was going up the stairs to view my new spot, Jane called after me, "...and Shirley, September will be your month to do the display in the front right window.

I climbed the rest of the stairs two at a time.

I moved in on the 5th of July 1993. I knew that this was going to be a new direction in my life.

My friend Pam Cotman....and the antiquing story continues....

In the early 1990's I was well on my way to a nursing career. My kids were all in their teens and my personal life was slowly coming onto the front burner. My brother, Norman and I had made a pact together to get our RN degrees. I was working at a assisted living / nursing home facility and was a CNA. They had a program there to help you advance your nursing career if you had the desire. They only asked that you work for them during your schooling, and sign a contract upon graduation to work for them for an additional two years. I was fine with that..I enjoyed where I worked! I never missed a day, and loved everyone that was entrusted to my care. Nursing was my future and I was ready to get on with it.

This is where I met Pam we worked together in the same ward. Pam Cotman was from Kenosha, Wisconsin and her mom owned an antique shop there. On one of our long weekends off I went to her parent's home with her and we went antiquing.

Nancy, Pam's Mom, had a little shop, very neat and clean. She had a wonderful selection of vintage linens, quilts, and costume jewelry. The shop also had a sampling of other things too, pottery, knick-knacks, and small pieces of furniture. Pam, who grew up in her mom's shop. was an antique dealer too. She was visiting her mom to pick up a load of things to put in her rented spot...in The Heirloom Cupboard. My favorite shop in Medina.

A few weeks later, Pam and I went to an auction. I won the bid on an old 1880's humpback trunk (I spent far too much for it!) and bought box lots of things too inexpensive to pass up. Afterwards, I lamented to Pam, "Why did you let me get carried away...what am I going to do with this stuff?"

That is when Pam let me in on what she was thinking..."Why don't you see if Jane Riegger will let you rent a space in The Heirloom Cupboard, like I do?" She asked.

Medina...and, The Heirloom Cupboard

Medina, Ohio is a quaint little town. Big beautiful homes line the streets leading up to the Square. Many Painted Lady's can be appreciated on those streets... just so you know... I am not referring to beautiful women wearing makeup. I am referring to the big beautiful homes all painted in bright multi colors. The more colors the better, to embellish and enhance their many architectual details. Most of the homes were built around the 1880's through the 1915 era. So the homes were built in the Victorian and Edwardian styles. The difference between a Victorian house from an Edwardian, is basicly when it was built...as far as I can tell, except the Edwardian homes do seem to have less gables and a more flat style roof, but the brick-brack is still in abundance. These homes were called Victorian up until Queen Victoria died in 1901...the ones built after that, were called Edwardian. But I digress! My point was Medina has a wonderful selection of Painted Lady's. I never tire of looking at them.



At the center of town we have the Square. A lovely place with a big white gazebo in the center with paths from all four corners leading up to it. Huge trees and formal gardens abound. There is even a big military cannon on the west side of the Gazebo that the children love to climb on. Benches are strategically placed so strollers and dog walkers, or people with a good book, can sit and read, relax, or gaze in any direction and enjoy a scenic view.



Back in 1993, though, if I visited the Square, it wasn't to sit on a bench and relax. It was usually because I needed something from the old hardware store on the block just south of there. A very cool place in itself. But I always hurried through there, to make time to go three doors down to "The Heirloom Cupboard". A wonderful antique shop. I'd always stand in front first, and gaze into the windows on each side of the door. They changed the displays in the windows on the first of each month and you never knew what would be in there to see. Then I would step up the big step and open the big heavy door and walk in, as the brass bell on the door announced my entry. The Heirloom Cupboard had a smell all it's own. I always stopped after I had shut the door to fill my lungs with the mixture of lavender and furniture polish, candles and "old." I loved this place. I was stepping back in time ...and felt very much at home there.

My first Auction...

In September 1962 we moved to Grafton Road in Valley City, onto a small 3 acre farm that a man named Arthur Haas was selling. It was wedged between huge farm fields owned by MTD Farms. Across the street was the Schmidt/Krueger farm. Further down on the right was the Mallasch's homestead. Next to them was the Foecking Farm and as the crow flies cross the back side field was the Crocker Dairy Farm. After Dad bought the property, before we could move in ... the Haas's were having an auction.

What an exciting day that was! We got there early. Trucks and tractors started pulling into the long driveway and parking in the side pasture. Men and woman were gathered talking. Groups of men in overalls were standing under the pear and cherry trees. A man had even climbed up onto a big branch of the big oak tree by the back door and was perched there smoking a cigarette. There were a few kids in the crowd,and some were down by the apple tree at the end of the driveway trying to knock down an apple to eat.

The big crowd hushed as the auctioneer started his fast talking spiel...and bids started to fly. I couldn't keep track of it all! My dad was right in there bidding on furniture and old farm equipment, tools and chickens! The auctioneer, got to the point that when my dad won the bid , he would do a salute and yell, "Sold to the man in the green shirt!" It was exciting! I remember men stacking boxes around my dad's feet won from bidding...full of dishes and old books, and all sorts of stuff. I couldn't keep up with finding the treasures in one box before another was delivered to dig through. This was better than any holiday!

A young boy about 13 was there . His sister. who was older, was trying to keep him in tow. He wanted to bid on something in the worst way. Finally near the end, an old kitchen table came up for bid. No one bid. This boy yelled out...TEN CENTS...the crowd was dead quiet. Then the auctioneer pointed at him and said SOLD! That was when I knew this is something I wanted to learn about. This kid had just bought a perfectly good table for 10 cents...I could have done that!

That boy was Dick Foecking our neighbor. The table ended up in his family's grainary...up the steep stairs to the loft and was our childhood clubhouse table for many years.

My Dad and I went to many auctions together. It was a passion we shared up until he died. He helped me load up many pieces of furniture and boxes full of treasures for the Depot,. And, I would tease him now and again about wearing a green shirt...

How it started...

My passion for antiques started when I was little. My family lived in a small community where there was a local dump. On Saturdays my dad would load our garbage bags from the week into our '56 Buick and take them to the bump. I always made sure I went. There was all kinds of things there. I loved it. Not many people thought about recycling then. When an item was of no use any more to them ...it was brought to this big field of discarded items... and added to it. The garbage was thrown on one side but metal and other household items on the other...that was where I always headed. I would find pretty floral dishes ( a few chips here or there didn't bother me) and small pots and pans to play house with. Once I found an old doll buggy that was in really good shape. I collected old bottles, dug up an old radio that even worked, tubes still intact.
Dad would help me load up my treasures. Home we would head where Mom and I would scrub everything with Spic-n-Span...