Antiques Week In Nashville is Here!!

Everyone have safe travels to Nashville this week. Promise to start taking pictures as soon as things start arriving.

Weather, Packing and Thoughts

As many people in the middle of the country are receiving a winter blast, a few hundred intrepid souls are preparing to make the journey to Nashville next week. I wish everyone safe travels.
For those of you unable to attend, I promise to post next week a sampling of the best antiques event in the country. Other events may boast more dealers, New York features a much larger offering of extreme high end, New Hampshire may have more purist appeal and Brimfield and Round Top stretch for miles. But for my money, the offerings next week of Tailgate, Music Valley and the Antiques and Garden Show will offer the most diverse, wide ranging and broad appeal event in the country. Granted, I may be biased, but take the trip and see for yourself. I'm driving tomorrow and hopefully have time to continue the Why Antiques series I started yesterday. Got some good response on the topic.

Why Antiques?-Part 1

In the first of what might become a long running series of blogs, I would like to begin to make the case that why living with antiques and vintage items in your life makes sense now more than ever. I start with:

Value

The most compelling argument that I can make to someone who is furnishing a first home/apartment is - Why spend money on a house full of items that you will be begging someone to pay pennies on the dollar at your first garage sale. Most of the furnishings that you will buy at the mall are made of fiberboard, which is basically designed to decompose in a landfill. Why not think of spending the same amount of money on something that has:
1. Already been broken in
2. Most likely made of real wood.
3. Has a life span longer than the arrival of next season's Pottery Barn catalog.
4. Has a chance to retain a significant portion of it's value.

One of the most common complaints of those in the industry is that we aren't attracting a new generation of customers to replace our aging base. My counterpoint to that argument is that we aren't marketing with compelling information in the place that the much sought after younger customers are looking for inspiration-The internet. The industry has no presence to speak of other than individual dealer/auction websites and the 600 pound gorilla-Ebay. Something needs to be developed in this area in order to begin to entice, inspire and educate new customers. Well-starting to work on that one.

Thoughts??

These are a few of their favorite things

Asked dealers what their favorite items that they are bringing to the show:



We are bringing a N.H. Cheese cupboard. Only other one we have seen is in the Sheldon House at Historic Deerfield...it's 7 feet long, and 5 feet high. Quite unique!!!
Karan Oberg
Lots of early treenware and an early mannequin in original clothes. Steve and Rita Carnine...... Carnine Antiques
We are bringing part of a carousel. There are 3 short inner cornice panels which together form a semicircle, with 2 shields to cover the joints. The panels were carved in Gent, Belgium. They are extremely decorative and great above a bar or in game room. Pete & Shirley

Jon, as per your request, attached find an image of a nice grouping of soda fountain syrup dispensers.(See photo in post below) These dispensers were prominently displayed in your local drugstore's soda fountain area around the turn of the century. These colorful ceramic containers were point of sale attractions and dispensed the syrup which was then mixed with carbonated water by the soda jerk for your favorite flavored soda. The same colorful decorations which "made the sale" attract collectors today to assemble a nice grouping of these for display in their gameroom, media room, or bar area. Kim and Mary Kokles

Bringing large SEWER SNAKE for wall or garden art.

Bill

great question, and I am torn....there is the Roy Mills sentinel goose decoy I sent a picture of for the supplement. So very elegant and sophisticated for a working decoy, and then I have a fragment - a small 18th century box lid carved with hearts, stars, and eagles...hummm, in a toss up do not know which I would choose - would like to keep them both.

Cheers, leaving this morning to head to NH and then to Nashville on the weekend. hope it is warmer there - was -23 Celcius yesterday when i was shovelling out my shop......and then the wind chill.

Cathy

Anyone for a Cherry Fizz or Root Beer

Since no one has taken up my offer of VIP Nashville access in exchange for Super Bowl tickets, I am going to drown my disappointment in a nice cold root beer or cherry-fizz. These syrup dispensers are from Kim and Mary Kokles of Texas.

Once in a lifetime offer-

I am prepared to make an offer to you- Antique Show Insider readers, a once in lifetime offer. One lucky reader will be granted set-up to tear down access of our shows in Nashville. Be there when it's all going together, see the behind the scenes interworkings of "Antiques Week In Nashville". I am offering a VIP All Access Pass to the biggest event in the history of antiques. All is ask for in return is two tickets to a football game of minimal importance between my beloved Colts and an opponent from Mississippi or Louisiana. Anyone prepared to meet those terms will certainly be rewarded with a spectacular antique experience.

P.S.-private jet service between Miami and Nashville is a plus.

Nashville Tickets

Due to the miracle of the interweb thingy that we all seem to marvel at, tickets for Nashville are now available online.

Click Here for Tailgate Early Bird Tickets

Click Here for Music Valley Preview Party Tickets

The booth of Perkins and Menson- coming soon to Nashville.