What have I found in Florence, Colorado? As many know, we
recently started a blog feature—Will We Find YOU in Florence?
Florence is the antiques capital of Colorado. Recently some
very brilliant people came up with a marketing plan for Florence. FIND IT IN
FLORENCE. I have nothing to do with that campaign, but I do recognize
brilliance when I see it.
I would like to say that I have a lightning-fast intellect
and that when I heard about, FIND IT IN FLORENCE, I immediately thought of a
feature: Will We Find YOU In Florence? I cannot say that. Actually it did occur
to me within moments of hearing about the new marketing plan—but it was an idea
brewing for over a year.
I started working in a few of Florence’s antiques shops
about two years ago. And people tell stories. Stories about themselves. Stories
about what the items they are buying. Stories about the feelings and memories
the items they were buying or looking for invoked.
And sometimes they don’t tell the stories—but I can see
there is a story there.
I didn’t have a blog when I started working in the shops and
hearing these stories. I had a vague idea that if I was so fascinated by some
of these stories and observations, that others might find it a bit interesting.
My only regret is that I didn’t get my camera and notepad
out quite some time ago!
Here’s what I found in Florence. Interesting people.
Interesting ideas. Interesting items. Creativity, humor and so much more.
Here’s a story I missed a few months ago. Antiques shops
often have a box of two of old photos, labeled: Instant Relatives.
Let me backtrack. I am not new to the antiques world. I sold
online for over a decade. But I am new to the in-person antiques trade. I’ve
had dealers and former shop owners (and current shop owners) tell me the market
has changed radically. I can see that. Prices have dropped due to economic
conditions and the online marketplaces.
But several dealers have told me the antiques trade has
changed from a collectors market to a decorating market. I’ve also been told
that antiques and collectibles are not that popular with most younger people—and
that in a few generations all the real collectors will have passed on to the
great Antiques Store In The Sky, that hardly anyone will be left to appreciate
antiques.
Poppycock!
Yes, now that I am in the stores, in person, and also based
on years of online selling—I do see changes. Oak furniture—down in price and
popularity. Fancy dishes and clear glass—hard to sell. Most people want sturdy dishes or admit to
using paper plates. Gasp!
I know dealers who lament the fact, that things they used to
take to the scrap iron yard are now in hot demand. You know, rusty wheels,
rakes, pitchforks, baskets, widgets, beat-up wash basins and enamelware.
Straight Victorian? Used to be hot, now not so much. Steampunk
and industrial with neo-Victorian undertones? Hot!
Linens? Doilies? Too fussy. People buy them—but for about $1
to $3 each.
I heard all this and expected to never see anyone in an
antiques store under the age of 50.
And I just wish I would have captured on my camera and this
blog—all the really young people who are into antiques and collectibles. They
are just into them in different ways and using them in ways that are new and
fresh.
Remember the photos marked: Instant Relatives? A
20-something couple came in, rifled through the box and picked out a photo of a
man with a wild beard. I mean, this beard had more character and patina than
most antiques and could have housed a family of chipmunks.
I slightly snickered as I bagged the photo purchase. Then I
really looked at the customer! He had a WILD beard that could have housed a
modern family of chipmunks. Then I looked at his wife. She was wearing a
T-shirt that read: I’M WITH BEARDO!
Ah, the story those two (and his beard) could have told. If
I would have thought to ask them about it.
But my favorite story I missed putting on this blog were two
little kids. They TOTALLY debunked the idea that when a few generations die off—there
will be no one left to appreciate antiques.
These kids came into a Florence antiques shop with their
mother. She bought a few small items. The children looked to be about age 10
and 12. The ten-year-old had flaming red hair. His brother, I assume, was
dark-haired and serious. Serious about antiques!
He brought two vintage welding torches to the counter. One
was mine, so I gave him a better price on it, without him asking. The other one
had no price, so I asked him to show me where he found the torch. Occasionally
a tag falls off an item, or a vendor forgets to price an item. But if we can
find the booth, we can usually figure it out. The boy led me to the dark
recesses of the back of the shop—the place where loading dollies, boxes, tools
and other things vital to running a store are stored. He had to go up a loading
dock and then climb down a few dark stairs to get to the area. He found the
torch there.
I gently told him that was a storage area (not open to
customers) and the item was not for sale, but applauded his persistence in
attempting to find a torch.
I pointed out some other torches in the store that were for
sale. “I have that one. And that one,” he said.
I eventually found him another one he didn’t have. It turns
out the kid just bought a bunch of welding torches on Ebay and had the
beginning of a huge collection and looked for them in every corner of every
antiques and junk store he could get his mother to stop at.
I can’t imagine the day the kid gets his driver’s license!
So, his brother led me to the coin section of store and I
helped him with his purchase of some wheat pennies. I asked the red-haired kid
if he was a coin collector. He looked at me with a smile and said he just
purchased a bag of 3,000 coins in search of some valuable ones—especially those
wheat pennies he loved.
The kids finally came to the counter to make their
purchases. The red-haired kid told his brother,” Sheesh! You and your torch
collection!”
I whispered to” Red”, “I heard a rumor that there is a
customer in the store who just purchased 3,000 coins, so I’d say that person
was also quite the collector also.”
Red grinned. Just because he thought torches were a strange
thing to collect, he got what I was teasing him about.
Yes, this is just a bit of what I’ve found in Florence. Kids
crazy for collecting. Young people using antiques for humor. Creative people
using antiques for projects that spark the imagination.
And now I hope to capture the stories and people behind some
of these antiques’ purchases.
And I need your help. WILL WE FIND YOU IN FLORENCE? Florence
is the antiques capital of Colorado and draws people from all over the state
and neighboring states—but I can’t be everywhere at once, darnit!
If you found yourself in Florence and found something
interesting (it can be art, junk, antiques, a good meal or whatever) take a
picture of yourself. Or have a family member or friend take a picture of you.
Just make sure there is something recognizable to Florence somewhere in the
picture. Take a picture of yourself and/or your posse enjoying food, wearing
jewelry you purchased here… And let us know at what shop or restaurant you
found yourself in Florence. You can mention the price you paid—if you wish. And
even more importantly we want you to mention what feeling it invoked. Did your
purchase bring back a good memory? Are you a collector? Did your grandma lose
some item she had as a young person—and you found one just like it? Are you
buying the item as a gift? Did you accidentally break your significant others
prized do-dad and just found a replacement?
Do you work at the country’s largest flea market, yet found
yourself in Florence purchasing collectibles, like Genieva Grigsby of Canton, Texas? We recently featured Genieva on--Will We Find YOU in Florence and she's pictured below.
Do you have plans to turn one of the objects you found into
a world-class art project? Did you find a big rusty wheel (as did a fellow I
recently talked to) and plan on building your own pottery wheel with it? Did
you find the perfect antique cupboard (as a woman in Florence did recently)
because your family keeps messing up your mudroom with all their shoes and
jackets? Did you find a hard-to-find milk bottle from the dairy your parents
owned when you were just a baby? Did you find oil can from a refinery you lived
by on the East Coast that is now out of business? Yes, there are all stories
from real customers that found themselves in Florence, before I had the
foresight to capture their stories and histories.
We want to know about you and the story behind the purchase!
Send us your pictures and a brief story. Don’t worry—I’ll
write it up for you, if you don’t want to write it yourself. There is no charge
on either end for being in: Will We Find YOU In Florence? This is all for fun
and to share the people behind the purchases and why and how they ended up in Florence.
Have a shop or restaurant or other business in
Florence? It’s simple, ask they people
if they want to be on a blog that shares stories about people in Florence and
people finding themselves in Florence. Snap a picture. Ask them a few questions—their
name, the town they are from and what was so fun or special about their
experience or purchase. Send it to this blog—and within a few days, or weeks—depending
on my schedule, it will likely appear.
