Mardi Gras Traditions and Collectibles

Mardi Gras, the name itself sounds festive and fun.  A festive air has always been associated with Mardi Gras, though through the years the fun and frolic have surpassed the founders early plans.

This year Mardi Gras begins on Tuesday February 17, a date worth noting on your calendar.

Parades have already started in January and continue through February 16. One of the most informative sites for daily happenings at Mardi Gras is found at Mardi Gras Events

 
The history of Mardi Gras dates to the early Medieval Europe.  When a group of French-Canadian explorers led by Bienville, arrived  miles south at what is now New Orleans,  When the explorers realized the date was the eve of the festive holiday, they named the spot Pointe du Mardi Gras.


Bienville also established Fort Louis de la Louisiane, now known as Mobile.   The 1st Mardis Gras was celebrated at Fort Louis de la Louisiane in 1703.

Secret societies were formed and parades were held to signal the coming Fat Tuesday,which marked the beginning of lenten meat fast.

By the 1830s processions of masked celebrators were accompanied by elaborately decorated carriages and horseback riders. It was shortly after that masked balls were introduced.

What to Collect at Mardi Gras

Beads and Throws

During the parade krewe members on decorated floats throw trinkets to the parade watchers.  These trows have become quite collectible and include doubloons, beads, cups, homemade trinkets, and toys. What is thrown is up to the imagination, creativity, and historical roots of the krewe members.

Learn about the various krewes and their beliefs at Mardi Gras Krewes


Masks

Everyone wears a mask on Fat Tuesday.  Float riders are required by law to wear masks.
Masks originally allowed differences between class cultures to be disguised.


Ephemera

Mardi Gras creates an abundance of paper, Ephemera that can be collected and valued for its significance to a particular Mardi Gras event.

Restaurant menus, trade/business cards and signs posted to advertise events are favorites to collect.

Till Next Time, Stay Well, Stay Happy

auctionmom80@gmail.com

antiquesattheirongate.com

Are You Prepared to Attend an Internet Auction?

I attended live auctions with my family as long as I can remember.  In those days the auctions were country auctions held on Saturday and Sundays in the outbuildings of farms and flea markets.  There was no seating, no bright lights, and no second chances if you won or lost a bid.


As a child I was not allowed to bid but I did watch the other bidders as they focused on the items and bidding strategies of their opponents as they developed their own bidding strategy to win the items of choice.  There were no friends during the auction.  Only after  the last pound of the gavel and the words "Sold Bidder # _" did the friendships revive and the storytelling begin. 

Watching the bidders was often more fun than seeing what was being auctioned.  Eyes glanced from side to side, then down and to the side again.  Pencil and paper in hand they tracked the prices realized for those items won and lost.  Eye contact was avoided among the bidders, their body movements  were more revealing of their intent to continue bidding or not.

Occasionally a bidding war ensured.  It usually started with three bidders.  This would continue for about a minute then  one bidder would lower their head and turn their body, indicating they were now out. The audience would follow the remaining two bidders turning to look at each as the bidders held constant their number or slightly nodded their head alerting the auctioneer to continue.  


In the parking lots the trading began as winners examined   their purchases imagining the prices they would gain and losers approached winners to inquire if they could strike a deal.

Attending a live auction requires people watching, learning the nonverbal behaviors and what they mean to those you are bidding against.  I have always found watching the bidding audience as well as the auctioneer to be helpful in my own bidding.  At times this knowledge has allowed me to win a sleeper; other times it has stopped me from bidding beyond reason for an item. 

The most noticeable difference between bidding at a live auction versus an internet auction is that there is no personal verbal and nonverbal communication among bidders or the auctioneer.  If you are a people watcher like myself, this may determine whether you are destined to enjoy bidding at such auctions.  

 To get a sense of what it is liketoattend an auction follow different on-line auctions to get a feel for the bidding process.  You will also learn whether you like bidding against unknown and unseen bidders.  

You must make quicker decisions when bidding on the internet, these auctions move quickly!

6 Quick Tips for Bidding at Internet Auctions 

1.  Search a site such asProxiBid  to explore the types of auctions offered.   

 2. Visit the sites of auctions you find interesting, jewelry, autos, art, etc.

3.  Register for an auction that interests you.  Be sure to read the policies of the auction house, policies differ from auctioneer to auctioneer. 

4.  Review the online catalogue of items to be auctioned. Complete this several times.  Select items of interest to you. 
Determine the highest bid you will make on each item

5.  Follow through with you financial plan developed in step 4. 

6.  Celebrate a winning bid.  

Till next time, stay well, stay happy

auctionmom80@gmail.com

www.antiquesattheirongate.com

Decorating Your Home for Christmas Using Yard Sale Finds

The holiday season is upon us.  For many of us the fall and winter holiday season begins in the USA with Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer.  From Labor Day through Halloween to Thanksgiving and the winter holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, we become the intense focus of retailers and advertisers.

Retailers try hard to convince us we need their products to be "good parents"  "to increase our status with friends and coworkers" "to keep up with the latest music-technology-games-health products-fashions......and on and on with any reason that touches our buttons.

Decorating our homes for the holiday season has become more stressful and demands more decisions and money than ever before.  The options and cost for lighting  can be overwhelming even to the most avid holiday decorator.  The availability and decorating options for inside your home can be just as, and oftentimes more stressful.




The home images we see in various media send a message that we must decorate our home from top to bottom in the holiday theme.  Of course the retailers offer for sale exactly what we need to accomplish this retail goal of a MacHoliday House.


     

 This holiday season you may want to decrease your decorating stress by increasing your recycling and letting your imagination guide you in preparing your home for the season.

Here are 3 of my favorite yard sale finds from this past summer that I will use to decorate my home this holiday season.

Tea is Served

One of my loves is china and porcelain, especially china cups.  This summer I focused on purchasing miniature cups.  These will be used to decorate a 4 foot tree in the dining room.  Old lace obtained from auctions will be used instead of garland.  The tea cups will be attached to the tree with silk ribbon, also gathered from yard sales and auctions.

 

Making Merry with Music

Music continues to play a large role in my life. It is not always easy to find but when old music is found at a yard sale there is usually a lot to be had for a little.  I use the music sheets in many ways. sometimes to make a border around a small picture that I then hang on the tree.

Other times I make a cone out of a sheet of music, fill the cone with dried flowers and bittersweet from my garden, Antique lace or ribbon is used to hand the musical cones from the branches of the tree. I also us bittersweet to decorate the garden arbor, benches and fence .

 Bittersweet provides lovely decoration and food for the birds.

Bedazzling Tree Ornaments


Fashion jewelry is plentiful at yard sales and flea markets.  It seems everyone has an abundance of
bracelets and necklaces with broken clasps and earrings that have long lost their mate.  Necklaces can be wrapped around tabletop trees and used as garland.

On larger trees mismatched jewelry adds nostalgic glam. Earrings mingle easily with other ornaments often hanging from bracelets.  A large brooch makes a dazzling tree topper.

Till Next Time, Stay Well, Stay Happy

auctionmom80@gmail.com

http://antiquesattheirongate.com

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Sea Shell Folk Art

With the great weather we have been having, rated a 10 by my calculations, it is time to hit the shoreline to gather shells I will  use throughout the year to make a variety of folk art items.

In the world of antiques folk art has a special place.  Folk art is created by average folks, in earlier times such folks were sometimes called peasants. The items produced by peasants were decorative and utilitarian. The rules of fine art which led to creating masterpieces were ignored because the items were not created for purely artistic purpose.

Folk artists did not attend the great art schools, or follow the techniques of the great schools of art who produced the artists featured in art history books.  Folk artists learned from each other in the community in which they lived and created their art.

Folk art has also been called tramp art. Tramp art was made by the artist whittling wood from cigar boxes and packing crates. There is much variety to Tramp Art which has become greatly desired in recent times.

Folk art created from shells has included decorating mirrors, boxes,  picture frames.  The mirror that hangs in my side hallway is a piece of shell folk art made by a relative.  It is a treasure to me for several reasons.

Folk art dolls made of seashells have delighted children and adults for years.  Souvenir shops have commercialized the art form.  Still shells gathered by your family can become a family heirloom and family tradition as each summer a new shell doll is created for the collection.

Being a doll collector, shell dolls hold special meaning for me.


Another favorite of mine is make a miniature picture album using a clam shell.

 Drilling a tiny hole at the top of each shell allows you to connect the shells with ribbon, I prefer silk tied in a bow.  Trace and cut several pieces of decorative paper or fabric to use as the pages of the album.  I then glue photos of dolls taken from magazines onto the pages.  Decorate the shell covers and frame the pictures inside using ribbon, lace, or decorative paper. Adding tiny buttons and flowers are other special finishing touches you can add to your folk art picture albums.

Some folk artists create pictures made entirely of shells.

Links

http://www.bhg.com/decorating/seasonal/summer/seashell-crafts/

www.marthastewart.com/275561/shell-crafts

Till next time, stay well, stay happy

www.antiquesattheirongate.com
 auctionmom80@gmail.com    

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Defining Antiques and Collectibles

While antiquing, the buyer is often assaulted with a confusing and misleading antique lingo.  Antique, vintage, retro, and authentic are words often used to describe an item a seller uses to hook the buyer of an item they appear interested in.  To close a sale the buyer may mirror and emphasize the language the buyer uses.

There are, of course other sellers, and buyers more often
found at back yard sales and flea markets, who themselves truly do not know what qualifies as an antiques or collectible. And yes, some items have been reproduced so well that they take an professionally trained expert to identify the authenticity of an item.




  The larger and well established auction houses are unlikely to misrepresent and item.  They are bound by a code of ethics and have a responsibility to the public to represent as accurately as possible the items they are auctioning.  An auctioneer will look for provenance, documentation that the item in question has a history that can be traced, often to famous family lineage.


The formal definition of an antique comes from the US Customs.  Their regulations require an item be 100 years old to qualify as an antique.

Vintage and collectible items may describe the same item although there are distinctions.  Usually a vintage item is one that is at least 50 years old, often referring to items from the 1950s and 1960s. Collectible items can span the decades, depression glass from the early 1900s is highly collectible as are American Girl Dolls to our young children.





Whatever you call it, if you like an item do a bit of research before paying a price that seems higher than
expected.  There are still bargains and treasures to discover.  For me, whatever it is called if I like it I buy it, at a price the oftentimes is negotiated.

For my business the criteria is stricter and the ethics of the profession are followed.

Till next time, stay well, stay happy 

auctionmom80@gmail.com

antiquesattheirongate.com

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Teach History to Our Children with Antiques

What a peaceful way to spend a day, lounging on the beach watching the sunlight dance across the water as the waves gently embrace the sand returning it ever so gently to the ocean on white ruffled waves.
A perpetual fantasy of mine.. that some day....

It has been a while my friends that I have had the pleasure of sitting and sharing my thoughts and knowledge with you on all things related to antiques.  But here I sit and bring to you news from of the past, present, and future.  It has been a busy few months of packing while helping a relative make a new start a new chapter in the Book of Life.

Mother Nature and I seem to have bypassed spring this year, though not unusual in these parts.  Now, with summer upon us the recollections of hours spent on the beach reading and watching the tides returns.  In the early stages of learning about antiques I read just about everything I could given an 8 day week!

I purchased, traded, and sold books to get more books to gain more knowledge.  In that process I learned to appreciate the human side of antique items through the stories that the folks I bought and sold from shared with me as family treasures were prepared to relocate.  I have always enjoyed a good story and the stories associated with my favorite pieces, some of which I have long since sold, continue to be my favorites.

The other day I was sharing a story that had been entrusted to me as the purchaser of an Early American settee set.  The set had carvings of deer, vines and flowers. My friend's child eyes grew large, hardly blinking as I told her about the origins of primitive furniture in America.  The  household routines related to basic tasks of cleanliness and meals.  When I took a breath, she said emphatically, "Why don't they teach us that in school, then we would be interested in history!"  Why indeed.  I did not have an answer for her, or at least one she would not be able to refute children are able to refute adult arguments like rain falls through the clouds.

 I would love to hear from educators on the ways of teaching history, we are never too old to learn or adjust our ways.

Till next time, stay well, stay happy

auctionmom80@gmail.com
www.antiquesattheirongate

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Antique Wicker Furniture

There are few folks I know who don't have at least one piece of wicker furniture in their home or garden.  Most of the women I know home adore wicker, it brings us to a simpler yet romantic time and place.  Most men I know detest wicker, not so much because it is wicker but because they say it is uncomfortable to sit in, even with those lovely colorful cushions we lovingly place.

Modern wicker is really not wicker at all.  It is a synthetic material that is able to withstand the weather outdoors and still remain looking new and clean.  This type of wicker appeals to the modern age of ease of care and a sense of oblivion to the value antiques and handmade items.  When caring for antique wicker furniture a kinship develops between yourself and with the pieces you own.  They need care, attention, mending, and sprucing up from time to time.  You complete these tasks with care and patience.   New wicker is from the throwaway age.  If something needs mending, throw it out and buy new.  No connection here!

Antique wicker was made in distinct styles and reflects the changing tastes of consumers during earlier times.  The earliest is the Victorian style wicker Victorian wicker dates from the 1800s to1900. The patterns are ornate with intricate designs that incorporate curlicues and beadwork.

Here are two early ads I recently came across advertising Haywood Wakefield Wicker. The largest companies producing Victorian Wicker were the Heywood Brothers from Gardner MA, and Wakefield Rattan Company from Wakefield, MA.  The two companies merged in the late 1800s and held the monopoly on Victorian wicker furniture.  Unfortunately the furniture was marked with paper tags, so you must be aware of the characteristics when looking to purchase authentic Victorian wicker.



Wicker is a natural material and so looks natural and at home in the garden.  Here is a beatuful peaceful spot for taking in all the wonders of nature.  Just be sure to bring you natural wicker indoors when there is threat of stormy weather.

Till next time, stay well stay happy

auctionmom80@gmail.com

www.antiquesattheirongate.com