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June 29, 2005
A 'useful' book for the antique collector
Before you do that, pick up a copy of "That Might Be Useful" by Naton Leslie. You might want to think twice about throwing things away. Years ago, Leslie found an old chest of drawers in the basement of a house he was renting, and the landlord said he could have it. It was beat-up and needed repairs, but Leslie liked the looks of it. He fixed it and put it to use. Years later, Leslie decided that he didn't need the chest of drawers any more and he put it out in a yard sale. Almost immediately, a man drove up, bought the chest, loaded it in the back of his van and drove off. Two weeks later, Leslie saw the same chest in an antique store, with a higher price tag on it than for what he had sold it. This got him thinking: There must be a lot of people who make their living from other people's junk. Starting with a New York auction house where valuable antiques are put up for bid, Leslie toured the junk business, although you can hardly call a $20,000 grandfather clock "junk." There, he learned that everything has a buyer, no matter how macabre it may be. Speaking of antiques, Leslie says that much of what we Baby Boomers call "antiques" are not. Antiques are, by definition, anything that was made before 1850. Nostalgia fuels the "antique" trade, he says, and just because your grandma had something doesn't make it valuable on the market. On that note, Leslie says, although we all dream of being on "Antiques Roadshow," be aware that many "antiques" are really well made reproductions that could fool all but the best experts. Anyone who's driven through a suburb on a weekend knows that yard sale signs bloom on telephone poles like leaves on a tree. This book is almost as much fun as plucking a treasure from one of those sales. From high-priced auctions to estate sales to flea markets and yard sales, author Naton Leslie does a good job examining the second-hand trade, although I thought that this could've easily been two books. The majority of "That Might Be Useful" was about the antique industry; all other second-hand dealing was covered in the last half of the book, which was too brief. Sure, antiquing is fun, but who doesn't love a good bargain? If you've ever fallen in love with something old, if you live for a good deal, or if you just have too much junk, "That Might Be Useful" will be more than useful for you. In fact, clear off your bookshelf, sell some of that stuff on e-Bay and make room for this book. Schlichenmeyer reviews books for the Pahrump Valley Times from her home in Wisconsin. |
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