Recapping the Road Trip

The weather has been “summery” with temperatures in the upper 90° range. How I hate hearing the air conditioner cycle! Yesterday, I finally got to work trimming the overgrown shrubs on the north side of the property. The huge holly hedges are going to need to be trimmed by a professional. There I no way I can access the tops. The last time I attempted to cut them back I had the 10ft ladder in the bed of the truck and used a pole trimmer. I’m afraid it is going to need a “bucket” to do the job right….

A thunderstorm just passed through cooling things off nicely. The doors and windows are open letting the cool air flow through the house. Let me get the last road trip chronicled…

Saturday the 12^th at 10:00 a.m. was the official opening for the show. The dealer admission was at 9:00 so we did not have to rush out early. Mercifully coffee was still available along with some donuts for us dealers.

One of the dealers I talked with last year had a present for me. He has friends in the Brick Collectors Club. Collecting bricks rubbed off on him! In his car he had five Ohio pavers for me! You meet the most interesting people at these shows.

The dealing was slow. The economy I’m afraid has really put a damper on things. The highlight of the morning was this young boy who was soaking everything in. He was so knowledgeable in identifying the different machines. His mom, dad and little brother were following him around. He was describing (quite correctly too!) the different types and styles of machines.

His parents explained how they were from Oklahoma, and this was their vacation trip. It gave me goose bumps to see such support form this boys family. I was talking with Jerry who was in the next booth about this young man. Jerry was also very impressed. He told me how this boy told him he got most of his information off the internet as books cost too much. I had a light go off in my head….. I had brought out two books to unload. One was a duplicate Edison biography I picked up at a thrift store for $2.00. The other was a water damaged volume from a set of Edison dealer publications I had been able to replace.

I was able to track the family down. I took mom aside and gave her the books and explained I wanted her son to have them. I had antique dealers helping me out in my early days, I felt good to be able to do the same….

One of the big buyers of the show was this businessman from South Korea. He had a family member as an interpreter as his English was very bad. He was very blunt and abrupt as rich buyers can be in this field. The dealers have to suck up to these big spenders. I demonstrated this crank paper organ to him.

It was marked $4,500. I knew Bill wanted to move it out. “Best price, best price” this man blurted to me. “I can do $4,000. But, check with Bill, this is his stuff; he is the man to deal with.” I tried to tell him.

Billy returned just in time and they went back and forth. This buyer has a fascinating story behind his life and collecting. He put together a “vanity book” which he showed to Billy. He presented Billy a copy of this book and then attempted to take a “G” automatic piano roll in return! Apparently it is a Korean custom to present a gift and then expect one in return!

It is a long story but Bill has a hoard of recordings done in three volumes of automatic music machines that was done for a now defunct museum back in the mid 1970’s. He gave this man a set of these recordings…..dealing is such a game…. I’m glad I have a chance to observe from the sidelines and not be dependent upon it for a living.

View from Billy's booth:

Billy and I not fashion plates when it comes to clothes. With the hefting and moving we have to do, getting dressed into the latest fashion is not us at these shows. There seemed to be an abundance of Columbia shirts with the “vented backs”. To me this is the ultimate “yuppie” accessory. Billy and I had the running joke this style shirt was designed to act as a parachute in case you start to fall……some of the people wearing this style really fit the bill!!

Saturday night was the open house at Jasper Sanfilippios. The visit to this home is worth the drive from Alabama.

On the way to the open house we stopped for dinner at Port Edward. We were assured this place was only a little bit upscale. Boy, did those boys ever lie to us! The rowdy fun spot we stopped at last year for cheeseburgers was closed and deserted.

Port Edward http://portedward.com/ was a linen napkin, heavy silverware type of place. I think they put one of the busboys in training on our table. I feel very uncomfortable when my water glass gets refilled nearly every time I take a sip from it. The place was not busy so we got a lot of unwanted attention.

I ordered Rib Eye & Shrimp De Jonghe which came with a salad. When the empty salad plate was cleared I was asked if I wanted to keep my fork. As I had a dinner fork on the left, this seemed an odd question. Then my meal was brought out and I was asked if I wanted another beer. My beer glass was ¾’s full! I thought I was on the Twilight Zone. The food was very good, but I’m just not comfortable in that kind of environment.

We arrived on time to the Sanfilippo mansion.

This link pretty much explains the magic of this collection. http://www.placedelamusique.org/ It has to be seen to be believed. It is such a labour of love and money to keep a collection of this magnitude in working order.

We took a ride on the Eden carousel. This is a European Carousel which differs from their American counterparts in that the horses pitch back and forth in addition to going up and down. There is no pole to hang onto.

We explored the real steam engine and passenger car parked in the covered railroad station. The neighbors complained too much so Jasper can’t take the engine out as often as he used to! I feel so privileged to able to share and enjoy nights like this.

The back roads were dark and not marked out very well. The GPS paid for itself in getting us safely and easily back to Elgin and the Holiday Inn.