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daily nebraskan
Wednesday, march 19, 1980
Granny 'sth
By Penelope Smith
Remember the last time your grand
mother dragged you into the garage and
said, "Clean it out and burn it, and 111 give
you a dollar?" Well, stop and think next
time, because according to Van Crowson, a
dealer in antiques and organizer of the
World Wide Antiques Show and Sale at
Pershing Auditorium last weekend, there
are still a lot of Da Vincis in the dust.
The exhibitors in Crowson's shows are
members of the National Association of
Dealers in Antiques and a new organi
zation, American Dealers in Antiquities.
"We advertise our schedule of 21 shows
in the national antiques publications.
Everything is on a contractual basis. I fur
nish the dealers with tables, security and
advertising. Then I pay the city of Lincoln
a rental fee. My money comes from one
place only-through the door," Crowson
said.
The word "antique" is an ill-defined
catchall term.
"The federal government defines
"antique" as being anything 100 years or
older; then it becomes duty free. This isn't
very satisfactory. We tend to put it
between 75 and 100 years and it all de
pends on the item," Crowson said.
Crowson said people buy antiques for a
variety of reasons.
"There's a lot of nostalgia buying or just
for the beauty of the piece. Today there is
investment buying. Antiques are the
number one investment for your dollar be
cause of their appreciation.
"One of the biggest things right now is
collectibles. These are items of limited
edition where the mold has been broken.
They are becoming more and more scarce
all the time becasue of breakage, loss or
theft." Crowson gave numerous examples
of appreciation of collectibles that the
average person would not think of as
valuable . One such example was Depression
glass, a heavy pressed glass which some
times has an iridescent quality known as
"carnival." The glass was made during the
Depression and most pieces are not out
standingly attractive.
"They gave this glass away during the
Depression as premiums in the grocery
stores. My Dad could buy these for $10
or less for a dozen," Crowson said, pick
ing up a heavy peacock blue sandwich
plate. "Now look at it-it's $225."
Amateur luck
People are becoming increasingly aware
of the value of items, but there is still a
chance for the amateur often with no more
than blind luck, Crowson said .
"About three years ago a professor
rowawags becom
e today's mluMes
from the University of Kansas was hired
to do some work on the Mesa Verde cliff
dwellings. He and his family couldn't
afford to commute back and forth so they
bought an old house in Denver. Something
about the house bothered him. He finally
decided that the light fixtures were a lot
newer than the house. Under the steps he
found a bunch of carefully sealed boxes
th3t had never been opened. They were the
original light fixtures in mint condition and
they were made by Tiffany."
The dealers at Crowson's show were
often older people who had started out in
other professions and then became inter
ested in antiques.
As Robert Foster, a dealer in antique
water colors and prints, said, "It started
out as a hobby and kind of got out of
hand." Foster is a retired postal worker
from Kansas. Like so many of the others,
he deals in all kinds of works, but picks
particular pieces for his own because,
"They're hard to part with."
Heisy glass
Maxine Montgomery, is an Iowan deal
ing in 19th-century Heisy glass, a high
quality, highly collectible glass made for
cutting and manufactured in Newark, Ohio
between 1896 and the 1950s. Montgomery
is not interested in the worth of the glass
but in its rarity.
"I look for a particular cut pattern of
1880s pressed glass. It doesn't really sell
and it's not that valuable, but you very
rarely find it. It's the fun of finding it.
Stanley Stole was was a journalism
teacher at UNL in the early 50s. He went
to Kansas and eventually, because of his
interests, became the museum director of
the state historical society. Stole specializes
in antique glass and porcelain. Among the
more beautiful 'items for sale were a
matched set of Metlock vases made in
Germany in 1897. The vases depict the
four continents allegorically as cameo
heads in a wedgewood technique of over
lay ed blues, golds, maroons, and greens.
Price: $1200 a piece and rising.
Young dealers in the show were in the
minority and had unusual reasons for being
there.
Laurie, a tall, thin young woman from
Central City, Colo., said "I'm one of the
few and last licensed traders that the Tribal
Council allows to go directly to the reser
vation and deal with the artists," she said.
All of her pieces of exquisite coral, tur
quoise, silver and bearclaw are in the Zuni
Book, a book showing the individual
Indian artists and their work. Everything
she sells is a signed work of art.
Susan Walking has a bachelor's degree in
art history from Montana University,
specializing in Oriental art.
"I didn't want to teach, so 1 do this. I
buy as 1 go from the Chinese communities
in Edmonton and Alberta. Hie pieces of
jade 1 sell are old and beautiful. Most of
them were worn. Jade is a hard material,
and even the little buttons are attractive
because so much work was put into carving
them."
Besides varieties of beautiful jade pieces,
Walking also had some unusual items for
sale. By far the most interesting was an
Imperial Chinese silver fingernail cover
about four inches long. It was finely
filigrced silver, inlaid with turquoise, coral
and enamel work. The woman who wore it
probably had no need for a dagger up her
sleeve, because it was stiletto sharp.
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Photo by Mitch Hrdlicka
Earl Burger looked over an assortment of merchandise Sunday at the World Wide
Antiques Show and Sale at Pershing Auditorium.
Police held at punpoint by disgruntled terrorists
By Peg Sheldrick
"I'm bored."
"I'm Fred. How do you do?"
"Very funny. What do you want to do, besides make
bad jokes?"
"With my life?"
"Let's just stick with this afternoon."
"Take a trip to the moon on gossamer wings."
"We did that last week."
humor
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
"So what do you want to do?"
I don't know. What do you want to do?"
Thanks, Hiat's very helpful."
"Well why do I have to be the one to decide what we
do?"
; "Because 1 don't have any bright ideas."
"I wonY argue with that . . . Let's see, we can sit
around and tell dirty jokes to the plants."
We did that last week too."
"We could take up smoking."
" Poa't you remember we did that this morning and we
were going to spend this afternoon trying to quit?"
Oh yeah. Feel a nicotine fit coming on?"
"Nope."
"Me neither. Looks like well have to find something
else to do."
"Do you want to go out for coffee?"
"At 1 :30 in the afternoon? That'-s immoral."
"You're right. Some things were meant to be done
under cover of darkness . . . Hm ... We could read the
paper."
"You mean become well-informed? Catch up on world
events? Garner cold hard facts upon which to base our
opinions? You must be out of your mind."
"Geez, all I wanted to do was to read the funnies."
"That's more like it. As long as you're leafing through
that thing, see if there are any new films playing around
town."
"Hey, here's one Chinese Cheerleaders in Bondage"
44Very funny."
"No, actually it's pretty good. 1 enjoyed it a lot when
I "
"What?"
"Never mind ... Hey, there are no funnies in this
paper. I'm outraged."
"I understand you have a better chance at getting a
. complete paper if you buy it at the newsstand instead of
picking it up off bus seats. You don't know where it's
been."
"Well, I don't know. I picked you up off a bus seat and
I didn't know where you'd been, come to think of it."
"ToucheV
"Let's see if there are any interesting news bits in this
thing . . . Hear we go. Dateline: Las Vegas. Police here to
day reported a bizarre skirmish with a band of demented
punsters seeking to take over Caesar's Palace. Claiming
their brand of humor has been derided as the lowest for
too long, the crazed mirth-makers held police at bay for
several hours ' "
"You're making this up."
"No, really . . . The crazed mirth-makers held police at
bay for several hours with lines like, "What kind of candy
bars do nuns like? Almond Cloisters!" and "What's the
psychiatrist's theme song? Hello Jung Lovers!' " Police
were kept "
"Let me see that."
"No . . . Tolice were kept totally incapacitated until a
crack SWAT team was called in. Crying "Get thee to a
punnery!" the special force sufficiently rattled the
humorists to permit authorities to surround and
overwhelm them with withering bursts of sarcasm. Hie
melee continued until the punsters were overcome "
"STOP! I'm overcome."
"You don't want to read the paper?"
"Not ifit's all like that."
"Then what do you want to do?"
"What's left?'
"Studying."
"I'd sooner die."
"Then what do you want to do?"
"Chip in and find a new conversation to have."
"IH buy that. I'm bored."
"I'm Fred. How do you do."
