When the kids were in preschool, and I was not quite ready to get back to full-time graphic design, I began selling antiques at the urging of Eileen Alexander, a gal I would run into every weekend at flea markets and garage sales. Eileen is still going strong as a dealer in the same shop in Petaluma, but I fizzled out. The hunt is pretty rough these days and the competition fierce.
I came across some photos of my space at an antique collective from about 8+ years ago. I had a wonderful large space upstairs on the mezzanine. What I wouldn’t do to climb into these photo and keep some of the stuff I sold. You can see some of the reverse painted window signs I used to make! Someone even bought the one with Holden’s Vintage Goods on it. Ha! I think they knew a Holden. I still have some price tags and business cards left over. I had the tags printed, corners cut and middle perforated. I stamped with the eraser of a pencil a brown circle at the top (to simulate a reinforcement seal) and hole punched in the middle to run the string through.
Well, it was a great ride while it lasted. I never made much money at it, but that wasn’t so much the point. Many of us became dealers to simply support our vintage shopping habits.
Enjoy the tour! Click to enlarge!
