Jan and John Maggs Antiques

Conway, Massachusetts

Newsletter -- July 15, 2004

Some Conway neighbors passing by our house as they exercise their team on a Sunday morning in July.

SHOP TALK

Between the publication of our last newsletter and now, we've had time to be at home, enabling us to devote our spare minutes to the gardens and plantings around the house. We probably don't need to remind most of you that the past winter was unusually harsh. We've replaced many perennials, weeded our heads off, and are now in the middle of rebuilding the entrance to our shop, replacing tired, old bricks with slabs of Goshen stone.

The buying trips we've taken have been quite productive, as the new inventory listed below will affirm. Last week we exhibited at three shows: two at Brimfield, then in Manchester, Vermont at Hildene. Brimfield was typical for July--modest sales, and good buying. Linda Turner's Hildene show continues to decline; last Saturday's gate is best described as unimpressive, and most who came exhibited little interest in buying. Still, the weather and setting were close to idyllic, and we managed to buy several things, some of which are highlighted below.

Business in the shop has been strong, due to local customers and dealers from all over the country, for which we continue to be grateful.

Featured Inventory

Between Brimfield, Hildene, and our pickers, we've begun to replenish our badly depleted stores of furniture and smalls. Here's a sampling of our new stuff. Click the highlighted text for details.

Upcoming Shows

July has been a busy month. After our week at Brimfield, immediately followed by Hildene, we still have a week in the shop before the mid-summer edition of Rhinebeck on July 24. more....

This summer we have three shows in August:

 On the 6th and 7th, we'll be back in Little Compton, Rhode Island. more....

The following weekend we'll be in Stonington, Connecticut. more....

Two weeks later, on the 28th and 29th, we'll be exhibiting at Hancock Shaker Village in Hancock, Massachusetts. more....

To see a complete listing of our show schedule for 2004, click HERE.

This Month's Feature

In this issue of our newsletter, we offer the second in the series of twelve pictorial articles on our restoration of our home that began last month. Starting with our discovery of the derelict property 19 years ago, each installment illustrates a phase of the demolition and reconstruction which have occupied us in the intervening years. This month's chapter shows the barns and outbuildings as we found them in 1985. Click on OUTBUILDINGS: SEPTEMBER 1985 for a look.
 

Tales of the Trade

This month's Tales of the Trade was provided by Alexandra K. Barnes, the nine-year-old granddaughter of New Jersey antiques dealers Anita and Jim Henson, who were our neighbors at May's Antiques Market in Brimfield this past week. After two days of disappointing sales--typical of this July Brimfield--Alexandra walked into our booth to entertain us with the lyrics she had written, which sum up the way many dealers on the field felt by Friday afternoon. For Alexandra's song, click here.

Links

To visit the Jan and John Maggs Antiques website, click HERE.

For directions to our shop, click HERE.

To e-mail us, click on the envelope.

For past issues of this Newsletter, click the links below.

Visit our newly redesigned Links Page by clicking HERE.

Thanks for taking the time to read our little monthly. As always, we encourage you to e-mail any comments that might make the newsletter more useful to you. Just use this link.

And we thank you for being a customer.

John and Jan