Newsletter-October 2004

Jan and John Maggs Antiques

Conway, Massachusetts

Newsletter -- October 12, 2004

Friends sent us this view of our home, snapped during a recent early-morning hot-air balloon ride.

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER

You may note that this month's edition is a few days earlier than usual. You'll also find that it's a bit shorter. As usual, it contains information about upcoming shows, excerpts from some letters we've received, another set of house restoration pictures, and a very funny story from a dealer friend. But this month you won't find any new inventory in the newsletter. This isn't because we don't have any; actually, we've found quite a bit in recent weeks. Rather, it's because our shop will be closed from October 12th through November 2nd. We hope to make up for this deficiency in the next issue, which will give details about our November grand opening and will contain pictures and information about several recent acquisitions.

UPCOMING SHOWS

After the whirlwind of the past two months, and with October Rhinebeck just behind, we have a month with no scheduled shows. But in November our busy schedule resumes, including the following:

On the 13th and 14th, we'll hold our semi-annual England homecoming opening.
One week later, on the 19th and 20th, we'll exhibit at the Wethersfield (CT) Antiques Show. More
At the conclusion of the Wethersfield show on Saturday afternoon we'll make a brief stop in Conway to repack, then head north to Hampton Falls, New Hampshire to test the new venue for Paul Davis' Yoken's market on November 21st. More
Our final show of 2004 is on November 27 and 28th (Thanksgiving weekend) at Staples High School in Westport, CT. More
Now that we're no longer doing December Wilton, we'll be able to open our shop more regularly in the weeks before the holidays. Next month's newsletter will announce our expanded hours during the month of December.

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

COMMUNICATIONS FROM OUR READERS

This month was an especially rewarding one for us in terms of reader response to our newsletter. We hope that this marks the beginning of a new phase for our monthly, in which the ideas, comments, and activities of our readers may be shared. In this regard, we invite your ideas, stories, and critiques. Here are excerpts from three of last month's e-mails that we thought might be of interest.

High on the list of positives was the decision of Horton Brasses to list our newsletter on their front page, feeling that their customers "will find it useful and interesting." Many thanks to Orion Henderson for this gesture and to the entire staff at Horton Brasses for their consistently high quality of products and service. Visit them at www.horton-brasses.com.

Our little piece on hearth cooking generated some interesting dialog.

Ellen Madison, who operates and teaches hearth cooking at Woody Hill Bed and Breakfast in Westerly, Rhode Island (www.woodyhill.com), posed this question.

At a recent show in Madison, CT, I bought something that neither the dealer nor I had ever seen. It's similar to a revolving grill -- long handled and on a three legged base, but it is a solid plate with a spout for pouring off the grease. What would one call it, do you suppose?

We've seen one or two over the years and have always assumed that it was just a grill for cooking semi-solid food. Anyone who has a more definitive answer might drop Ellen an e-mail through her website or to us.

Nearly two years ago we received an e-mail from a woman in Pennsylvania who was spearheading the construction of a copy of an 18th century home for her 20th century family. Jill had found us in an Internet search and needed period hardware -- lots of it. Though we've not yet met face-to-face, the association which followed this initial contact has continued through many phone calls and e-mails. When she read in last month's newsletter that we had decided to get out of the hardware business, she sent a friendly e-note, which included the following:

While reading that you passed off your period hardware to another dealer, it inspired me to write to you. Our builder showed our house to a prospective customer (interested in a Federal but wanted to see the details) 2 nights ago. In conversation they couldn't get over how "old" the hardware looked for it being "new". Well of course I had to set the record straight & mentioned how I purchased the antique thumb latches, "sight unseen", from a great couple in Mass. Just reminiscing brought back the excitement of opening your box up for the first time & uncovering these great pieces....
You might be interested in reading the little article written in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette back in February about our project. I do apologize in advance, for your names not being included. I provided a source list to the reporter & he took things from there. The link is http://postgazette.com/pg/04059/278609.stm.

This Month's Feature

In this issue of our newsletter, we offer the fifth in our series of twelve pictorial articles on our restoration of our home. This month's installment continues the earliest stage of reconstruction. Click on NEW ROOFS for a look.

Tales of the Trade

This month we offer a great tale told to us by dealer and friend Henry Callan as well as a footnote to "The Cradle Conundrum". Click HERE for the tale of Henry Callan, Fine Antiques.

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 mailbox.

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