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- This
column by John Cosway is a mix of 50 years of media memories
and 15 years of buying and selling experiences via live and online
auctions, flea markets, antique stores and markets etc.
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- By John Cosway
- The old man with the thick, curly beard
riding a horse and wagon up Euclid Street didn't get much respect
from children growing up in midtown Toronto in the 1940's and
1950's.
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- We called him the ragman.
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- As kids, we didn't hesitate to talk
to Joe the Fruit Man because he gave us free apples and let us
feed his horse. We also talked to the ice man because he would
chip off pieces of ice for us.
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- And we were more than happy to talk
to "Happy" the milkman because he gave us chocolate
milk when we helped with his deliveries.
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- But we never approached the strange
guy who collected "trash." Never spoke to him, never
knew his name, never asked about his horse.
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- Years later, we gained a new respect
for the ragman when we learned he had a wife, two daughters in
university and a house in Florida.
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- My father, Fred the house painter,
who took courses in psychology, said it was an early lesson in
respecting people for the work they do, not how they do it.
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- Coincidentally, about the same time
we were ignoring the ragman, I was fascinated by things people
were putting out with the garbage. Found a nifty shell of a wooden
wall clock one day and took it home only to see it thrown out
with our trash.
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- When an elderly spinster on our street
died, most of her belongings ended up on the street in burlap
bags. I opened one bag to find a stereo-scope viewer. Took it
home, but my mother said we couldn't keep it because the woman
might have died from a contagious disease.
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- Today, while posting on eBay, I often
think of those dozen or so burlap bags and wonder what the stereo-scope
and all of the woman's other unknown items would fetch 50 years
later.
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- Which is a segue of sorts into the
wide world of buying and selling in the 21st century, where the
recycling of goods still ranges from "trash" to high
priced antiques and collectibles.
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- Long gone are the horse and wagon ragmen.
They have been replaced by enterprising men and women driving
cube vans who post signs soliciting your "junk."
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- I certainly have more respect for people
in all levels of the buy and sell business.
- After working for newspapers for five
decades - from Toronto Star carrier to Toronto Sun reporter -
this writer quickly gained admiration and respect for dealers
in attending auctions, being a flea market vendor and consigning
items in stores.
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- While I had some weekend flea market
experience in the 1970's, selling used records and other personal
items at a Richmond, B.C., drive-in theatre, my knowledge of
the buy and sell business was limited.
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- My first auction was a going-out-of-business
sale for a friend's father in Hagersville, Ontario, in 1986,
but items purchased were for her, not me.
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- One fine spring day in 1991, during
an afternoon drive, a Les Brittan evening auction sign
in Hastings caught my eye. Filled up the car for $24.95 and I
was hooked. Also became a regular at Don Corneil's auctions
in Little Britain, Kahn's barn in Pickering, Humes in Milton
etc.
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- When Editor Sandy suggested
we name this column Cosway's Corner, it was déjà
vu all over again. While working the rewrite desk at the Toronto
Sun in 1991, decided to take in some of my Les Brittan and Don
Corneil auction buys to test my buy and sell skills.
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- I used a corner of my desk for the
sale of smaller items like CDs, LPs, radios etc., and it was
soon tagged Cosway's Corner. Some of my appreciative customers
included Christie Blatchford, Jerry Gladman, Gord
Stimmell and Paul Heming. Management thought it amusing.
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- What a kick it was to buy something
for a dollar and sell it for $5. This son of a socialist had
a renewed respect for the capitalist spirit.
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- My respect for dealers on all levels,
from flea market vendors to antiques dealers, has since grown
immensely. I got to know them at auctions, as a fellow-vendor
at the defunct Port Perry Flea Market and by participating in
the occasional antiques show.
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- It is a labour of love for most dealers
and the labour involves constant restocking at auctions - in
the blazing heat of summer through the bitter cold of winter
- plus arranging for estate appraisals, consignment bookings
and other time-consuming efforts.
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- Everything they do is designed to keep
buyers satisfied and coming back for more. Dealers we have talked
to say all they ask is respect their efforts
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- Ed Colbran
probably speaks for most people in saying respect comes with
time and experience. He was a Micro furnace vendor for nine years,
has been a flea market owner for 12 years and a show organizer
with 18 shows under his belt.
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- "For the most part, they seem
to understand the effort my wife and I devote to the market and
to our annual antique show," says Colbran, owner/manager
of the M.B. Flea Market in Lakefield since 1994. "Since
a lot of our regular vendors have been at M.B. for 15 to 20 years,
and many have been in most of our 18 shows, I assume they must
appreciate what we do."
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- Colbran says while he sometimes feels
"we are all masochists for being in, and staying in, this
business," he has few beefs about vendors and customers.
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- Laura and Douglas Harding, owners of the Southworks Antiques in Cambridge,
were dealers at small antique malls in Ontario and a couple of
antique malls in the United States before launching Southworks
in 1994.
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- "It seemed like a natural progression
for us to establish an antique mall," says Laura. "We
felt as dealers who had sold directly to customers at shows,
we also had a good handle on what to expect and provide for our
patrons as well."
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- She says respect comes with cooperation
and communication.
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- "We have 120 vendors - a variety
of new and veteran vendors," says Laura. "Do we respect
them? Of course, we do. We are in business with these people.
We need each other to make it work. Anyone we do have issues
with is asked to leave the mall as a vendor.
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- "Most of our dealers have been
with us for years. We really enjoy working with them. Dealers
who work to keep their booths clean and well displayed, who bring
in fresh, interesting and quality merchandise regularly are the
ones who do the best and the ones whom we hold in the highest
esteem. They are the same dealers who appreciate and respect
the efforts and hard work of our staff and the mall in general."
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- When asked to describe the perfect
vendor and patron, Laura said:
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- A - Enthusiastic
- B - Knowledgeable
- C - Motivated
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