Be Inspired-Get Inspired-Be Inspiring

                                         What inspires you as you go thru life?

Of course being an Antique Dealer I have to mention that I am inspired by being an Antique Aholic. Hunting for or finding that something special for myself or a customer is my all time high!! I also enjoy the research and the never ending learning that I feel compelled to do, so I can share with others. I am also inspired by the stories others tell when they have antiqued and the thrill they feel when successful.

Also spring is my favorite time of year so of course that always inspires me anew every year. A rebirth from nature to remind us things are always changing and growing as the seasons past.

                                The first breezy day with sunshine and you have the urge
                                                to walk barefoot in the grass maybe?

                                How about working in your flower beds and then reaping?
                                                 This one definately inspires me.

                                        Or maybe do some project outdoors in the yard that
                                               you were not motivated to do before.

Or how about that laundry hanging on the line blowing in the breezes?

                                And those Roses, my oh my what a sight, and the aroma!!

    
                                       Have you noticed or thanked your neighbors for their
                                                        hard work in landscaping?
                                   Let them inspire you and inspire them with what you do!!

                              Always be inspired by your friends, family, and loved ones!!

                                       Please don't forget to look for that hidden gem
                                       hiding or appearing in the most unusual place!!

                                                       This photo is a perfect example.
                            This clematis is growing amongst the weeds on an abandoned lot.
                                         So should I dig it up today and give it a good home?
                                          Or should I leave it as an inspiration that beauty
                                                           can be found anywhere?
                                                        I am still pondering on this!!

                      Whatever you do Be Inspired- Get Inspired-Be Inspiring


photos provided by the yard and neighbors.

A Light Bulb Moment!!

Have you ever had a true Light Bulb moment?
 A moment where you can see and understand something clearly after researching the subject or having someone discuss the subject with you. Or maybe something happens around you and all of a sudden a Light Bulb comes on and it becomes obvious to you what it all means and what the ramifications will be. After having this Light Bulb moment you can't wait to share with someone, maybe everyone, but they don't always comprehend or have the Light Bulb moment in return. With a truly Light Bulb moment thou you can't and don't stop sharing because you need to share to the benefit of others. You want to see the gears turn in their head and see that instant when they grasp it and have a Light Bulb moment also.

So what am I leading to here? Some of the same ole same ole stuff I have shared before about Buy Local and what that means to a community. I know some of you are thinking, will she ever shut up,move on,get over it? (Sorry No) I had a Light Bulb moment and believe strongly, the urge to share will not go away!! So today I'm sharing Ten Reasons for Buying Local from The New Rules Project. Here we go!!

              Top 10 Reasons to Support Locally Owned Businesses
 
1. Local Character and Prosperity
In an increasingly homogenized world, communities that preserve their one-­‐of-­‐a-­‐kind businesses and distinctive character have an economic advantage.

2. Community Well-­‐Being
Locally owned businesses build strong communities by sustaining vibrant town centers, linking neighbors in a web of economic and social relationships, and contributing to local causes.

3. Local Decision-­‐Making  
Local ownership ensures that important decisions are made locally by people who live in the community and who will feel the impacts of those decisions.

4. Keeping Dollars in the Local Economy
Compared to chain stores, locally owned businesses recycle a much larger share of their revenue back into the local economy, enriching the whole community.

5. Job and Wages
Locally owned businesses create more jobs locally and, in some sectors, provide better wages and benefits than chains do.  

6. Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship fuels America's economic innovation and prosperity, and serves as a key means for families to move out of low-­‐wage jobs and into the middle class.

7. Public Benefits and Costs
Local stores in town centers require comparatively little infrastructure and make more efficient use of public services relative to big box stores and strip shopping malls.

8. Environmental Sustainability
Local stores help to sustain vibrant, compact, walkable town centers-­‐which in turn are essential to reducing sprawl, automobile use, habitat loss, and air and water pollution.

9. Competition
A marketplace of tens of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-­‐term.

10. Product Diversity
A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based, not on a national sales plan, but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.

New Rules Project   www.ilsr.org

Have any questions ?  You can contact us with those questions here locally,  New Albany First an Independent Business Alliance that shares Buy Local information. Or visit us on our facebook page or our website.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG-S11leG-Y

                   
                                                http://www.na1st.org/       

Transferware China

Just what is transferware?

Transferware is any pottery with decorative elements applied by transferring a pattern from a copper plate to paper and then to the pottery itself. Transfer prints are found on china, ironstone, and porcelain. There are tens of thousands of transferware patterns.

One of the most recognizable and most common is Blue Willow.

While blue is the color most commonly associated with transferware, it was produced in other colors. Some of these include red, pink, purple, cranberry, brown, black, green, yellow, gray and various shades and combinations of these colors.

Transferware was originally a cheap alternative to expensive imported pieces from China. It first appeared in the late 18th century, but became extremely popular in the 1820s and 1830s. Transferware has been made continuously since that time. Most of the transferware found today was produced in the last 50 years, but earlier pieces are out there.

Alot of people are familiar with the Blue Willow pattern,some do not know it is transferware. The pattern is the most widely recognized and probably the most common as well. Many are attracted to its deep blue color and attractive pattern. The beauty of Blue Willow is that old and new can be easily mixed. The Blue Willow pattern tells its own story.

As the tale goes, long ago, a Chinese Mandarin, lived in a wonderful pagoda under an apple tree on the right side of the bridge seen in the pattern. He was the father of a beautiful girl, who was the promised bride of an old but wealthy merchant. The girl, however, fell in love with her father’s clerk. The lovers eloped across the sea to the cottage on the island. Her father pursued and caught the lovers and was about to have them killed when the gods transformed them into a pair of turtle doves, seen at the top of the design.

The Blue Willow story is a nice tale, but it has no real basis in fact. The pattern was not created to tell the story, instead the story was told after the pattern was designed. According to different sources the tale was made up by either the British or American manufacturers. A wonderful 19th Century merchandising scheme.

Blue Willow is only the beginning, however.
Dating transferware can be difficult. Many of the early pieces are unsigned. Many patterns made in Great Britain between 1842 and 1883, however, were registered with the Patent Office in London. The registration marks on the reverse of these pieces can be dated. British transferware made between 1890 and 1920 usually has “England” printed on the back. After 1920, the mark became “Made In England,” older transferware often has richer and more plentiful color than later pieces.

Values for transferware vary greatly. Early or rare pieces can run into the thousands of dollars. Price tags in the hundreds are not uncommon, but there is a great variety of transferware available in the under $30.00 price range.

Transferware to some is the most beautiful china available. Single plates and serving pieces are great for display. Partial sets are attractive on plate racks and in china cabinets. Many also like to mix and match pieces on their table or add with solid colored china. .

Another highly collected transferware is what is known as Historical transferware. Made between 1818 and 1830, these dark blue printed wares are highly regarded because they illustrate important places and commemorate historical events of the early republic. These are usually the highest priced and prized. Photo example

—This 17-inch long historical blue transferware platter was sold at auction April 23, 2007, for $12,000. The platter is from Thomas Mayer, Stoke, circa 1830.

All photos except for the Historical Platter (photo #3) shown are available in our shop plus many more to choose from.

Home Decor---The 4 R's Repurpose,Rethink,Reuse,Recycle

Every once in awhile I make a post showing Antiques & Collectibles being used in ways not done before. The 4 R's--Repurpose, Rethink, Reuse, Recycle.

Be original in your homes decor, let your home reveal to others your personality, sentiments, and creativity. Antiques & Collectibles can blend extremely well with all types of decorating styles. Here are some more photos to entice you to consider something old used in a new way to enliven your homes spirit.

Very Elaborate Project--Love of Worn Suitcases and Great Storage

Really look here--Drums as end tables, Coffee table for Bench at end of bed, framed doilies or quilt pieces as a Headboard.

Hang old Paint by Numbers in a specific theme as shown or mismatched.

How about an old screen door used for the Pantry or old glass doors as the front of a cabinet or bookcase?

A large grouping of postcards framed together make a huge statement.

Or maybe some small drawers hung with a photo of a loved one and a momento.

Old jars are great not only for storage of practical things such as sugar,flour,tea,cotton balls,detergent etc but use in any room to showcase small collectibles such as marbles.

Encase items with alot of memories.

Light up an old light fixture in a new way.

Use small galvanized containers for an indoor garden of herbs.

Or if you have a substantial collection of one type, display them together for a bold standout statement.






The morale of this post. Motivation as you Spring Clean your home. Use the 4R's of Repurpose, Rethink, Reuse, Recycle.

New Albany--A Vision--A Dream

Before I share with you a vision, a dream, a desire, or a hope, I will first share how I came to be in New Albany, a small somewhat sleepy Rivertown.

My parents moved to Jeffersonville,Indiana as I began the 4th grade. My father whom was burnt out from his corporate career had decided to become an Independent Business and chose Jeffersonville. Many different reasons led him to that decision, all of which I do not know. What I do know is that at the time he felt Jeffersonville showed promise for a small business because it appeared as if it was a thriving small community with growing potential. Also he could afford to buy a home for a reasonable amount, which would be their first home purchase, compared at the time to surrounding areas. They also sensed a good down home feeling for raising a family.

Prior to choosing Jeffersonville my father took a huge gamble, he quit his job, security for himself and family, not a common practice at the time. If you had a good job and were succeeding, why leave that security, after all people took jobs and kept them hopefully for a lifetime, giving all they had, being apprecitive, and mostly loyal. As he found out that was not always a returned favor, or maybe he had a midlife crisis, I do not know for sure but he must of felt strongly to take such a risk.

An Aunt of mine had a very successful Independent Business in Bedford, Indiana, sooooo we moved from Ohio into her home for 1 year so my parents could learn as much as possible about the business before going out on their own. This Aunt was a successful business woman and very well respected in her community. She learned how to be sucessful the long hard way, on her own with many sacrifices not only for her own life but for those in the family and community in which she lived. As she mentored my parents and supported our family I admired and stood in awe of her. My fathers salary was slim but she was giving of her knowledge and providing a roof over our heads and food on the table. As a young child I didn't fully understand the scope of it all but I knew it was beyond the call of duty and it inspired and lead me in ways I couldn't understand until many years later.

My parents purchased their first home in downtown Jeffersonville,where the business was attached from our kitchen and using a payback government loan began a new life. My father read and studied any and all books the library had on remodeling a home and began to do so self taught. As he did all that was possible to provide us a decent home he was also running a small business. As the good parents they were, we girls had a good life and were taught you work hard, sacrifice, and do whats right always, never expecting or demanding more than you earn.

To make a long story short the business was not the success he had hoped for or as my Aunt had experienced. After a few years my father returned to a full time job and my mother ran the business, for additional income, as a lunch time only Pizzarea, serving pizza by the slice to hungry high school students. Thus I received the nick name at school as the pizza girl.

Now back to my vision, dream and hope. I graduated high school and began a career with a good job and great benefits, following the ideal of working there until retirement. Believing my strong work ethic and loyalty would benefit me and it did to a certain degree. I was respected and successful in my endeavors but never really happy or fulfilled. The whole time just doing what needed to be done in life, not thinking on or realizing the past influences from my Aunt and Parents, or how those influences were about to become my reality.

As I became more dissatisfied with my career and life, without alot of planning or thought I found the one thing I loved, Antiques, and somewhere along the way leaped out and began doing business on the side. I rented booths in Antique Malls and filled them up, then I began to travel and sell at shows all the while thinking it was for fun and love and not a business. A hobby which feed my love and lust and took care of itself financially. After several years I decided that was really all I wanted to do so I left my job of 23 years and started a full time business. I had decided it was all or nothing, I knew I could always get a new job if things didn't work out so leap I did. Now let me add to that I strongly believe that if I had not loved what I was doing for so long on the side I probably would not have taken the risk or been successful.

While traveling and selling at shows I built up a customer base of other dealers and customers from all over the United States, whom would seek out my booths in the Antique Malls and buy from me.

I developed a very good relationship with another Antique Dealer who became a mentor to me in the business and also a great friend whom I think of as the big brother I always wanted. He is the one who actually got me to travel and do shows with him. He is my business partner today, still a mentor and my big brother and best friend. He has lived in New Albany for many many years. We would talk about New Albany and what potential we saw in it. We questioned and debated why it wasn't living up to its potential?! We came up with many reasons and excuses and much sadness.

One day I told him I was tired of paying the malls booth rental,commission, and being a part of so many of the Antique Malls being filled with junk and crafts. The Malls were renting booths for the money to anyone and allowing these so called Antique Dealers to fill their booths with anything. Sounding snobish, maybe, but it was hurting the business of Antiques which I love.

His response, lets go back to the good ole days and open a private shop of our own. OMG Scary,risky but inticing. Where would we open this shop? Location it is said is critical! Would the customer base we had built follow us where we choose? Will the overhead be more than just renting booths and paying commission? Would this endeavor influence or hurt our friendship? It is one thing to do what you love on the side like a hobby and be able to afford the expenses and reinvest all you make back into that hobby, but be successful enough to not only reinvest but make a so called living!! How many sacrifices are we willing to make concerning the time and devotion involved in running our own place? On and On the questions went, some answered but many not!

Now because of the many discussions we had in the past about New Albany and the possibilities we saw within and for her, the choice was made. Some of the same feelings my father had had about Jeffersonville I felt toward New Albany. What I saw and was taught by my Aunt and the community she loved also deeply influenced my decision. Ok, also the overhead in a small dead downtown was good as long as we could have the faith in that town and feel good that our customers would follow us.

We have been open in downtown New Albany for 9 years, our current location 6 years. We have seen many other small Independent Businesses come and go during that time frame. In the last couple of years finally they seem to be staying and succeeding. The reasons so many did not succeed are many, and the reasons we have are many.

I share and tell you all of this for many reasons also. New Albany please have faith in yourself and community. Do whatever small thing you can to help your community grow and prosper. Work around and grow from the past experiences you have had in this community, you will be blessed deeply. Let the naysayers hold you back or give you a feeling of defeat and New Albany will be what they say. We can be bigger and better than we can even dream or invision with co-operation and hard work. I have the faith, I'm starting to see what my partner and I so long ago discussed and debated and hoped would happen.

All of these thoughts came to mind because of a blog I read today. I do not always agree with the author of this blog, his methods or his politics but I do respect his zeal, sincerity, honesty, frustrations, love (yes his love), dreams, hopes, and some of his vision for our community New Albany.

If you would like to read this same blog here is the link

http://cityofnewalbany.blogspot.com/2012/03/independent-locally-owned-businesses.html

AMERICA SEDUCED part 3 the END

ANTI-TOBACCO MOVEMENT 1893-1927

There have been many anti-tobacco campaigns just in my life time alone. Regardless of which side you are on, history shows it has been an ongoing move from the very beginning of tobacco use in America.

Our nation for decades did tolerate a spittoon in business offices and in the corridors of our Congress even. Our country presented 11,000 cigars to General Grant after one of his Civil War victories.

Then for the first time in our history,business men,clergymen,leaders and legislators joined forces against tobacco in America. They started the anti-tobacco campaign first mostly against cigarettes. As they chewed,used snuff,and smoked pipes and cigars, the evil was cigarettes. Why--the rumors were spread that cigarette tobacco included opium and the paper wrap had arsenic. WOW

Beginning in the 1880s banks and railroads prohibited cigarettes but not cigars or other forms of tobacco use. For the next three decades cigarette smoking was proclaimed to be a form of moral shame. Smoke a pipe or puff on a cigar showed your manhood,smoking a cigarette was for sissies or women of a bohemian persusaion. Plus smoking cigarettes could lead you into crime or other unpleasant desires or habits,and possibly give you "cigarette insanity".

A country that so loved tobacco and believed it had many pleasures and health benefits began to question as to why they had allowed cigarettes to gain a respectable foothold in their society. Cigarettes were attacked because they were inhaled,the opinion at the time was they were more harmful than other forms of tobacco use. Science later proved the harmful effects of tobacco were worst when used in other ways than the cigarette.

Those starting the war on cigarettes were small unorganized lots,most could be found in the ranks of temperaence and suffrage groups. Organizations like the Anti-Saloon League,founded in 1894, and the Women's Christian Temperance Union which opened lobbying offices in Washington,D.C. in 1895. They grew to exercise alot of political power. They stirred the national conscience and made demands to lawmakers for drastic social change. States passed laws prohibiting the barter,sale or giving away of cigarettes and papers. These restrictive ordinances found widespread approval at first as they were convinced rightly and wrongly all the problems with cigarette smoking. While scoring impressive triumphs legislatively,there was,in the end little to show for all the hard work. Enforcement was very poor and void in some areas,plus so many legal loopholes involved. The largest strike against all past and present reforms against tobacco;
Politicians Legislating Morals--Considered UnDemocratic--Citizens Rights

Following the passage of an anti-cigarette law in Indiana in 1905,the editor of Outlook Magazine wrote; "It is entirely legetimate for a democratic community to exercise whatever authority may be necessary over great organizations,whether of labor or capital,to prevent them from violating the rights of the individual. This is something different from exercising control over the rights of the individual which do not violate the rights of others,and from the injurious effects of which he is the chief if not the only sufferer. Such an act as this..does much more harm than it can possibly do good,for it tends to arouse the American spirit of independence against law, and so to promote the spirit of lawlessness."

ca 1895 Narcoti-cure anti-smoking poster (Quake quick fix medicine for beating the addiction of smoking tobacco)

With most states having anti-cigarette bans and laws,the public went underground so to speak,like what happenened in the prohibition of alcohol.
While the anti-cigarette movement caused a temporary falling of sales for national consumption from 1897 to 1901,the tobacco manufacturers recorded growing numbers of consumers with each passing year! The consumption of cigarettes in the United States alone in 1924 had increased fifty-fold since 1899.

What really killed this three decade long fight against tobacco (mostly cigarettes) was WW1. "Tobacco is as indespensable as the daily ration;we must have thousands of tons without delay." per a cable sent in 1918 by General John J. Pershing,commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in France,to officials in Washington. "Send us cigarettes and more cigarettes!" was the plea of soldiers in their letters home. Tobacco and the military have always been an alliance when it came to a battlefront. General George Washington was one of the first military leaders to observe that soldiers well supplied with tobacco actually fought better. Influence of tobacco on soldiers was given credit for crushing the French during the Franco-Prussian War.

During the war American Army doctors sent home glowing reports on cigarettes and their uplifting properties,helped to build morale,reliever and solace to pain and suffering,more so than any medicine could. Many of these soldiers came home after the war addicted to cigarettes,some paying the price with lung cancer. Plus our Government pushed and promoted tobacco with public drives for getting tobacco to our soldiers. They cryed out with promos such as "Just as Important to place a cigarette in a soldier's mouth as a rifle in his hands." "Buy tobacco as well as War Bonds." High school girls formed "sister clubs" whom made contact with our soldiers in Europe and mailed tobacco supplies. On and on it went and once again tobacco was loved and seen as patriotic.

During the 1930's despite the great depression,nationwide sales of cigarettes climbed steadily here and abroad. Tobacco was number three among all exports. Cigarettes had become our largest revenue producer and brought in three times as much revenue to tobacco manufacturers than all other forms of tobacco.

AMERICA SEDUCED part 2

By 1900 America was a nation of smokers. How it began is explained in America Seduced part 1, which I posted earlier this week.

How did they do it? Mass advertising like never seen prior and premiums (items given free included with the product or received later)!!

Here are some of the items used to advertise,such as posters,trade cards,packaging and premiums given.

POSTERS

INSERT TRADE CARDS (all types appealing-Movie Stars,Famous People of the time,Patriotism,etc. Also the very 1st Baseball Cards). Customers loved the images and many were framed or put into scrapbooks.

PLAYING CARDS

TOBACCO TIN TAGS (Discovered by accident for the use of advertising. Original purpose was to label tobacco brands in the 1870s by pressing into compressed bars or rolls of tobacco before being sealed to prevent inferior grades being illegally substituted)

LABELS & PACKAGING

There are many many more things I could list about premiums such as watch fobs,coupons,fans and on and on.

What alot of people find interesting today is the fact that from the beginning there has always been opposition and the attempt to ban/outlaw the use of tobacco. What that means is,regardless of which side you are on with our attempts today to ban smoking,it has all been said and tried before.
America Seduced part 3 will explore The First Anti-Tobacco Movement in America (1893-1927)