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I can appreciate your frustration Phinney. We have encountered this in the past, and I can't help but notice that this sort of activity is often seen on the TV programs and thus becomes "trendy", making sellers think that it will somehow bring more money as an altered piece that is "hip".
An unfortunate trend, for sure, but apparently profitable to some degree.
I’m mostly into old tools & assorted mechanical gadgetry type stuff. Many collectors will tell you “don’t clean things” you will ruin them. And there are those who sand blast or soak things in Evaporust, and yes that ruins them. The key to adding value via cleaning is to avoid leaving evidence of said cleaning. Leave it looking as though it has never needed cleaning, because it’s never been dirty. You may not make it look new but a lot of old things have a certain desirable patina look under the grime, trick is to remove the grime but leave the patina.
I’m mostly into old tools & assorted mechanical gadgetry type stuff. Many collectors will tell you “don’t clean things” you will ruin them. And there are those who sand blast or soak things in Evaporust, and yes that ruins them. The key to adding value via cleaning is to avoid leaving evidence of said cleaning. Leave it looking as though it has never needed cleaning, because it’s never been dirty. You may not make it look new but a lot of old things have a certain desirable patina look under the grime, trick is to remove the grime but leave the patina.
Yes, I agree if this can be done with finesse, but the piece has to be in such awful condition that it really merits doing this. My general rule is to leave things as you find them if you plan to sell them.
I’ve collected several antique sewing machines and preserved them as they are as much as I can. I take them apart to clean a century+ of old oil, grease and lint to bring them back to full working condition. They aren’t just to look at, they need to be functional and sew for me. My most recent, an 1892 hand crank, still had beautiful decals. I French polished the machine head to preserve the decals and prevent any more damage to them as the old shellac was disappearing. These machines can now continue to be beautiful, functional and useful.
Tampering with antiques will never be the same for everyone since the definition of tampering will be different for them and their level of acceptance of what can and cannot be done.
I wince when I see old sewing machines with metal parts that are polished on machinery to be absolute brilliant or even re-plated, but have realized people make machines into what they want. At least they aren’t stripping them, repainting them and applying new waterslide decals, making them look new and never used. Those people are better than others who spray paint them in bright colors that never existed at the time the machines were made and are decorated with modern pop decals. Then of course there are those who toss the machine and keep the treadle irons to top with a variety of materials to make tables. The next ring in hell is reserved for those who make lamps or tractors out of the machine heads.
It’s all subjective and the above is how I feel. I’m sure there are people who have antique sewing machines for display only with resale in mind and are horrified at people like me who use them to sew.
I’ve collected several antique sewing machines and preserved them as they are as much as I can. I take them apart to clean a century+ of old oil, grease and lint to bring them back to full working condition. They aren’t just to look at, they need to be functional and sew for me. My most recent, an 1892 hand crank, still had beautiful decals. I French polished the machine head to preserve the decals and prevent any more damage to them as the old shellac was disappearing. These machines can now continue to be beautiful, functional and useful.
Tampering with antiques will never be the same for everyone since the definition of tampering will be different for them and their level of acceptance of what can and cannot be done.
I wince when I see old sewing machines with metal parts that are polished on machinery to be absolute brilliant or even re-plated, but have realized people make machines into what they want. At least they aren’t stripping them, repainting them and applying new waterslide decals, making them look new and never used. Those people are better than others who spray paint them in bright colors that never existed at the time the machines were made and are decorated with modern pop decals. Then of course there are those who toss the machine and keep the treadle irons to top with a variety of materials to make tables. The next ring in hell is reserved for those who make lamps or tractors out of the machine heads.
It’s all subjective and the above is how I feel. I’m sure there are people who have antique sewing machines for display only with resale in mind and are horrified at people like me who use them to sew.
Many people didn't trust banks. Furniture, framed prints and goods that offered hiding places were utilized as hiding places for stashing cash. This was revealed to me decades ago when I began my hike on the collectibles trail.
Many people didn't trust banks. Furniture, framed prints and goods that offered hiding places were utilized as hiding places for stashing cash. This was revealed to me decades ago when I began my hike on the collectibles trail.
I just had to point out that your user name is one of the cleverest plays. Wonder if anyone remembers them?
There is a difference between appreciating an antique and the history that goes with it, and a fetish.
There is also a difference between complaining because work in an item has destroyed collector value, and work that has brought an antique back to life for current day and future appreciation. Some collectors are simply hoarders or those hoping to make a buck down the road, and not appreciators of the item itself.
Worshipping the ephemera of past generations is a poor substitute for properly studying history. Those things that were so substantially made that they were intended to be handed down AND USED through generations are legitimately cleaned and even modified, painted, reupholstered. That was the intent when they were made or purchased.
Much of the value in antiques comes from a desire to stop time in some fashion. There even have been movies like "Somewhere in Time" that play on the theme to the extreme. Ask yourself how legitimate that is when you see a cheap tchotchke from the 1950s for sale at an outrageous price.
Many of the kids today have recognized antiques as boat anchors stuck in mud that keep them from moving and experiencing their own world, which is radically different. Tearing apart an old bit of framed art is little different to them than tearing apart an old computer to salvage the power supply.
I don't much care for old junk that has had a coat of badly done paint slapped on it and then fobbed off as an antique decorator item, I have no space - physically or mentally - for a personal museum of an ersatz past.
Those "antique" cabbage patch dolls were simply a collector fad years ago, and if ninety percent of them were torn apart by wild dogs, MAYBE the rest would have value of some sort as a remembrance of silly times. The antique painting of some great uncle that nobody remembers has little chance of having any real value.
I get amused at the shows like "Antiques Roadshow" and "American Pickers." On AR, insurance value is almost always over three times the real value, auction estimates are between two and three times real value, and retail between 150% and twice real value - at that time. Their retrospective shows let you know just how volatile the markets are on most of the junk. AP shows how cheap "antique" stuff has to be to make it to market and make a profit.
Many people who are "into" antiques are simply not thinking about what life might be in a couple hundred years or more, and are less than stellar in guessing future trends. That early dot-matrix printer that got tossed out might end up being ten times more valuable than any sewing machine. I've seen the free road maps that used to be yours for the taking at gas stations being sold for thirty dollars and more. Antiques - hoards - piles of junk - it is all perspective (and marketing). The detritus of past civilization.
Last edited by harry chickpea; 01-09-2024 at 11:41 AM..
Keep in mind that a lot of what is called ”antiques” is inexpensive mass produced stuff, made to a cost target. It's not like you're talking about sawing the legs off one of the only two Chippendale commodes made by the master's own hand.
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