For this week’s edition, we are reflecting upon past connections this Thanksgiving Holiday.

In Progressive Insurance commercials, Dr. Rick tries to save his students from becoming their parents.  As we all practice our own individual form of adulting (that cool new verb), we don’t want to be that person who can’t learn voicemail prompts or how to control the remote. It’s a funny commercial, in a cringeworthy way, but it acknowledges just the opposite:  the connection we all have with our past - our parents, our grandparents, our culture, where we came from or where we wish we came from.  Thanksgiving represents this reflection.  This look-back and look-around includes not only people and heritage, but their surroundings and the objects that represent heritage.  While Americans Marie Kondo’d the bejesus out of Covid, and supply chain issues mucked up plans for renewing interiors, a great discovery was made by even Dr. Rick’s most challenged students: ReCommerce! 

ReCommerce Example: Two antique dealers live on a deserted island.  Business is good.  (an old joke).  From eBay to Sotheby’s in the auction arena and from Facebook Marketplace to 1st Dibs in the buy-it-now marketplace, today is the time to jump into ReCommercing.  *ART (as defined in an earlier issue) is out there for your seasonal shopping pleasure.  If you start NOW, you will have all your gifts ready. Demand remains strong today for the best examples of vintage and antique collections and furnishings.  The ReMarketplace has been ReVived since Covid and ReMains vigorous today.

Seasonal ReCommercing / Sustainable Shopping of Vintage and Antique

 Tree Ornaments

Vintage ornaments and home décor can be found at Moving Sales for $2-20 each. Look for colored glass and unusual shapes.  Clips are a sign of age.  A true Christmas connoisseur will pay up to $100 for the most unusual forms.

Winter-Themed Items like Snowshoes

These Chippewa Snowshoes at the National Museum of the American Indian are a nice example of winter décor that is a three-dimensional work of wall art. Made of carved wood and hide, these are early 20th c. Similar items are found at auction for $50-200.

Judaica

This wonderful collection of pocket-sized Judaica sold a year and half ago for about $400, likely by a Goyim.  It was spelled Jewdaica in its description!  Included is a tiny Torah, two dreidels, three pendants, and a WWII Ghetto trench art ashtray, all in well-worn condition, which frankly, adds to its desirability to preserve history. Antique dreidels, by themselves, are a part of every Jewish home and can be often be found at estate sales and online for under $50, depending on medium.  1st Dibs has an e. 20th c. Polish lead dreidel for sale for $425 that’s interesting, but, not very pretty. Though not an antique, The Guinness World Record for Most Valuable Dreidel was achieved by Estate Diamond Jewelry in November 2019 and was valued at $70,000. It has a 4.2 carat diamond on its tip.

Nativity Scenes

Often displayed under the tree or on the mantle, manger sets have been a popular 20th c. tradition in Christian households.  The Nativity scene can be found in older forms such as paintings, sculptures and dioramas. As year-round décor however, they are less popular than the pop-up manger. This charming folk art carved wood grouping of Nativity characters by Helen Bullard Kreckniak (1902-1996, Ozone, Tennessee, working 1949-1982) sold IN TENNESSEE for over $2000.

Cultural Atmosphere

After more than one Thanksgiving of quarantining and overall malaise, this Norman Rockwell sketch titled “Thanksgiving Blues” which sold in Canada a few years ago for less than $2000, feels appropriate.  That said, may this Thanksgiving and Holiday time be better than the last few Covid (un)inspired ones.

-Authored by Lynn Magnusson, President + Heather Zises, Marketing Director

Know. Like. Trust.

www.TheMagnussonGroup.com