Preserving our Past

I am of the age that I find myself saying "when I was a kid" and yet I remember how annoyed I was when my parents and grandparents said things like that.  As I get ready to start thinking about retirement I find myself looking back at how we did things when I was young and all the things I learned from grandparents and parents.  My Grossmama always made sauerkraut, a Mennonite lady that truly believed if you couldn't make it you didn't need to eat it, in a huge crock and sometimes had pickles in a crock in the cellar.  Although I don't do that I do remember pounding cabbage and waiting for it to ferment enough to can.  For most us now crocks are largely decorative and are not used for food processing.

It is interesting to research how and when things were made and where they were produced.  For us it is keeping the history alive that keeps us looking for the next piece of pottery.  It has been a fairly quiet summer on the collecting front, it is not that we were not looking just that we never saw anything.  For a change this year we traveled into eastern Canada and I was surprised to not see anything other than an odd crock or Gaylord piece in any of the dozens of antique/flea markets we went to.

The photos in the blog today are the main books I use for reference material and I have notes written in them and marks beside certain information...they are well used.  Ron Getty has several books that are sometimes available at the Museum in Medicine Hat and the book by Richard and Jean Symonds I think I actually found on an online auction site.  We don't collect lamps but there is also a book available that has lamp information.

There have been many people that have also been a great resource for us and we cannot thank them enough.  Although many collectors are helpful there are lots of collectors that are fairly silent and do not share information easily, it takes time to meet them and build a rapport. 

I have added a couple pieces that we picked up early in the summer.  As fall is upon us there is a whole new set of antique show and sales for us to check out and keep us out of trouble, once winter gets here and it gets cold I just may hibernate until spring. 

Here is a blog for everyone to check out:  http://www.editingluke.net/2019/09/clay-creativity-comeback-documentary.html

Until next time.....happy hunting!

And the Search Continues......