freshvintage

Seven Tricks to Convince Your Kids that Antiques are Awesome

Since opening the brick and mortar freshvintage shop in March, our family life has changed quite a bit. Chris works at the shop when it is open (Thursday through Sunday) and typically spends Monday through Wednesday hunting for new inventory. I work full time at a software company during the week, and spend at least one day a weekend at yard sales, flea markets or estate sales.

Our shop is doing better than we expected, which means that we need to keep buying. Sometimes, our two kids have to spend a few hours at the shop with Chris on the weekends while I shop for fresh inventory. And occasionally, we drag them to flea markets. Which is akin to taking them along with me to the gynecologist. No one ends up having fun.

Hence, the coolness factor of having parents who own a shop has been gradually wearing off for the kids. We want to pump it back up, so that the antiques business doesn't become something that they dread. These are some of the tricks we are using to keep them interested. Most involve some type of small bribe - but all good parents know that bribes are sometimes our only hope for sanity.

1. Give them seed money

When we go to flea markets, we give each of the kids five dollars to find an item or two to sell in the shop. In the beginning, we would steer them towards certain items that we knew were cheap, but would still get them a small return when sold. After a few visits to the flea market, they quickly learned what sells in the shop, and they keep their eyes peeled for the moneymakers.

Maeve found a cute plaid tin picnic basket for $3 and a metal floral frog for $2. And both kids FREAKED OUT when they found a pile of vintage tennis rackets for a dollar each. They've since sold for $10-$12 a piece.

During the summer, we stopped at a flea market on the way to a camping trip. Maeve bought this Czech strawberry creamer for $5. We're selling it in the shop for $12, so she'll get to keep that profit. Although, it took a lot of explaining for her to realize that she'll only get $7 and not the whole $12. 

 

Finn found three 1930's issues of Popular Science for $5. We already sold them in the shop for $4 each. 

My next goal is to convince them to reinvest their profits in new inventory. But they'd rather spend it on apps for their iPods. I guess I can't blame them.

2. Pay them to do your dirty work

When I found over a thousand flashcards at a yard sale, I knew that I needed to sort them to get an idea of what I had. And I had to figure out the best way to sell them. So, I paid the kids a few bucks for each stack of 50-ish cards that they sorted in alphabetical order. Everyone was happy, and it ended up being relatively fun for all of us. Well, maybe not that fun.

 

 

3. Let them play 

We try not to be overly stressed out about letting them run around the store and play with our (mostly not breakable) inventory. It keeps them occupied, and out of our hair for short spurts of time.

You can usually find them sitting at the kiddie table, playing Button Checkers.

   

Or, they are running around the store with cheerleading megaphones over their heads, bumping into things. Or modeling aprons and playing "Vanna White"...

 

4. Teach them how to research the value of items

My ten-year-old, Finn, has known for a while that I've sold Legos on eBay. In more recent years, I've been giving him the sets that I find at yard sales instead of selling them. He has amassed quite a collection, and plays with them almost every day.

But he's no dummy - he knows that some of his minifigs (Lego people) are worth more than others. I taught him how to search for Completed Auctions on eBay (under my supervision).  He spent a whole weekend figuring out which minifigs sell the best. We decided to get a group of 30-40 of them together, and put the whole lot up for auction.

I took pictures, and he wrote out each of their names, and which sets they were from. 

 

We sold the lot for $82! He's obviously itching to try it again. And, as a side benefit, he's being a little more respectful of his toys, since he thinks they will make him rich eventually.

5. Play guessing games

I love to show my kids a strange old tool or utensil and let them guess what it is. Like this one:

Do you know what it is?  (Here's the answer.)

And this?

If you follow me on facebook (or have severe nasal congestion), you already know. Finn though it was a tiny urinal, since he had seen these before:

6. Encourage them to start a collection

This is a work in progress for our kids. Finn used to collect Pez dispensers, but he says he is too old for that now. (Try telling that to the grown men going nuts over them at flea markets.) Maeve doesn't have any real collections.

I want them to enjoy looking for specific items when we go to a flea market. And find a category of vintage finds that speaks to them. Unfortunately, because of my "Give them seed money" trick, the only things that are speaking to them are the ones saying, "Sell me in the shop and make money! Don't put me on a shelf in your bedroom. That's dumb!"

And, so, I am still working on perfecting this trick.

7. Trick them into helping

I gave Chris the day off one Sunday, and brought the kids into the shop with me. By the end of the day, the kids were bored out of their minds (even after way-too-many apple cider donuts from the farmers market next door and hours of playing on the playground and petting the goats).

When I let them know that we were 20 minutes from closing the shop for the day, they frantically started dragging our outdoor stuff back into the store. They're smart enough to know that the quicker they get the stuff inside, the quicker we can leave. I didn't have to lift a finger, and we were able to close the shop on time.

I had to grab my camera because I had never seen such a spectacle.

I've also tricked Maeve into thinking it's fun to stamp hundreds of tags at a time.

She does it free of charge, so I don't strive for perfection.

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So, do you have kids that you are trying to assimilate into your antiquing world? I would be happy to hear any advice that you can share!

Tool Safety Charts for Pregnant Dummies

As promised, here are a few more finds from our trip to Madison Bouckville...

These were our biggest purchases. And I just about died when I saw them. Three mid-century anatomical wall charts that were in a college lecture hall: the brain, the heart and eye/ear.

This "55 or Bust" basketball game is dated 1924. Chris and I both played basketball in high school, so we love anything vintage basketball. He thought I overpaid for it ($30), but I did a little research when we got home, and saw that the same game sold for $120 on an online auction (not eBay). We won't price it that high, though. Because we like to actually sell stuff.

We bought this blue beadboard wall cupboard and the wooden roller skate case in NY. Chris already sold the case to a member of a local roller derby team. So cool! The Havertown Beverage crate and seltzer bottles were PA purchases.

Have you ever seen a Scamp? It's a brand of fiberglass travel trailers. This is a nameplate that was pulled from one. They date as early as 1971, and are still being made today.

I also found Keith's Theatre Dress Circle tag - I think that was handed out when you checked your coat. Keith's opened in 1901 in Philadelphia, and was renamed the Randolph Theater in 1949, so I'm guessing that this is from the thirties or forties.

And then there's the 1949 Girl Scout catalog. So many cute things! I love these colorful handkerchiefs and headbands (although the ginger girl scout looks likes she crazy-glued her eyelids open):

Look at this hot babe in a Girl Scout bathing suit. Not conducive to fetching firewood, I reckon.

Here's the real reason I bought this catalog: the beat-up camera ad on the back cover. I found the same Kodak Girl Scout Jem Jr. camera on eBay - it sold for $76. I guess I'm not getting one anytime soon.

More safety charts!

"Pack a wallop?"  It's called ELECTROCUTION.

I find it hard to believe that this guy really broke a limb...that ladder is not very tall. 

He looks like he's trying to break the wood with his eyebrows. I think he did this on purpose. He likes it.

This one brings back a terrible, horrible memory of my own eye injury...

No, I wasn't operating a grinder while wearing a necktie. I was installing Pottery Barn shelves while 41 weeks pregnant.

Twas the night before my scheduled c-section with Maeve back in 2004. (Just for context - Finn was born 17 days after his due date via c-section, weighing in at 10 lbs 7oz. I didn't want to go that late with Maeve and risk giving birth to another toddler, so we scheduled a c-section seven days after her due date with the high hopes that she would be born earlier).

Maeve's nursery was pretty much complete. But at the last minute, I decided to hang a pair of Pottery Barn wall shelves that I had just bought at a floor sample sale. I HAD TO GET IT DONE. It was 7pm on the evening before my 7am appointment to give birth. I busted out my electric drill and got to work.  

The walls had ugly paneling that we had painted lime green several weeks earlier. As I drilled into the paneling to create a hole for the screw, tiny daggers of pressed wood shot into my eye. I didn't have safety googles on because I was filled with pregnancy hormones that made me do really dumb things. (Please note: As soon as Maeve was born, I became a genius again.)

We had our neighbor watch 20-month-old Finn while Chris drove me to the very same hospital where I was set to give birth in 12 hours. I waited in the Emergency Room for an hour, bawling like a baby the whole time. It really, really hurt. Like, really a whole lot. I don't know any other way to describe the pain, other than it's like when someone pokes a stick in your eye, but that's not a very good analogy.

Here's where my vintage anatomical chart comes in handy:

Keep in mind that I was ENORMOUS. No one in the ER knew that I was there for an eye injury - they assumed that I was about to give birth, crying from painful contractions. Some of the patients were concerned that they were going to have to help me give birth, right there in the waiting room. I think I saw a few of them nervously gathering towels and bowls of hot water.

When I finally saw the doctor, I made him promise that whatever drops he was going to put in my eye would not prevent me from giving birth the next morning. I didn't want to fall into the Finn trap, where the doctor keeps saying, "Oh - you're fine. Let's wait a few more days", and then I give birth to a baby hippo.

After he assured me that my plans wouldn't have to change, the doctor dropped some type of liquid crack into my eyeball and the pain stopped immediately. I asked him if I could take it home, and maybe drink it or sell it on the streets for extra diaper money. But he said no - it was too dangerous. He said that people actually try to steal it from the ER. I still wonder what that magic drug was called. (I was dumb back then, so I can't remember the name).

I went home and took this stunning photo of myself.

I woke up the next morning, feeling good enough to welcome a baby into the world without the need of an eye patch.

 

The moral of the story is to never poke holes in crappy paneling without eye goggles on the eve of giving birth. I hope that by sharing my story, I've helped at least one person out there...

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Don't forget, Philly folks! We'll be selling at Clover Market on Sunday from 10am to 5pm. Visit the website for the complete list of vendors...it's a looong list! Also, if there is something you've seen on my blog or Facebook page that you want me to bring to Clover, please send me an email or facebook message.