Witches of Eastwick, I mean Morgantown Market.

It’s that time of year when we participate in the former Witches of Bethel Show, now the Witches Fly North Antique and Artisan Show at the Lebanon Expo Center. I love this show, and our store uses it as a team building exercise to show our dealers how to work together, accept help from others and put aside the old kernel, “There are no friends at auction.” or in this case antique show.

Let me fill in some details for you, cue Mr. Peabody’s Way Back Machine. As a kid I never had...

Those of you that have been to Morgantown Market know I mark the bathroom with an old bed pan that says, “Relax”. If you’ve ever used a bed pan you see the irony in that label. Where did the bed pan evolve from? Let's go back in time (cue Dr. Who Music)?

Chamber pots were used to relieve oneself at night in order to avoid a long walk to the outhouse and have been found as far back as the 6 century BC in Greece and the Edo period in Japan.

What we see now in antique shops are pieces and parts of sets that were calle...

I haven’t written a blog in a while, so as I sit on the porch on this beautiful morning, I find myself full of gratitude for the many blessings in the Thompson family and thought I would share them. The Hubs is back in school, working on his Masters in Organizational Design and Leadership. I see a lot of analysis in my future. Kelsey is still in Pittsburgh and loving it, and in a few short weeks, Best of the Batch (the non-profit she works for) will be breaking ground on a larger facility. My son Kendal is home for a coupl...

The hub is at spring turkey hunting camp, and I couldn’t sleep last night, I read the descriptions of Marie Kondo's book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up on Amazon and decided I needed to do some Spring cleaning. I didn’t read the book or watch the videos, but I feel I’ve read enough and spoke to people who did,  that I could implement it.

 I started small just after breakfast when I cleaned out the hall coat closet. It smelled of feet and old wool. After clearing out all the of my shoes, and everyone else’s I fo...

Recently we had o​ne of our older merchants pass away. It was unexpected and left the Morgantown Market family with a missing piece. Her family was devastated. She was the glue that held everyone together. Once all the good-byes were said the process of cleaning out began.

It is heart-wrenching to have to clean out a lifetime of memories and treasures. It’s especially hard when an antique dealer, merchant, crafter, or saver dies.

Many families don’t share the enthusiasm for the ”stuff.” Consequently, details about booth spac...

Did you see the news that Nike has self -lacing sneakers? At a price of $350 per pair. To quote the Kia guy, “That’s crazy!”

So, I have to ask myself, did people have the same conversation when we switched from button shoes to laces?

Let’s toss in a little Jeopardy trivia; modern shoelaces were invented in 1790.

in this case, Modern being defined as having the aglet on the end which means needle. Aglet is Latin by the way. I feel like I have to footnote some sources, so I’ll add them at the end. Another Jeopardy tidbit, laces...

I’m 4 days into a 7 day cold, on my second snow day, have watched way to many  conspiracy videos on Youtube and eaten all the good snacks (The ones I hide from the hubs). I’ve come to the end of my procrastination and have no other choice but to write my blog.

Stealing an idea from Elle Decor where they ask a home designer or celebrity, “What 8 things can you not live without?” The answers vary French pastries, Opal and Pink Tourmaline earrings, Silver Spoon Warmers (It’s a thing), incredible...

Most days I play a little Antiques Roadshow at the store. Dealers and customers come in with an odd piece they found at auction or a clean out and ask me, “What is it?”. I often have enough knowledge to be dangerous and the rest I make up. Just kidding I look it up.

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Today I brought some miscellaneous serving pieces. Most of the time I check to see if its sterling or silver-plate. However, the serving pieces were elegant and unusual, and I enjoy the history hunt for its origin.

 In my research, I found some other interestin...

This time of year can be a letdown; the holiday frenzy is over, decorations come down, and the cold weather sends shivers of rain or snow. 

In Antique co-ops, it seems to be the time to bid farewell to friends, that have become family. (We’ll miss you, Lynn.) Owner’s do the booth space shuffle, and there’s always the seasonal maintenance; wall patching, touch up painting and carpet cleaning. Then there’s cleaning out the hoard, but that's another blog. Yikes, that last one gave me a mini panic attack.

Anyway, this time of ye...

I don’t know about you, but I’m a sleeper. I love to sleep. My dream job requires me to move, and to be on my feet most of the day, which results in the exhausted kind of sleep that keep the sheep up at night. Then there are those evenings when I wake up, and my brain kicks on, That's when I start to flip the channels to  Mannix and Cannon on METV. If it’s later, or earlier I watch 77 Sunset Strip, which is just an hour long add for Bottany 500 clothing for men. Anywho, tonight’s a no sleeping night, I’m not feeling the TV...