The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-01-15
TALES OF ANTIQUITY ROW.
PEPPER BOXES THE THING THAT
GOT ONE DEALER THERE.

AEoNn NNADk y
with Some Collectors Dinner.
Antiquity Row Is seven blocks long. l
reaches from Twenty-third street to Thirtiett
street on Fourth avenue. Inside of those sever
blocks there II q round dozen OF ANTIQUITY
ahops. and inside of those shops are enough
ANTIQUITIES to make q thoughtful peraon won
der where In the world they all eame from.
Perhaps the less-one-knows about where
some antiquities oome from the moro one will
enjoy having them. Some were real and were
given up with tears and heartaches. Others
were manufactured for tho antiquity trade.
which they have duly reached. 1t is moro
than whispered that many Of these have
reached Antiquity Row itself. and that the only
STORY" pertaining to thom is the one the
dealer tells OF their origin.
'oh." sighed one OF these antiquity men. talk
about the camel going through the n"edle's
oyoi That's nothing to trying to be an hon
est antiquity dealer. / try to be one, but l
confess it's moro than ! onn manage some
times. II isn't that / sell reproductions
and say they are ANTIQUES. That's common
enough around here. but l haven't fallen that
low. But there are the little romantic touches
that customers fairly demand. Take that
sofa, for instance. That's . genuine old piece
Of furniture. but nine out OF ten customers
won't buy IL simply as an antique. II I'll
stick on q bit OF made-up history. though.
they'll buy It and pay mo $40 moro for 1t into
the bargain. Do Won wonder that I'm tempted
to romance a little2
"UnIess n man IA an sxpert IL doern't nav
him TO 20 poking around and buying things
whore he can't depend absolutely on the deal
er's word. How often can he do that? Well.
II I told you the truth about that. you'd know
that honest antiquity dealers are scarcer than
honest lawyers by a good long shot. There
nesS . 1u UN" SUI. N'o
are some. though. III tell you this. AS
the hnsiness for the love ~ II ia bonsst-
u pusi n y II W u ue
that's all he does have and he gathers that
slowly. He doesn't handle limitations be-
eause-well. it is torture to u genuine connois-
seur to have such things around him. But he
doesn't get rich. He pays too much for what
more and more things.
naVe ~ mlnu no" Two to"['h avenue
ueaiers' potn honest mon ana poth compara-
. mvelS y poor poor though @ o tmey nave been In the bust.
orIn;n u raad 80 !. - 49,
.liEin. ne useu 70 DC a vino merehans down
town and he made q lot OF money which he
spent in collecting antiques. He had the reck-
iessnese OF the true collector and he actually
ruined himself by spending all his earnings
and moro. too. on his collection. He failed in
the wine:businoss and found himself with
nothing but his cutios and his Knowledge of
them. He turned his collection Into a stock
ana mas oeeh IN the business ever since.
The other Is an Englishmau who used to
. AZ. - . So'eo1ion
MS W ana .thon dtnted Int. the business.
He. l think. was the original Fourth avenue
dealer. l don't know how long he has been
hare hut 7 knov tbat .no.hor = - ~.
bsen on a. the auerus " . dnnsn Ssa map !. VINO mas
cd as a, mushroom. He isn't a mushroom
thought emphatically nMushr9qmS arc
nothing particular about antiques beyond the
fact that: i he labels a thing old, and charges
picture in his place and asked him what it is
Oh. 1 don't know. If you want it for four
dollars you can have it.
That Is all the interest he takes even in his
dealers have no respect for such men. but they
have a kindly feeling toward one another. As
He is tying n to corner enpe the the mas market Ee@ in S shst pay:
ticular thing. and the other dealers help him.
deals % aimeste ScIa SnSeiS'f N 8 sh piiSaiaJtTf pia aaGt her
other in French goods. another has three spe-
] suesisn s ss1ss D 1t st Pissh ssn and Sd, Ses &, p mug Ii 4 ,
ciSi line. '"' '"'"H' "n'on are IN his SD0-
EXAMPLE aa,eis q Of fG a @an OF w dSsiS Sas have a sh tS5lG ip q . tds
street. lust out OF Fourth avenue sA' To caiI L a
Ing whore the man and his wife and his dog
live among their:curios in regular English
fashion. The dealers who have such estab-
lishments say that the casual passerby. who
curiosity. is Improbable and only interferes
Hence this exclusiveness.
The man who introduced this custom drift
ed into the business in the same haphazarj
with a blue pepper box.
man. with my aunt over in New Jersey and
an :. old bilue1peP9er box which stood on; the
antiques as | know about the moon, but Tor
some reason developed = mad longing to pos
however. and the more she olung the more I
craved, until finally. after several years ma
'neuvring. l actually acquired my hearts de-
sire. Having started on the downward path.
80 to speak. / kept on In my mad career.
bought more pepper boxes and still more until
had thirty OF them ranged along our mantei
In a cheap little fiat in Ninth street.
One night a friend cast his eve along the
line of pepper boxes and declared Thai he fnew
2. man that would give me $500 for them,
Humphi sell my pepper boxes? Neyerl Mat
WAS what I said. but my wife had a diferent
opinion. We were saving up money To 20 10
Europe then AID she pointed out to me that
$500 would como In acknowledgements sold
the, pepper boxes. Then wo locked up the fiat
and sailed for England. To show you what a |
madness takes hold OF your true collecto-wa