Collapse of the Antiques World

Like everything else the world of antiques collapsed, but in advance of everything else.  I felt it coming in my field around 2000 and was sure the end was near during my last trip to Paris in May of 2005.  It was apparent that after 9/11 that bringing home twenty cartons and or trunks of antiques on the plane with me was going to end.  Andy and I were in Paris during 9/11 and had been there buying antiques for more than a week. We were  packing them for the trip home when the tragedy appeared on television for the world to see.  We were not scheduled to fly home for another week, so we were not panicky at that point.  On the following Monday our flight was the first one, and the only one, to leave Charles de Gaulle since the attack on America.  It was eerily quiet in the airport with armed French guards on alert as we stood quietly in line to present our paper tickets. Our driver was Moroccan and he always worked with us hauling it all to the airport and through the lines to help with the trunks.  On this particular day people kept moving from our line to another line and I don't know if it was because of him or because of the load of bags and cartons that scared them. The place was dark and spooky and everything made everyone nervous.  But, strangely enough, it was the fastest and easiest trek through that airport we had ever had.  No questions about the bags or purchases; they just wanted us on the plane and gone...that's what we all wanted too.

Yesterday a dealer from the UK appeared on my Facebook page and I asked her about the plight of antiques in England.  This is her sad reply:

"I don't think many of the older dealers are still around - although I do not bother going into London any more and never go to the doll shows now - Camden Passage is virtually gone just a few shops and a very tiny market up at PierPoint - the Georgian Village gone, Angel Arcade gone , Bermondsey market is very small and Portabello is nothing like it used to be - Newark is run by another company and is very poor first day now tends to look like the last day used to - or even worse - NEC show was on a couple of weeks ago - I haven't done that one for about 20 years and yet I got about 4 phone calls asking if I was interested in taking a stand !! - Friend of mine from Israel went and said it was very expensive - but then it always was." Jackie Casey (England)

Everything is cyclical and antiques of any variety have had their special time to shine, but for every field to collapse at the same time is really unusual to me. I had seen shops closing and dark clouds hanging above Paris as well--the shimmer was gone from the world of antiques and it was time for me to hang up the tote bags and get a real life.

In case you do not read the David Lebovitz posts he had something I'd never seen before and I thought you should know about LAMB MELONS. He was stunned and so am I.  I guess you roast this round and it must contain ground lamb.  Leave it to the French to present something beautiful and unusual.