I have fond memories of my mother putting together mine and my sister’s hope chest.  She must have had the master list directly from Queen Victoria, everything that a young lady needed to run the perfect household had to be included.  Starting with the china, crystal and flatware, she scoured every sale and flea market to find all of the perfect components.  I guess it was like our dowry, to show that her daughters were proper young ladies.

I was always a little envious of my sister’s china pattern.  She had been awarded Stangle’s “Fruit”.  It was so beautiful and would match everything.  I always in front of her referred to it correctly as pottery just to show that it was not china, being the older sister I never wanted her to think she had something better than me.  My pattern was Homer McLaughlin’s “Wheat”, real china or not I hated it.  Who really wants a set of china with a stalk of wheat in the middle?  There was no future temptation for me to add to the set, let along remove it from the china cabinet.

I really am not sure if my Mother gathered these hope chest’s for us because it was a tradition or to satisfy her collecting bug?  My Mother was self dubbed a “Dealer of fine Antiquities”.  In other words we went to every yard sale, she bought, and we went to every Flea Market she sold.  It was a constant cycle that spanned my youth.  I enjoyed spending time with her and also buying and selling myself.  I especially loved to help her look for costume jewelry and became so good at it other seasoned dealers would demand to see what I had found on my scouting runs while my Mother was manning the booth.  I of course would comply with the hopes of learning something new with my show and tells.  They would often try to buy my new found treasurers out from under my own Mother!  I learned so much about vintage jewelry, what was going to sell and how to fix pieces that where in need of restoration.  I always admired and wore certain designers and period pieces but I always dreamed of the day I would receive gifts of real jewelry and receive my much anticipated hope chest.

In my early adulthood I received my hope chest, I promptly unpacked everything except for that undesirable china.  I did not start out finding the right man to share my hope chest with but I did enjoy a career of selling real or fine jewelry on a national level to Jewelry Stores.  My Jewelers would laugh when I would get excited to see the new Eisenberg Ice pieces that came in at Christmas or the Miriam Haskell sets that had arrived in time for Easter.  I got rush seeing the new collections of costume jewelry in a sea of fine jewelry.  I personally found the fine jewelry to be boring without history or the personality a piece of costume jewelry had.  The temptation bite me, I started collecting vintage costume jewelry without really realizing it. 

 Ironically this career in fine jewelry brought me to Minnesota along with my entire hope chest which included that box of china still in its originally packing box from when my Mother had lovingly packed it decades before.  I finally found that right man, settled down and had babies.  I did decide not to travel so much for work and followed my temptation and became a vintage jewelry dealer.  I did decide to confide to my Mother how much I disliked my china, wanting to clear my conscience without hurting her feelings.  I donated the china to charity in its original disintegrating packing.  I did not feel bad or guilty for a minute I had done everything right, I had been truthful, found the right man and gave her three grandsons.  I also knew I could rid myself of the set when my Mother a week earlier had presented me with a replacement set dishes.   Correctly referred to as pottery, she brought us a set of Stangle’s Amber Glow, their only Scandinavian pattern.  My hope Chest was now perfect and my new Scandinavian descended husband could only agree.  Now I sit back and admire my husband’s array of beautiful Stangle Birds and complete, with the original framed magazine ad, place setting for twelve of Amber Glow we now have.  I guess one collector creates another or the temptation just bite a new collector.           

This past black friday my family and I decided to make a road trip through the Southwest portion of Minnesota to my in-laws farm.  My gracious husband understands that I love to stop at all the Antique shops I can along the way.  He asked if I had my "Old Times" in the car.  "The old Times" is the Minnesota newspaper for the antique business.  Wonderful full color newspaper full of stories, information and advertising.  They do a great job of creating routes with each shops advertisement and little maps that you can use to plan your trip.  We hit the road.

The first stop was a charming shop in Eden Valley, MN called "Lost & Found".  I have three little boys so I always appreciate a kid friendly store with nice owners.  This store was unique in that they had old and new, not blended but separate into departments that were very organized and shopper friendly.  They had a nice array of jewelry and my boys found some tiny snow globes and of course candy.  The owner of the shop spoke of his on line and brick and mortar business.  Lovely people, lovely shop.

The next stop was in Paynesville, MN called "The Antiques Cellar".  A multi dealer shop full of clean, organized booths with lots of light and free of dust.  The gentleman running the store was charming and full of stories which of is always a contest for me.  I found some pretty pieces, my oldest son found that Star Trek figure mint in the box he had to have, the husband and younger two found the car early.  I always get that text "Are you done yet"?  Lots of vintage glassware, collectable and furniture.

We flew through Spicer, MN, I went to church, which is what I think the Belltower Antique Mall was at one time.  I literally walked in and out, they were busy and unfortunately it was cloudy out and dark in the shop.  I will have to stop there again on a sunny day.

By the time we got to Wilmar, MN,  McDonalds was the first thing we looked for.  Happy meals in hand, I left the three plus their father in the parked car and headed into L & J's Antiques downtown Wilmar.  Nice shop that has a lot of curb appeal from the outside.  Inside they had a nice array of items.  One case with several nice pieces of jewelry, I bought my share and thanked the lady who was busy working on her computer.

There are two more shops in Wilmar that I did not have the heart to ask my husband to stop at, one is D's Old Town Antiques and Long Lake Antiques.  I knew I was done antiquing for the day, I needed to get my now cranky family to Grandma and Grandpa's.

You can check out the "Old Times" on the web at www.TheOldTimes.com, it is a very useful tool for planning your trips and also not to mention the wonderful information it has about antiques.  There are two other towns on "The Prairie Potholes Antiques Trails" that have advertisements that we did not see that day but I am very familiar with.  The first is a very small but chalked full store in Granite Falls, MN called "Prairie Mercantile".  They have it all, glass, pottery, jewelry and dab of furniture, very friendly and clean.  The other is "Past Reflections" in Montevideo.  This is right downtown and is a large multi dealer mall with just about everything you could hope for.  Both of these stores are a must see.  I see each about four times a year.  I never leave empty handed.

Thankfully we made it home with all of our goodies.  I have separated out what goes where and how much it will be.  I do appreciate all of the malls I go to because I need inventory for my own venues and I am usually carting around one to three children so waiting in line for a number at a tag sale or going to yard sale to yard sale is out of the question.  I do better going into a shop and paying more just to preserve my sanity.  I also want to teach my sons this entrepreneurial skill that my mother taught me plus maybe add three future collectors to that ever smaller pile.    

As we all prepare for the "Black Friday" shopping date, I think it is good to remember that sometimes the best gifts don't have a "Sale", "50% off" or "Seasons Best Price" on them.  With all the hype and hustle bustle I think we get sucked into this old marketing ploy.  I call it a huge Hassle.

Vintage jewelry is typically one of a kind pieces that can be added to an estate not the seasons fads that will be discarded at the next summers yard sale or Thrift Store Donation drop.  It is a piece of jewelry with a history that can easily become your families history.  Let me share a wonderful story with you.

When I was a little girl my mother love of jewelry was strong.  She loved real, fake, anything that was unique and sparkling.  My best memory was her watch fob bracelet.  She had this heavy gold filled curb link bracelet that was full of all kinds of wonders.  So interesting not just for a little girl but every person that saw it had to look at it.  It was full of history.  Each fob represented a special occasion to my parents as it was what my father bought her.  He searched out every unique fob he could find to give to her for holidays, anniversaries and of course Christmas.  Being a young girl I wanted to know when he had bought her each and would drive her nuts asking.  She would patiently relive each fob for me.  As I got older I became interested in what each fob was originally intended for, maybe a look at the proper Victorian gentleman that had the fob on his watch chain or the Edwardian lady who wore the locket to showcase her true loves photo.  These original owners history became our history and made the bracelet all the more interesting.

For years as an adult I have begged, tried to steal or borrow her fob bracelet.  She secretly recommended to my own husband that he should put one together for me.  Over the last several years he has assembled this remarkable piece of family history.  I am now reliving my own Mother experience.  I thoroughly love my bracelet and the time I have spent weaving family history when I talk about it.  Thank you Mom and Dad for a wonderful piece of intangible history that was lovingly passed down for my family to enjoy and treasure.  Forget the "Black Friday" hassle, you'll find me and my family at the local Antique Mall weaving more history for our family to enjoy.        

My last post is a video of the new arrivals on my Ruby Lane and Trocadero stores for the month of November.  Easy to do, use your Windows Video Maker, purchase your music and piece together your pictures.  I like to tell a story.  I see it like I am putting on a fashion show of vintage jewelry!  I then use a venue such at You Tube to post the video and invite my customers to preview it.   Costs nothing but the music and your time. 

I like to use this to capture new customers who might not look for jewelry in the second hand market.  I don't think anyone is really recreating the wheel out there, vintage is well made and also a nice investment, not disposable like most of the new stuff being produced off shore.  The demographic of You Tube is the hip15-35 year old crowd, these are the future collectors that are starting to drive the second hand market.  They currently are looking for decorative pieces for the home at Estate and Occasional sales for their homes. 

Either way it is fun and I like the music, I hope you enjoy the show.  You can also check out some of my other videos at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI3NwHg2uQY

November New Arrivals at www.TheVintageJewelyCollection.com

My name is Lorinda Judge Ims.  I reside in the beautiful state of Minnesota, when I say beautiful I mean it is beautiful March through October, the rest is just plain tundra.  I grew up twelve hours south of here in a different growing zone so I am sure you can understand my distaste of the November through February tundra environment.

I was was born into the antique business.  I have fond memories of going to every auction, yard sale and flea market that was available in a 100 mile radius of my home.  My Mother sold anything that from fine antiques to vintage jewelry.  I always was interested and love the vintage jewelry portion.  I would help her find, repair and sell all of the sparkling beauties.  I was often guilty of borrowing, for long periods of time, pieces that I would wear and accept all complements on.  I learned so much about the business and about how to successfully run your own business.  These skills helped me in my adult life to be a skilled manager of customers and people, more importantly myself.

I am currently a dealer in the Minneapolis area.  Information about who I am and where to find me can be found at www.TheVintageJewelryCollection.com.  I specialize in vintage costume jewelry with a flair for European pre- WWII pieces.  I find jewelry to be a work of art that has taught me a lot about history.  I am an contestant student learning new things everyday about my industry.  I love to share knowledge not only about jewelry but about the world of antique as well.

What I want to accomplish with this blog is several things.  Keep everyone abreast of what is going on in the vintage jewelry industry, review many of the antique malls and shows I attend and provide an entertaining venue of this sometimes crazy business.  I hope you will consider subscribing!