Copyright 2011 Kimberly Clay

“We’ve been to a lot of auctions, but we can actually understand you!”

Bluegrass Auction and Appraisal Owner Filson Graham on the Success of his Business

THE BEGINNING

In 1999, Filson Graham qualified for early retirement and started Bluegrass Auction and Appraisal, the modest auction business he had been dreaming about since he saw his first auction at age 19. “I immediately fell in love with it. It was almost like a sporting event to me. It had that competitive feel to it, and that stage theater feel to it. I said, ‘When I grow up, that’s what I want to do.’”

Then, his business enjoyed widespread media coverage when he was hired to handle the estate of the late Jim Varney, comedian and actor, most widely known for his portrayal of the iconic Ernest P. Worrell in movies like “Ernest Goes to Camp” and “Ernest Saves Christmas”.

The media coverage from that event helped to put Bluegrass Auction and Appraisal on the map, but Graham says his business’ enduring success has little to do with it. “If I could afford putting my name on the billboards and color pull-outs and brochures it would do nothing more than people telling people,” he says. “Ninety-five percent of what I do is because a friend has heard of me, or a past client.”

THE PROCESS

Graham has done numerous estate sales, and not all of them include or focus on antiques. Going into people’s homes and selling their things means he ends up with a gamut, from fine home furnishings down to farm equipment out of garages. Many of the items from estates happen to be period antiques, but that isn’t a prerequisite.

Graham’s process involves first consulting with potential clients about the estates. He says many of those client prospects expect him to come in and tell them how he does things. That’s not how he operates. Approaching each job with an attitude of never knowing what’s going to happen helps him be more flexible for his clients; so instead of having a “process”, he lets his clients tell him what they want. In some cases, they want more control over the estate, going through it themselves and giving him only what they decide to sell–in other cases, clients don’t want to deal with anything; they hand him the reins. It is in these cases, he says, that many of the most interesting, and most valuable, items are found.

“It’s when we find things in drawers when we’re packing up the estate,” he says. He recounted one such situation, in which he stumbled across an antique silver coffee pot. “Anything can be engraved with anything,” he says, so he didn’t pay much attention to the year–1846–engraved on the inside. It was when he saw the letters “Lex, KY” stamped on the bottom that he invited a colleague, an expert in coin silver, to look at it, and was told it could sell for up to ten thousand dollars. In the end, it garnered $25,000!

This is the story he tells people who worry that their item will go to auction and only sell for five dollars. He reassures them by telling them that auctions bring in a “group of people that have enough knowledge that they are going to bid a fair price.”

THE “JOB”

Graham’s actual job description is “a little fuzzy”. He sometimes finds himself in more roles than simply “businessman”. Quite often, his clients are in stressful situations when they contact him, as in the death of a loved one, and tensions can run high. It is in these moments that he finds himself in the role of counselor and confidante in order to make the client’s overall experience with the auction process as pleasant and efficient as possible.

He also feels a great responsibility to expose the excitement of the auction to as many new faces as he can. He still puts modest ads in the newspaper, but with a decided effort to use contemporary forms of marketing and communication, he has expanded his word-of-mouth campaign to include social media tools like Facebook and Twitter. He also posts regularly to Craigslist online classifieds, and he now offers bidding by phone and internet. “I grew up with auctions. To me it was such a natural way to acquire things and liquidate things… I was in the minority. I made it my pledge: I want [people] to know about auctions. I want them to enjoy mine, to enjoy other people’s…it does become a little social center. We have so many people that have their ‘auction friends’.”

Graham says his business has had ups and downs, and that things have definitely gotten tighter since the onset of the current recession and auction prices dropped; however, Bluegrass Auction and Appraisal continues on — “people still passed away, there were still estates to be sold.” And so far, his job continues to surprise him. His favorite time is when he’s walking up to a potential client’s door, the second before he knocks. “You have no idea what’s on the other side of that door—to me that’s the most rewarding part of what I do. They look to me to give them insight on what to do.”

Filson Graham spent forty-five minutes on the phone with me, positively beaming about his business, and it’s clear why. His desire to help clients and auctiongoers in any way he can runs as deep as his love for the spirit and thrill of the auction. “We have just grown, quite frankly, beyond my wildest dreams. I am extremely proud of this business.”

We invite you to visit Bluegrass Auction and Appraisal LLC:

Bluegrass Auction and Appraisal LLC
1387 East New Circle Road
Lexington, Kentucky 40505
Phone: (859) 389-8650
Mobile: (859) 552-8488
Fax: (859) 389-8660
Website: http://www.bluegrassauction.com
Email: Contact Bluegrass Auction and Appraisal

Nessa Conley Speirs is a freelance writer based out of Pittsburgh; she has a Bachelor of Arts in writing from Metropolitan State College of Denver and is working toward a Masters of Fine Arts in writing from Carlow University. She has had work published in a number of online and print publications and is currently a writer for the Hillman Center for the Performing Arts in Pittsburgh. A lover of thrifting, vintage kitsch, and antiques, she is thrilled to have the opportunity to write for CentralKentuckyAntiques.com.

For many collectors, Fostoria glass is a seductively beautiful obsession that deserves all the attention it gets. Objects of great beauty deserve recognition, and part of the fascination of these wonderful objects d’art is that they are well within the budget of any collector. So what is it about collecting Fostoria glassware that persuades so many people to become involved in it?

Fostoria glass ranges from beautiful stemware available in a variety of vibrant colors – most are presented in varying shades, and you will look far to find any in a single color – and offer the collector a fabulous range of designs. However, in saying that, what are the distinguishing features that characterize Fostoria glass from any other type of glassware?

In fact, as a collector, the question you should be asking is ‘How can I tell that this is genuine Fostoria glassware that is worth me purchasing?’ Here are some answers to that question, although like collecting any form of tableware, you must beware of copies, and also of new releases of such stemware when you are unaware of its history.

Testing Fostoria Glass

First, the Fostoria plant got its name from Fostoria in Ohio where it commenced production in 1887. It moved to Moundsville in West Virginia in 1891 and continued manufacture until 1993, when it was bought out by Lancaster Colony. The Fostoria plant finally closed in 1986, and anything dated after that is not Fostoria, although the designs may have been used by other firms.

True Fostoria glass contains phosphorus impurities and you can test for this by using a black UV lamp in a dark room: Fostoria glassware will display a faint yellow light emission caused by the effect of the UV light on phosphorus, while Whitehall glass, made by Indiana Glass, will not.

There are other tests you can use to identify genuine Fostoria glass or crystal, including the fact that Fostoria was made by pouring the glass into moulds before cooling, the genuine moulds having three seams. Others used only two seams or were blown without any seams. There are also several design differences between true Fostoria and others manufactured to a similar design. More on this later.

Benefits of Collecting Fostoria Glass

One of the benefits of collecting Fostoria pieces is that there are plenty designs and color variations. You can focus on collecting specific pieces – such as only vases or wine glasses, specific colors or color mixtures, and also collect them by age. Whichever you decide to focus on or even just to collect Fostoria glass pieces period, you have a marvelous selection available to you.

Another benefit is that you don’t have to look too far to find Fostoria. You can find pieces in a large number of antique shops, flea markets and even online from antique stores, individual sellers or even eBay. This type of typically American glass is not difficult to collect.

Fostoria Glass – Examples of Collectible Pieces

During the 1930s depression era, certain products were subsidized, including glass. The Fostoria Glass Company was one of those offered a subsidy to manufacture glass, and the product marketed through this subsidy is known as ‘depression glass’. This was pressed into molds, and was particularly brittle, and although most pieces have now been broken or chipped, perfect examples of this Fostoria Depression Glass are now very collectible.

It was frequently used for prizes at various stalls, and the movie theaters would often give pieces of Depression glass to their patrons and advertisers. However, the most prized glass during this period was the Elegant range of stemware and dinnerware. The Elegant line was given a much superior finish to any of the other Fostoria glassware, and would normally be finished by hand, the surface fire polished to remove any rough areas on the surface and to remove any mold marks.

The designs would be acid-etched and rendered smooth, while the bottoms would be ground flat and smooth to produce a high-quality finish that was smooth to the touch, much like the high quality crystal of today. The Elegant line was produced from the 1920s to the 1950s and is a very collectible range of Fostoria glass.

American or Whitehall?

Most collectors tend to collect the colored stemware, although others like to collect examples of the pattern known as American or Whitehall. The problem is that the American pattern continued in manufacture after Lancaster Colony took it over using Fostoria Molds, but Indiana Glass also made the pattern, or a very similar one, calling it Whitehall.

There are certain manufacturing differences that render the two forms of glassware of a different quality to each other. The Whitehall bases are less flat, making the pieces less stable, and a different mix of minerals was used to make the glass itself. The molds are different and overall, the Lancaster or Fostoria American pattern and the Indiana Whitehall versions are discernibly different.

However, if you use the tests as described then you will see the difference. This simply adds to the fun and enjoyment of collecting Fostoria glass which is just another example of how collecting in general can be thought-provoking and provide you with challenges.

Find Fostoria Glass in central Kentucky shops!

In its heyday, Weiss Jewelry offered stylish costume jewelry at affordable prices, so affordable, in fact, that many believed it must be of low quality to be so cheap. Nothing could be farther from the truth, although the founder, Albert Weiss, did decide to market a low end and a high-end range of costume jewelry.

Weiss had originally worked with the Coro costume jewelry company before he decided to leave and set up business for himself. His company was founded in 1942 as Albert Weiss & Company, using Austrian high quality rhinestones, clear glass, colored glass stones and faux pearls, the range being particularly prized in the 1950s and 1960s.

Before they shut their doors for the last time in 1971, the Weiss company had produced a beautiful range of fabulous costume jewelry, even one piece of which could liven up an ordinary outfit and make it something special. His pieces looked particularly good on dark colored clothing, and were designed to accentuate the beauty of the wearer and give a sparkle to the lackluster clothing of the post-war years of the 1940s and 50s.

Unmistakable Style

His style was unmistakable, popular motifs including floral arrangements, fruits, Maltese crosses and Christmas trees. The stones were predominantly prong-set, with four prongs holding the stones in silver-toned, gold-toned or japanned settings. His favorite stones were Austrian or aurora borealis rhinestones and so-called ‘black diamonds’ that were in fact dark smoky quartz crystals.

However, they were very effective and looked magnificent then, maybe even more so now because such quality is rare in moderately priced costume jewelry. And, they’re also very collectible. Weiss jewelry is still available today at reasonable prices, although his (Weiss’s) work has been appreciated more after his death than before, when it was regarded as a cheaper alternative to Chanel and Dior equivalents. That may be true, but price is not necessarily and indicator of quality, and few doubt now that Dior and Chanel costume jewelry may have cost more, but did not possess the craftsmanship of Albert Weiss.

Beware of Fake Weiss Jewelry

In fact, Weiss jewelry is now so much in demand that many fakes have been produced. Weiss is probably copied more than any form of designer jewelry. Most fake Weiss jewelry is easy to spot, the stones being less brilliant and colorful, and you will often find that the stones are glued into the setting, and not correctly prong set. However, not all Weiss was set in prongs.

Genuine Weiss pieces will be marked ‘Weiss’ in script or in block capitals, with ‘Albert Weiss’ or with AW Co, with the W in the shape of a crown. Some pieces made after 1955 also have a copyright mark after the name, though not all. If you find the copyright mark on a pre-1955 piece you be almost certain that it is a fake.

If an outlet is offering a number of Weiss pieces of the same design, then they are likely fakes, and if you already collect Weiss Jewelry, you will know the fake because it looks duller and cheaper than an authentic Weiss. Weiss costume jewelry was also made for wholesale delivery to a number of larger department stores, and many of these were not signed at all. So the lack of a signature mark does not necessarily indicate a piece to be a fake.

A Fascinating Hobby

You are recommended to seek the advice of an expert on Weiss pieces before making a decision on its genuiness, particularly a piece that has no accompanying provenance to prove its authenticity. You will find many pieces of Weiss costume jewelry in antique stores and auctions, including online auctions such as eBay. You will also find them being sold in garage sales and flea markets, and if you pick a piece of Weiss under $100, then you could likely sell it at a profit without trying.

Collecting Weiss jewelry is a fascinating hobby for anybody, because there is rarely the need to pay large sums of money for a piece. True, high-priced pieces are available, but you can easily build up a good collection without breaking the bank. If you start off going around the less salubrious antique shops and attending antique shows and sales, you should be able to start your collection quite easily.

Spotting Fake Signatures

Even now on eBay there is piece on sale claimed to be marked ‘Weiss’, though it clearly says ‘Wess’ on the photograph. You have to be careful and check every claim carefully to make sure that you aren’t buying an obvious fake, or you might not get refunded your money. Either this is a fake or genuine error, in which case it could be extremely valuable! But I think not. The stones are poor quality and the piece has no apparent Weiss signature sparkle.

Collecting Weiss jewelry will give you a great deal of pleasure and fun, and you will be enthralled at how lovely some of these pieces are. It is difficult to believe that they are costume jewelry, such was the imaginative genius of this man.

Find Weiss and other vintage jewelry in Central Kentucky shops.

Or do YOU have a great collection of vintage items that has either been passed down to you or that you have obtained over the years and you would love to know the value of it?

If you had cash offers for it, what would you keep and what would you sell?

A Los Angeles based TV Production Company is looking for young, energetic couples, age 35 – 45, with great collections for a new show!

Three dealers looking to spend some $$$ will come to your home and make you an offer for your collectibles on the spot.

Will you cash in or decide to keep your treasures?

If you think you fit the criteria and have several of these items then apply now and tell us about your collections. What would you like to find out more about and what would you like to wave goodbye to?

Please respond to David Polanzak at: dpo.casting@gmail.com with:

Name:

Ages:

City and State:

Contact Number:

Recent Photo:

Thanks so much and we look forward to speaking with you!

Would you like to take a wonderful two and a half hour ride in the country that lands you in antique heaven? Well, almost heaven. If so, we invite you to get on U.S. 68 north from Lexington, cross the Ohio River at Maysville, and travel to Bainbridge, Ohio where you will find over 20,000 square feet of antiques displayed in three unique buildings at The Trading Post Antiques.

The Trading Post Antiques has been in business for over 35 years. Rosemary Keaton began the store in a barn behind her residence. As the business grew, so did the building. Today visitors find quilts, coverlets, pottery, kitchenware, cast iron skillets, books, washstands, side tables and showcases filled with glassware in the Main Building.

Next to the Main Building, Fred’s Shed displays games and toys from days gone by. Yesterday’s Closet has lovely vintage hats and clothing as well as linens.

When the house next door became available, Rosemary purchased the quaint Victorian home from Esther’s relatives. Now Esther’s House is furnished in much the same manner as when it was built around 1900 including the icebox in the kitchen.

A few years ago, the block building adjacent to Esther’s went up for sale. You guessed it! Rosemary bought The Warehouse and the larger pieces of furniture are on display there. Visitors can find a schoolmaster’s desk, Victorian beds, primitive cabinets, chests, light fixtures, rocking chairs, trunks, more books, records, cradles and lots of lovely pictures and frames.

There are always flowers blooming somewhere at the antique complex. Many times people have purchased starts from the Passion Vine that blooms along the walkway between the buildings.

Last October, Rosemary passed away at age 82. In an effort to downsize the inventory, we have marked everything at 20% off. We invite you to plan a trip and take advantage of the special savings!

Bainbridge is situated in the Paint Creek Valley that ancient prehistoric Native Americans claimed as their home. Many mounds are nearby. The Arc of Appalachia nature conservatory is less than five minutes away. There are lovely trails that are unique to the area carved from the last glacier.

A Mennonite community is only seven miles south of Bainbridge where there is a bakery, store, and craft mall. (They are closed on Sundays).

To find out more about The Trading Post Antiques and to plan your visit to Bainbridge, Ohio, please visit the web site – thetradingpostantiques.com. or call 740 634-2867.