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From: Dino, Chapel Hill
Date: 12/4/99
Time: 5:20:26 PM
Let's set the record straight...I'm from Ohio. A city called Warren, about 40 minutes southeast of Cleveland, near Youngstown. I've lived on the east coast, between Washington DC, Baltimore, and NC, for the past 17 years. But I still say "pop" to refer to carbonated soft drinks!
I do this Red Wing and Antiques thing for one reason, and that it is fun. Mostly, I enjoy learning new things, and learning about Red Wing or Ohio pottery is something entirely different to occupy my scattered mind. It's fun to do research for an Antique Week article. In my "real" job, I am a VP of Operations for a marketing research company. That has its rewards, but it not nearly as interesting as researching the origins of Rhead-designed pottery. To bad I have a family to support...Food Lion won't take a Weller bud vase in payment for the groceries.
Plus, I have met an entirely wonderful group of people through Wing Tips, my site, and even the dreaded eBay. It's cool because although everyone starts out as total strangers, you have at least one thing in common to talk about...pottery.
I've come to enjoy collecting Ohio pottery as well as Red Wing...the Roseville, McCoy, Hull, and Weller out there was made about 100 miles from where I grew up, although I honestly can't recall seeing much of it around as a kid. Not so much as a crock. Oh sure, we ate our Captain Crunch out of Watt yellowware bowls (current retail value $35), my mom collected (although she does not admit to being a collector, but like Wally says, once you have 3 pieces, you're a "collector") milk-glass Fenton hobnail (current retail value, bud vase, $15). We ate dinner on FireKing (Jadite plate, $25). All Ohio stuff, all with their own categories on eBay now.
As far as the web stuff goes, I guess I'm what we refer to in the marketing research biz as an "early adopter." I've always enjoyed programming (although database applications are still like reading Farsi to me). My first web page was writted in old html code (yes, the HARD way--just right-click on this page and point to "view source" to see what I mean), in an era when there was not such animal as a banner ad or push technology. The first internet book I bought, "Mosaic," boasted that there were literally "HUNDREDS" of web pages out there! And a whopping one home in twenty had access to email!
The point of this rambling discourse is that between plunking around on the web, dealing antiques, and meeting new folks, and occassionally eBay-sniping a crock or two, I'm having a pretty good time.