Down East Dickering!

[indianafrank]

I'm a collector of artifacts and antiques myself. So I enjoy watching shows like American Pickers, Pawn Stars, and Down East Dickering.
During the latest episode of Down East Dickering one of the participants, a middle aged man, was surprisingly smoking a pipe as he bartered back and forth with one of the shows host. When finished smoking he put his pipe into the front pocket of his overalls. And in the pocket next to that one, was another pipe.
The show is filmed in Maine. I wonder if there will be negative feedback re: the pipe smoking scene from the anti smoking establishment.

 

[indianafrank]

trailboss, many of the old timers who collect, use their collections as their retirement plans. And you are right about wondering what happens after they die. What to do with the collections and how to dispose by the heirs is an issue. Often times the heirs have no clue how to dispose of the items.

 

[gmwolford]

I've als experienced that many heirs have no interest in the items/collections left behind. I find it sad to see what I wo think should be a family heirloom ending up at Goodwill and various similar places. I sometimes buy an item just to "rescue" it.

 

[mephistopheles]

@Indiana That's really interesting! I'm going to have to look for that episode. Man knows what he likes, huh?
@rsuninv That really is sad. I don't think I'd ever find peace if my family didn't enjoy what I collected, but to each their own I guess.
@Greg I've been known to rescue things here and there as well. I found a very old journal once that belonged to a long retired psychologist that lives in my area. At first I was tempted to put it back because it was a journal. I started to read it though and I eventually felt that I had found a kindred spirit. The philosophical transformation that was documented was just incredible to see all in one place. I often think about reaching out to them, but I've never been able to decide if it was appropriate.

 

[drwatson]

Have not watched Down East Dickering yet. But I do like Pawn Stars. Pickers was good when it first came out, but looking for oil cans and motorcycles got old quick for me. Storage Wars is the one that makes me want to puke!!!

 

[huntertrw]

The Terrier dog in Down East Dickering reminds me of my late Petey.

 

[joseywales]

I haven't seen Down East Dickering, although I'm a big fan of American Pickers. It is amazing what's out there and Mike quoted me the other night! "Auction sites are bringing prices of items down, because folks start to realize how many of those rare items are actually out there." That said, I'm always amazed at the large collections of large items, such as cars, gas pumps, etc. Most of these are located in geographies where real estate is cheap, so they have the property, but still...
Folks do collect as a way to fund retirement, but there's a fundamental flaw in that strategy - most can't let go! I've seen some of them living in squalor, sitting on literally millions of dollars of items. Kudos to Burt Reynolds for knowing when to pull the trigger. He's had a good career, more than his share of fun I'm sure, and now he's "broke". What's he doing, selling off items. Smart man. I know he has a black car I wouldn't mind owning :wink:
As far as the OP's concern, when the Sandy Hook shooting occurred, Dick's sporting goods cancelled orders for AR15s to owners who had already paid for their guns. Dick's cancelled the orders and reimbursed their customers. I doubt one of those customers would rather have had that money, as opposed to an AR, and there was a huge backlash for Dick's. Not surprisingly, the company survived. After all, they sell sporting clothes, not sporting goods. However, Dick's ran a network TV commercial last week and the announcer mentioned that gun safes will be on sale. I damn near fell off my chair. This was on ABC, not the sportsman's channel. You never can tell what will get folks fired up. I doubt a picker type show will care what folks think. Hell, Tommy Chong was on Dancing with the Stars and he might have smoked a pipe or two in his time, or done time for it :wink:

 

[tuold]

indianafrank stated:

Often times the heirs have no clue how to dispose of the items.

Our stuff ends up on ebay, just like this old gent did:

I guess the trick is to sell or give it all away before the day comes.