Rinker on Collectibles

RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES — Column #1732

The Coronavirus and Its Impact on the Antiques and Collectibles Trade – First Impressions

[Note: Written on March 12, 2020] While I normally do not provide a written or release date for ROC columns, it is important to do so in this instance. The coronavirus impact is so fluid that it seems to change from day to day.

The pandemic caused by the coronavirus is not one of disease but fear. I am 78 and have diabetes, high cholesterol, and currently am spending the winter months at Linda’s and my condo in Altamonte Springs, Florida, in the midst of one of the largest concentrations of elderly Americans. According to the national and Florida Center for Disease Control, I am a prime candidate to die if I contract the coronavirus.

At the moment, there are only a few cases of the coronavirus in central Florida. In spite of the low number, area events, lectures, meetings, and sporting events are being canceled on a daily basis. Whether I have been exposed to the disease or not, the federal and national government suggests I confine myself to my condo for several weeks, thus keeping my public exposure to a minimum.

I am an ornery cuss, a fact that should surprise none of my readers. I will take precautions, albeit never enough to satisfy my wife Linda who is a former nurse. I am going out, eating out, and continuing to enjoy an independent unrestricted life. I am even planning to visit Disney World several times before I head back north.

I also will be visiting antiques and collectibles flea markets and malls in central Florida over the next month and during Linda’s and my return back to Michigan at the end of April. What good am I as an antiques and collectibles reporter if I do not go into the field at a time like this and see first-hand what is happening. Relying on internet information for analysis is not the same as talking with those involved.

I visited Renninger’s Extravaganza at Mount Dora, Florida, on Saturday, February 15. I will share some of my non-related coronavirus observations in later columns. The antiques and collectibles business is a dirty business, especially when sellers are set up in an outside pavilion, tent, or open space. Dirt in this instance is defined as ground dirt, grime, and dust. A germ freak is well advised to stay home. Everything appeared to be “same old, same old,” as my son Harry Jr. likes to state, in terms of a near total lack of sanitation. Customers and dealers handled objects with impunity. Dealers did not wipe them down with anything. A mere dust cloth cleaning would have been welcome.

[Author’s Aside #1: Flea market and other sellers have discovered that a little dirt is good for business. It covers flaws and creates a false impression of age. Poor display lighting also achieves the same effect.]

The average age of the outside and most of inside dealers at Renninger’s was over 60. Actually, it was closer to 65, but I try to be generous in my assumptions. Judging from the way many of them appeared, moved, and spoke, it is highly likely that they fall into the most vulnerable category of potential coronavirus victims.

Linda and I returned to the indoor antiques center at Mt. Dora on Saturday, February 29, and again on Sunday, March 8. Attendance was very poor on February 29. Many of the dealers were absent from their booths, exhausted from the previous week’s event. There was a modest crowd on March 8. I saw no new precautionary measures against the coronavirus in most booths. No dealers were wearing gloves or masks. Although there were hand sanitizing stations throughout the mall, they always had been there.

At the Farmer’s Market portion of Renninger’s it was business as usual. None of the customers or dealers demonstrated the slight concern about possible contact with individuals carrying the coronavirus. “Hurray for them,” I thought.

Gary Block and his wife Laura manage a company that offers one to four-day bus tours out of Little Falls, Minnesota. Most of his clients are retired people. Gary emailed to tell me that Laura and he took a weekend off, visited the Wisconsin Dells, caught a show, and stopped at antiques and collectibles malls on the way over and back from their home in Little Falls. Gary commented the crowds were modest and the day delightful. Antiques and collectibles malls usually are better attended when the weather is bad.

Gary did mention that he canceled the balance of his tours for March and April. He is hoping to run his annual bus tour to the Twin Cities community garage sale in early May.

Cancellations and postponements have happened in the antiques and collectibles marketplace. The C. M. Russel Museum in Great Falls, Montana, has postponed its annual western art event. Ron Rhoades Auctions announced its April 4 auction will take place only online, and the Connecticut River Book Auction was moved from March 27 to April 17. The Chester County [Pennsylvania] Antiques and Art Show scheduled for March 14-15 was canceled. The Milford Antiques Shows canceled its last three winter shows but still plans to run its summer show on August 2. Other show cancellations include The Connecticut Spring Antiques Show, the March edition of the Hampton Big Flea and Antiques Market, Spring Fox Valley Antiques Show, The Elverson [Pennsylvania] Antiques Show & Sale, The LA Book Fair, and Objects of Desire (Wilton Historical Society). Most of these are located in the east and/or near large urban centers.

These cancellations are the tip of the iceberg. Like a house of cards or the fall of a line of dominos, once the action starts it is hard to reverse it. Expect more cancellations in the immediate future. Those antiques and collectibles dealers who are trying to make a living via the show circuit will be hurt the most, especially if they have small cash reserves. Most flea market dealers are part-timers. The income they lose is from the tax deductions they take for expenses at the end of the fiscal year.

Two very frightening words have evolved from the coronavirus scare – recession and tele-conferencing. It took the antiques and collectibles industry almost five years to recover from the 2008-2009 Great Recession after it bottomed out. At this point, no one knows where the bottom of the 2020 Recession (or will the correct term be Depression?) will occur. The good news is that the coronavirus pandemic will end at some point, hopefully by the end of summer, and the United States economy is healthy and appears to have the strength to mitigate the current market down-turn.

The stock market continues its downward trend. Individuals are cutting back spending. The amount of discretionary income has lessened. Over the last decade, the amount of discretionary income that has flowed into the antiques and collectibles trade decreased annually. Expect the decrease to be major in 2020 and 2021.

The antiques and collectibles trades were slow to adapt to the changes brought about by the digital age. This created a cultural gap between the older, industrial age thinking generations and the Millennials and those who followed.

The coronavirus emphasis on self-quarantine as a preventive measure and working from home is only going to increase that gap. The more individuals work from home, the more the computer and smartphone are going to become the communication and shopping tools of the future.

[Author’s Aside #2: I work almost exclusively from my home office in Kentwood, Michigan, or Altamonte Springs, Florida. I am an industrial age person who has been forced out of necessity to live in the digital age in order to do what I love. I still collect but now buy over 90 percent of my objects via email offers or from internet websites. I keep in touch with others in the trade via email, smartphone, or WhatsApp. I still do field research, albeit not as much as I want to do. My excuse, weak though it is, is that I am partially retired.]

Being 78 and having tracked the antiques and collectibles field for almost 50 years during which I experienced and shared my thoughts on the trade’s numerous ups and downs, I offer this advice, sage or otherwise depending on how you wish to view it. This too shall pass. The antiques and collectibles trade is resilient. It might change but never vanish. Be patient and keep the faith.

In five years, the event of the past two months and the next half year will only be a temporary bump in the ongoing saga of this great industry.

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Selected letters will be answered in this column. Harry cannot provide personal answers. Photos and other material submitted cannot be returned. Send your questions to: Rinker on Collectibles, 5955 Mill Point Court SE, Kentwood, MI 49512. You also can e-mail your questions to harrylrinker@aol.com. Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered.

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