Old Things Considered

Let’s see. . .where was I when I was so rudely interrupted? And has it really been three years since The View from Catonsville was unceremoniously euthanized, and with it, “Old Things Considered”? Here I thought we were having so much fun, and let me tell you, there was Pulitzer material published on those pulpy pages. In case you’ve forgotten, or, equally horrifying, never read the magazine, I’ll refresh your memory.

For seven years, Ken (my writing partner and partner in life) and I wrote a monthly column for the free-distribution magazine, originally known as 21228. During that time, we talked with other collectors, wrote reams about our personal collections, and even walked in the Fourth of July parade, handing out promotional frisbees. We regularly recounted our near-weekly antiquing (and junktiquing) adventures, and we tried to spur on others to join in the fun, always including mileage to our destinations from the Catonsville Post Office. A couple of times, we tried to compile a listing of neighborhood yard sales, and, in our waning columns, we were in the process of organizing a field trip with readers so that together we might share in the joy of picking through stuff. More than anything, we shared our enthusiasm for old things.

I think some of what we wrote made an impression, because we still get, “Aren’t you the ones with the paint-by-numbers pictures all over your living room walls?” when we are out and about (more about that some other time). For the record, we live in the same Catonsville home we’ve inhabited for the past 28 years. Born in Baltimore, I have spent most of my life in or around Catonsville. And we’re still contributing to AntiqueWeek on a regular basis, as we have for nearly 20 years. We manage to write for other publications, most notably, stories about historic properties for the New England Antiques Journal. Our recent stint with the Baltimore Examiner (we wrote about neat old cars) and our gig as travel editors for Grapevine magazine are just memories, as both of those publications, like The View, went belly-up. As an aside, let me say this: we have been assured that the failure of these enterprises had  nothing to do with us; “the economy” is always given as the reason.

Which brings us to today. Understanding that times are a-changing, it seemed like a sign when I read that the Patch was looking for bloggers. So here I am. As for Ken, he is reading every word of this over my shoulder, but we agree that a computer keyboard is no place for duets. What you read here, as often as I can manage to write something coherent, will be pretty much the same as you used to read, only not in a little magazine tossed onto your front step (or in your driveway, or. . . well, distribution was never The View’s strong suit).

It’s going to take me a while to bring you up to speed on what we’ve been doing since we last chatted. Some of our collections have taken interesting turns, some have gone into hibernation, and then there are the new things with which we are currently enchanted. We still visit a lot of our favorite old  haunts, but we have some new ones, and you’ll be reading about them here. My involvement with the Catonsville Historical Society has ratcheted up a notch, and, in fact, helping to make a reality the Historic National Road Yard Sale in Catonsville is eating up a lot of my time and energy these days. Save the date: Saturday, June 4, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Five miles of yard sales. . .I’ll tell you more tomorrow!