OCR Text |
Show nelson enlightens on antiques x h (HI wl ? i : i Pll 1 Mi ' I ) i 'W I he Imperial Antiques place at 221 Main Street. Park City, has quite a spokesman in the form of personable Mr. Dale Nelson. On Monday evening. April 25. the Woman's Athenaeum was treated to a fascinating discussion of Park City's place in the collector's world. Ii turns out that we arc making a very big contribution to this raritlcd realm! "Antiques have to be 100 years old or older." mhc pointed out. "Before reaching that age, items arc simply memorabilia." However, How-ever, this docs not mean that one should only collect antiques. Younger objects, such as the Bicentennial souvenirs coming out now, will be valuable long before the 100-year mark is reached. More people than ever before arc becoming interested in collecting, and therefore the market for collectors' items is going higher and higher. Park City is approximately 107 years old, so there are only a few genuine antiques. Hunters have ferreted out some mine cars, stock certificates, mining equipment, equip-ment, tokens, galvanized bathtubs bath-tubs and the like. One could point to the so-called "Victorian" architecture, arch-itecture, but this style was popular only from 1830 to 1880. All the Victorian touches here have been remodeled additions such as the Car 19 or downright new, i.e. the condominium at the Resort. Our city was not that affluent, and Mr. Nelson characterized char-acterized the building style as "Karlv Shack!" Indeed, most of the older houses in Park City may be found to have the square-cut nails characteristic of construction construc-tion before 1880. However, its compact and concise history reveals that Park City was a very cosmopolitan town of 10,000 souls. There were people representing many different dif-ferent nationalities, and they all wanted the amenities they had been used to in their previous homes. Hence, many diverse items came to the town - curious spoons, brass models of the Temple, German artifacts, Chinese Chin-ese dolls, and Indian bitters, elixirs and medicines of various sorts contained in bottles. So, when the question is asked "What impact docs Park City have on a national market?" the answer is. "(io to the city dump!" At least $40.KK)-$50.000 worth of bottles alone has been resurrected from our local arch-cological arch-cological 'dins.' Secondary sources have been discovered around the mines and (if dedication is at a high pitch) in the abandoned privies. Dan and I'd McPolin manufactured soda pop. known to the locals as "Mc-Polin's "Mc-Polin's Bellywash." Their various glass containers are now commanding a good price. Mr. Nelson passed around several examples of his collection, including a prized black bottle made with iron slag as a tlux. All were surprisingly strong, as most used a lead flux. Koslyn (jrosc brought an opaque blue bottle which had contained peroxide for ladies' hair; this was unearthed when the ski lift construction began. An amber-colored amber-colored bottle with a long shapely neck was called a "Lady's Leg" and the leg-cr, neck- provided a good grip for those engaged in a bar brawl. They broke handily at the neck base and all such bottles found at the dump were broken. Hmm. Collectors have to be careful that all their new-found treasures do not break. Bottles arc under pressure below other debris, in the damp earth, and often filled with water. A sudden exposure to dry air can cause them to crack, so a slow 'cure' is recommended. How to recognize a good bottle? Generally, if it's pretty it is valuable. If it's ugly, then beauty is in the eye of the finder alone. Some analogy might be drawn to the idea of keeping any older items. A lot of antiques and memorabilia are not . worth anything except to the person who has possession. Sentimental value, the history of the item, who sold it, where it was discovered -all these factors make the object valuable to the owner, as well as the antiquity involved. Fruit jars of course abound, and il is a tribute to the thrifty Parkile housewife that Mr. Nelson could find in the dump only bottles with a chip on the top rim. Whether wax and glass tops, wire fasteners, zinc lids with glass liners, rubber seals or finally lacquer lids (Kerr in 1402) were used, all worked tolerably well on the same bottle unless a chip broke the seal. As the wealth from the mines drained out of Park City in bygone years, so now the treasures of memory are being bought away. II is sad to note that for the lack of a museum and funds to buy some of our heritage, we shall eventually have nothing but the Karly Shacks (if they are still standing). Things like valuable spinning wheels and antique stoves are disappearing into Salt Lake City and beyond. The priceless slot machine used in the old Oak Saloon was sold to a California man, after being offered at a much lower price to anyone or any group in Park City who could buy it. No one could. The machine was later taken in evidence and has to be confiscated confis-cated under California law. Petitions arc up before the legislature there to protect antique objects such as this, but so far, the machine remains in jeopardy of being destroyed. The Athenaeum ladies and guest expressed their gratitude to Mr. Nelson not only for his interesting and relevant talk, but also for the fact that he and others like him do manage to keep some of our valuables intact and on display here. The next meeting will be open also to all interested ladies in the area, and will feature Mr. Dick Straker speaking on "A Special Person - You!". He will stress one's own mind control; what a person wants to be, he can make himself be. He will show how to employ mental discipline in many areas of life such as weight control. The meeting will start at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, May 10 at the Memorial Building Lounge. - Audrey Stevens, Stev-ens, Secretary. "Stairway to Heaven", Park High's junior prom attracted a dazzling array of dancers of all ages Friday evening. Above hard-working juniors Ceci Caliouette, with Chuck Berriochoa, and Gayle Murnin with Jim Farley rest on the stairway. 1 k A Juniors Tammy McDaniel, Patty Prince and Greg Pratt pose with Dr. and Mrs. Mark Simmons, Mr. and Mrs. Duncan Silver and another couple at the prom. h - - ' J . ' , ' . - - ' - .. i t , ; ' " ( ' ! I . -I, - - i The Park High.gymm was amazingly transformed to provide prom elegance. |