Paris Hotel Boutique Journal

Friday is a big estate sale day. People line up at the crack of dawn (some camp in their cars overnight) to get first pick when the sale opens.

Today there was a huge sale in the Bay Area and numbers were passed out the day before to reserve a spot in line. One of my fellow antiques dealers (name withheld) paid $400 to someone in line to purchase their number. That's right. FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS! This allowed the gentleman to be number 20 in line, as opposed to number 75, or say, 124. The question is, did he find any treasures? I heard that he bought a couple of small things, but really. Is this funny, or have antique dealers gone too far to find a treasure? Perhaps I should get a second job standing in line at estate sales and selling my numbers. Just a thought.

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I recently stumbled upon this post from Lesley Blume at the Huffington Post. She has a column called "Let's Bring Back." I thought I'd make a list of my own (below). What would you like to bring back?

1. Dining car travel. Oh, the Golden Age of Travel. Elegant meals served with fancy dinnerware. What a way to travel.

2. Letter-writing. Almost a lost art. Yes, the internet has enabled us to communicate instantly, but there is so much beautiful letterpress stationary out there and letter-writing is so personal.

3. Hats. On men and women. They are so chic and don’t you just love the photos of men at the ballpark sporting their fedoras and derbys?

4. Women’s gloves. So classy. I remember as a child in the 60’s, shopping with Mom in downtown San Francisco. You had to wear your white gloves and Mary Janes. Women looked so stylish.

5. Handsome luggage. Wouldn’t it be nice to sport a little train case and not see hundreds of black suitcases at airport baggage claim? Perhaps the old variety is difficult to transport, but isn’t it chic?

6. Full-service gas stations. Men with their little hats happily coming to your car to fill up your tank. What a luxury.

7. No sneaker rule. Don’t get me wrong, sneakers are comfy and great for exercise and walking, but I don’t like going to a nice restaurant or theater and seeing 75% of the people looking as if they just left the gym.

8. Old-fashioned architecture. Art Deco signage, skyscrapers with ornate, classical exteriors. Gorgeous brass elevator panels in lobbies.

9. Wood-carving. Bring back and preserve the lost art of carving by hand.

10. Phone calls. I may sound like an old fogey, but it’s difficult trying to respond to text messages and e-mails. It’s so difficult to type on that little phone pad! I love to spend time just chatting on the phone with a friend. It’s actually quite relaxing don’t you think?

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Trick or Treat?

What Does it Take to Get the Good Stuff?

Let's Bring Back...