Is there any way to get through to antique dealers?

RobM

Member
Stopped into one of the local antique malls today, it's pretty rare to get anything cast iron, let alone what you're on the hunt for.

2 dealers in particular "clean", more like attempt to clean their cast iron. I should have taken pics but I was too upset. 3 new cast iron pots, gate marked and every one of them polished to a high shine and the bugger of it is they didn't even get the old seasoning off. I've spoken to one of them in the past, told him I want "as is" but...

Skillets, pots, griddles no matter. Pieces of history destroyed.
 
After inspection and getting the price, say; "I'd pay at least twice that if it wasn't polished." and walk.

Hilditch
 
For the most part, NO. Because as much as you try to talk some sense into them, someone will come and dump twice the $$ on the same item and not think twice about it.
I have tried to educate some dealers, but for most it is in one ear and out the other.
:eek:
 
I found a nice old bean pot with a lid at a flea market Saturday. Seller had "cleaned" the rust off with a wire wheel and it had several shinny spots. I asked the price and told him, "Its a shame you ruined it with a wire wheel because it would have been worth more than that". I left it at that and walked away.

You can't teach them anything, all we can do is save as many pieces as we can, right?.
 
Unfortunate reality I guess.

I find most dealers don't even care to know about what they are selling. Spoke with a dealer about an unmarked stove he was selling, it's a beauty - Clare Brothers Fancy Box stove listed in the 1893 catalog. He just shrugged. It sold for $300, far more than I would have paid but I guess that's all that matters.

Still a shame.
 
A bunch of antique dealers here have resorted to paint, lacquer and varnish to "improve" the cast iron they have. Some even clean it reasonably well before the new finish but some just apply over the gunk. A couple pieces I handled last week smelled of linseed oil and were so sticky I had trouble putting them down. Others have dried runs and drips from the exceedingly heavy applications. And almost all of what I find in antique shops is priced at least double real value and some by 5 or 10 times.

Yard and garage sales are looking better all the time.
 
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No different in L.A. (Lower Alabama). I went to a bunch of Antique Shops around here and they all wanted about 4 times what the piece was worth. Someone is paying those prices, just not me.
 
Just be glad they didn't get the old seasoning off with a wire wheel/sandpaper/grinder as I've seen before.

Never really see cleaned up pieces at antique stores/malls around here. I mostly see attempted cleanings at flea markets. You can tell someone tried to clean up Grannie's old pan, and gave up half way through.
 
Just be glad they didn't get the old seasoning off with a wire wheel/sandpaper/grinder as I've seen before.

Never really see cleaned up pieces at antique stores/malls around here. I mostly see attempted cleanings at flea markets. You can tell someone tried to clean up Grannie's old pan, and gave up half way through.

Took a chance on an old handled, gate marked griddle a few months ago. Heavy seasoning. Someone tried scraping it off with a chisel or something. Didn't do any damage thankfully.
 
Rob, for you (and everybody who's had these bummer experiences), I can only say that being a dealer is more for fun than profit. Unfortunately, human stupidity is apparently gaseous--that is, ever expanding. I hope you can find some items which haven't been trashed or grossly overpriced in the near future. My hubby has dragged me away from more than one situation in which my temper would have produced a bad scene!
 
I pulled an unmarked skillet out of the lye just the other day and the water sheeted off it like a well seasoned pan. Scrubbing and orange degreaser didn't seem to help much. I can only imagine someone coated it with silicone polish or perhaps something stranger that is lye-proof. When I purchased it at a flea market it looked like it had been cleaned and fairly lightly seasoned, but now I know it wasn't with any kitchen oils!
 
Last time I found a ww non marked they use wire week to clean it,looks like was nickel,the guy sees me I like the skillet he ask me a lot of money,I keep looking at it and I said no way a ww non mark would be plated,when I put the skillet back on the table,he said ok give me $5 for it.It went straight to e tank.next day I had a clean non plated non marks ww.i bough jus to satisfy my curiosity.
 
I posted this in another thread:

I stopped by an antique mall last weekend near Tomah, WI. There was a booth in there with an assortment of old CI. All of it was sandblasted and painted. The surfaces were rough and the skillets didn't feel right when I picked them up. Can't explain it. All I thought was how they were ruined, at least for me. They also wanted a mint for each piece.
 
"Old CI. All of it was sandblasted and painted. The surfaces were rough and the skillets didn't feel right when I picked them up." Ah, but darling, they are now "Art"!
 
A was at an antique store last week and saw a couple of Griswold #8's with 4 pairs of holes drilled through them for the tie-wraps that went through them, presumably to hold down the circular mirrors affixed to the cooking surface. The pans appeared flat, didn't have any obvious signs of thermal abuse and no visible cracks on the bottom, near the handle, or around the upper edge. I forgot what they were asking but it was significantly less than the pan would have been worth if it wasn't turned into "art".
 
A was at an antique store last week and saw a couple of Griswold #8's with 4 pairs of holes drilled through them for the tie-wraps that went through them, presumably to hold down the circular mirrors affixed to the cooking surface. The pans appeared flat, didn't have any obvious signs of thermal abuse and no visible cracks on the bottom, near the handle, or around the upper edge. I forgot what they were asking but it was significantly less than the pan would have been worth if it wasn't turned into "art".
Griswolds? That is criminally moronic!!
 
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