By John J Savo on December 20, 2009
As discussed previously, certain auction goers feel the need to employ stealthy bidding techniques so as not to be shadowed by rookies or bid against out of spite. Conversely, there are certain auction goers that use overt bidding techniques that are designed to intimidate their competition. Since these aggressive bidders can’t actually claim the items that they desire by urinating on them, they bid in ways that are meant to tell others to back off.
Continue reading “Overt Bidding Techniques”
Tagged Auction Attendance, Bidding, People |
By John J Savo on December 9, 2009
I was alone in the gallery, setting up for an approaching auction, when two women (I’ll call them Dense and Denser) walked in to have a look. Dense and Denser perused the inventory, making squealing quips and clucks. I gave them a few minutes to walk around before greeting them and asking if I could be of any assistance.
Continue reading “Befuddled by a Dressing Table”
Tagged Humor, People |
By John J Savo on November 29, 2009
When I look upon the magnificence of the Empire State Building or the majesty of the Nicholson Bridge, I wonder how the generation that created such wonders in the first part of the 20th century could also create some of the dumbest, most asinine, chop-busting houses ever made. I become bewildered at how an American society with such architectural visionaries could allow some of their contemporaries–mere baboons with hammers–to construct familial living quarters with five-foot high basements, 22-inch doorways, and six-foot tall bedrooms with 20-inch square cutouts in their cranium crunching ceilings as the means to enter the “attic.”
Continue reading “Baboons with Hammers”
Tagged Adventures, Humor |
By John J Savo on November 22, 2009
First time auction attendees will often ask me how to bid. I tell them that when they wish to bid on an item that they should raise their bidding cards high into the air, and then when they wish to advance the bidding that they should continue to raise their cards or nod distinctly when the auctioneer looks to them. However, some veteran auction goers adopt bidding techniques that are designed for discretion. Dealers and collectors that regularly attend auctions sometimes feel that they have to mask the fact that they are bidding for two reasons:
Continue reading “Stealthy Bidding Techniques”
Tagged Auction Attendance, Bidding, People |
By John J Savo on November 10, 2009
Wikipedia defines a fad as “something that becomes very popular with a small group of people for a short period of time. A fad is unpredictable, short lived, and without social, economic, and political significance.” However, I have created a more poignant definition for the word fad by using a backronym. “What is a backronym?” you ask. Well, it’s just another little invention of my twisted mind that is destined to end up in some future edition of the English Dictionary with another one of my lingual derivatives: Deppraisal, the monetary evaluation of something that is believed to be of high value by its owner, but in reality is worth very little down to squat.
Continue reading “Deppraisal: Fashionable and Doomed”
Tagged Collectibles, Deppraisal, Humor |