poem of the day July 17 

An old antique dealer

many years ago

told me that antiques

are a type of fashion

that change with time

Years ago if you had 

an antique original  

with original patina

and you sanded off the original surface

it became a decorative antique

not worth much but easy to sell in its ruined state

as most people want their antiques to look new

I remember dealers at shows

who did this type of blasphemy

were laughed and ridiculed 

as not serious antique dealers

But now Brimfield has become

an oasis of ruined antiques that are

openly advertised as "Repurposed Treasures"

eagerly snapped up at huge prices by a new breed of collector

not interested in original surface patina

but rather in antiques that have been purposely repurposed  

causing the benchmark price of American antique furniture to plummet

I wonder what antique collectors in a hundred years will be collecting? 

Will they go back to pristine purity 

lamenting the fact so many antiques 

had been ruined in the previous great repurposing 

Or will  the new antique fashion be repurposing the already repurposed?