Personal Anecdotes
The James D. Julia Inc. is located in Fairfield Maine (U.S.A.) I've been to Maine a few times with my wife. Ogunquit Maine is a famous town famous for its lobsters and seafood. I've been to Barnacle Billy's to have my share of lobster. As for the ocean dip, that's all I did.I think when I came out, my legs below the knee were one colour (white) whereas the rest of me was suntanned. That's got to be the coldest water I've ever been in or want to for that matter! I don't know how the fish even swim in that water and they're cold-blooded!
I've seen George Bush Senior's "camp" from afar, as the Secret Service has the compound fences off the at least 1/2 mile. I've been to the famous discount malls where all of northeastern chains sell their merchandise at discount rates.
On my way home with my wife a few years ago, we decided to take a rural route through a state park to return home to Montreal. I've never been on a road that was so dark! Even with my bright lights, I slowed down. AS cold as the ocean water was, that's how dark the darkness was when we went through that state park! I can;t remember if it had road signs or lines on the road, but it was dark!
As a kid in my adolescent years (pre-teens), we were able to get American channels from an antennae on a roof, and of course watched black and white TV. Maine's channel was Polar Springs on channel 8.
And of course, the Atlantic Ocean and fishing. Maine is near New Brunswick and Nova Scotia (Canadian Provinces) and shares the Grand Banks (Georgia Bank) with Canada. When John Cabot first came to North America, there were so many cod, that he dropped a large wooden bucket and filled the bucket with fish. When the Pilgrims first arrived in New England, lobsters weren't as much as they were used for fertilizer!
Last but not least - the Bass Shoe Company. Once upon a time, like everything else, Bass became an iconic American symbol for loafer shoes and quality based in Maine. The shoes are still made (where I'm not sure), but now some giant company owns it. I purchased 3 pairs of Bass shoes when My wife and I came back from a trip to Burlington, Vermont. Those outlets are now everywhere!
Introduction
Today's instalment is about "One of North America's Top 10 Antique Auctioneers", as the logo for James D. Julia Inc. is written. I don't have any personal experience with the company, but I'm sure they are a fine company!
As you know, I was using my own photographs of toys to write my first 175 or so posts. I'd buy toys on E-Bay, photograph them, and then sell then on E-Bay. I decided to take a break, and thus needed sources of photographs to use for my posts.
I phoned the James D. Julia Inc. on Friday, and spoke to the secretary. She told me to leave a message with Mr. Andrew Truman, the person in charge of the Advertising, Toy, and Doll Division.
I left my message, and he e-mailed me back to say that I could use their photos. Needless to say, I was euphoric, and had to phone him back and thank him!
As I've broadened my area of collectibles, I've begun to look for many resources, and James D. Julia Inc. certainly caught my attention. Like some of the other fine auctioneers (Dan Morphy and Bertoia), James D Julia Inc. auctions via the net. Their photographs are A-1 in all aspects of the media, and their historical descriptions are very educational, especially when one doesn't see these types of mostly American and European toys in Montreal.
Some Historical Background
(Paraphrased from the Julia site by myself)
The auction company is relatively new, having been found by James D. Julia's father in the mid-1960's. Authur Julia certainly must have known what he was doing because the company became very popular and successful. Eventually, Jim (James) purchased the company from his father, and took the company to higher levels of success and renown. James expanded the company to not only become known all over the U.S.A, but throughout the world with fine catalogues. And as of 2012, if you visit the website, you will find a super site in terms of organization, quality photos, speed of finding toys, and of course, the personal touch of being able to e-mail people, who will reply to you promptly and professionally.
I'll be returning to write about the fine toys from the Jame D. Julia Inc.'s website, but for today's post, I'm just writing an introduction.
Like all fine auction houses, you get to see items (for me it's old toys) that you don't see too often or ever. Of course, I've only been interested in old toys for about 2 years, and mostly on E-Bay. However, the toys I've seen from Bertoia Auctions, Dan Morphy Auctions, and now James D. Julia are certainly exceptional.
I enjoy learning and seeing new things, and a few years ago, my wife Heidi and I visited Washington and of course the Smithsonian. We stayed in Washington for 4 days, and were only able to see the different Smithsonian museums one day at a time. We spent 5 hours in the Museum of American History, and I could have spent a month there! There's just so much to see, and so much to learn. The we spent 4 hours in the older (at the time) Air and Space museum. Of course, I had to drop by the Library of Congress for a visit as well.
So finding an auction house like James D. Julia Inc. brings out the "kid in me". Looking and reading about all those fantastic toys, or guns, or any other collectibles certainly brings that wonder and fascination with the items and their history.
The Toys (Finally)
When I use SnagIt to capture images, I sometimes need to improve photos. But like some of the other auction houses that I've written about, I didn't have to do very much, if anything at all!
You certainly get to see lots of interesting toys and other collectibles at this fine site. I had to register to be able to access the past auctions. The quality of their photography is super, and when I was speaking with Mr. Andrew Truman, I asked him if the company used professional photographers. His answer, of course was yes.
The quality of the Julia Inc. site is so good, that I felt that I would have to present their photos to you in a new way. I guess they set the bar (standard) for quality, and so I had to also. I will be doing this from now on for all my posts. It takes me a lot more time, but I hope you'll enjoy the photos even more!
Today's presentation comes from just 1 lot of items sold over a 2-day period. The collection is certainly eclectic - the "buzz" word of the new millennium. I'l be adding a few comments to some of the items. The toys below were from the auction of May 4-5, 2011.
Whenever I go to my car dealership for an oil change, I pass by a large company that has one of these cranes. The item above naturally caught my attention as a toy!
I used to find pieces of metal about 15" x 1/8" x 1/16" or in metric 381 m x 4 mm x 2mm on the street. For bout 25 years, I could never figure out what these pieces were. They looked llike unbrella ribs but shorter, but I never could figure out what they were. About 2 years ago, a motorized street sweeper like the onbe above was cleaning the street near me. I looked at the large-sized brushes that gather dirt and leaves, and my 25 year mystery was solved! Those pieves of metal were the bristles that fell off the brushes!
I've touched and seen Arcade Cast Iron Racers, but never one so big.
The metal wheels are nicle-plated, and that visor certainly is something I've never seen before.
Beautiful!
Of course, living in Montreal (Quebec, Canada), this certainly caught my attention and "my eye".
I like how this item listing has some close-ups of the fine detail of this boat.
Toys like this one certainly must have made children happy. Of course, not all children could afford such toys. When you consider the low wages at the times, with no unemployment insurance, and no medicare, a large segment of the population's children in the U.S.A. made do with simplet toys.
This fine item was a "salesman's sample".
Here's what I'm guessing why they made these samples. If you consider America at the beginning of the 20th century and earlier, there weren't the superhighways or cars that there are today. Nor were there trucks that could travel across the country in 5 days. The USA's Ceremonial Transcontinental Railroad was finished with the famous driving in of the last spikes into the wooden ties on May 10, 1869 at Promontory Summit, Utah. A a consequence of that point in time, salesmen would travel by rail with smal lexact replicas of the merchandise that they were selling.
The above model stove was refinished and restored.
This is another fine example of a "salesman's sample".
The "automobile" and mass-production (Ford) of the "car" started with the Model "T" Ford on October 1, 1908. I'm not sure when trucks came on to the market or machinery. The item that you see abve, a ditch digger was propelled by "horse power"- the real thing!
Whatever this item is (salesman's sample or "real toy"), it's certainly outstanding.
It shows historically how ditches would be dug, and how horses or mules would be used as the power.
I hope that you've enjoyed reading this post as I was to write it. It was an honour to be allowed the use of the James D. Julia Inc. photos and narratives. I will be writing about toys for a while, and with these great resources, I am happy to have found a new found interest.
Thanks for dropping by,
andhave a great part of the day or night.
wherever you may be.
Stacey
