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different strolks for different fokes
Nov. 18th, 2007 12:00 pmJust over a week ago, Pam and I went to an excellent -- and truly enormous -- book sale in Montclair, a university town about 25 or 30 miles from here. We bought all kinds of good stuff, but ...
Once we had the car packed, it seemed sensible to have a quick pee before the journey home, which can take a while if the traffic's in uncooperative mood. So back into the building I dashed. As I came out, I noticed for the first time a FREEEEE box at the entrance. I didn't have time to rummage through it, since Pam was waiting in the car, but obviously I glanced down at the contents . . . and there on the top was a . . . surely . . . that's a picture I know, isn't it?
Yes, we're now the proud possessors of a 1988 Rowena calendar. As the artist is an ol ... er, a longstanding buddy of ours, I was delighted by my fortuitous addition to our printed fantasy-art collection. She's signed it, too, I see.
But it's interesting to me the way there are (at least) three different value systems at work here. To the people who gave this item to the sale (presumably) and to the organizers of the sale (certainly), this was just an exceptionally obsolete calendar and as such had no value at all. To the collector, it probably -- especially since signed -- has a relatively high eBay value. To Pam and me it has no cash value at all but immense intrinsic value, enhanced by the fact that Rowena's a pal.
I must write a monograph on this subject when I've run out of things to say about pipe-tobacco ash . . .
Once we had the car packed, it seemed sensible to have a quick pee before the journey home, which can take a while if the traffic's in uncooperative mood. So back into the building I dashed. As I came out, I noticed for the first time a FREEEEE box at the entrance. I didn't have time to rummage through it, since Pam was waiting in the car, but obviously I glanced down at the contents . . . and there on the top was a . . . surely . . . that's a picture I know, isn't it?
Yes, we're now the proud possessors of a 1988 Rowena calendar. As the artist is an ol ... er, a longstanding buddy of ours, I was delighted by my fortuitous addition to our printed fantasy-art collection. She's signed it, too, I see.
But it's interesting to me the way there are (at least) three different value systems at work here. To the people who gave this item to the sale (presumably) and to the organizers of the sale (certainly), this was just an exceptionally obsolete calendar and as such had no value at all. To the collector, it probably -- especially since signed -- has a relatively high eBay value. To Pam and me it has no cash value at all but immense intrinsic value, enhanced by the fact that Rowena's a pal.
I must write a monograph on this subject when I've run out of things to say about pipe-tobacco ash . . .
