1984 - The Year ANTIQUES Started for Me!

Having Rikki as a roommate was quite an experience! She was certainly a lot better roommate than my previous one who had taken all my pots and pans, dishes, cutlery and anything else she could lay her hands on when she moved out. Thank goodness Rikki was someone I knew from work - there was no way she would ever take anything from me. She, I could trust!

Rikki was an awful lot of fun, and brought with her everything needed to complete an apartment. Her furniture was just a bonus! I must admit, I sincerely coveted everything she had but it also made me more resolute in my determination to one day purchase not only my own residence, but my own furniture. I wasn't quite prepared for how I felt about "old" things or the cost, but I must admit, I was intrigued by how she encapsulated her theories about her possessions into one simple story....

"Robbie", she said, "Why would you want to go out and pay good money for a piece of furniture that, in a few years, will be worth absolutely nothing. It's cheap fibreboard in most cases, not well made, and usually looks like _ _ _ _ after only a few years. Instead, for the same amount of money, you can go out and buy a piece of antique furniture that, so far, has lasted 100 years+ and is GUARANTEED to last another 100."

Smart advice. The only problem was, I didn't quite agree with purchasing antique furniture then because I did not own a place I could really call home. Oh, I loved the Santa Monica condo and I had my own bedroom, Rikki had hers plus an en suite, and I had the study/bar room for all my crafty projects. Between the two of us, we were only just managing to pay the $1,200 per month to cover the mortgage payment that the attorney-owner hoped not to pay. He had recently inherited his father's mansion in Holmby Hills and wanted to offload the condo as soon as he could. The asking price of the condo was $150,000 and although that didn't seem like much for Santa Monica, I knew that there was no way a bank in Los Angeles would lend a single woman that kind of money. It simply wasn't done so no sense in even applying.


While Rikki and I were together she decided to teach me a little about antiques. Starting at the crack of dawn, on the second Sunday of each month, Rikki dragged me to the Rose Bowl where she pointed out items that interested her. At that time, I would rather have stayed in bed! But after taking me along for 6 months, I actually began to enjoy the trips. And I started to buy. Not big items at first, but things I thought I could use in my crafts.


I started with hankies. Then bits of antique fabric. Lace. Appliques. Art Deco silk ribbon work. Ribbon. Quilts. Victorian clothing. Victorian bead work. And that's where I stopped. My pocketbook didn't allow for much more than those small purchases. In 1984, $50 at the show bought me a TON of goods. In 2005, the year I left Los Angeles, I couldn't go to the Rose Bowl with anything less than $1,000. Times certainly had changed!

Well, after 2 years plus of staying in the condo, the landlord sold the unit - for $135,000 and Rikki and I were given 60 days notice! Oh, and to give an idea as to how stupid I was, in 2010 the condo was listed for ONE MILLION DOLLARS. Yup - OUCH!

So Rikki moved in with her boyfriend and I moved into a converted garage in Santa Monica where I froze for 1 full year due to there being no heat in the unit. That's when I decided I'd rather be warm and cozy with a thermostat than cold and damp in Santa Monica. I was lucky in finding an apartment so quickly that I could afford. I landed on Sawtelle Drive in West Los Angeles and was very happy with the move. The unit was a spacious 1 bedroom with garage and pool and was near the 405. A little noisy due to the traffic, yes, but it had central heat and air conditioning. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. The only thing was, I moved into the unit with a bed, 2 tables, a rattan peacock chair, my linens, my clothes and a microwave. In other words, practically nothing. Which meant, I had to buy furniture, pots and pans, dishes, cutlery, and a whole lot more! And that's another story which I will relate in my next post.


Till next time.