Village Squire, 1980-03, Page 14compete against potential customers. They
were surprised how quickly the idea of the
store was accepted in town, and were
especially busy before Christmas. They
had to travel to at least two sales a week to
keep the store stocked.
The turn -over was rapid, and it took a
few months to fill the store. In January,
they noticed a lull but expect business to
pick up again in March.
The Tree Trunk also sells on consign-
ment items that other people with "auction
fever" have bought, as well as furniture of
local people who are moving. Some local
craftsmen also use the store as an outlet
For example, handmade quilts and afghans
are sold on consignment.
In the summer, Tom hopes to attractsome
of the tourist traffic that passes through
Seaforth to Stratford, Blyth and Bayfield.
"People in rural areas usually know
someone who makes quilts or does crafts,"
he says, "but people in the city don't."
The tourist trade from the cities could
not only help the store but also provide a
better market for local crafts people.
COLLECTABLES
John Fisher, who is clerk for Tom's
sales, claims he came to the store to help
with the renovations and just stayed. In
reality, he brought one of the Tree Trunk's
unique offerings - collectable bottles. One
corner of the showroom is filled with
bottles for sale or trade from his collection.
They range from modern Avon perfume
bottles to pharmaceutical bottles and old
soda and beer bottles to milk bottles and
antique quart sealers.
Bottle collecting, a fast-growing hobby,
is now the third-largest in Canada and the
United States. John Fisher started digging
and collecting seven years ago. He has dug
along the banks of local lakes and rive: s, at
old dumps in the Clinton area and new
excavation sites. He also dug on Manitoul-
in Island while on holidays, and dove for
bottles off Cat Island in the Bahamas. This
year he hopes to dig with Bill Hart, a
Seaforth bottle collector who sold his large
collection a few years ago.
John had 6,000 bottles in his collection at
one time. Now he has about 2,000; 800 are
in his private collection; the rest can be
sold on consignment through the store. He
travels to auctions with the Papples to
replenish his own stock as well as that of
the store.
The Tree Trunk offers a wide selection of
bottles; prices range from 25 cents to $60
per bottle. A $60 bottle would be a Seaforth
Dodd's soda bottle or any old Ontario soda
bottle. 1930 -style pop bottles are now
becoming collectable at $3 to $5. Dairy
bottles with names of the dairies printed or
embossed on them are going now as a very
collectable item from 52 to $7. Any bottles
between that style, such as medicine or
shoe polish bottles, sell from 25 cents to $5.
PG. 12 VILLAGE SQUIRE/MARCH 1980
Small cobalt blue bottles are included in
the collection; they contained seltzers, ear
drops, nosedrops or similar medications.
John explains, if the bottles were embos-
sed or ribbed, it would indicate poisonous
contents, iodine, bug killer, etc. and would
prevent someone from mistaking it for
medication in the old days, when the light
might be poor. Cobalt blue glass is very
collectable now because it is no longer
prices from $5 to $30 approximately.
"Avon is a very fast-moving collectable
type of bottle right now," says John . The
store is selling on consignment a local
lady's collection.
Tom and Dawn Papplc and John Fisher
agree running the Tree Trunk has been an
interesting experience. Most of the fun
comes from meeting people. Tom and
Dawn are also fascinated by some of the
Old bottles priced from 25c to $60
made; the glass bottles on the shelves of
stores have been replaced by plastic ones.
The Tree Trunk has bottles of many
colours. The old glass formula was not
pure, and as a result, some bottles and
sealers that were originally clear glass
have been turned to purple, green, blue
and cobalt blue by the ultra -violet rays of
the sun.
People are starting to decorate rec room
bars with 1930 and 1940 -style beer bottles.
A 1930 beer bottle with a label is worth $2,
while the same bottle without an identify-
ing labellis only worth 25 cents to 50 cents.
Crown sealers are easy to get and are
worth only 10 c to 15 q. Sealers with odd
names, for example, Beehive, Beaver or
Atlas, are more highly collectable with
strange items that come from auction
sales. To find the proper names and uses
for certain items, they read books and talk
to antique dealers and other people around
town. The latest puzzle solved - a sock
knitter - kept them perplexed for weeks.
Even the name of the store - Tree Trunk -
is intriguing. It was Dawn's idea. Original-
ly she and Tom considered selling new
furniture made of pine. Dawn's slogan was
going to be: "Come in and see what's
made from a tree." The pine line didn't
materialize. but what started as a combin-
ed auction room and furniture business has
branched out to provide a wide and
interesting selection for bargain hunters in
Seaforth and area.
Easter Best �^
FOR CHILDREN
& INFANTS
BOYS & GIRLS
SIZES TO 14 YEARS
CAMPUS
SHOP
STRATFORD
OPEN MON. TO SAT. TO 5:30 FRI. TILL 9
92 WELLINGTON ST. PHONE 271-3720