Village Squire, 1977-11, Page 5Mi/€e Griffin is
no strange bird
But he's a pretty interesting guy
If you want to live in a stone house, what better place to look
than a town that calls itself the stone town?
That's what Mike Griffin did when he and his wife decided
three years ago that they wanted a stone house but didn't want to
pay $100,000 for the pleasure as they would have in Hamilton,
their home. Mike was working with a social agency there and his
wife taught at McMaster University.
So the couple found their dream house on three acres beside
the Thames River about seven miles from St. Marys and the
problem became how to support themselves. A job teaching
nursing at Conestoga College for Mike's wife meant some money
was coming in. Mike took the first year off to work on the dream
house that needed a nightmarish amount of fixing.
By two years ago, however, he was ready for a job other than
handiman and a hobby grew into a business. He had, at one
time, managed a china store in Hamilton and knew the business
well. While there he had become interested in collectors plates.
These are special plates put out in limited numbers. They may be
a continuing annual series, such as plates made to commemorate
Christmas 1976, 1977, 1978 etc. each with a new design; or they
may be in a series of four or six or whatever plates along a
specific theme. Whatever the series, the number of plates is
limited. The plates may be numbered in a series, or the mold
may be broken at the end of the year but whatever method is
chosen, the manufacturer guarantees that only a relatively small
number of the plates are produced.
In return for that exclusiveness, the manufacturer gets a much
higher price. In 1973, for instance, Schmid Bros. produced one of
their Sister Berta Hummel series Christmas plates. It would have
cost you $15 in a china store then, which to an ordinary person
seems a high price for a single plate. But those who bought the
plate found one of the ultimate hedges against inflation. The
Mike Griffin has more than 250 collectors plates In his stock at all
times.
VILLAGE SQUIRE/NOVEMBER 1977, 3.