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Jeff Parrott - Pouring Nostalgia: Vintage Barware With J. Earl & Sons
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Today’s guest is the proprietor of J. Earl & Sons, a company that celebrates vintage barware, collecting, and the home bar. As for it’s founder, Jeff Parrott has been collecting vintage barware for quite some time. So when 2020 rolled around, Jeff decided to take a tangent where he’s Brand Cultivator at Blade and Bow and started J. Earl & Sons doing exactly the aforementioned. Jeff travels just about everywhere hunting for goods, both vintage and new, to add to his personal collection and the shop as well, but my favorite part about collecting vintage barware? Everything can be used, it doesn’t break the bank, and you can do it all at J. Earl & Sons.
J. Earl & Sons - https://jearlandsons.com/
Blade & Bow - https://www.bladeandbowwhiskey.com/
New Fashioned Recipe:
- Two Parts Blade & Bow
- One Part Elderflower Liqueur In A Double Old-Fashioned Glass (D.O.F.)
- Top With Club Soda
- Garnish With Orange Peel & Maraschino Cherry
Recommended
Transcript
Building the Perfect Home Bar
00:00:00
Speaker
There's a typical thing with guys that, you know, they start their bar and it's like all the bottles are lined up against the back of whatever bar of buffet or whatever, right? A tray will add depth and dimension. And actually, if you put your bottles within the tray, you're building it towards you or out versus across the back. And so it allows that other space that can the other space where the tray is not,
00:00:26
Speaker
for you to put more bar where but also more importantly functionally allows you to use the bar. So the tray is kind of our number one kind of secret on how to build an adult bar.
Introduction to Collector's Gene Radio
00:00:38
Speaker
What's going on everybody and welcome to collector's gene radio. This is all about diving into the nuances of collecting and ultimately finding out whether or not our guests have what we like to call the collector's gene. If you have the time please subscribe and leave a review it truly helps.
00:00:56
Speaker
Thanks a bunch for listening, and please enjoy today's guest on Collector's Dream Radio.
Meet Jeff Parrott of J. Earl & Sons
00:01:03
Speaker
Today's guest is the proprietor of J. Erlen Sons, a company that celebrates vintage bar ware, collecting, and the home bar.
00:01:12
Speaker
As for its founder, Jeff Parrott has been collecting vintage barware for quite some time, so when 2020 rolled around, Jeff decided to take a tangent where he's brand cultivator at Bladembo and started J. Earl & Sons, doing exactly the aforementioned.
00:01:27
Speaker
Jeff travels just about everywhere, hunting for goods, both vintage and new, to add to his personal collection and the shop as well. But my favorite part about collecting vintage barware, everything can be used, it doesn't break the bank, and you could do it all at JRO and Sons.
Is Bourbon a Summer Drink?
00:01:43
Speaker
So without further ado, Jeff Parrott for Collectors Gene Radio. Jeff, cheers to having you on Collectors Gene Radio. Awesome, man. Thanks for having me.
00:01:54
Speaker
My pleasure. Being that we're going to be talking about vintage barware today, why don't you tell us the drink of choice this past holiday weekend?
00:02:05
Speaker
So I'm a big bourbon dude, drink a lot of blade and bow. But this time of year, it's hard for people to transition from the wintery bourbon drinks to summery bourbon drinks. And we do an awesome two parts blade and bow, one part elderflower liqueur, topped with club soda and orange slice. It's amazing. It's light and fresh. Anybody who says they don't like bourbon or they don't drink it in the summer, they need to try it. All right, done.
00:02:33
Speaker
I'm going to put that recipe in the show notes. There you go.
Evolving Tastes in Liquor
00:02:37
Speaker
Are you a fan of all types of liquor or are there some that just don't do it for you? Because I definitely have my bugaboos in the liquor space. Sure. I mean, I think it's more about what excites you now, right? And that for me has been kind of ever changing. I've always been, you know, I'm from the South, I'm from Oklahoma, so brown water, brown spirits have always been a thing kind of in my culture with my people.
00:03:02
Speaker
Um, but I also worked on tequila. I ran Don Julio tequila for three and a half years. So I got a little Gavi in my veins too. And I'm into gin. Like, um, you know, gin is in, but if you talk to me 15 years ago, I'd be talking about vodka. So I think that's kind of the exciting thing about the category. It's it, is it, it's ever changing and different times mean different categories and that's what makes it fun.
00:03:27
Speaker
Yeah, you know, it's kind of funny. Like I never used to like whiskeys or bourbons or anything like that. And then all of a sudden, you know, you have something that's really good and exceptional and your, your palette completely changes after that. Absolutely. And you get into it, right? Part of it is like the tasting, right? And of course the aromas that go with it, but then there's also like the discerning values of getting into the education and the understanding and the provenance and the people behind it. That's, that's what makes it cool for me.
Birth of J. Earl & Sons
00:03:57
Speaker
All right, so you're the proprietor of J. Earl and Sons, which essentially celebrates the home bar. How did you land here?
00:04:05
Speaker
Well, it actually started many moons ago when I first met my wife and my mother-in-law who has many sons-in-laws always needed to find her niche gift to get her guys, right? And so because I worked in the spirits industry, she started giving me a bar ware. A lot of it was stuff that was actually her father's. I have a sterling silver, just a thimbleful jigger that was his.
00:04:33
Speaker
But every holiday, you know, every birthday, et cetera, she was giving me bar where a lot of old stuff, but a lot of new stuff, too. So I always had a great collection, but then Covid hit and everyone was cocktailing at home and home bars. The presentation of home bars through social media was becoming a thing. And it had always been an area that I wanted to jump into. So we jumped in and got the thing off the ground in like a month and a half. So it's been kind of fun times ever since.
00:05:00
Speaker
Did you have a storefront right away like you do now or? No, we started completely online.
From Online Store to Vintage Haven
00:05:06
Speaker
We started with curing our glasses, right? So our edge glasses are kind of our primary seller and items that we actually sell wholesale into different stores and shops around.
00:05:19
Speaker
But finding the right glass, you know, a lot of the vintage double all fashions, while the style is very cool, the size is very small. And we like big drinks these days. And so we wanted to find the perfect glass that had size and scale and some girth to it, but then etch it with motif designs that were inspired by, you know, vintage etched glasses of the day.
00:05:43
Speaker
So we did everything from a fox to a trout to a sailboat. The intent is they harken back to vintage designs, but they're made modern for today. So we started there. We looked at over 50 glasses to find the right one. We landed on an Italian glass. And then it's imported and we actually etch it here in the US with our designs.
00:06:06
Speaker
From there, my wife was the one that brought up, hey, everyone loves your vintage bar ware collection. Why don't you start selling a lot of antique and vintage? And we've always been collectors and hunters. It's a big part of just not just my wife and I's life, but also my boys. And so we started procuring and finding as much antique vintage bar ware as we actually could.
00:06:28
Speaker
So the collection got deeper and richer and also kept a lot of people coming back because we only release a certain amount of pieces every week. And then we kind of filled in with good quality pieces that you don't find at your big box stores.
Family Involvement in the Business
00:06:41
Speaker
So whether it's English, pewter and silver that we get from a guy that's great at sourcing dip from different makers kind of all around England to
00:06:53
Speaker
Kentucky harness leather goods, whether it's coasters or or coasters or flask, we try to create within each category, like find special makers that are doing good stuff that we would that we would love that we know our folks would love. And so the motivation behind starting J. Earl and Sons was all this time at home and people drinking at home and really promoting it pretty heavily during the pandemic. But
00:07:23
Speaker
You kind of got started in this industry, like you mentioned previously. I mean, would you say that that was the real motivation behind eventually starting this or at least the Kickstarter? Yeah, it was always like a space that I've got not only a lot of education in, right? A lot of career stuff within the spirits world.
00:07:42
Speaker
but also like the nuances to it, right? Like what is my area of the category? And I've always kept an eye. I go to as many interesting liquor stores as I can find. And there's actually not a ton of really interesting ones, but also have an eye out for good barware. It's always been part of a collection I have and that collection just spawned. But I tell you what I did too in COVID was bring my sons in.
00:08:05
Speaker
And for me, it's a part of that is about, you know, keeping a legacy, you know, who knows if they'll do it in the future after dad gets a little tired, but the opportunity will be there. And they were a big help for me to kind of get it off the ground. Do they help me much now? No, it maybe should be called Gerald Gerald and wife versus.
00:08:24
Speaker
Uh, but I do go take all the big decisions back to them, whether it's the next cap that we're going to offer or new, new etchings and new glasses are going to do. So I do try to involve them in the business. Love
Vintage Barware: Collecting vs. Selling
00:08:36
Speaker
that. Now, are you, since you're also a collector as well as a dealer, are you collecting the same type of vintage barware that you like to sell in the shop or do you have your own little specific niche?
00:08:48
Speaker
Well, you know, one of my favorite phrases or quotes is, you know, it's not hoarding if you got good stuff. So I always pick up stuff that I like. I try to trade it out. My wife thinks I get a little bit too heavy on stuff, so I try to trade it out and upgrade as much as I can. But yeah, I've got a collection that is wide and deep, and it will continue to grow as long as I'm doing this.
00:09:15
Speaker
Do you ever sell anything from your personal collection or is that just your, your stock and all that away? I do. I try to actually, I've got a little box of stuff that I, um, and I, uh, I give to the boys for their future bars. And I also try to give them good Christmas gifts that are special bar pieces each year so that they've got quite a collection as, as they kind of go forward in their adult life.
00:09:41
Speaker
Collecting is obviously different across many categories, right? If you collect wine, you know, a lot of people don't necessarily drink the wine all that often. A lot of it sits in their cellar or art, right? It sits on the wall. You admire it, but you can't really do anything. You know, you can't put it in your car and go on a road trip with it.
00:10:00
Speaker
When it comes to vintage barware, you can use it all you want. But obviously sometimes when it comes to things that are rare or fragile, you don't want to mess with it. But do you like to use all the stuff that you collect?
00:10:14
Speaker
I do, right? The only thing that gets a little bit difficult, and it's actually kind of part of it is the preciousness of the price points of it, is all the old sterling silver barware is absolutely amazing. And functional, like there's sterling silver will polish again and again, so it will always be good. But I always just it there's a part of me that it's almost just too precious to use.
00:10:37
Speaker
But other than that, I use everything else and then keep those kind of special sterling silver pieces a little bit off to the side. I know I shouldn't, but I do. This is a common question that I ask.
00:10:48
Speaker
And I'm sure the listeners are probably getting sick of me asking it, but I'm getting more and more guests on that like to collect in the areas that they deal in. So it always intrigues me to know as someone who collects vintage bar ware, but also likes to sell it. What's that tug of war kind of like, if you will, between keeping items for yourself and then subsequently for the shop. It's hell, right. I find actually new bars to create, right? So.
00:11:17
Speaker
I actually like nautical stuff. Our house is more kind of hunk country style with a lot of taxidermy and a lot of dark furniture, but I love the nautical pieces.
How Does Region Affect Vintage Finds?
00:11:32
Speaker
And so I've got a collection for a beach house that will hopefully be coming in the future, but I also just bought a boat that I'm renovating, then I'm going to put a whole bar in the bottom. So a lot of my nautical pieces that are kind of seaworthy will go there.
00:11:46
Speaker
I rationalize it, whether it's in my existing bar or the bars of the future and kind of hoard it away and keep it for the future. Love it. Curating is obviously a huge portion of what you have to do for your personal collection and for the business. How do you curate for the shop, though, right? Are you hunting goods from all over or do you have your go to select view of dealers and pickers for you? Where are you traveling?
00:12:15
Speaker
Yeah, we go far and wide, right? So my wife does actually a ton of buying way up in upstate New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. And I travel immensely for my bourbon work. So I literally throw the biggest LL Bean tote that you've ever seen in my bag and I take it along with me. But I will tell you the most interesting thing that we found on this journey is just because it depends on where you are is the type of bar where that they have for kind of the vintage periods.
00:12:45
Speaker
Wealth was pocketed in different places. So in places like Texas, Oklahoma, and Georgia, you can find some absolutely amazing sterling silver stuff from the 30s, 40s, and 50s when the wealth, whether it be oil or industry or whatever, took off.
00:13:00
Speaker
amazing precious fine bar where in those locations, but then middle of Pennsylvania where we go quite a bit to do some picking a lot of metal work a lot of cast iron and it's because those are river towns and note that was the byproduct of that region in that area.
00:13:19
Speaker
And for some reason, when we go way up in New England, we tend to find a pretty vast collection of a lot of different things. But you're never on the hunt for one thing because it takes too long. You have to be open to everything. So we buy as much as we possibly can because we know we're going to need in the future. Interesting. Yeah, I always am curious to know
00:13:43
Speaker
What, you know, I also love hunting for antiques and even vintage bar where to anywhere I go. Always stuff that, you know, it's easy to bring home. And it's always interesting to see what certain areas of the world and what's in the stores, like you said, but also when you go back to those places, has anything changed, right? Is it still the same stuff?
00:14:06
Speaker
We obviously get a huge mix of stuff here in Arizona because we get people from all over the country, especially the East Coast moving here or having second homes here. So we get a lot of that stuff, but we also get a lot of the Western Spanish colonial sort of stuff, too. So it's it's pretty neat. Sure. I will tell you, Matt Anick, you know, with W.M. Brown, he keeps telling me I got to go to Italy and France. So that's kind of that's going to be the next big buying journey.
00:14:32
Speaker
He finds some amazing, amazing stuff that tends to be the vintage branded stuff, but he says they have it in droves over there. They really do. I mean, my wife and I were just in Lake Como and the town of Como is obviously fairly small.
00:14:50
Speaker
there was like one little antique shop and it was a holiday weekend but I called the store and the guy picked up and the store wasn't open but he's like I live right down the street if you want to come let me know when I'll meet you there I'll open up the store for you you could poke around for a bit and we just found like the greatest little set of espresso cups to bring back and he had amazing rugs and and artwork that I wish we had more room for but it was a little room maybe
00:15:16
Speaker
you know, 10 feet by eight feet and just such a great feeling walking into a small place like that in a different country and finding something.
00:15:28
Speaker
Well, and that's as a couple, that's what you guys have identified what your journey is to collecting, right? And we're the exact same way. You know, our boys will complain and moan because they've been to every antique store that's good across America, but someday they're going to look back and appreciate it. I don't know if their wives will so much because they'll have a strong opinion, but that's part of the journey, right? The find is part of the collecting journey. Absolutely.
00:15:54
Speaker
I would have to assume at this point in your career and kind of being known as this guy of vintage bar ware and home bars and all that stuff.
Curating Unique Home Bars
00:16:04
Speaker
I'm assuming you're getting asked by people to kind of curate home bars for them. I would have to assume that that's kind of another side of your business now.
00:16:11
Speaker
I do. And that's the fun part, right? I like people. I like, that's why I love the bourbon work. Cause I talk to tons of people each weekend. Um, but yeah, that's fine. I tell you some of the, the most fun ones we've done is where moms and dads come together and they want to actually give their son a bar out of college, right? You're an adult and they want them to appreciate alcoholic beverage. And so the mom tends to work with me to procure all the barware.
00:16:38
Speaker
Right? And the dad actually goes out and buys all the spirits. So at the end of the day, these lucky guys primarily have these awesome bars that their mom and dad have passionately put together for them and started them out on the right foot. Amazing. How about curating collections for people, right? Are people now also ask you besides their home bars, but hey, I want to collect vintage bar ware and I want to collect, you know, rare liquor and all these things. Is that something that you're getting asked to?
00:17:07
Speaker
I do, I've always gotten the call of I need to find Pappy, right? And I do have a lot of deep connections with the industry and I always help where I can.
00:17:15
Speaker
And I've always had people contact me that have a collection of spirits or wine that they need to, whether their parents had a great collection and they need to move it on or their collections getting big too big. So always connect them with the right Sotheby's or Christy's folks, or actually lead them to auctions.
Collecting for Passion vs. Profit
00:17:33
Speaker
One of the best things that you can actually do is donate your product to charity because not only do you, does it go to a good cause, but you get a write off based on what it sells for. So there's a good model in that too.
00:17:45
Speaker
But around barware, what's interesting to me is I've got a few guys who are looking for specific brand stuff. So, there's one guy specifically that is always looking for the old Abercrombie and Fitch stuff, which is amazing. Now, the reality is he's asking me because he knows there's not a lot out there, right? So, he knows I can see a lot. So, I've always got my eye out for the individuals looking for those type of pieces.
00:18:10
Speaker
But again, it's, you can't ever walk into a place looking for a thing. You've got to have your eyes open all the time and just buy as you go. Isn't it amazing that Abercrombie and Fitz used to do that stuff? Yeah. I've got an awesome hamper that holds wine bottles and champagne bottles. That is one of those pieces I just hope never, ever sells. If someone wanted to collect vintage bar ware,
00:18:35
Speaker
Where would you direct them in terms of brand specifics? Of course, we're directing them to shop at J. Earl & Sons, but brand-wise, is there a brand that if someone wanted to get into collecting vintage barware that they should be focusing on as a good entry way point?
00:18:52
Speaker
I mean, there are of the precious, high-end, sterling, especially the Aspery's, the different English brands that created Barware back in the day. But my fear, and it's almost just like what's going on in Bourbon right now, that if people are only chasing the rare, highly coveted, which ends up being very expensive stuff, that it's going to throw them off the market altogether, right?
00:19:16
Speaker
collect what you like right it's all about the character bring character to your bar so that i wouldn't say start chasing on the precious start just with like the items that you need right and cultivate your bar around that and then as you go if you find another pair of tongs that are better than the ones that you got than you just upgraded but my whole thing is you know
00:19:39
Speaker
enjoy it, make it pleasure, don't make it pain. Because if you're only searching for the precious, especially in barware that's actually used, it's going to be few and far between and you're going to pay so much for it that you're going to lose interest in it. What's your take on a bar cabinet slash armoire or bar cart?
00:19:59
Speaker
Yeah, so, and this is a question that I get a lot.
Functional Bar Furniture Choices
00:20:03
Speaker
A lot of people, especially in Sydney, want to start with a bar cart, and I will always kind of persuade them to maybe think about the top of a dresser or a buffet, create an existing piece of furniture, because as good as a bar cart can look, they're functionally really hard to use, like you're bent over
00:20:21
Speaker
And just the amount of space, because most of them are oval, you lose kind of the four corners of space to work with. So you can get everything on your bar cart and it can look great, but then you don't have a single place to actually fix a drink. And that's what it's all about. Yeah, it's good advice. A lot of people don't repurpose furniture because it says the word dresser in it or it says TV cabinet, but it, it all serves the same purpose. Yeah. And both of those, we love a dresser.
00:20:48
Speaker
with a big tray on it and build your collection around that. And some of the coolest bars we've ever seen are the ones that are unsuspecting, where it's either a coat closet in somebody's house or an armoire that looks like it's probably, you know, an old French armoire that looks like it's probably used to have a TV in it that opens up to an unbelievable collection of barware and spirits together, which is amazing. I love that.
00:21:15
Speaker
What's your thoughts and every home is different decor wise, but I love both of these looks. I'm always curious. I love the look of, you know, a buffet table or a sideboard where all the bottles of liquor are out and it just consumes a whole table. I love that look, but I also love an organized cabinet and everything put away. What are you seeing more of these days?
00:21:38
Speaker
Well, what we help people do is there's a typical thing with guys that, you know, they start their bar and it's like all the bottles are lined up against the back of whatever, a bar, a buffet or whatever, right? And it ends up looking a little fraternity house-ish, right? So what we try to coach folks with is start with a tray, whether it's vintage or whether it's new, a tray will add depth and dimension. And actually, if you put your bottles within the tray,
00:22:06
Speaker
you're building it towards you or out versus across the back. And so if you can imagine getting everything in a tray, spirits wise, to your left or to your right, it allows that other space where the tray is not for you to put more bar where, but also more importantly, functionally allows you to use the bar. So the tray is kind of our number one kind of secret on how to build an adult bar.
00:22:35
Speaker
What are the go-to vintage bar ware goods that folks can get at J. Earl and Sons that you think everyone should have in their home?
Character in Vintage Barware
00:22:43
Speaker
Sure. So I love the antler pieces. They're incredibly hard to find right now. A lot of the makers are not making them anymore. They are shed antlers for all those that are concerned about the animal side of things, but it is craftsmanship that is not going to be available that much longer.
00:23:00
Speaker
And so those are kind of one of my personal go-to pieces that I love. The shakers, you know, everyone needs a shaker. There's a tremendous amount of mass-produced big box ones. But look for vintage shakers. There's some amazing cobalt blue ones that were done back in the day with boats on them, with fox hunting scenes on them.
00:23:22
Speaker
kind of look at each one of the categories that you need to build a bar and we have a great kind of tutorial on the our website on how to do it but and pick the pieces that you you're looking for and then you you go in deep on them. The pieces that I would actually probably not start with are the vintage glasses. Vintage glasses are absolutely amazing and quite in vogue right now but build out all the other pieces and get your core
00:23:49
Speaker
glasses that you're going to drink on a daily, on more of a daily weekly basis, and then add the antique and vintage ones around those that you're functionally going to use all the time. We love the vintage highballs. They do, they're a great size. They tend to be quite sturdy. We like those typically over the double fashions because a lot of times they're just so small. Coops and cocktail glasses, you know, there's a whole resurgence of the vintage coop and I have my first question is back.
00:24:17
Speaker
Yeah, and everyone asked, what do I do with these, right? And I always say boozy cocktails, right? It's, and everyone's like, well, what's a boozy cocktail? And it's a cocktail like a paper plane that has nothing in it except for straight alcohol. And some of them are so tiny and so petite, you love them, but you don't think there's enough for you? Make a picture of cocktails and pour that little boozy cocktail in portions at a time versus trying to get all one big cocktail in there at a time. That's good advice.
00:24:46
Speaker
What would you say about vintage bar ware that is so much better? Because I find that it truly is, especially cocktail shakers than the modern stuff.
00:24:56
Speaker
It's character, right? Like, that's what we always say we try to do is we put character in your home bar. All the big box stuff is made for mass, right? And a lot of it is very modern. And modern stuff is good. And we love modern stuff mixed in. But for forever pieces that you want to hand down to your grandkids, like, they don't have the character that in the new stuff, or if they do have character, it's not gonna last very long.
00:25:24
Speaker
So that's that's what we lean in so heavy into the antique advantage. You mentioned earlier about that hamper kind of bottle cabinet that you have that's ultra rare. What are some other really unique or rare vintage bar where pieces that you've come across in this journey?
Stories Behind Rare Finds
00:25:44
Speaker
Well, I will tell you one that got away and I covered it and it sat across from my desk here at the shop. It was a vintage, I think it was probably from the 30s or the 40s, but like a vintage taxidermy ram horns.
00:26:02
Speaker
with brass that was basically a smoke station. So it had two containers where you would either put cigarettes or cigars and then it had a place that you slid your matches into. It was an amazing piece and it had a little carrying handle and when a woman walked into the shop here locally to buy it for her
00:26:24
Speaker
a brother in North Carolina, I guess, because I really wanted to know if he was going to appreciate it. And I told her, if he doesn't want this, I will happily buy it back. And again and again, I feel like going back to her to say, is he really enjoying that or is it a piece that I could get back? Those are the best. I love those stories of, you know, collector slash dealers finding something rare or really special. Is there anything that stands out from
00:26:53
Speaker
you know, being in a different state and, and walking into an antique shop and finding something that you're just like, holy cow. I can't believe I just stumbled upon this. Yeah. There was a Holland and Holland, uh, Peter Flass that I found in Oklahoma of all places. Wow. Yeah. Back home. Yeah. So that was just, uh, Oh my goodness. And my wife was like, what, what? And I'm like, no, no, no, this is coming home with us no matter what. If it's not for me, somebody out there will truly appreciate it.
Future Product Developments
00:27:22
Speaker
Any exciting plans for the future of JRL and Sons? I mean, I know you hope that the kids take it over in a legacy program, but anything new products that you guys are finding or working on that you can share with us? Yeah, so one of the things that is completely hot trend right now that we can't get enough of are ashtrays.
00:27:42
Speaker
The old cigar ashtrays and cigarette ashtrays. Like the ceramic ones. The ceramic ones, the metal ones, like everywhere. In fact, W.M. Brown did an article on them and we had been selling them for a while and then he did it and it just feels like it all exploded at one time.
00:27:57
Speaker
But we are working with a group in Portugal where we're actually making cigar ashtrays that are the hunter green and white with our big pheasant on it and our crest, the jail and son's crest on it. So we hope to have those in the fall. And then our barbacks, right? I had a bar
00:28:17
Speaker
It's just a bag that somebody had given me years ago that was canvas with leather handles that I throw in the car. I keep it basically stocked with all the barware and then just put the spirits in. But I take it to the beach. I take it to tailgates and everyone has always used an auto over them. So we actually went out and created our own.
00:28:36
Speaker
And we sold, we had them this holiday and we sold through them. We're waiting for another shipment right now. Um, and people can't get enough of them. They're, they're just the awesome size and shape because the bottles all set up, but it's not so big where everything kind of collapses on, on top of each other and falls down. Love that. We'll be on the lookout for the, uh, the ashtrays and the bag. Great.
00:28:57
Speaker
All right, Jeff, let's wrap it up here with the collector's dream rundown.
Jeff's Philosophy on Collecting
00:29:01
Speaker
I know you collect many things, so feel free to answer these questions based on any of the collections or stories that you have, whether it's barware or anything else. Sound good? Yep. Great. All right. You may have answered this one a couple of minutes ago, but what's the one that got away? It was that Ram and Brass smoke station. And again, if this guy is listening, I will happily buy it back from him.
00:29:24
Speaker
If he's not listening, just send him the episode so he knows it's top of mind. Yeah, exactly. We will do that. How about beyond deck circle? So is there anything that you have your eye on that you're kind of on the hunt for?
00:29:35
Speaker
Yeah, it's the ashtrays, right? We are going nutty to get as many ashtrays as we possibly can. And they're hard to find, right? You'll find one or two. And we're not just isolated to the big cigar ones, right? Everyone is buying the cigarette. One of our best vintage items that we can get ahold of are like the old school cigarette brass ones that have hunting dogs or ducks on them. So we are going as heavy and getting as many ashtrays as possible.
00:30:05
Speaker
Love it. The page one rewrite. So if you could collect anything besides your current money, no object, what would it be and why? It's watches. I did not. I have one vintage Rolex that I got as a wedding gift that was vintage there. So it's even more vintage now that I covet and I love. But when everyone was and I don't know what happened to me and how I missed out on it.
00:30:29
Speaker
Um, but I miss the whole watch thing and it's too late for me to get in now. Um, I also I've got so many other things that I've got going. The, the depth of knowledge for me to dive in is tough, but it's one of those things that I appreciate and I wish I would have done back in the day. A lot of things are getting unobtainable. That's for sure. Yeah, for sure. Um, what is the unobtainable for you? One that you can't have, maybe it's too expensive in a museum or a private collection.
00:30:57
Speaker
It's the absolutely precious sterling silver, most of it English, barware, shakers, jiggers. I see them, I buy what I can. It's very hard to find the ones that are absolutely pristine. I think Ralph Lauren's folks do a beautiful job of finding what they find, but that is, you know, I do and all over it, but I don't pull myself up to that line, even as passionate and as committed as I am to barware.
00:31:27
Speaker
How about the goat? So who do you look up to in the collecting world?
00:31:31
Speaker
Well, there's a few, right? John Rosselli, who has forever collected the Blue and White Chinoiserie export stuff. He's been collecting it way before it was in vogue, so I always appreciate his collection. David Sloan, who owns Roseville Farm, he's got a place in Wellington and a place here in Millbrook, New York. He's got an unbelievable collection of equestrian stuff, whether it's teardrop tailors that he's repurposed for tailgating,
00:31:58
Speaker
whether it's old tax signs or old tax, he's done a beautiful job. But more importantly with David, it's not just finding the pieces. He passionately does the work himself or finds makers that can help him to bring them back to kind of where they should be or what he wants on his farms. So he does a beautiful job and I totally appreciate that he gets into it.
00:32:20
Speaker
He's not too precious himself. It's not just a I collect there and I therefore I have people fix. He does it himself and I think that's what's cool about it. And the other one, which is kind of a great character that everyone loves, is Tom Sammet, right? Tom Sammet's always been a great designer based out in the Hamptons and he has amazing collections from Hermes to Gucci to whatever.
00:32:42
Speaker
But the thing that I've always appreciated about Tom and kind of my journey of getting to know him is that dude collects friends like nobody's business. And I think that is as much as he loves his material things, he loves the people and the people connection too. So he's always done a great job of collecting people. The hunt or the ownership. So which one do you love more? Are they equal to you?
00:33:07
Speaker
The hunt creates so much anxiety, you know, I pull up if it's a flea market, whether it's a and the junkier the better for me, the anxiety of going in there is like adrenaline, right? But I really it's it's the ownership, right?
00:33:26
Speaker
I don't like to get rid of stuff. It actually hurts me to get rid of stuff. I can tell you everything that I've let go in my past that I should have kept. So as much as the excitement of the pursuing, the joy of ownership is what it is for me. Jeff, most importantly, do you feel that you were born with the collectors gene?
00:33:49
Speaker
I don't know, but it sure as hell feels good. Something I enjoy. I don't know if it's a nature and nurture thing. There was a kid's book back in the day, and I'm sure it's got a name that everyone knows about some child, maybe was an orphan or maybe was in a foster care sort of situation.
00:34:08
Speaker
But the guy collected things that meant something to him even as a small child and displayed them preciously and they were his treasures. And I remember that book to this day of like starting that, you know, it's not that you have to have everything, but you have to appreciate what you have. And that's always been what's kind of guided me through this is, you know, I don't have to have everything, but I do like the things that I do have.
00:34:35
Speaker
Love it. Jeff, thank you so much for joining me today on Collectors Gene Radio. Really excited for all the plans that you have for Jay Erland's sons, and all I could say is chinchin. Awesome. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. Take care. Bye-bye. All right. That does it for this episode. Thank you all for listening to Collectors Gene Radio.