Collector loves relics and stories behind them
Published 9:09 am Saturday, January 31, 2009
The 19th annual Tiger City Farm Toy, Truck & Collectibles Show will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8, at Northbridge Mall.
People can buy, sell, trade and browse, and admission is free.
There will be Tonka parts, sports cards and coins, collectibles, cast-iron toys, Hot Wheels, tractor parts, dolls, pedal toys, new and old toys, NASCAR items, antiques, trains, literature, tractor manuals, toy horses, wagon hitches and saddles.
In all, 80 dealers are expected with more than 260 tables of merchandise.
Willis Pfieffer has always liked old things, but even more than that, he enjoys the stories that go with old things.
Pfieffer has been in the antiques business for 30 years. He purchases many of the items he has in his store, Hayward Antiques, from estates in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa and also helps people downsize.
“I love hearing the stories from people I buy things from,” he said. “I let them tell me what Grandma had. I enjoy people and talking to people.”
Pfieffer started in the antiques business after he and his former business partner, Russ Tordoff, were out pheasant hunting and found antiques in a grove. The farmer who owned the land gave them the antiques, and from there, they got into the business. They ran Countryside Antiques together for many years, and eventually split amiably for personal reasons, Pfieffer said.
“I still buy from him and he buys from me,” he said. They also still do shows together. In fact, Pfieffer said he and Tordoff will be next to each other at the 19th annual Tiger City Farm Toy, Truck & Collectibles Show at Northbridge Mall next Saturday and Sunday.
This is the fifth or sixth year Pfieffer said he has done the show. He plans to bring toys, jewelry, records, Barbie dolls, pictures, advertising items, dishes, Hot Wheels cars, tools and cast-iron toys.
From being in business, Pfieffer has been able to keep the things he likes best. “The good stuff will always be collectible,” he said.
He personally collects postcards, including local scenes, creameries, cards with Santa Claus, St. Patrick’s Day cards, Fourth of July cards and Memorial Day cards.
He also collects blue-gray pottery, including sugar bowls and pitchers, and old baseball items, as well as furniture. Like many of the people he works with, he decorates with antiques.
“I enjoy visiting with people,” he said. “I like the way people recycle and decorate.”
Pfieffer said he enjoys the quality of fine-art glass — something people just don’t find anymore.
“There are a lot of good, American-made antiques,” Pfieffer said, adding someday, he’d like to go antiquing on the East Coast, a part of the country that’s 200 years older than this part of the Midwest.
He’s learned a lot, he said, mostly by experience.
“My advice is don’t sell anything your kids want,” Pfieffer said.