Dealer’s ‘Diary’ a tale of ‘New England’s attic’ ‘Memoirs of Fred Bishop Tuck’ presents anecdotes from Maine’s first full-time antique dealer

ANTIQUEMAN’S DIARY: THE MEMOIRS OF FRED BISHOP TUCK, edited by Dean A. Fales Jr., Tilbury House, Gardiner, 2001, paperback, 150 pages, $15.

Given the sheer volume of antique shops and their popularity in Maine, it’s no wonder Maine often is referred to as New England’s attic. Fred Bishop Tuck was Maine’s first full-time antique dealer. Furniture historian Dean A. Fales Jr. discovered an unpublished transcript of Tuck’s diary in a secondhand shop and used it to create this little gem of a book which is a sort of memoir of Tuck’s experiences.

“I became interested in buying antique articles at eighteen years of age, and at twenty I called myself a full-fledged antique dealer,” begins Tuck’s memoir, which reads almost like a daily journal with dated entries. Tuck relives his first antique investment in 1885 – an old highboy he bought for $15 – and the derision of his father when he brought home the chest of drawers, along with a spinning wheel, some brass warming pans and a foot stove. His father thought he’d be a joke. But Tuck’s enthusiasm only grew when, a few months later, he sold the highboy for $75.

Fred Tuck never specialized, but preferred to seek out and sell items that were popular or merely struck his fancy. In 1893, he opened the “first antique shop in Maine” in Kennebunkport, and over the years he moved and expanded his shop – even running two shops in Kennebunkport at one point. He made frequent buying trips through New England and the Southeast, and delighted in tracking down an old piece just for the story that went with it.

The joys of this book are the stories Tuck relates. For instance, he describes buying an old paint-spattered pitcher for $2 just to humor a pretty girl, but when he cleans it up a few years later, he discovers a 200-year-old collectible which he sells for $100. There were many items Tuck knew nothing about, but because someone was selling or someone wanted to buy, he did tremendous fieldwork and ultimately was able to turn a profit. Thus he relates his start dealing in old blown-glass bottles, hatboxes and Currier & Ives prints.

The diary entries run from the late 1890s through November 1920 and reveal not only Tuck’s talent for antiquing, but his sheer tenacity as an entrepreneur. He developed New England’s first historic postcards, sold homemade jigsaw puzzles and scrapbooks, and even sold bottled water.

In addition to Tuck’s clear and readable storytelling, the book contains numerous black-and-white period photographs of Tuck, his businesses, and many of the items he bought and sold. Anyone remotely interested in antiques should read Tuck’s book and learn from a master the tricks to buying and selling; though perhaps some of his tricks – such as refinishing old furniture – may seem appalling to serious collectors today. This is also a wonderful glimpse into the beginnings of antiquing in New England and Maine history buffs would find it equally appealing.