Finders, Keepers

Everybody's looking for something. The antiques hounds of Quaker City Questers have searching down to a science.

by J.F. Pirro

The crowd here at the Quaker City Questers meeting in Fort Washington on the first Tuesday in March is as eccentric as the objects they collect are eclectic.

QUESTHOUSE: Quester Leonard Kornit in front of the Quince Street building that houses the organization's international headquarters. Photo By: Michael T. Regan (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

Pete and Patti Bloom, who always dress alike, are wearing matching Philadelphia Flower Show "Legends of Ireland" sweatshirts beneath fluorescent orange outdoor coats they bought at Cabelas. (At home, their collection of 300-plus oyster plates is the definition of obsessive.)

Joe Wilford, the epitome of the wise, weathered sage — what with his wild gray hair and long matching beard — could play the title role in a film adaptation of The Old Man and the Sea. When he goes fishing — er, questing —it's for World's Fair souvenirs or rare stamps, which he's exhibited nationally. (He has 80 boxes of empty beer cans for sale, too. "Interested?" he asks.)

When asked why they collect, and that is what these Questers do, it's Joe's wife, Jean Wilford, (whose passion is her 500 precious pieces of Japanese porcelain), who explains: "I collect because [Joe] always has. I figured, If I can't beat him, join him."

Inside Jim and Sally Guenther's home, 16 Questers are sequestered in a large recreation room. Jim admits he has a cheat sheet with the names of the expected couples in his pocket. Sally's wearing a boot (hobbled by a dancing mishap), but that doesn't prevent her from preparing desserts, dishing out candy and serving coffee and tea after the evening's guest speaker.

The Questers motto is: "It's fun to search, and a joy to find." The "quest" is to own a piece of history, or an understanding of it. It's the perfect recipe for the upcoming weekend which sees the Philadelphia Antiques Show (April 14 to 17 at the 33rd Street Armory in University City) and the Original 23rd Street Armory Antiques Show (April 13 to 15 at the 23rd Street Armory) hit town.

Further keeping them busy will be the state Questers Conference April 18 at Presidential Caterer's in East Norriton and the 57th International Convention May 18 to 20 in Tulsa, Okla. (the 2009 international will be held in Hershey).

Usually, a regular monthly meeting consists of a short business agenda, then a speaker, a slide show about an historic site or the presentation of a member's study paper in an area of expertise.

Tonight, Harding Lindhult of the Pennypack Questers in Hatboro narrates a slide show about the Winchester Mystery House, which distraught rifle heiress Sarah L. Winchester incessantly built in Victorian grandeur for 38 years in San Jose, Calif., with a $20 million inheritance, until her death in 1922 at age 82.

After the untimely deaths of a baby daughter and then her husband, explained Lindhult, Sarah sought psychic intervention. It was explained that her misfortune was the influence of the ghosts of those killed by the "Gun that Won the West." Only the continuous expansion of the mansion would appease the spirits, she was told, and so an eight-room farmhouse on 168 acres became 160 bizarre rooms, designed with architectural blunders, marvels and elements of the occult, including a séance room only she knew how to access.

A modest Fort Washington home was the site of history's first-ever Questers meeting. Founder Jessie Elizabeth Bardens, a Red Cross production chairman, first hosted co-workers on April 6, 1944. They were to "bring an antique and a sandwich." She featured a little blue syrup pitcher. Soon, five more local groups formed. In March 1950 she organized them into a national organization, then incorporated in 1953 in Pennsylvania.

Before Bardens' death a decade later, she'd attend the first National Questers Convention of 149 chapters in 22 states. Today, there are 15,000 Questers in 900 chapters in 44 states and two Canadian provinces. There are 106 Pennsylvania chapters with approximately 1,800 members.

Center City is home to the organization's international headquarters, a three-story Federal period brick building dating to 1802 at 210 S. Quince St. where some 1,500 member-written study papers and 100 donated videos are stored. On June 7, Irene Doll Wenzell, the office manager, will celebrate her 20th year as the Questers' only employee. That status restricts her from membership, but not job satisfaction.

"Not many people can say they love their job the same as the day they started," she says.

The home, which also hosts executive board meetings twice a year, in January and September, is open for tour only to Questers, who also promote preservation and restoration projects, as well as graduate study in historic planning and preservation, and historic art conservation.

Initially, chapters were typically reserved for women only, but Quaker City became Pennsylvania's first couples club in 1996. The club is named Quaker City because its first meeting was held at the Philadelphia home of Pearl and Leonard Kornit.

One of current president Marty Ewer's club program books — an annual publication detailing club history and the year's activities — won third place in last year's international competition. His wife, Kay, thinks this year's book could take first prize. "We won't know until we're in Oklahoma," she says.

Kay's mother was a Quester. Marty, whose interest is in genealogy, has traced her family tree back to 1500. He's traced his own to 1705, including some lineage to the Mayflower.

Questers Marty and Sandy Mikelberg's interests include art, paperweights and marbles. In 10 years on eBay, they sold off an impressive bottle collection, but Marty is critical of the online auction service.

"EBay has lost its gleam," he says. "Eighty percent of the items don't even sell, and it's so rare to find something that turns into big bucks."

The Mikelbergs first collected inkwells, then "sick," or opalescent, glass, then glass rolling pins.

"We've stayed with glass," says Sandy, a past state president. "You can collect everything if you want, but if you want to know what you're collecting —if you want to learn about it, which is why Questers exists —then you stay within the same area so you can be intelligent."

Meanwhile, Sally Guenther presents a double inkwell that's been passed down in her family. "It's crystal," Sandy Mikelberg says of the heirloom. "I can tell you that."

Then a host of Questers take turns looking for markings, or a signature —an "H" for Heisey would be fabulous —but they find chips in the base instead.

Sandy's advice? Collect what you like. Don't sweat value.

Marilyn Rubin, who could pass for Marilyn Monroe had the actress lived longer, adheres to that tenet. Her children wonder when she'll stop bringing quests —she mentions cut glass, Orientalia and Wedgewood —home. Admittedly, she's out of room to store any more. She puts her finger in her mouth and proclaims, "As long as I'm breathing, I'm buying!"

(j_pirro@citypaper.net)

For more information, visit www.questers1944.org or call 215-923-5183. For more on The Philadelphia Antiques Show, visit www.philaantiques.com or call 215-387-3500, or the Original 23rd Street Armory Show at www.barnstar.com or call 845-876-0616 or 914-474-8552.