Posted by Pat Weiler on March 08, 1999 at 08:31:02:
In Reply to: Re: Would you buy a rug on the Internet? posted by Jerry Silverman on March 08, 1999 at 01:11:15:
: I've often wondered how a person who lived far from a rug dealer could ever foster an interest in rugs. Even some major cities offer surprisingly few choices. (Last time I looked New Orleans had only one. Des Moines had none. Santa Fe had too many.)
: Cordially,
: -Jerry-
Jerry: I live in Seattle, with a dozen rug stores (plus-or-minus at any given GOB-time) and have wondered the same thing. As serious collectors (ask a psychiatrist) we expand our horizons once we have seen what is available locally. Since beginning a collection, I try to get out and look for rugs whenever I am out of town. I find very few rug stores, even in large towns, such as Milwaukee or Sacramento, since, just like the most beautiful women, the best rugs seem to gravitate to the largest regional city, such as Chicago or San Francisco. Even in some larger regional centers, one could search far and wide for something good enough to buy (or at least better than my most recent "mistake").
E-bay does seem to have as many rugs of mediocre quality as your average oriental rug store, with a few indo-persians, some pak-bokharas, a number of cheap "baloochies", a few herizes and a small pile of musty, dusty, troubled and torn bagfaces. The most serious of us will eventually enter some sort of treatment program (rug club), or even, shudder, become dealers to support our habit. The internet certainly allows us our "fix" with little inconvenience, other than to our ever-suffering loved ones.
I guess that is the reason many people move their families to remote burgs, to deep their children from becoming tainted by nefarious rug dealers and succumbing to the terror.
See you "in the field"
Pat Weiler