We're not old, but our stuff is!

We're atypical thirty-somethings. We don't live in some hip apartment downtown furnished by Pottery Barn, and we don't live in a 3-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath in the 'burbs with 2.2 children. Nope, not us. We live in a 19th-century schoolhouse furnished with stuff older than our great-grandparents.

But, it's to be expected. Andrew is an antiques auctioneer and historian of early American furniture, and Hollie is librarian who works for an Internet antiques price database. Fortunately, we rather enjoy being different. And that's good, because in our business, we are somewhat of a novelty because we are under 50. We spend many of our weekends at auctions and antique shows, and generally we have the least amount of gray hair of anyone there.

A little over a year ago, we started writing a column in the monthly newspaper Maine Antique Digest about the antiques and art marketplace from the perspective of a couple of its younger participants. You can read our archived columns at MAD's website (www.maineantiquedigest.com). Here, you'll be able to read stuff that just couldn't quite fit in our regular columns, such as notes on our trips to shows and auctions, tidbits that we see and here about in the marketplace, and we'll address some of the letters and emails we get in response to our columns (we are big fans of open dialogue).

We also hope that this foray into cyberspace will attract other young folks with an interest in history, antiques, and art. We're always looking to make contact with folks who share our interests! So, thanks for reading, and happy New Year!