My Passion for Scales

Let me tell you about one of my favorite people in the world, Peter Todd.  I first met Peter when he was visiting my church doing a week-long evangelistic session.  Peter was a Scotsman with that wonderful Scotch dialect.  He was quite proper, never used his fingers to eat and was a master of the “Queen’s English”.  We became much better acquainted when he left the ministry and became an antique dealer.  He taught me a great deal about antiques, particularly American furniture from the late 1700’s and early 1800’s.  Initially, I thought he was just as crazy as my mom with her passion for old things, particularly when seeing the prices he was selling 200-year-old tables for!  But the more time we spent with him and the more stories he told; I began to, not only appreciate his passion, but also to share it.  We began to go to the antique shows in which he was selling and helped him unload and setup and tear down…a great deal of work for a bunch of things that were 200 years old!  I remember walking around at one of the shows, checking out the other vendors and there it was…… a scale, but not just A scale because there were plenty of them.  It was THE scale! A banker’s scale made out of mahogany and brass.  It was just beautiful!  I did not own any scales but after seeing it, it had to be mine.  It was already very clear to me exactly where it was going to reside in my house, on the fireplace mantle.  200 or so scales later, it is not the most special of my scales and it is not necessarily my favorite, but it is my first!  And if all goes according to plan, it will be the last one that is sold.  But whatever the case may be, it is the one that ignited my passion that has continued for the last 40 years.  It will be my joy to now share that passion with you!