My first post

In July, 1990, I resigned my position as a coastal engineer and tossed away 13 years of college to work with my wife and build picture frames. She was seven months pregnant with our second child and running her custom framing shop by herself. She needed help; I hated consulting engineering and was miserable at work. I needed a change in my life. We both have always had a love of antiques, especially linens, books and old prints. We occasionally sold our wares in Charleston at the monthly local antique show and flea market. In August, 1990 we purchased an antique print collection with all our money with no guarantee we could sell them at a profit or survive on our own as small business owners. This purchase changed our lives, and we were thrown into the world of the antiquarian print business. Throughout the 1990's, the picture framing business that started out as a hobby for my "wife of an engineer" grew into one of the largest and successful framing businesses in South Carolina. I spent most of this time in the garage building picture frames and occasionally traveling up north to various estate and antiquarian book auctions. We employed 8-14 people and worked all the time. On August 7, 2001, we began a intentional, forced downsizing of our business. Now the business is just Susan and myself. I actually received a promotion to gallery manager. I hope to use this blog to introduce what I now do in the business and show what we sell. We have consistently been a place where one could purchase reasonably priced antique prints and custom mirrors. I hope that in the near future I can show the cyber world what is available at the Mouse House.