Let's talk about cardboard Christmas houses and accessories

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Warning: I am contracting a technician to migrate this site to new, upgraded software that will not keep getting hacked. My apologies for the inconvenience, especially this close to Christmas, but the site may get shut down for a few day. Our other sites will be affected too. This won't be cheap, but the LAST thing I want is for all of the great user content to become unavailable.

I've also stopped the autopayments. They don't actually support the site - they're a way to keep trolls and spammers from signing up. If you have a login, you'll still be logged in in the new system.

Our sites actually cost us about $2k a year to run, in case you wondered, and this one draws most of the resources.

I expect the fix to run in the $2500 range. Several folks have offered to chip in but I'll wait until I have firm numbers before I say anything.

Just sayin', we do what we can.

Sorry. I'll update when I know more.
- Paul


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 10:50 am 
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Because this thread is still getting many visits, I am inserting an announcement we posted on Ted's site on October 30, 2011:

----------------------------------------------------------------
Announcement, October 30, 2012

After years of acting, performing music, and collecting and writing about his favorite Christmas traditions, "Papa" Ted Althof has succumbed to illness, on October 29, 2012. A Celebration of his life and work is planned, although we have no details yet.

When he realized his was ill, Ted worked with CardboardChristmas.com to establish this archive of his "Putz house" site, which will, hopefully, continue to inform, encourage, and bless other lovers of Christmas tradition for years to come. In the coming weeks, we will be making necessary adjustments (such as changing the contact information), but our primary goal is to keep the information on this site as useful and available as Ted always intended it to be.

In the meantime we appreciate Ted's diligence, his generousity, and his love of Christmas traditions. We also pray for those close to him who showed so much support in his last months.

If you need to contact us before we get everything switched over, please use the Cardboard Christmas contact page.

To paraphrase Dickens, Ted was a man who:

honored Christmas in his heart, and tried to keep it all the year.

I don't think there is a more fitting tribute than to follow his example.

Paul Race, Howard Lamey, Maria Cudequest, Nan Corby, Jack Ahearn, and the rest of the CardboardChristmas.com family.

------------Back to the original post--------------------

A little bird told me that one person who helped Ted's heirs carve a pathway through his house will be posting some of them on eBay soon. Here's the note:

--------------------------
Some of you have noticed already, but the gal whose elderly father bought a truckload of Ted's houses from Ted's daughter and granddaughter last fall has started listing the houses on ebay. I have been in contact with her since last year, when she very kindly agreed to sell me two houses that were in Ted's collection that were purchased by me and sent to Ted to photograph in the early days of Ted's website. In order to sell them to me, she had to stop the ebay auctions, and she made some folks mad in doing that. I apologize again for causing that conflict, but it has all turned out super. We have become friends.

I had been lobbying this lady to start listing the houses around Labor Day, and she managed to carve out some time to do that. She is raising four kids and works too, so it isn't easy for her. I have no stake in these remaining houses, but will be bidding on some that interest me.

Sorting thru FORTY large "banana" freight boxes to find houses that might go together was impossible. The boxes fill her father's basement,and the only spot available for photographing is on top of the washing machine. So she is listing the houses just as they come out of the boxes, and for the same starting bid. I had suggested a lower starting bid for some of the more common houses, but she is interested in just getting them listed, and I can understand that given the number of houses that are involved.
As of tonight, she has listed the contents of three of the forty boxes, so you can imagine the task ahead.
I just wanted to let you know this is happening, in case you were interested in having a "Ted" house.
I am told that some boxes don't have houses in them, but rather fences, trees, and lights, too.
The seller's ebay name is "justachick." She will also eventually be
listing under her father's account which is "papscellar."


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 8:09 pm 
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Seems odd that a seller who has no knowledge of the items is responsible for listing these houses. And if she didn't have time for the task, why did she get involved? I hope this works out well for buyers who know the history of the houses and other items, but it is not an impressive start.


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PostPosted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:37 am 
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Mr. Crowe,

I understand your reaction, it was my reaction, too, the first time I encountered someone who was selling stuff from Ted's estate that he didn't know anything about. Turns out, he had made a fair offer and it wasn't his fault that no one more knowledgeable about putz houses was willing to drive to the old house with cash in hand.

This would be a longer story if I felt free to post all the details, but Justachick's family took this on to help Ted's heirs out of a bad situation. And they made a bigger cash investment than they could really afford to under what might have been a misunderstanding of the value of such a volume of unsorted, uninventoried collectibles. Several collectors who knew what was going on and had some idea of the value of these houses COULD have stepped in and made fair offers on all or part of the pile, or helped Ted's heirs sort through the chaos. But they didn't.

That said, I have NO reason to believe that Ted's heirs were in any undercompensated.

So Justachick's family is doing the best they can with what they've got. Letting the market decide the value of each house is really their best way out of this situation.

Hope this makes sense - Paul


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PostPosted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 8:13 pm 
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It is kind of sad to see Ted’s beloved houses up for sale. I like to think that they will be going to a good home where they will become someone’s treasure. I am truly enjoying the opportunity to see these great houses. This is a rare opportunity to see such a wonderful collection of Putz houses. The timing could not be any better as we draw close to Ted’s anniversary.


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PostPosted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 9:23 pm 
Is there any more news? The auctions for unsold houses ended Sept 19 and I can't find any active listings.


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PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 7:03 am 
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zelda wrote:
Is there any more news? The auctions for unsold houses ended Sept 19 and I can't find any active listings.


I was wondering the same thing...I'm not bidding on any of them...just following to see what houses never made it on to ted's site...in forty boxes?...you'd think there are bound to be a few...

I've assisted one of my daughters with here eBay listings...photographing, writing copy and posting...then packing and shipping...it all takes time...lots of it...perhaps we will see some new listings soon...('cause old Howard is searching for a challenging new project)...

Just speculation on my part...Perhaps the seller found a buyer and liquidated the entire collection...(NOT ME THOUGH)...things like this have happened before...

My very best regards...Howard...patiently observing...back in the game soon...

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Note: To ask a question, sign up for our "Christmas Times" newsletter, or learn how
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Note: All content on this forum is Copyright (c) 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 by Paul D. Race
and by the posters who have contributed specific content. All material is for your personal use only. No content
or plans may be republished or sold, nor may any plans be used to make products to sell without prior written
permission from Paul D. Race and the individual who contributed the content or plan in question.
For permissions or for questions about this policy, please contact us using our Contact page.



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