[TheForge] A recipe for Emperor Wilson...

[Dann]

Phlip,

Back before the turn of the  last century  <grins>  I spoke with  an artist 
blacksmith  with a nice display of  forged iron, from rustic looking hooks 
and hinges  to fancy heart hangers,... something for every price range.. 
and he looked like he was making good progress at selling out... in the 
booth next to mine at a street faire in Minneapolis.   He made the same 
observation that I had found / felt to be true.
Basically he said something like this "At buckskinner  / mountain man 
"Rendez Vous."  Most of the " flat lander" clientele are penny pinchers and 
often the same kind of "do it yourself" wanna be blacksmiths that 
some  of  us are.. so when they stared at the blacksmith work, or took 
photos..  and rather than buy... they planned to  go home and try to make 
stuff up themselves. "

HOWEVER at RennFaires  the clientele  people seem to have more dollars in 
their pockets / purses and they appreciate a quality looking product, and 
buy it... often to come back and order more specialty items directly from 
the vender after the event."   I think that is the key... good sales and 
repeat sales after the event.

So I think there is a good market for hand forged wall hooks of all 
kinds.  Women always  like  to buy heart hooks.
Over the last 20 years, most of the stuff that my wife has bought on "Home 
Interiors" kind of parties...  looks to me like Chinese knock offs 
of  American  blacksmith  work.   These are  women hosted  sales parties ( 
kind of  like a tupperware party ) that sells Chinese  "mass 
produced"  iron wall shelves ) etc.

About 5 years ago in Hastings, Minnesota.. GOM  Fall Conferance...  I met 
the daughter of a Minnesota artist blacksmith that does  just that.  She 
buys up samples of artist blacksmith  work and sends it to  China to be 
reproduced in volume for bulk sales to American women.

Dann


At 11:00 AM 6/15/2005, you wrote:

>Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...
>
> > Philip:  What has been your level of success as RennFaires?  I throw this
> > question out to all hands.  What are the associated costs vs. what folks
>buy
> > there, and price points.  Do you think there is a market for handmade
>rondel
> > & quillion daggers?  What other accessories do they like?  In short, what
>is
> > the best way to make the RennFaire circuit work?   Grant
>
>My level of success so far has been zero- this will be the first one I've
>ever been to, let alone smithed at. I'm in s goos position- they _needed_ a
>smith, so I won't be paying merchant fees, and I'll be going in under their
>insurance as an unpaid employee. Whatever I make selling will be whatr I
>make, and my basic expenses will be gas to and from, and whatever I need to
>camp there- food, ice, like that, so it will be a good event to get my feet
>wet, and see if I like this sort of thing.
>
>I have, however, been to a number of SCA events, so I have most of the
>needful things- garb, an understanding of the basic Medievaloid attitude,
>and so forth, so it's not like I'm going in cold. The thing is, the
>RennFaire thing is a different demographic from the SCA thing. People go to
>RennFaires expecting to spend money and buy things, whereas SCAdians try to
>do everything as cheaply as possible. I don't usually even try to sell at
>SCA events- it's just more fun for me to teach other folks, and maybe make a
>couple things by special request.
>
>So, we will see what we will see, and go from there. And, no doubt, I'll
>tell you guys all about it ;-)
>
>Saint Phlip,
>CoD
>
>"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
>  Blacksmith's credo.
>
>  If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
>cat.
>
>Never a horse that cain't be rode,
>And never a rider who cain't be throwed....
>
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