Catch up

     I've not written for several months.  I have been discouraged at the lack of sales of my cages and felt there was nothing to write about.  It's time to catch you up on what's been going on.
     I have four cages in a shop in Medford, OR.  They are more of my unique cages: round; stainless steel/chrome; early rectangular brass; and I can't remember the other one.  Three of them have feeders; two of them have stands.  When one adds up the cost of the stand, the cage, and the feeders, it's enough to give one pause.  They can be sold separately, of course, but to have the Hendryx 'full meal deal', a person must be willing to pay $250-$350.  It's just not happening.  Not in these economic times.  Not in such a specialized market.
     I had two stands, cages and feeders in Vancouver, WA.  They didn't sell, and the owner of the booth was ready to change her booth around and for me to take the cages.  Once again, for the 'full meal deal', the price had to be paid.  The cages attract people to the booth, but once the price is seen, the attraction is gone and the viewer moves on.
     I can lower the prices.  I can sell them for what I think they will go for.  I would practically be giving them away and would be recouping about $0.15 on the dollar.  Not worth it to me.  I feel that it is undervaluing the product for what it really is.  
     I have a copper circle 'hat box' Art Deco cage with the original feeders.  I don't know of any other like it.  There are chrome ones out there.  Not copper.  Can you appreciate the value of it as a rare piece of art?  Can you imagine it in the corner of an Art Deco living room?  Can you imagine the workmen making this cage, with a non-soldered patented production; with feeders raised off the floor to avoid the attraction of vermin; with patented perches that fit the feet of the bird, (kind of like a flat figure 8 instead of completely round)?  Can you see the Art Deco glass seed guards that have the definitely Art Deco circles and lines in black and white?  Can you see the plastic, Hendryx-embossed feeders that signal the end of the glass feeders and are just the beginning of the 'explosion' in plastic production?  Can you imagine the gleaming copper on the base of the stand, arching upward to hold the cage in a gentle arc and hook?  Can you imagine paying $450 for it?  That brought you up short, didn't it?  The chrome ones, without/with the glass inserts, without the feeders, and without the perches are going on eBay for about $200-$250.  I will get some pictures of it and add them soon so you can see if the reality is the same as what you imagined.

     To change the tone of this, I recently received a copy of a 1903/1904 Andrew B. Hendryx Co. Catalogue.  Here is a  picture of the front of it.  Isn't that wonderful?  
     I have several of the cages in this catalog and I will show them to you.  

The first one is on the left above.  It is a mocking bird cage so it's on the larger size.  I don't know if you can see them or not, but there are the swivel, cut-metal feeders, 2 on either side.  There is also a drawer for cleaning at the bottom.  It is finished in a specific way that is called "Japanned". It is metal, not brass.

The next one is a little carrier cage. I believe it was used to bring the little fellow home from the pet store.  It's in the picture above in the top right corner.  It's Japanned also.  It's probably no longer than 6".  It has two opal glass cups inside that are embossed Hendryx.  It's just cute.

The last one is a unique cage with metal, looped 'ruffle' along the roof line that I just unpacked today.  I've never seen another one like this.  It's in great shape. It's on the right page above, in the bottom left corner.  Can you see the 'ruffle' on it?  It's great.  And being the Hendryx 'purist' that I am, I have a set of feeders like the ones above that will go on this cage to make it complete.


     Thanks for spending some time with me.  Next time I will add a few more pictures of some of the cages in this catalog so you can see the creative genius behind the inventors and skilled workmen at the Andrew B. Hendryx Co. of New Haven, Conn.