SKOWHEGAN, MAINE – Central Maine recently lost one of its most colorful antique dealers. David Lee Jewell, of Turner Avenue, died of a heart attack at the age of 72 on July 27.

David was born in Skowhegan in 1933, the son of Harry and Lillace (Burrill) Jewell. Both his father and his uncle Lee were shrewd and very successful dairy farmers in Central Maine and for much of his early life, David worked on a farm. In 1954 he married his lifelong partner, Faylene Tibbetts. In early 1970, they sold their farm and decided to deal in antiques. His interest in antiques was probably inspired by his mother who had collected antiques throughout her life.

David was an antiques picker extraordinaire from the very beginning until the last days of his life; he obtained much of his offerings directly out of old Maine estates. He explored as many or more old Maine attics than any other dealer in the state. Treasures frequently abounded at his weekly Friday morning sales where dealers from all over Maine and different states attended to see what bounty he and his bevy of pickers had come up with in the past week. One thing was for certain, the selection was always “fresh.”

While David was a low-key dealer, never having set up at an antique show, advertised widely or kept abreast of modern technology (indeed he didn’t even own a computer). His salesmanship and marketing skills equaled or exceeded that of any graduate of the renown business colleges of Babson or Harvard.

David always maintained a down home attitude and approach which sometimes totally disarmed a new buyer who might think they just discovered a country picker with limited knowledge, but David was sharp as a tack and was almost always one step ahead of the crowd.

Over the years, as it became more difficult to talk ones way into an old Maine estate, David who always dressed neat but casual, befriended a former businessman who, even in retirement always dressed impeccably; slacks, shirt, tie, sports jacket and hat. Together they would take off each day early in the morning to some Maine village or town where the impeccably dressed friend would knock on the door and develop a rapport with the owner and in a short while, David and his friend would be invited in and David would be on his way to another attic or shed chamber where he would mine for treasures.

David’s Friday morning offerings not only included treasures that he had pulled out of New England homes throughout the week, but somehow he was always able to establish relationships with multiple pickers in the area who frequently brought in their goods to be offered by David at his special Friday sales. In addition, David attended almost every single local auction and tag sale that took place, where he was usually a tenacious buyer for good quality items.

A trip to David’s on Friday morning was truly an experience. As a cluster of dealers descended on his garage the buying was active and sometimes frantic for a short period of time, but David held court throughout the entire process. His witticisms, his unique way of doing business and some of his unusual techniques not only made the experience more interesting but sometimes quite entertaining. A dealer, who might give David a particularly hard time about the price of some particular object he aspired to own, might find himself “fined.” David would announce that he was fining him $100. The following week when the dealer returned and bought $2,600 worth of goods (nothing at David’s sales ever had a price tag on it), David would announce to the dealer his fine was paid in full; the actual price of the goods he purchased was $2,500 David would say but he tacked a little bit extra on to a few of the things to settle the $100 fine and now the dealer was once again in good standing unless he “sassed” David again in the future.

David truly understood the thrill and excitement of discovering goods and in a sense, incorporated that into his marketing techniques. In addition to the goods offered publicly in the garage, there were numerous anterooms and another building, each padlocked. If the visitor was obviously a “tire kicker” he didn’t get any further than the garage, but if they were a well-established, good spending dealer, all nooks and crannies would be opened and available.

One day, a lady visiting David for the first time, was purchasing a number of things. After a while, David turned to his son Mark who was keeping a running receipt and asked him, “…what’s she up to now” and Mark response was “$850.” A short while later, David asked again and Mark said “$1,100.” Finally the lady said why do you keep asking how much I’ve purchased? David responded, once you hit $1,500 we let you go into the “muuseeum.” And sure enough, once she had purchased $1,500, David unlocked one of the anterooms and let her in, where she continued to buy.

The elderly lady living next door to David passed away and he and Faylene purchased her old Victorian home. Together they cleaned the house up, wall-papered it and then fully furnished and decorated it with antiques. The house was set up with room settings of fresh antiques that David had recently picked. But rather than just presenting everything on tables and stands, David purposely “hid” various desirable items; a prize Victorian water pitcher might be on the top shelf of the kitchen cabinet where one could just barely see a piece of it as they opened the cupboard. A very desirable Edison record player might be placed in a closet, partially hidden.

A trip out into the impeccably clean shed chamber would reveal a number of things hanging from beams and tucked into nooks and crannies, a rare four finger Shaker box in old green paint might be on an overhead beam, just barely peeking out from the edge. David well understood the effect of the value of the sense of “discovery” and all of these techniques helped to stimulate the impulse, the enthusiasm and excitement that sometimes made a major difference in a successful sale.

A trip to David Jewell’s was always a special experience, and much the same as it had always been; modern technology had no place at David’s establishment and a visit to David’s was not much different in 2006 as it was in 1976. David was a unique and enjoyable experience but his “shop” is now closed and he will be much missed by a plethora of friends and dealers that frequented his establishment.

David is survived by his wife of 52 years, Faylene and his two sons, David E. Jewell who owns a business in Madison and Mark S. Jewell of Skowhegan who continues to follow in his father’s footsteps as an antique dealer and picker.

Anyone wishing to make a donation in his memory may do so to the Somerset Humane Society, PO Box 453, Skowhegan ME 04967; their phone number is 207-474-6493.

-Jim Julia