Unfortunately, we are reliving that part of history again, when some less-than honest officials get together and decide to drain our economy into their own pockets and we suffer recessions and in order t survive the world gives up on quality and switches to disposable products for the poor market. While the hope is that dark era is at its end, it will take decades before the luxuries of yesterday are recreated and the existing few treasures of the past will be cherished and more valuable as great investments.

The "Other" Gold Rush!

In the 1960's, I as the fourth generation in the family business and my family members were actively buying old rugs for thousands of dollars. Tradition is always the Fashion! Traditional rugs have been around for hundreds of years and are not ruled by fashion. Although through time few designers tried to claim a design or another in rugs as their own, ultimately it has been the quality which determines the value. In the Middle-East Rug Connoisseurs as well as the very affluent and the Royalty have been known first to find a rare rug of their choice before building the house of their dreams with a room to fit the Rug.   

Thousands of people in the US bought a simple 8’x10’ fine rug for their dining room in 1930 for $80 retail. It was a lot of money then. Only 4 decades later finding them in trash, people with pick-up trucks were bringing them to people like me since the 1960’s to get anywhere from $200 to $5,000 for them. It was “the other” modern day gold rush. Everybody was searching the streets on bulky trash days. My family business bought over 20,000 pieces to refurbish for worldwide redistribution. Many of the pieces were so intact they only needed a wash and nothing else.   Recession and its toll on Production! One of the reasons a recession and followed by a depression is hard to see is that right before it comes like a cliff, people are basking in the peak of riches. That is when production of most consumer products reaches the highest qualities, finest materials and best workmanship. Then the recession hits and money does not return to pay the manufacturers and suddenly everything comes to a screeching halt as if it went over a cliff. This causes a lot of the best manufacturers to go out of business and the rest switch to production for the lower income market. Lower income market is always a lot larger and mostly less aware or indifferent to the residual values. In mid-1930’s production of rugs began with much lower grade in the wool used responsible for durability, less number of colors responsible to create a more delicate coordination and less workmanship all to keep the price down. Today, it is mostly concentrated on DISPOSABLE rugs that have no or few colors, hardly any design and no durable or valuable material. Majority of these goods will be discarded in time and return very little, if anything at all.   Trend! In the 1960’s, building an average home more affordably meant some changes, such as shorter ceiling heights to preserve and save on heating. They were also built without the traditional wood flooring in anticipation of covering the floors with a wall-to-wall carpeting which would bring the cost of building down. This was a financial and not necessarily a healthy choice.   Health-conscience Product! As compared to the Traditional Rugs which are hand-knotted made of natural fibers of Wool, Silk and Cotton, tufted rugs or wall-to-all goods which use adhesives on the back have some serious health concerns. The adhesive on the back of such alternatives is highly toxic. I’m sure many are familiar about the new Carpet syndrome or the new car syndrome due to its fresh carpet. The warmth of an average room temperature causes the odorless gases of the synthetics to be released in the air and sensitive people react to it with from simple allergies to as bad as a lung collapse. Circulating the fumes in a new car can cause eye infections and repertory issues.   It’s now rare! Almost all of the production of Fine Traditional Rugs in many countries has ended and high end is no longer being made. While the marketing is concentrated on the Shabby “Transitional”, looking back through its history, technically whatever traditional Rugs remain out there are now rare and scarce and of better values already.     Responsible Spending! The searching for the old Rugs since the mid-1960 took me to many house sales and auctions nationwide. Some of the most noteworthy in the 1970’s were the Rockefeller-Dodge Estate, the Vanderbilt Estate and the JP Morgan Estate. In contrast to most estate sales in which a lot is thrashed before sellable goods are identified, in these even the trash bins were valuable. In one I saw a wardrobe closet larger than a family room with magnificent suites hanging in it. One of the suites had a label sew into the inner jacket lining, embroidered the name of the clothing outfit which hand tailored it for the gentleman in the 1920’s. Needless to say that date dropped my jaw in awe as to how fine things can last this long in almost new condition. One can realize, it is not only color and style that are elemental in composition of what is described as “beautiful.” Sometimes it is the value, such as the case may be if you wore just a rough diamond on your finger. My grandfather always said, “I cannot afford to buy anything cheap!” which rang out very true. Here a fortune was left for the estate and the inheritors by the daily things they spent money on and enjoyed them all the while. How amazing and how intelligent is the beauty in the value! Utility! Unlike a diamond which you cannot eat if you were hungry, it will not keep you warm and will not drive you anywhere, Fine Rugs will serve you to warm your home and cushion your steps, they muffle noise and beautify your home. But just like Diamonds they will give you a return value which historically has been much higher than the original cost.   Refurbishment! One must take good care of their belongings regardless of its value. But when you own something that can outlast an entire generation it is even more important to take better care of it in order to make sure when it comes to giving up ownership that a better condition can ensure you a better financial return. First and foremost care is to keep your rugs clean. After a few years of use or after any big spill it is a great idea to have your rugs thoroughly washed and treated. It is just as important to make sure the entity in care of cleaning your rug has some degree of professional experience in treatment of such rugs and to ensure your rug does not end up being the experiment. If you have any tears or holes in it or the ends or sides may be unraveling, you would want to quickly restore and secure it so the damage does not progress into something very big and expensive which will take away from the value. There were those with pickup trucks who would search neighborhood trash on bulk item days for discarded rugs to bring to us and cash in on a weekly basis. The original home owners bought the same perhaps for $75 and $150, abused them for decades before selling them for thousands. In the US depression of the 1930's all production of those solid, soft wool rugs stopped and within 2 decades later the newer cheaper merchandise hit the market. Today’s popular productions are either the tufted or very light weight hand knotted which are very light in weight and have very few colors, with abstract and transitional designs. The newer production is being marketed by dealers due to the fact that they are substantially cheaper in quality and value and they would take very little talent or work to decorate with compromising the professional potential of the interior decorators, as well as the durability and the resale value In my production and Import distribution business, in order not to get lost in an ocean of importers who all brought commercial grade goods, I specialized in better wool, higher density, more authentic designs and better dyes in line with the productions of early 1900’s. This is a rare opportunity own the solid qualities which are rare and will be of great value while the inventories last.

ThePreciousOne, the right Choice for a pick-me-up for when you've had enough of the bland, colorless and the abstracts! Ask the Seller to post on Ebay other sizes including hallway runner of this style if available. Free Shipping is offered to buyers within the lower 48 States. Contact seller for shipping Charges to other destinations.