HomeOpen House: Al and Sue’s
02. Dec, 2009 
7 Comments
During a recent gathering of friends at the Drake Hotel’s Cog d’Or bar, Richard Norton Gallery’s Susan Klein Bagdade held out her wrist and asked me if I could discern which of the three light green bangle bracelets she was wearing was made not from Bakelite but from a non-flammable version of Celluloid called cellulose acetate. I touched each before admitting that I couldn’t even hazard a guess. To contrast, by their sheen alone, Sue could tell the difference between Celluloid and Bakelite from across the room. In fact, Sue wrote the book about mid-century costume jewelry. And as the icing on the cake, it was that book, Mid-Century Plastic Jewelry, or rather the idea of that book, which prompted Sue to contact her future husband Al Bagdade, an acknowledged antiques expert and columnist who along with his late wife Susan wrote more than seven guides to collecting pottery, porcelain and toy trains.*
“You go to enough shows and pick up enough things, you get a handle on what it’s worth,” explains Al, who makes his living as a dentist, albeit one with an all-consuming passion for antiques, especially quimper, a style of pottery made in Quimper, a town in France. When he realized he’d become quite knowledgeable about the subject – and many others – Al started writing books and price guides, and eventually, he and his late wife Susan even hosted a HGTV show The Appraisal Fair.
“I loved being in front of the camera,” Al recalls fondly. “It was like making love to a beautiful girl.”
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Sue was part of the production team on The Appraisal Fair, so she immediately thought of Al when she decided she needed feedback about her book idea.
“Nobody had collected what I collected,” says Sue. “So I approached Al, and he said ‘absolutely you should do it.’” Sue went to Border’s, wrote down the publisher of every book in the general category that appealed to her, and she sent a query to several, including Schiffer, who asked her for a proposal, which she provided the following week. A week after that, Sue signed a contract to write her book.
“Then the reality hits you,” recalls Sue. “Oh my God, I have to write a book? I don’t know how to write a book.”
But she soon learned, spending many nights and weekends researching, interviewing and writing. When she finally finished the manuscript she asked Al to take a look at it. Cue the musical montage of Al and Sue driving through the countryside and checking out new antique shows. As you might expect, love flowered unexpectedly and soon the two were engaged to be married. Sue’s book Mid-Century Plastic Jewelry was published in 2005. It’s a gorgeous, entertaining book, and she’s happy with how it turned out.
“If you want to read the book, it’s a good story,” says Sue. “And if you want to look at pretty pictures, they’re there too.”
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Sue and Al were already together, although they hadn’t gotten hitched, when I first made their acquaintance last November. Sue and I were chatting about antique stores, and she asked for any suggestions where she could find a large cabinet to hold her extensive jewelry collection. She’d seemed a bit perplexed about how she and Al would ever combine their very full, adult, quite differently decorated households. As you can imagine, the antique freaks both had extensive collections (he’s a little quimper; she’s a little art deco).
I was intrigued by the concept of merging two, quite different households, so I asked if I could see the place after they moved in together, and she agreed. Apparently things went swimmingly.
“We’re kindred spirits,” she says grinning, when I finally photographed the newlywed’s merged apartment several weeks ago, although they say they’re grateful for the help of their good friends. Sue’s Richard Norton co-worker Shawn Marsh helped them organize the shelves to showcase their very different objets d’art, and interior designer Larry Boeder spent some time working on layout. The two bedroom, two bath unit easily accommodates their edited collection, and both say they like the mix. “Larry and Shawn did a beautiful job,” Sue says.
Al and Sue use the expansive second bedroom as an office, and it was gorgeous at dusk, warmly illuminated by old-fashioned incandescent, the neon from Al’s Al’s Diner sign and even the purple-pink sky outside. There’s room for both of them to work, but Al and Sue would rather have fun antiquing through the Midwest.
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“If there’s a couple weekend when we don’t do any antiquing we go through withdrawal,” says Sue. “It’s what we absolutely love to do.”
“We always come back with cartons full of stuff,” adds Al.
Al’s always on the lookout for quimper, and Sue still finds interesting Bakelite jewelry pieces for her collection. And she needn’t have worried about not having room to store her furniture; Sue found found the perfect storage piece at the Allegan Flea flea market several months ago. You might say everything just kind of fell into place. Thanks Al and Sue!
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Click here for past Open House tours.
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* Here are Amazon links to a few of the seven books Al and his late wife Susan wrote:
http://www.amazon.com/Warmans-English-Continental-Pottery-Porcelain/dp/0873495055/ref=pd_sim_b_1
http://www.amazon.com/Warmans-American-Pottery-Porcelain/dp/0873418220/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259680980&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Collectors-Guide-American-Trains-Wallace-Homestead/dp/0870695320/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259681212&sr=1-3
What a comfy cozy inviting home. My favorite piece is her jewelry cabinet.
Their house looks so adult! I guess having design/decorating help makes a difference.
Totally adult! So warm and calm and sprited, I love how their collections don’t overwhelm the space, they enliven it. That’s a hard trick! Great photography.
This is a great house. What I love most about this post is the home has joy and life. It’s got a really inviting and warm feeling. I like many of the quirky touches too and the jewelry is amazing!!!!
Sorry but I forgot to mention how stunning all the family photos are. I LOVE THOSE!!!!!!!!
Walking into this home is poetry. Bathed in warm colors that reflect the warmth of Sue and Al, it is magical. They seemlessly meld their two obsessions into a breath of fresh air.
Although I have not been to their home, just knowing Sue and Al, it’s apparent from the photos how much their beautiful home is a reflection of their love for antiques, love of family, and great love for each other. Wonderful article too!