Snake Q&A 019: Emma Kohlmann
Mephistos, Comme, Gucci, Antiques Roadshow, Charlotte Bronte, a secret thrift somewhere
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Today on Snake: Every other Friday or so an interview with a person in good standing of the newsletter whose taste in vintage, furniture, and adjacent is worth recording. Sellers, buyers, artists, adjacents, etc…
Here’s the 19th…
Emma Kohlmann | IG | Western Massachusetts | An artist living out her little life of solitude in a small town with big city sensibilities.
Emma’s work speaks for itself, it is very evocative and alive… she is also also one of the more stylish people I know, on her own wave, much of it pulled off timelessly. She is real good at eBay and finds things at prices that both should not and must be… and has a cool crib as well. It’s nice to see—these things are all out there. We went to the Orsay this spring with my sister, and she knew who did every paintings—even the good ones with Christ on the cross.
Q&A 019
Fav flea market?
My favorite flea used to be the one that was a town or two over from where I live and was called the “Ole Hadley flea”. It was a barren lot next to a horse farm and corn fields. You could find rusty old tools, weird odds and ends, sometimes vintage old clothes and workwear. My favorite thing to do was go at 7 a.m. and, first stop, get an egg and cheese from one of the food booths. It would be misty out and beautiful; the manure was fresh. Farmers and dedicated regulars would pursue each booth meticulously. You could really get a deal early in the morning. There was something so nice about finding things there. It closed during the pandemic. I read on Facebook that it is sadly never going to reopen again.
Best flea market day ever—what did you get?
I can't even remember a “best day ever”, there are too many good ones.... Maybe picking up a Victorian mourning cape, ancient porno 8 by 10 inch photographs and a studded dog collar? More recently, a two-piece 1970s polyester Levi’s leisure suit, deadstock Mexican workwear pants and an ancient hand-painted ceramic bowl, in CDMX. Or the day I found my favorite walking sneakers, some Mephisto Runoffs, with my friend Sonya, at a community college flea market in Los Angeles. These shoes changed my life. I haggled and got them for 10 dollars not realizing they go for so much more.
I love the way certain flea market stall layouts are. I have pictures from a day at Hadley, which I think of as twisted and strange still lifes. The unintentionally funny and arbitrary way of displaying objects. Like, on a packing blanket, a full bearskin rug, a handmade replica wooden machine gun, and a plastic Fisher Price slide. Maybe I am stating something very obvious, and the choreography of a flea market is just stuff jammed together, and the randomness is nothing poetic. But I love how it’s the most human thing, the intuitive hilarious aspect of it all. Randomness can imprint onto my mind for years. I can't help but remember this poorly made paper maché sexy fishnet high heel leg next to a row of old Coleman coolers. It haunts me.
Best eBay purchase?
To tell you the truth, eBay is my favorite flea market. It's always been there for me every time I'm searching for something I don't know I'll find. I love falling into insane eBay holes looking at stamps and postcards. One of my favorite finds was a pair of Ecco Receptor sneakers. I was probably just trying to find more Mephistos, and noticed these more avante garde-looking Merrells. Then I fell into a hole from looking at these shoes.
IG seller account you hang out on/look at their stuff the most?
@the___spiral, @puppy_pillow, @tihngs
Thing you most regret passing on?
Red Diesel platform slides at the thrift and a matching bonnet and purse from a Paris flea market.
Best thing you got for insanely cheap?
I found a pair of Gucci loafers for $15 at a rural middle-of-nowhere thrift store. They were real with the box and duster bag. It was really strange. I don't care for labels but it's funny when they find you. Also, a two piece Comme des Garcons suit for $20 at the same store. Maybe the same owner? It was in the men’s section, but was a skirt suit. Some of the best things I have found have been free, like an old duster jacket from the 1950s, in a condemned house, that had a full pack of Lark Cigarettes in the pocket. Or an original Louder than Bombs Smiths tape in a free pile.
Best thing you overpaid for?
Probably my kitchen table. I bought it at Home Union, I believe it is made by a Scandinavian designer. It fits so many people and the chairs can stack neatly in a corner. As an adult, I am embarrassed to say, I have never really owned furniture. I have always lived out of bags or hand-me-downs or things I found on the street. I thought that if I couldn't carry it with me then I wouldn't own it. Or it should just be miniature-sized furniture because that size always looks cute. Now that I own a house it's kinda important. I need places to sit and eat food with friends and family.
Favorite piece of furniture you own?
My childhood dining room table I inherited. My parents retired it several years ago and now it lives in my studio. I think they bought it at an antique store in Manhattan in the 1980s. It's pretty old, maybe from the 1910s. It's brown lacquered tigerwood. I remember doing homework and projects on it as a kid. It was part of our family and witnessed every meal, conversation and birthday party. The table’s legs have curly cues with rusted banged-up wheels. I remember as kids me and my sister would hide under it when the adults got too boring.
What’s one thing you own that you won’t ever sell?
I am pretty sentimental when it comes to some things. I wish I was better at archiving for this reason. I have an entire box of hardcore/punk band T-shirts from circa 2010 to 2015 that I just can’t seem to get rid of.
My Omi gave me a ring that my Opa proposed to her with. He had it made out of coins while he was in the military. You can see the words in the coin fragments on the inside of the ring.
My mom gave me the first shirt she ever bought with her own money. It's polyester and has the words “Moon Glow”embroidered all over. She used to work at this department store in N.Y.C. called B. Altman’s, and talked a lot about being a shop girl in midtown in the 1970s. She once found a pipe bomb in the jacket department and threw it down into the stairwell. She received a $50 dollar gift card from B. Altman’s for her heroism lol.
Piece you have now that you despise and want to replace?
I think my Heller plates. I love how they are kinda indestructible. I think what I dislike about them is how much space they take up. And the fact that they are at every “hip” upscale restaurant. Although they do make the most boring food look happy. I think my dream is to collect plates that are porcelain and, maybe, make my own matching set of them. My sister and I live together, and we share a lot of mismatched plates and tiny cups.
Who do you think sold more records: Nelly Furtado or Three 6 Mafia?
Three 6 Mafia, duh. Me and Nina Hartmann with Three 6 Mafia photo taken by Alexis Gross. We hung out with them during an ICP show.
Secret spot that you love but won’t tell anyone about (please describe as judiciously as possible while omitting any identifiable characteristics)?
If you know me you probably know what this place is. Or how I feel about it. I have sworn friends to secrecy to not utter its name to people who don't deserve to know lol. I feel like not everything needs to be blown-up. Lately this thrift has been succumbed by Depop pickers and swag lords. I have been going to this spot since I was in high school. It is where I learned how to thrift. The magic is still there and I believe in it. There have been the same people going there every day for the last twenty years. Even this one immaculately dressed elderly woman who wears pretty inspiring outfits, who is there every single day. No matter what time of the day it is she is there. I feel sometimes like if she is there then I am going to have a good time. Like a positive entity. We don't even acknowledge each other but I love her.
Back in high school, shirts were $1.50 and shorts were 70 cents apiece. That wasn't even that long ago! It was so cheap then but now everything has changed. Even when it's crowded with these so-called pickers, it’s still a gift to us all. It has classic awful 1990s purple and gray speckled carpeting and the stench of “thrift store” smell. Oldies play on the radio really loud. Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” and Rascal Flatts “Life is a Highway” repeat over the span of one shopping spree. I love how in winter the long racks of jackets and heavy winter overwhelm the aisles. You know the seasons are changing when the racks in front cycle from winter coats to light jackets to shorts and skirts.
In the last five years they installed a self-checkout. I don't get who thought this was a good business decision. There are always lines because the employees have to watch you scan every item and basically check out for you. So what is the point of self checkout then?? They once accused me and my sister of stealing silver rings. My sister wears a ton of silver jewelry and it was a whole thing. Luckily we were neither banned nor really accused in the end.
There is something so equalizing knowing that something that was once expensive just isn't anymore. And that is okay! I love how in the housewares section there can be hidden gems, like old toy trucks from the 1950s intact with their original boxes, Braun clocks and tchotchkes in plastic bags. One of my favorite finds was coming upon someone’s entire tape collection from the 1970's—tapes like Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, The Byrds and The Rolling Stones. All with their own personalized labels. There is something about the generosity of a thrift store. Maybe it's just this one, because I've grown up with it, and since I still frequently go. But it is so comforting. It conjures something for me to learn from or sink my teeth into.
Rarest/most canon vintage thing you have but never wear?
A Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress from the 1970s with original tags for $14.99. I gave it to my cousin, just because it is a brand that doesn't mean anything to me, but does for her.
Most jealousy-inducing thing you’ve seen? (e.g. I saw a guy in Foremost jeans once in 2012 and I’ve never gotten over it)
I love things that have no real utilitarian value. Certain antiques are just interesting objects. I watch a lot of Antiques Roadshow (the BBC version, which you can find for free on YouTube). I am always envious of people finding things in their garden or hidden in a barn. One unassuming lady brought Victorian mourning jewelry which often uses human hair. She found a set of rings in her attic. The one that stood out most to me was a golden ring made with an intricately braided lock of Charlotte Bronte’s hair inside. The jewelry itself was worth nothing but the hair was verifiably Bronte’s, which made the ring worth $25K! I love the closeness this type of jewelry is supposed to represent. The longing for someone lost… and how wearing it is a constant reminder of that person.
Another favorite was this man who brought a ring he found in his field on his property. He thought it was junk and had no idea it was a replica of a Roman ring produced in the Medieval era. It had been buried in the dirt for 700 years and this lucky guy just happened upon it beneath his tomatoes. I love this kind of find, it's like the ring found him :) Someone designed that ring centuries ago, and someone else lost it but another person found it after that. I’m envious of things not from this time but which still feel effortless and current. Like they never skipped a beat in their relevancy...
Favorite Russian novelist?
Dostoevsky… Notes from Underground.
Is there a field of collecting are you looking to get into in the near future? (Furniture era/paper/autographs/stamps/model trains/computer shirts/90s Harley shirts/digital watches/lighters/slot cars/faberge eggs/Amish quilts etc)
I already have small collections of stamps, flattened pennies, and vintage postcards. I would love to collect marbles, tramp art or handmade pottery. I have recently started collecting paperweights. I just think it's fascinating how they are made. It seems a really complicated process for something that is just floating inside of a glass orb. I have exclusively only thrifted them. There is something so special about glassware. When I find any glassware, I want to hold it immediately.
What’s the item that’s been on your watchlist the longest without you having pulled the trigger?
1940s phone cord purses, they always seem to be in my saved folder.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266362741176
Is the best vintage/furniture online or in the wild?
In the wild, I feel more inspired in the wild when it comes to most things.
Has all the cool shit been discovered? (Yes or no answer only)
No
Any vintage accounts you want to rep or boost? Furniture? (feel free to include local spots)
@slow_roads, estatesales.com
Follow Emma on IG | Read previous Snake Q&As
Auctions ending this weekend:
Calvin Klein Swid Powell plates, $20, Fl. (insane price)
Nigerian Tiv bench, wood, Ind., $50 (quiet and sharp)
Zapotec rugs (pair), Ind., $50 (big one is nails; house has several)
Pendleton Beaver State blanket, big, Ind., $10 (I think old; if you can date it, LMK)
Reverse Housekeeping:
If people want gift guides that’s fine but I just buy books for friends and would never, on a personal level, recommend anything else. But I can do a book gift guide.
Side by Side reunited last week and printed shirts on the wrong kind of cotton. When will people learn?
Optimistic about Ferrari.
Post Q&A god-tier aesthetic video of the week: