For all of your vintage taxidermy decorating needs, and for an earfull of political punditry while you shop, Ray Mitchell of Dis-a-Ray Antiques and Collectibles has you covered.
Mitchell sells oddities, and is somewhat of an oddity himself. He’s quick to point that fact out. Completely surrounded at his 3 Wyndham St. location by eateries and watering holes, he is the last remaining antique/kitsch/funky junk dealer in the downtown, and in Guelph.
He’s proud to have stayed in the antique game for 30 years, proud to offer rare and weird merchandise, and points-of-view, in a downtown that he believes is going in a homogeneous direction.
“I’m really lucky,” said the shaggy Mitchell, who is noted for window displays that lambaste or lampoon current events. Currently the display has an apocalyptic overtone related to Donald Trump’s presidential prospects.
There is nothing boring about the antique/collectible business, he said, and that’s the lucky thing about it. It is constantly changing, forever full of surprises, as the tastes and trends of collectors change. Right now, oddly, people are really into stuffed animals.
He has seen it all in terms of what comes into the store. Just over two years ago, someone brought a very old limestone tombstone into the shop. It marked the grave of a child that died in 1878. Mitchell contacted the local media, did some research and was able to return the item to its home in an Elora cemetery.
“Now people are buying utilitarian, because they don’t have much money,” he said, speaking of the direction the market has gone in. “They’re buying vintage bikes, they’re buying records, or guitars – things they can use. Or they’re buying weird things.”
Yes, there is a hot market for taxidermy, and mannequins, right now, and that’s why Mitchell stocks them. There’s a nice selection of both in store now.
“I get to decorate the store, have things in here that I really, really like, and it happens to be what the market is looking for,” he said.
In some cases, he said, a piece of taxidermy becomes part of the family. A stuffed pheasant, duck or mink brings to any room in the home a near-living thing, with eyes that fix on you no matter where you stand. Some even wear a smile.
“They’re cute,” he said. “Ducks and deer always have a smile on their face. They just make you feel good. It releases endorphins into certain people’s brains. It’s not death, it’s living forever.”
Mitchell considers his window displays to be works of art, and he believes they should be on the annual Guelph Arts Council studio tour. The political commentary in his artistic windows is rooted in idealism.
“It’s not a perfect world, and it’s so frustrating,” he said. “I keep trying to make it more perfect and it seems to be getting less perfect. It’s getting better and worse simultaneously.”
He makes statements about the human condition and politics in this window, whether related to the local scene or the global.
After 30 years in the business, Mitchell has a strong network of contacts that helps him find the good, old stuff. Many people continue to come in off the street with items to sell, and Kijiji has been a good place for picking treasures, he said.
Garage sales are not as rich in antiques and collectibles as they used to be, he added. He doesn’t buy from auctions or pick through thrift stores. His storefront, he said, is like a magnet for desirable items.
“When you’re the only game in town, they don’t have much choice but to bring it to me,” he added.
Asked to name one of the oddest things he had ever come across, he said it would have to be Jean Little’s baby tooth, which was found inside the beloved author's sewing machine.
“And we’ve got a lot of taxidermy coming in, being rescued,” he said. “It’s all fun and wonderful.”
