The Troubardours: Johnny ‘Red Rabbit’ Artist of Old Objects
The best part of choosing an adventurous life is that you meet adventurous souls on the same roads you travel— “The Troubardours” is an ongoing series where I share the stories of amazing, interesting and inspiring friends who travel under the direction of their own compass.
Johnny Deary is a man I have a great amount of respect for. People that are inspiring do not need to be rich, famous, or well-known. Their stories bring light into ours by the simple act of living their authentic lives and reminding us that the road less traveled is full of treasures.
I met Johnny when I was doing my first outdoor cocktail party event on the Troubardour bar, at a beautiful vintage fair in Dublin, New Hampshire. It was getting dark and I was having a hard time seeing what I was doing when all of a sudden Johnny ran to his shop-tent and brought back a cool vintage lamp that he gifted me which provided me the light I needed to keep making cocktails for the thirsty. I could feel right away that Johnny was a very special guy, a true artist of his craft. When we spoke the depth of his thinking and vision of things opened my eyes to the world of magic objects. In this world of disposable items, I’m excited to share the timeless story of this artist and peddler of old objects— Johnny “Red Rabbit” Deary.
You sell used things, but in reality it's a lot deeper than that. What does vintage mean to you?
I guess you could say I'm in antiques. Before I had kids I had a big-boy job. I was a salaried employee; had people that worked for me, I made a lot of money, and I hated every minute of it. I didn't like the products I sold, I didn't like buying and selling new things and shipping them overseas. It broke my heart every time I did it.
I find beauty in old and broken things, I don't like the throw-away culture. I think it's beneficial to learn the old ways of doings things and fix things that are broken before discarding them and adding them to the junk piles. I try to not let shit die and in the process I like that antique and vintage don't add anything to a carbon footprint so you can think of it as proactive recycling. I'm seeking it. The only negative that comes to the environment is the fuel I use on my car to go and find it.
I don't really like capitalism but I understand that's the world we live in so I have to engage with it a little bit. This industry allows me to feel good about it because I'm not buying or selling new shit. It's already been made and it's probably 100 years old. I'm just bringing some new life into it.
Since you're talking about capitalism, what is the business of antiques like? Most people would not even consider doing what you do. What's the reality of antiquing as a business?
I'm a little fortunate because I went to college. My degrees are in English and Creative Writing. I'm fortunate because I actually worked in the business world and in most businesses they don't operate with the same profit margins as the antique world. A lot of businesses are happy making 10-16% profit on an item a million times and some people say that if you're an antique dealer and you make less than a 100% on anything sold you're doing it wrong. I disagree with that completely because I'm not greedy.
I'm happy just paying my bills and maybe making a little bit extra— just enough to get ice cream as well as my groceries. I don't need a Lexus or diamond rings. Because of this, a lot of dealers get mad at me. I can give you an example. I had a steamer trunk, an old wardrobe trunk that would have gone in a ship like the Titanic. It had all these different compartments and it was really beautiful. I was selling it for like $50 bucks which was nothing. Some guy came over and was like, "$50 bucks? You're giving that away!"
I was like "no man, that's a fair price for me. Somebody will buy it for $50 and they will enjoy it."
That same guy was setup 5 booths down had a similar one in worst condition and he was trying to sell for $600 bucks. I was like "Hey, let me know if you want to buy mine for $50 bucks because it seems you have the customers that will buy it for $600, and he was like "you're ruining the industry."
I bought it in a yard sale for 10 and I was happy to sell it for $50. I wasn't trying to retire on this trunk. Long story short, I did a special where I had a stack of 50 beautiful antique old doors from a farm house and I gave everyone that bought anything a free door. So at the end of the day I sold that trunk for $45 and gave that person a free door and I sold everything. I saw that guy was loading his trunk at the end because he didn't sell it. I don't care. I made my money and I was fine.
You must feel the magic of objects. The things you sell have gone through multiple people, multiple stories, deaths, births, and so much more? Have you experienced strange things with the things that you sell?
I sell a lot of old tools. I had a pile of draw knives. They are two handled with a curved blade and used for tasing the bark of a tree to make a tepee or post. This person came and had never seen one before and I explained how it works and they really liked it. I was selling it for 25 dollars. They said they couldn't read the inscription so I started cleaning the blades so they could read it and it ended up being the name of their grandfather. Holly fuck, nobody had expressed interest in this tool other than as an antique, but they were interested in it as an object and as soon as we cleared it and read it I just gave it to her. That shit doesn't happen at Home Depot or Lowe’s. I felt blessed being able to send it on its way and have the object live where it's supposed to be.
What's your curation process for finding the objects you sell?
I go to auctions and estate sales before going to a big show just to make sure I have all kinds of stuff— big things and small things. I also work closely with a few realtors, so when a house comes up on the market and the family of a loved one dies, he'll tell them about his friend Johnny who works with old stuff. Johnny doesn't want stuff to just be thrown away or be sold for pennies on the dollar. I go and tell them what they have and what it's worth. I tell them what I want, "it's worth this, I'll give you that...". It's a nice and honest way of dealing with a loved one's possessions. Half the time the family will work with me and we'll go though it together, I'll tell them, "This box was manufactured in 1875 and it's so cool that your grandfather still has it and stored things in that way." I get product for my business in the process.
When we met you had a big human femur you were walking around all day with. What kind of incredible magical objects do you recall having?
I really liked that femur. It was a femur from an old medical display but it was a full skeleton and slowly and surely I picked at it and sold the pieces. I made that femur into an old war club with leather. I sold that too.
My favorite objects are books. I have slowly been buying thousands and thousands and thousands of books just to build my library. I want first editions of every classic that I can get for myself.
I've been really digging old taxidermy as well. I've been buying some cool animals and building a cool jungle in my living room. I like everything from Victorian lace and doilies to carpets to fine art. I can find beauty in all of it. There's no antiques I don't like.
What's your week like? What's your life like?
I'm doing shows every weekend so I'm usually gone Friday to Sunday. I also typically do shows on Wednesdays. Other than that I'm sourcing product. I'll do a lot of online sales and also help my friends in their business. I really like that. I don't necessarily need the cash but I have friends that are farmers and gardeners so I'll go work with them when I have the time or when they need assistance. I feel very blessed I can put off work for a day or two and just go weed and help out.
I remember you had a heart condition.
I'm still going. I had a lot of blood clots and then they became pulmonary embolisms and my lungs got all fucked up. They don't know why but I've had four surgeries on them by now. I'm on heart medicine and blood medicine like I'm 80 years old and I'm 36.
I quit drinking and doing drugs so I'm pretty healthy right now.
How does that change your perspective on the way you operate your life and being a father.
As soon as I had my first kid that was when everything changed. I'm not just Johnny punk rock fucker, now I'm Dad. I have a 4 and 2 year old.
All I can do really is care for them and as long as they are clothed, fed, and happy I'm good.
My wife and I split up, and we are going through a divorce but it's good and civil. We're gonna be able to co-parent and take care of them forever.
How do you see life and society right now? If Johnny was president...
Shit, if Johnny was president. There would be no such thing as police anymore, everybody gets food, legalize everything. I don't want to get too meta. I like that everyone's been doing BLM, MeToo etc because I've fought against injustice my whole life.
I'm getting old so I can't fight as actively against fascism as I did as when I was a kid. I'm kind of mostly concerned about water. It's a resource we take for granted. Maybe not for me, but for my kids. What's the water gonna be like for them?
What's your relationship to coffee.
I drink coffee 24/7. Always have. It sure has helped me not drink alcohol. I don't go to meetings but they serve black water constantly. Death before decaf.
