Who am I, and why do I publish this site?

Scott Perkins

I am one of those people that love the details in things. Actually more than detail... I want to hear the backstory, the who, what, why and when of the story.

As a teenager, I was a collector of many things. I worked for several antique dealers including one that dealt in antique jewelry. I was always buying things that I could re-finish, restore or otherwise make better... and could be sold for a profit. I’ve always had an appreciation for older things. It was amazing back in the 1970’s how much was put on the curb for the trash collectors that still had good value. “In with the new... out with the old” mentality seemed to be the order of the day. I tried to take advantage of that by picking up items those were on the curb and selling them to dealers.

Guests to our home are often  intrigued by the collections that I have accumulated over the years. On Antique Roadshow you see  things that were tossed 30 & 40 years ago as junk...  and now have people saying “ I wish I had kept that”.

Well, I grabbed it then... and am glad that I did.

In 2008, when my mother gave me her Stieff Rose silver service, I started looking on the internet for information.

I found a clip on Wikipedia, and some info on a few antique silver dealers sites that all gave basic information, but that was about it. However, much of it was conflicting information and some was just purely wrong, like mixing the Stieff piano business information with the silver business.

(Different companies, different branches of the Stieff family)

I started looking at listings on ebay for Stieff Silver and found that a lot of the sellers were just repeating the same incorrect information that I had seen in various places... including statements from some of the silver “replacement” sellers.

The more I started digging, the more I was finding the same limited material. I went to the main branch of our public library, again without a lot of success. I figured that there had to be others like me out there that wanted to know more about Stieff  silver and The Stieff Company.

On February 5th, 2009, I started this site. By bringing together the various pieces of information that I had found into one place, I suddenly became the largest resource for quality and accurate information about Stieff Silver & Pewter.

Just two weeks after I started the site, I was contacted by several members of the Stieff family. They have provided a lot of the insight for this site. Jim and Charlie Stieff are the great grandsons of Charles Stieff, the founder of Stieff Silver. They have sent me a lot of family documents and photos which I am continually updating and publishing.

Others are credited throughout the site for their contributions also. I appreciate that people trust me enough that they send me items to photograph or scan without fear that I will damage or not return the items.

I was born in Virginia and stayed there for 30 some years. Now my home is in Wisconsin where a comfortable life is lived. I do try to use my Stieff silver every chance that I can slip it into a reasonable social setting. Unfortunately sterling and Beer & Brats night with friends just does lend itself to being a good mix.

Along with Stieff items, I collect “table top” which includes china, crystal stemware and barware. The barware includes Kirk, Schofield & Stieff pieces.

And for those of you who are wondering... yes, we have

a very good alarm system with cameras. We are in a small town and the local police keep a good eye on the house for us.