Renaissance Silver Shop
Carter Rhys talks about his silver shop, Renaissance and how to start a silver business.
November/December 1970
By the Mother Earth News editors
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Carter Rhys
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When I was asked to write this article I had grave doubts as to whether I could be of much help to anyone. If considered as a real business, Renaissance is actually very backward and poorly done. In fact, it's the most unbusinesslike and informal shop I've ever seen—including "hip" establishments—and it certainly isn't making us rich. Nor have I any intention of correcting these shortcomings . . . I'm just not into making more money than we need.
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We named the shop Renaissance because it is just that—a rebirth, back to using my hands, back to devoting my energies and thoughts to the creation of beautiful things. This change came after a ten year sidetrack which began in the seventh grade when Sputnik was launched, took me to Princeton where I was supposed to major in mathematics (but wound up in philosophy) and ended over Thanksgiving dinner in 1967 at a prep school where I was teaching math and feeling useless and mis-directed.
I see Renaissance as a long term, transitional phase. It's the road I've chosen to getting into the country, painting, making very special silver pieces and following all my other interests . . . surrounded by sunlight and space.
This is a long road because I want to be fully prepared for the end of it. I believe in slow organic growth and in following the natural order. There is something destructive and dis-harmonious about the shock of getting anywhere too fast, whether the vehicle be jet plane, acid, or a too-abrupt change in life style.
This is what I believe. And the reason I put it all down before getting into the meat of the article is to allow you to so the attitudes behind what 1 write, attitudes which clearly are not best suited to the establishment of a permanent, profitable business.
You can see now why I had misgivings about writing this article. But it must be written, because the story of Renaissance is yet another story which can show you the two things which I believe this beautiful magazine is all about. You CAN do it, and it's WORTH IT I hope also to show you HOW.
MAKING THE BREAK
Perhaps you are now where I was that Thanksgiving: Secure in a well-paying job but not very happy at it . . . with numbness creeping in over the frustration. My wife and I had no capital, not even a savings account. We wanted "out" but we had no idea where we would like to go. On top of that—if I left teaching—I would lose my deferment and force the draft board to rule on my claim of conscientious objection . . . a decision not likely to go in my favor.
It took tremendous courage and much soul searching to say "no" everytime the headmaster urged me to sign a contract for the next school year. The one thought which prodded me into raking the break was this: Of all the forty and fifty year-old men I knew, nearly every one was suffering from the illness known as middle age.
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