it really got its start in 1926 when a man named albert b. wels, an executive with the american optical corporation, and some friends and family went up to vermont to go golfing for a weekend. problem was it poured rain. they couldn't go golfing. somebody suggested they go antiquing instead. mr. welles said i don't want to waste my weekend at a bunch of old junk shops. they prevailed on him to go anyway. he had an e pifs now moment. he fell in love with mouse traps, wooden bowls, rolling pins. the things most people had rel kate e gated to attics and barns. that very first weekend mr. welles bought two wagon loads of antiques. it became an all consuming mania after that. he ended up having to move his family out of his mansion because there wasn't room for them and all the antiques. he had two large barns moved to the property. filled them literally to the rafters with antiques and still didn't have enough room and started to at that point realize he wasn't going to live forever and then when he died his children would probably sell dad's junk and