by Anthony Rifilato
He sells historical items from his antique store there, the Baldwin Antique Center, and hosts an elaborate outdoor antique flea market, part of which is inside an old carriage house that resembles the set of the film "Gangs of New York." He also listens to music on archaic equipment, mostly phonographs.
"They still work," he said of the phonographs, then paused and thought for a moment. "Everything still works."
When he says "everything," he means relics such as the antique green-and-white General Electric stove from 1915 and the refrigerator from the mid-20th century inside the house. Outside sits a very old suitcase on a table, adorned with large, vintage postage from the various nations it has journeyed through, such as Czechoslovakia, Germany and Spain. Next to it sits a green, forlorn Army helmet, perhaps battered in some far-off World War II battle. All around the perimeter of the home are the reminders of past eras.
"It's definitely a magnet for antiques," said Dilg of the home.
It's only fitting that someone like Dilg, 51, would live in such a
historical home. A lifelong Baldwin resident, he's been interested in antiques since he was 5. "I don't know where it came from," he said. "It's kind of in my blood."
He bought the house in 1984, when it was in danger of
being demolished and sold to a Pizza Hut. He waxes nostalgic about its former owners, the Kelloggs and Schoenbergs. He is only the third person to live here.
Lately, he said, the home, which was built in 1899, has deteriorated, and there is a reason that it is in such disarray at the moment, with two-by-fours and old chairs cluttering the front porch. Dilg has undertaken an extensive restoration of the entire house, inside and out, using the original blueprints, and he hopes to have the work completed sometime in the next few years.
And there are other hurdles he wants to overcome as well. With the onslaught of bad weather in recent months, the outdoor flea market, here since 1970, has floundered a bit. So he is hoping that when the home is restored, it will revitalize an important landmark in Baldwin.
"I'm really trying," he said.
What many people don't know is that Dilg is known for more than his historic home. He's recognized as one of the country's leading experts on the phonograph, the device that laid the groundwork for the modern recording industry. "I'm known for my repair work," he said.
In his basement in Baldwin, it is the coded ones and zeros of today's digital technology that seem anachronistic, not the vintage wax cylinders and disks that emanate crisp music from the likes of Enrico Caruso, Guy Lombardo, Puccini and other musical icons through elaborately painted horns or out of two- to three-foot-high wooden credenzas, the stereo systems of their day.
Dilg has more than 300 phonographs, and boxes full of rare recordings in the basement. "These are all for sale," he said, adding that his phonographs range in price from $250 to over $1,000.
Dilg also restores silent-picture soundtracks, such as one for a film shot in 1894. Once, he said, a silent picture was filmed at the corner on Merrick Road where his home is situated by filmmaker Victor Moore, who lived in Baldwin in the early 20th century. Dilg explained that Baldwin was part of a flourishing silent film industry on Long Island, with a former silent movie studio still standing on Milburn Avenue.
During the recent 125th anniversary of Thomas Edison's invention of the phonograph, Dilg said there was a revived interest in the device, into which musicians recorded through a horn, and the sound was cut into grooves on wax cylinders. The music is played by turning a crank, and most phonographs aren't powered by electricity.
"Here it is, still working on its own power after all these years," said Dilg.
At the Edison Museum in New Jersey, where Dilg also works as a sound engineer, he has recorded some famous voices, such as Hillary Clinton, Winton Marsalis and tenor Daniel Rodriquez, the opera-singing policeman. He has recorded a number of musical groups, including Peter, Paul and Mary, and has even recorded parts of the Grammy Awards.
"It was a thrill to meet them," said Dilg of the music celebrities. "They all loved it because it was so different."
For those who hawk their antique items at the flea market, "renting" a space from Dilg is decidedly informal. Once a week on Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., antique dealers simply gather at the 30 available tables. Apart from the flea market, the inside of the home is open from Thursdays to Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.
"It's like a family here," said Priscilla Glassman, an outdoor dealer who has been selling her "interesting junk" here for 15 years. "It has a homey atmosphere."
Glassman is just one of the many dealers at the market. Victor Mevo, of Elmont, has been here for 12 years and deals in rare coins and weapons, such as calvary swords from the Spanish-American War.
"A lot of these people are professional market dealers," Mevo said of his fellow antique sellers. "Unfortunately, the weather hasn't been that great."
The carriage house is also home to a minuscule luncheonette and antique store. Pat Yengle, who has been renting a spot here for five years and selling old books, furniture and nautical items, keeps warm in the winter by using a 100-year-old wood-burning stove. When she wants to call Dilg, she uses an original, turn-of-the-century telephone connected to the house.
"It still works perfect," she said of the phone. And of Dilg's antique market, she added, "It's one of the few places that are still original."
Check it out!
Once a week on Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., antique dealers gather at the 30 available tables at the Baldwin Antique Center on 906 Merrick Rd. Apart from the flea market, the inside of the home is open from Thursdays to Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.
