Kull turned a passion for history into a profession six years ago when he opened Poverty Lane Antiques & Folk Art Gallery, an antique shop in Enfield, N.H. After teaching in the chemistry department from 1992 until 2001, he found time to pursue his other intellectual interest through antiquing. Kull returned to the College's chemistry department in the winter of 2006, but has continued to serve as the sole owner and operator of the store.
Working five or six days a week at the shop, Kull does most of his business in the summer when tourists from southern New England drive to the Upper Valley for long weekends and family trips. He often closes his shop at 3:30 p.m., which might mean losing out on some business.
"Antiquing is an afternoon business, and I'm a morning person," he said.
Kull added that he is not too concerned with moving his inventory. For him, the store is more of a way to fill idle hours and indulge his interest in local history than a profit-making venture.
"I just wanted some place to go work," Kull said, explaining the motivation behind his operation.
Since taking ownership of the shop, Kull has developed a collection of art deco, art nouveau, folk art and antique tools from rural New England. While some of his art pieces were produced in the 1950s, most of the tools are 100 or more years old. Much of his stock come from yard sales and other antique shops in the Upper Valley. Some of the most popular and fastest selling items are Dartmouth paraphernalia, such as 78-rpm Glee Club records from the 1970s, a collection of beer steins and postcards of sculptures around campus.
Kull's favorite piece, however, is an art deco sculpture by Erte of a girl and her dog. The "extremely elegant" bronze work is the most expensive offering in his shop, although Kull admitted that he set the price high to keep his customers from buying the piece.
He likes what he calls "cabin fever art" - folk art in his collection made by the people of Vermont and New Hampshire during long, dark winters. One of his favorite paintings is a striking watercolor of a snowy winter, an unmistakably New England scene that takes the place above Kull's desk.
Although Kull is not an artist or a craftsman in his own right, his connection to antiques and the history of New Hampshire runs deep. The 18th-century architects of his long-standing house designed an adjoining barn that acts as a heat sink, cooling the house in the summer and blocking the wind in the winter.
"I live in an antique," he said, "My house was built in 1790, and I think they built it just right."
