by Erica Lome, Ph.D. Today, few people outside of the antiques trade recognize the name Olof Althin (1859-1920), a Swedish-born cabinetmaker active in Boston at the turn of the twentieth century. Known primarily for his beautiful carved furniture and his accurate reproductions of antiques, Althin was also responsible for restoring two of the great collections […]
Category Archives: Features
12
Apr
Apr
by Kary Pardy If patterned antique glass has ever caught your eye, you’ve likely appreciated the flowing lines and swirling, ribbed decoration of a “Pitkin” flask. The term “Pitkin” is a more recent collector’s designation that references Connecticut’s Pitkin Glass Works and their famous production of ribbed, pattern glass in the late 18th and early […]
05
Apr
Apr
by Sarah Turnbaugh Millefiori beads made in Venice, Italy, reached lofty technical and aesthetic heights in the late 1800s to early 1900s. The colorful, stunning-looking beads seem almost magical – then we learn that they were handmade using laborious, time-consuming methods in small factories and lone artisans’ homes. Glassworkers aptly called these seductive creations “millefiori,” […]
29
Mar
Mar
by Mike McLeod Just imagine a world—if you can—in which the process of weaving was never discovered. Without weaving, people from the beginning would have been wearing leather all year long or grass skirts or fig leaves, probably until cardboard or plastic was discovered. Early Stages of Weaving Throughout the ages, weaving has been used […]
15
Mar
Mar
By Peter Sheridan When it comes to radio design, the years from 1930 to 1940 presented a pocket of opportunity wedged between the deprivations of the Great Depression and the upheavals that presaged the advent of World War 2. The common image of the radio before its miniaturization in the 1960s is of a […]
08
Mar
Mar
by Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher “It has happened more than once that a composition has come to me, ready-made as it were, between the demands of other work.” While you might not know her name, Amy Beach’s accomplishments in her day were a big deal – especially because she was a woman playing in […]
01
Mar
Mar
By Judy Gonyeau, managing editor What do you think of when you see a harmonica? A blues player with hands wrapped around this small instrument while blowing a lot of air and generating a rusty, gutsy sound. A cowboy playing a quiet tune while sitting around the fire after a long day of ranching. An […]
19
Feb
Feb
by Maxine Carter-Lome Some of the earliest albums recorded for commercial distribution were comedy albums. Various collections of humorous short stories recited by vaudeville comedian Cal Stewart were released by Edison Records as early as 1898, according to Ronald L. Smith, author of Comedy on Record: The Complete Critical Discography. Cal Stewart recorded monologues […]
18
Feb
Feb
by Judy Gonyeau with heavy reference from Defining New Yorker Humor by Judith Yaross Lee Launched in 1925, The New Yorker is a mostly-weekly magazine dispersing information through a myriad of journalistic articles, commentary, satire, fiction, criticism, its famous cartoon comments, and poetry. It continues to be renowned for its journalism covering everything from […]
08
Feb
Feb
by Maxine Carter-Lome In 1946, Capitol Records writer/producer Alan Livingston introduced Bozo the Clown to the world via a children’s record entitled Bozo at the Circus – a first-of-its-kind record album with an illustrative read-along book set. It lasted an astounding 200 weeks on Billboard’s “Best Selling Children’s Records” chart and sold over one million […]