Urns: Their History and Collectibility
by Judy Weaver Gonyeau, managing editor Cremation as a form of burial goes back to the Neolithic or Stone Age, making it one of the oldest traditions in the history of Man. Its propriety is also one of the…
Nick Boschetto
M&M’s: Melts In Your Mouth, Not In Your Hands
by Jessica Kosinski There are many fun things you can collect, but branded items are often among the most interesting. Some brands are fun to collect simply because of the influence they have had on popular culture and their…
Victorian Mourning Warehouses: One-Stop Mourning
by Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher “MOURNING—Court, Family, and Complimentary—The Proprietors of the London General Mourning Warehouse, Nos. 247 and 249 Regent-street, beg respectfully to remind families whose bereavements compel them to adopt mourning attire, that every article (of the very…
Gorgosaurus skeleton, $6.1 million, Sotheby’s
Results of Recent Auctions From Near and Far by Ken Hall All prices include the buyer’s premium A Gorgosaurus skeleton, measuring nearly 10 feet tall and 22 feet long, sold for $6.1 million at a Natural History sale held July…
Thrift With Intent: What to look for, how to save money
Did you know that August 17, 2022, was National Thrift Store Day? News to me. According to NARTS, The Association of Resale Professionals, there are currently more than 25,000 resale, consignment, and Not For Profit resale shops in the United…
Memorial Flowers: The Oldest Form of Tribute
by Judy Gonyeau, managing editor The arrangement and placement of flowers around the dead are considered the oldest act of mourning. During the 1951 excavation of the Shandiar Cave in Northern Iraq, Dr. Ralph Solecki discovered several burial sites.…
Nantucket curlew decoy, $228,000, Copley Fine Art
Results of Recent Auctions From Near and Far by Ken Hall All prices include the buyer’s premium A Harmon Hollow Nantucket curlew decoy sold for $228,000 at the 17th annual Sporting Sale held July 14-15 by Copley Fine Art…
Mourning Jewelry
By Melody Amsel-Arieli During the Middle Ages, Europeans grieved the passing of loved ones by following a variety of traditional social and religious rituals. Since lives then were marked by disease and high childhood mortality, scores of mourners wore…
The National Museum of Funeral History: The Heritage of Death Care
While not a favorite topic for discussion, “death care is one of man’s oldest professions,” according to Robert L. Waltrip, an undertaker turned collector on the topic. In 1992, Waltrip founded the National Museum of Funeral History in Houston, Texas…
The History of Brand Advertising
While branding is and always has been an essential part of building any successful business, standing out from the crowd is harder than ever with all the new outlets and avenues available to reach customers, prospects, and fans of the…