Features

Curated articles that explore the rich intersections of history, craftsmanship, and collecting culture. These long-form pieces are your gateway to learning something new, seeing the familiar in a fresh light, and connecting with the past meaningfully.
/ Features
decoys

Decoys: Highly Collectible Americana

By Stan Van Etten [divider align="center"] [ux_image_box img="47506"] This outstanding Canada goose by Nathan Cobb, Jr. sold at auction for ...
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/ Features
lady liberty weathervane sotheby

The Cult of the Flag

The Feeling of Love and Respect for the Red, White, and Blue By Judy Gonyeau [ux_image_box img="47460"] Alfred Jacob Miller's ...
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/ Features
liberty mag

Give Me Liberty: The Magazine of World War II

Story & Photos by Donald-Brian Johnson [ux_gallery ids="47533,47534,47535,47536"] For thousands and thousands of mid-twentieth century Americans, the week just wasn't ...
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/ Features
clay jar with flower

Pottery of South Carolina's Edgefield District

[row] [col span="6" span__sm="12"] On February 11, 1919, Paul Rea, director of The Charleston Museum, acquired a stoneware jar characteristic ...
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/ Features
gold ore

Mining Collectables in America: A Study in Mining History

By Fred N. Holabird [divider align="center"] [row] [col span="6" span__sm="12"] [ux_image_box img="47383"] Crystallized Gold from Round Mountain Mine, Nye Co ...
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/ Features
ruby lane

Ruby Lane: Driving the Trend of the Online Vintage Marketplace

By Alex Gardner. [ux_image id="47270" image_size="medium" height="18%"] [divider align="center"] [ux_gallery ids="47180,47181,47182,47184,47185,47187" type="masonry" image_size="medium"] The results are in: Vintage is back ...
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/ Features
Oleg Cassini

Oleg Cassini: Defining American Vintage

By Maxine Carter-Lome [divider align="center"] "My preoccupation is to make women look beautiful." Oleg Cassini, Time , 2005. Although identified ...
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/ Antique Marketplace News, Features, Vintage Living
60-nouveau vignette

Vintage Wallpaper Revived and Ready

[row] [col span="6" span__sm="12"] [gap height="20px"] Who doesn’t appreciate the unique and “time machine” feel that can be conveyed in ...
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/ Antique Collectibles, Cosmograph, Features, genex, longines, marconi, Patek Philippe, rolco, Rolex, rolex watches, Style, tiffanys, tudor, unicorn, vintage, vintage style, vintage watches
Vintage Watch

Vintage Watches

[row] [col span="4" span__sm="12"] [ux_image_box img="46977"] Paul Newman's own "Paul Newman" Rolex Daytona Sounded the World Record alarm when it ...
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/ baby, baby Jesus, Bethlehem, Christ, Christmas, Creche, Donald-Brian Johnson, fabric, Features, figural, Holiday, Holy Family, Jesus, Joseph, Leslie Piña, manger, manger scene, Mary, metal, Naciamento, Nativity, Nativity set, Presepio, starry night, Stone, terra cotta, Weihnachtskrippe, wood
Away in a Manger

Away in a Manger

Nativity Sets Around The World by Donald-Brian Johnson | Photos by Leslie Piña “And it came to pass while they ...
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/ brass, ceramic, Christmas, clay, crystal, Drei, Dreidel, Dreidl, Features, gambling, Gifts, Glass, Greek, Hanukkah, Hebrew, Holiday, Ivory, Maxine Carter-Lome, scholars, Sevivon, spinning top, teetotum, Turns, wood, Yiddish
Dreidel: A Hanukkah Holiday Tradition

Dreidel: A Hanukkah Holiday Tradition

by Maxine Carter-Lome, Publisher “I have a little dreidel, I made it out of clay. And when it’s dry and ...
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/ Charity, Christmas Stocking, Clement C. Moor, Features, Gift Giving, Gifts, Henry Livingston, Holiday, Judy Gonyeau, La Befana, Mythology, Nicholas of Bari, Norse, Norse God, Odin, Saint Nicholas, Santa, Santa Claus, Sinterklaas, Sleipnir, The Night Before Christmas, Tradition, winter holidays, Zwarte Piet
The Tradition of the Christmas Stocking Around The World

The Tradition of the Christmas Stocking Around The World

by Judy Gonyeau There is a tale that speaks to the heart of the winter holidays. Typically, this is a ...
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/ Black Bisque, Crafts, Craftsman, Disney, Disneyland, Features, figurines, Hagen-Renaker, hodge podge, imports, Judy Gonyeau, Little Horribles, Miniatures, Pottery, precious, Snow White, Stoneware, Sue Nikas, Susan Renaker Nikas, Technology, The Seven Dwarfs, Treasures, Zany Zoo
Hagen-Renaker - A Miniature that was Meant to Be

Hagen-Renaker: A Miniature that was Meant to Be

by Judy Gonyeau So many of us have seen these tiny treasures mounted to a piece of strong paper and ...
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/ Appliances, commercial products, equipment, examples, Features, furniture, Maxine Carter-Lome, miniature models, Miniatures, model, replicas, salesman samples, Samples, small scale
Salesman Samples

Salesman Samples

Artfully Small Examples of the Real Thing by Maxine Carter-Lome Salesman samples are scaled-down versions of real commercial products used ...
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/ artist, Birmingham Museum of Art, Elle Shushan, essay, Exhibition, Eye Miniatures, eyes, Features, George Engleheart, George IV, Georgian artists, Hand-painted, Jewelry, Minterhur, portrait, Prince, Richard Cosway, The Look of Love, The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, The Skier Collection
The Artist’s Eye

The Artist’s Eye

by Elle Shushan Adapted from an essay in The Look of Love; Eye Miniatures from the Skier Collection, published by ...
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/ costume jewelry, Diamond, dish sets, Features, figurines, Glass, glass animals, glass birds, glass cups, glass figurines, glass shoes, glass toys, glasshouse, jugs, Marbles, Miniature, Miniature Glass, novelties, Paperweights, perfume bottle, perfumes, Peter Wade, salt shakers, salts, small antiques, smalls, toy dish sets, toy dishes, toys, vases, Whimsies
Gems of the Miniature Glass World

Gems of the Miniature Glass World

Article and photos by Peter Wade In the antiques trade, the term “smalls” is a descriptive term used to refer ...
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/ artists, commercial printers, copperplate engraving, engraver, ephemera, Features, graphic design, letterpress, litho, lithograph, printed work, Printers, Richard Sheaff, san serif, steel engraving, trade cards, typesetters, typographers, Victorian Design, wood engraving
19th Century Printers and Their Trade Cards

19th Century Printers and Their Trade Cards

by Richard Sheaff In the days before the profession of “graphic design” came into existence, commercially printed work nonetheless sometimes ...
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/ Books, Commonplace Books, ephemera, Features, Journal, Maxine Carter-Lome, Memories, Middle Ages, notes, Paper, Renaissance, Scrapbooks, Victorian
Victorian Scrapbooks

Victorian Scrapbooks

Bound Memories & Scraps of Ephemera by Maxine Carter-Lome This album I’ve made is much more than a book. It’s ...
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/ Art, Dolls, Fashion, fashionista, Features, hand drawn, Judy Gonyeau, outfits, paper dolls, shadow puppet, Theriault's Auction House, wardrobe
Paper Dolls: Fashion and Culture

Paper Dolls: Fashion and Culture

by Judy Gonyeau For many women, their first ideas of fussing over their wardrobe began with paper dolls. From complete ...
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/ Carmen Miranda, Dolls From The Land of Make Believe, Dolls of the Nations, Donald-Brian Johnson, ephemera, Features, Lennon Sisters, Little Women Dolls, Nancy Reagan, paper dolls, Pope John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, Ziegfeld showgirl
Collectible Paper Dolls From Hallmark

Collectible Paper Dolls From Hallmark

Photos and story by Donald-Brian Johnson “You’ll find collecting Hallmark Dolls is really lots of fun, and here’s a little ...
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/ Announce, broadsides, Broadsides Collection, ephemera, Features, Historic Events, Infomercials, Inform, Information, Library of Congress, Proclaim
Broadsides: Insight from the Library of Congress Collection

Broadsides: Insight from the Library of Congress Collection

When it comes to evidence of historic events, broadsides - a large printed sheet of paper used to inform, proclaim, ...
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/ Boscobel Restoration, Clermont State, Features, Historic Cherry Hill, Lyndhurst Mansion, Maxine Carter-Lome, Olana, The Franklin D. Roosevelt Home, The Hudson River, The Hudson Valley, Thomas Cole National Historic Site, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site, Wilderstein
Reliving Life Along the Hudson River

Reliving Life Along the Hudson River

by Maxine Carter-Lome The Hudson Valley is one of the most recognizable landscapes in the country. Named after the river ...
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/ Arms, Army muskets, Artifacts, Canteens, Colonial Williamsburg, Continental Army, Features, Firearms, Francis Miles Finch, Gunpowder, haversacks, Historic Arms & Militaria, Hudson River Valley, Kil or be Kild, knapsacks, Liberty or Death, Melody Amsel-Arieli, Militaria, military strategy, military supply, Musket, Nathan Hale, Patriot Rebellion, Skinner Inc., slogans, Success to America, The Hudson River, The Museum of the American Revolution, The Revolutionary War, trade, Travel, Uniforms
Hudson River Revolutionary War Artifacts

Hudson River Revolutionary War Artifacts

by Melody Amsel-Arieli To drum-beat and heart-beat, A soldier marches by: There is color in his cheek, There is courage ...
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/ American art, Art, Bronxville, Byrdcliffe, Colonies, Cragsmoor, Features, Hudson, Hudson River, Industrial Revolution, Judy Gonyeau, Manhattan, Palenville, The Shawangunk Ridge, United States
Art Colonies Along the Hudson

Art Colonies Along the Hudson

The Birth of American Art by Judy Gonyeau, Managing Editor With the onset of the industrial revolution in the United ...
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/ Alexis de Tocqueville, Aristocracy, artists, Democracy in America, Erica P. Lome, explorers, Features, Hudson River, Hudson River Valley, inventors, New York, New York State, NYS, politicians, River, robber barons, Westchester County
America’s Eden

America’s Eden

A Historic Look at the Hudson River Valley by Erica P. Lome In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville penned a letter ...
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