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.

April 4, 2019 / Art Glass, Blown glass, collecting club, Collection, Features, Glass, glass club, glass collecting, Helen & George McKearin, James Rose, Jeffrey S. Evans, patterned glass, Pressed glass, Ruth Webb Lee

19th Century Glass in a 21st Century Market

By Jeffrey S. Evans "Nobody wants glass anymore” is one of the most common off-the-cuff remarks that we hear today ...

March 26, 2019 / America's Catalog, Christmas Catalog, consumer, Consumer Guides, Features, home delivery, Ian Moody, Montgomery Ward, Roebuck, Sears, Sears Catalog, Sears Roebuck & Co., Supply House, Wholesale, Wishbook, Wishlist

Sears, Roebuck & Co.

America’s Catalog (1888-2010) By Ian Moody The Sears catalog - once a four-pound, 1,400 page colossus featuring a staggering 100,000 ...

March 25, 2019 / Bakers Dozen, Buyers Rewards, catalog, Features, Green Stamps, Incentive, Independent Incentive Industry, Judy Gonyeau, loyalty program, Rewards, Rewards Program, S&H Stamps, Shop, Shopper, Shopping, Stamp book

The Shopper’s Friend: S&H Green Stamps

By Judy Gonyeau It is hard to shop anywhere that does not have some form of a rewards program in ...

March 13, 2019 / Avon, direct sales, Features, Gifts, home parties, Jafra, Jessica Kosinski, Mary Kay, party host, PartyLite, Sales, Sarah Coventry, Stan Home, The Pampered Chef, Touchstone Crystal, traveling salesmen, Tupperware

Selling from the Comfort of Your Own Home

by Jessica Kosinski Today, we are all familiar with home parties such as The Pampered Chef, Touchstone Crystal, Jafra, PartyLite, ...

March 5, 2019 / clean, clothesline, clothespin, Donald-Brian Johnson, Dryer, Features, iron, ironing, laundry, laundry basket, soap box, swizzle sticks, teacups, thimbles, wash tub, washboard, Washday, Washer, washer-dryer

Clean as a Whistle

The World of Washday Collectibles by Donald-Brian Johnson Some folks collect teacups. Or thimbles. Maybe even swizzle sticks. Tiny treasures ...

February 25, 2019 / Celebration, Cigarettes, cigars, Cuban Habanos, Deminican Republic Alcantaras, Features, Fine Cigars, humid, Humidors, Melody Amsel-Arieli, Mexican Gloria de Colons, pipe tobacco, rolled tobacco, smoking, storage box, Tobacco, tobacco leaves

Exploring Antique Humidors

By Melody Amsel-Arieli Fans of fine cigars, like Cuban Habanos, Dominican Republic Alcántaras, or Mexican Gloria de Colóns, may not ...

February 19, 2019 / Ben Rapaport, Bronze, clay, ER Billings, Features, iron, meerschaum, Pipe smoking, pipes, Porcelain, Stone, Tobacco, tobacco pipe, wood

The Antique Tobacco Pipe

Invention • Function • Art By Ben Rapaport To open, tobacco was native to the Americas as early as 6,000 ...

February 6, 2019 / Books, British Library, Children, Children's books, drawing, Features, Flickr, illustration, Library, reading, scans, The Huffington Post

The Library for the Children

Recently the British Library uploaded over one million images to Flickr from scans of books published in the 17th-19th centuries ...

February 5, 2019 / Features

The Gentleman’s Library Through the Ages

By James Dawson For this article, I thought it might be interesting to look at not only how a gentleman’s ...

January 13, 2019 / decorative, Features, Maxine Carter-Lome, painted metal, painted sheet metal, sheet metal, The Revolutionary War, tin art, tinsmith, Tole, toleware

Toleware: A Dressed-up Poor Man's Silver

by Maxine Carter-Lome The term tôle, derived from the French tôle peinte, meaning "painted sheet metal," refers to the decorative ...

January 7, 2019 / Ancient, Antiquities, Art&Object.Com, Berthouville Treasure, Features, J. Paul Getty Museum, Roman Empire, silver, Silver Hoard

UnEarthed: The Greatest Ancient Silver Hoard Ever Discovered

Reproduced with permission from Art&Object.com Before there was Normandy in northern France, there was Gaul, under provincial rule in the ...

January 4, 2019 / Candlesticks, Collectible, Decorations, Features, First Quarter Finance, FirstQuarterFinance.Com, Flatware, kitchenware, lead, metal alloy, metalware, mugs, pewter, pots, saladware, scrap metal, tankards, tin, William Lipovsky

Pewter: Is It Worth Anything?

by William Lipovsky, First Quarter Finance, firstquarterfinance.com Pewter is a metal alloy of tin and lead, but it’s mostly composed ...

December 26, 2018 / Antique Clocks, Comic Book, comics, Features, Figurine, Funko Pop, Gary R. Sullivan, Gemr.com, Lionel Trains, Mantle Clock, Marvel, Pop Culture, Sabretooth, Tiny House

Collectibles of the Future

by Gary R. Sullivan As influential as our formative years are on our psychological, emotional, and physical development, so too ...

December 18, 2018 / candy, Candy Store, Cufflinks, Cupcakes, Fanny Farmer, Features, General Electric, Hostess, Maxine Carter-Lome, Pop Up Toaster, Products, Root Beer, Rotary Phone, Toaster, Waters-Genters Company

Turning Antique and Collectible In the New Year 1919-2019

By Maxine Carter-Lome One hundred years is the age when items officially become antiques, and sometimes more valuable as a ...

December 16, 2018 / Cards, Christmas, Directory, fabric, Features, Handkerchief, Hanky, Luggage, Luggage Labels, Menus, Paper Bag, Photo Albums, Richard Davies, scrapbook, Telephone, Telephone Book, Timetable

10 Things You Didn't Know Were Collectible

By Richard Davies, AbeBooks Photo albums The biggest growth area in the rare book world is vintage photo albums. Collectors ...

December 1, 2018 / Amanda Sheriff, Boba Fett, Collectibles, Darth Vader, Features, George Lucas, Kenner, Lando Calrissian, Luke Skywalker, Movies, Obi Wan Kenobi, posters, Return of the Jedi, Roger Kastel, Star Wars, Star Wars Concert Series, The Empire Strikes Back, toys, Trilogy

A Galaxy Full of Star Wars Collectible Memorabilia

by Amanda Sheriff The wonderful thing about Star Wars collecting is the multitudinous trove of material that spans across entertainment ...

November 20, 2018 / Advertising, Art, artistic, Cover art, Features, illustration, Illustrator, Judy Gonyeau, Magazine, Manifest Destiny, Painting, Philip R. Goodwin, Western Utopia, Wild west

The Art of Surprise in The Great Outdoors

Philip R. Goodwin By Judy Gonyeau Manifest destiny drove men and women into the wilds of the west, with many ...

November 13, 2018 / Antique Traps, Features, NATCA, North American Trap Collectors Association, Scot H. Dahms, tailgaters, Tom Parr, trap collecting, Trap Museum, trapping paraphernalia, traps

The Triumph of Antique Trap Collecting

By Scot H. Dahms; edited by Judy Gonyeau In the beginning before what I term my "awakening," I was a ...

November 6, 2018 / Appliances, autocamping, autogypsying, Bud Michael, campfire, camping, camping stove, chandeliers, Coleman, Coleman lights, Cowboy coffee, Features, Lanterns, outdoor appliances, Outdoors, table lamps

Camping with Coleman

by Bud Michael Ahhh, the great outdoors. Cowboy coffee shared with friends by a warming campfire somewhere in the Rockies ...

October 23, 2018 / Advertising, Autmobilia, automobile, Chevy, Classic Cars, Features, Ford, gasoline, John Mihovetz, Morphy Auctions, Petroliana, Vintage Cars

Revving Up the Market For Automobilia and Petroliana

Recently, Managing Editor Judy Gonyeau had the chance to talk about automobilia and petroliana with Morphy Auctions' Department Head and ...

October 18, 2018 / Antique Car, Apple Barn, automobile, Brimfield MA, car trivia, Classic Car, Corvair, Dusenberg, Features, Honda, Judy Gonyeau, Model A Ford Roadster, Morey, OCG, Old Car Guys Collector Club, Old Cars, Plymouth, Retired Old Men Eating Out, Rolls Royce, ROMEOs, vintage, Vintage Car

Breakfast Out with the Old Car Guys

by Judy Gonyeau Walk into the Apple Barn in Brimfield, MA on a Friday morning and you'll think you're back ...

October 1, 2018 / Automania, Automobubbling, Buick, car shows, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Classic Cars, Dodge, Donald-Brian Johnson, Features, Henry Ford, Model A Ford, Model A Ford Club, Model T, Oldsmobile, Plymouth, restoration, Rolls Royce, station wagon