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.

December 6, 2024 / Features, Holiday Traditions, Snow Globes

Saluting one of the first snow globes: the Eiffel Tower, recreated in a souvenir snow globe from the Paris resort, Las Vegas.

Let it Snow! Those Sensational Snow Globes

by Donald-Brian Johnson “Rosebud …” And with that muttered word, the classic movie Citizen Kane opens. As publisher Charles Foster ...

December 1, 2024 / Department 56, Dept. 56, Features, Holiday Traditions

The Original 1976 Department 56 Snow Village. In 1976, Department 56 introduced a series of six hand-painted, ceramic buildings.

Department 56 Collectible Villages

by Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher “One Christmas evening, a group of friends set off to enjoy a dinner of celebration at ...

November 21, 2024 / Antiquing Online, Features, online price guides

Your Tools For Better Online Searching: What’s In Your Toolbox?

by Judy Gonyeau, managing editor When scrambling online to search for information on your antique/vintage/collectible item, the key to success ...

November 12, 2024 / Antiquing Online, antiquing websites, Features, online antiquing

Online Resources To Turn To When Antiquing

by Judy Gonyeau, managing editor You’re at a vintage or antique show/shop/sale/auction and you just came across something you want ...

November 1, 2024 / Antiquing Online, Features, online Platforms

Online Platforms that are Transforming The Antiques Marketplace

By Maxine Carter-Lome, Publisher While most of us are familiar with or accustomed to sites such as eBay, which pioneered ...

October 27, 2024 / Americana, Features, George Washington

American artist Joseph Wright painted this likeness of Washington after the Commander in Chief had finally secured American independence. General Washington sat for the portrait at his headquarters in Rocky Hill, New Jersey, in the fall of 1783, just before he traveled south to resign his command.

The National Images of George Washington, a Reluctant Portrait Sitter

By Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher In his day, and even today thanks to portraits painted while he was alive along with ...

October 15, 2024 / Americana, Black Americana, black memorabilia, Features

In the throes of the Rodney King riots in 1992, Nehemiah Cisneros’ family store for Black collectibles in Inglewood was razed. Black illustrated books and Golliwog dolls salvaged from the ashes wound up on the shelves and in the closets of Cisneros’ childhood bedroom, ambivalent and uncanny reminders of both violence and resistance. “As the lifeless doll eyes of racially exploitative faces stared back at me while [I was] trying to fall asleep, I formed an atypical relationship with trauma; trauma became my guardian angel,” the artist said. photo: Control Gallery in Los Angeles

Black Americana

By Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher When we use the word “Americana” to identify an item associated with the culture and history of ...

October 1, 2024 / American Eagles, Americana, Features

Eagle, pine carving by William Rush, c. 1810. Note the white color of the bird. photo: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art

Carved American Eagles: America’s First Americana

by Judy Gonyeau, managing editor Many Americana objects in collections and museums incorporate the one symbol that the first Congress ...

September 23, 2024 / counterculture vibes, Features, Peter Max

Peter Max 1960s & 1970s: All-American Art

by Judy Gonyeau, managing editor The 1960s and ’70s were all about color. Peter Max Color. Bright, fluid, fantastical, and ...

September 17, 2024 / counterculture vibes, Features, music memorabilia

Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon with Ed Sullivan giving him a “guitar lesson” before appearing onstage at The Ed Sullivan Show, 1964.

The British Invasion: A Revolution in Music Memorabilia

By Laurence Carpenter The British Invasion of the 1960s was a seismic cultural shift, where a wave of British bands ...

September 15, 2024 / comics, counterculture vibes, Features

Comics in the 1960s: Groundbreaking Silver Age

By Amanda Sheriff The Silver Age of comics, which ran from approximately the mid-1950s to 1970, is noted as a transitional ...

September 1, 2024 / 1960s, counterculture vibes, Features, Mary Quant, Swinging Sixties

Color and comfort are shown in several Mary Quant designs.

Mary Quant: Designing the Look of the Swinging Sixties

By Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher “The whole 1960s thing was a ten-year running party, which was lovely. It started at the ...

August 25, 2024 / Apollo 11, Features, Space Age

11 Sky High Apollo 11 Collectibles

by Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher Ask anyone over the age of 60 to name a significant memory and many will say ...

August 21, 2024 / Features, John Lautner, Space Age

Perched on a single concrete column, the Chemosphere marks a turning point in Lautner’s career. Built in 1960, it is not only one of John Lautner’s most important projects but also one of the best-known houses in Los Angeles, one that represents the optimism of its time and place as much as the architect’s genius.

John Lautner, Jr. – Living Space

by Judy Gonyeau, managing editor “The purpose of Architecture is to improve human life. Create timeless, free, joyous spaces for ...

August 20, 2024 / Chesley Bonestell, Features, Space Art

Background title image: Detail from Saturn from Titan, Space Art cover, 1978. Oli on board, 19.5 x 29.5 inches. Heritage Auctions sold this painting for $15,000 in 2014. Full image shown at left. Photo: Heritage Auctions

Chesley Bonestell – The Father of Space Art

by Maxine Carter-Lome “There isn’t an artist painting today, in the science fiction fantasy field, who didn't start with Chesley ...

August 15, 2024 / Andre Courreges, Features, The Space Age

Title image: Andre Courreges and his Creations

Andre Courreges: Space Age Fashion Designer

by Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher "André Courrèges was a visionary designer who foresaw the 21st century and believed in progress. That ...

July 27, 2024 / Advertising, billboards, Features, Signs of History

One of the first billboard images promoting P.T. Barnum’s Circus

The Bigger the Bolder: Outdoor Advertising

by Judy Gonyeau, managing editor Ever since man formed a written language, there have been outdoor signs and billboards. Even ...

July 27, 2024 / Features, Signs of History

What would Mom like more than a plaque in a modified heart shape?

Words to Live By: Those Wonderful “Wood” Wall Plaques

by Donald-Brian Johnson “A penny saved is a penny earned” … “A stitch in time saves nine” … “An apple ...

July 12, 2024 / Features, Historic Signs, The National Register of Historic Places

These Old Sites on The National Register of Historic Places

By Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher “THIS PROPERTY HAS BEEN PLACED ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES BY THE UNITED STATES ...

July 1, 2024 / Features, Street Signs, Transportation

Sold at MilleaBros.com, this cross sign shows Union Avenue and Lehigh Place. First half 20th c., probably Irvington, NJ, double-sided metal signs bolted to intersection street post cap, 16.5” h x 20.5” w x 20.5” d. Sold price was $150, just over the estimate of $80-$125.

The Word on the Street: A History of Street Signs

by Jessica Kosinski It’s interesting that I was asked to write an article about street signs because I have firsthand ...

June 25, 2024 / african american patents, Features, Transportation

19th Century African Americans Who Transformed Transportation

By Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher Despite the constraints of slavery, poverty, lack of education, and social and racial discrimination, these seven ...

June 20, 2024 / 1964, Features, Transportation

“This is a many-sided challenge. We cannot and we do not rely upon massive spending programs as cure-alls. We must instead look to closer cooperation among all levels of government and between both public and private sectors to achieve the prudent progress that Americans deserve and that they expect.” – LBJ on the Urban Mass Transportation Act

1964: A Banner Year for Transportation!

by Judy Gonyeau, managing editor The Teamsters Master Freight Agreement JANUARY 15, 1964 – A monumental day in Teamsters history ...

June 10, 2024 / Cunard, Features, Vintage Travel

Title image: Painting of the Queen Elizabeth I. In late 1968, Queen Elizabeth was sold to the Elizabeth Corporation, with 15% of the company controlled by a group of Philadelphia businessmen and 85% retained by Cunard. She arrived in Port Everglades, FL on 8 December 1968 and opened to tourists in February 1969, well before Queen Mary, which opened two years later, in 1971. The climate of southern Florida was much harder on the ship, and Queen Elizabeth’s retirement in Florida was not to last. The ship was forced to close in August 1970, after losing money and being declared a fire hazard.

Cunard: The Most Famous Ocean Liners in the World™

By Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher On July 4, 1840, the steamer Britannia departed Liverpool, England on her maiden transatlantic journey, bound ...

June 1, 2024 / Features, Railroad, Shelburne Museum, transporation

Samuel Woolf, The Under World, ca. 1909–10. Oil on canvas, 22 ½ x 30 ½ in. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Purchase, Funds provided by a private Richmond foundation. ©Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Photo: Travis Fullerton.

The Railroad in American Art

By Thomas Denenberg, PhD John Wilmerding Director and CEO, Shelburne Museum The exhibition All Aboard: The Railroad in American Art, ...

May 15, 2024 / Features, Petroliana, Sinclair Gasoline

Sinclair double-sided, lighted, plastic pole sign sold for $4,366 at Mecum Auctions in January 2024. The sign stands over 11.25 feet tall on its original cast iron base.

Sinclair Gas: DINO still going strong 90 years later!

By Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher If you traveled by car almost anywhere in the Continental U.S. in the first half of ...