Stuckey’s: A Sweet Roadside Oasis

by Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher “You’ve got to be honest with the public. And you’ve got to work. Of course, good luck won’t hurt.” - W. “Sylvester” Stuckey, Sr. With a ...

Urns: Their History and Collectibility

Features, mourning

East Sicilian polychrome ware from the 3rd or 2nd centuries, B.C.

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 ...

Victorian Mourning Warehouses: One-Stop Mourning

Features, mourning, mourning warehouses, mourning wear

Cover and title page of A History of Mourning by Richard Davey, commissioned by Jay’s London Mourning Warehouse to offer rules of etiquette for mourning during the Victorian Age.

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 ...

Memorial Flowers: The Oldest Form of Tribute

Features, Flowers, mourning

This Victorian family home memorial followed the guidelines of the day as far as appropriate height, stand, wreath, and flowers were concerned.

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 ...

Mourning Jewelry

Features, mourning jewelry

Below: Glass/gold/hair mourning brooch, mid-1800s, American, Gift of Miriam W. Coletti, 1993. Public domain, www.metmuseum.org

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 ...

The Evolution of Mourning Wear

Features, mourning, mourning wear

Mourning Dress, 1850 – 1855, wool mousseline Amsterdam Museum

by Maxine Carter-Lome Mourning attire has evolved throughout the centuries but one thing that has remained constant, at least in western civilizations, is the wearing of the color black. Originally ...

The Shakers Get Fancy: Sewing-Related Fancy Goods of the Northeast Shakers

Features, Shaker, Shaker Fancy Goods

Mount Lebanon sewing carrier, made of brown-stained & varnished gumwood, 1920s-40s. Inset: Interior of Mount Lebanon carrier is purple brocade, with matching pincushion.

By Diane Dolphin (Unless otherwise noted, all photographs are by the author, Diane Dolphin. All items shown are currently or formerly in the collection of the author.) When people think ...

Experience life as a Shaker: A brief history tour of five village sites

Features, Shaker Villages

by Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher Step back in time and experience a simpler way of life, separated from the ways of “The World” at one of these five Shaker living history ...

The Shaker Experience from Willis and Karel Henry’s Point of View

Features, Shaker, Willis Henry Auction

Single board tiger maple rectangular top, 18 1/4 x 25 1/4 inches, single drawer below with three dovetails, classic cherry Canterbury dimpled drawer pull, elegant turned and tapered legs, with a medial circular scribe line, Canterbury, NH, c. 1840-1850. Sold for $6,500, June 2022 Willis Henry Shaker Auction

Interview by Maxine Carter-Lome publisher Willis Henry Auctions, Inc., a Massachusetts-based auction company of antiques and fine art, has been conducting sales in a wide variety of categories for over ...

Dating and Preservation at Colonial Williamsburg: And How Hints Lead to Change

Colonial Williamsburg, Features, old houses

By Dani Jaworski, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s Manager of Architectural Collections, and Jenn Wilkoski, Shirley and Richard Roberts Architectural Historian, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation The early years of the restoration ...

Building the White House

enslaved labor, Features, old houses, The White House

Hoban’s 1793 north elevation drawing reduced the building from three to two floors because of a concern that there was not enough stone at the government quarry to complete both the Capitol and the President’s House. – White House Historical Association, Original Plans Courtesy of the Maryland Historical Society Title image: This drawing has also been used in the title image of this article and has been edited for clarity of viewing

By Lina Mann, Historian, The White House Historical Association “I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves.” – First Lady Michelle Obama, 2016 When First ...

Our (Very) Old House

Features, old houses

In 2020 we closed on a c.1740 house in Brookfield, MA

By Kaitlin Servant In January 2020 we said goodbye to the house we had lived in for the past ten years. The house we had poured our love, sweat, and ...

Features