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, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
This portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner was taken in 1888.

Isabella Stewart Gardner – Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

“Don’t spoil a good story by telling the truth.” – Isabella Stewart Gardner Isabella Stewart Gardner was born in New ...
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/ Features, Female Art Collectors
Photo of Helene Kröller-Müller, via De Hoge Veluwe National Park

10 Prominent Female Art Collectors of the 20th Century

By Selena McGonnell, MSc Museum Studies, BS History The 20th century brought with it many new female art collectors and ...
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/ Features, National Portrait Gallery, Woman Museum Founders, Woman Patrons
Marjorie Merriweather Post, by Alfred Cheney Johnston, 1929, gelatin silver print, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., Gift of Francis A. DiMauro

American Women’s Role as Collectors, Patrons, and Museum Founders

By Patricia H. Svoboda, Research Coordinator, Catalog of American Portraits, National Portrait Gallery. Reprinted with permission. As collectors, patrons, and ...
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/ ephemera, Features, Panini Stickers
The Football 78 red sticker packet cover for the UK depicted a bicycle-kicking footballer in front of a Union Jack background. That design – only the colors would change – became iconic over the next decade as it was repeated all the way through to Football 88.

Panini Stickers: The Brand in Next-Generation Ephemera

By Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher Trading cards and stickers are not new to the collectibles world or ephemera collectors. Nor are ...
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/ Advertising, advertising trade cards, Features
Figure 8: Chromolithograph. 36 Star American Flag. Williams genuine Yankee Soap TC. Ben Crane Collection

Advertising Trade Cards

by Joe Gourd We live today in a sea of color images, printed and electronic, and we find it hard ...
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/ antique holiday gifts, Features
Left: Ready to serve up Christmas punch: a somewhat solemn Santa mug, marked “Riddell, 1951.”

Gifts that Keep on Giving

By Donald-Brian Johnson All Photos by Donald-Brian Johnson, except as noted Forget about the fruitcake. Cancel the cookie order. This ...
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/ American West, Cowgirls, Features
Annie Oakley

Women of the Wild West: 10 Famous Cowgirls, Outlaws, and Gunslingers

by Maxine Carter-Lome When we think of the Wild West and the pioneers who set out for parts unknown after ...
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/ American West, Cowboy Boots, Features
a custom-designed boot made by Rocket Buster Boots and designed with Roy Rogers about 32 years ago. These boots were first available by custom order at the Roy Rogers Museum and were autographed by Roy himself.

Cowboy Boots: The Boots that Survived the West

by Judy Gonyeau, managing editor For as long as men and women have been riding animals to transport them from ...
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/ American West, Buffalo Bill Cody, Features
As described in this illustration, “Buffalo Bill, Hon. Wm. F. Cody, Drawn and Printed Expressly for the FOLIO, The Great Illustrated Musical Journal of America, by J.H. Bufford’s Sons Boston.” The artist was Samuel S. Frizzell. The portrait was made c. 1873-1890

“Buffalo Bill and the Wild West”: Reimagining Frontier Life & Legends

By Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher Buffalo Bill Cody, Sitting Bull, Geronimo, Annie Oakley, Rough Riders, Gen. George Custer, Belle Starr, “Wild ...
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/ American West, belt buckles, Features
Title image: A portion of the Author’s collection of vintage belt buckles.

Belt Buckle Collecting

By Brock Lane, www.beltbucklehistory.com The very first vintage belt buckles that I bought were on Craigslist. I didn’t know anything ...
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/ American West, Cowboy, Features, Stetson hats
An early Stetson “Boss of the Plains” hat from the early 1900s. The Boss of the Plains was a lightweight all-weather hat designed in 1865 by John B. Stetson for the demands of the American West. It was intended to be durable, waterproof and elegant. The term “Stetson” eventually became all-but-interchangeable with what later became known as the cowboy hat due to later style designs based on how the rounded crown would deform from regular use.

The History Behind Stetson: The Quintessential Cowboy Hat

By Albert Muzquiz Reprinted with permission from Heddels.com When I turned up in St. Joseph, Missouri, a storm was just gearing ...
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/ Anson Green Phelps, Ansonia Clocks, Features
This 1882 Ansonia cast iron clock is an example of one of he most popular designs offered by the Ansonia Clock Company. Sold at Charish.com for $550.

Anson Green Phelps and His Namesake Business The Ansonia Clock Company

By Judy Gonyeau, managing editor The town of Ansonia, Connecticut, owes its name and fame to Anson Green Phelps – ...
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/ Features, folk art, Horology
Figure 1

Horology in Folk Art

By Bob Frishman This article was first published in the NAWCC journal. This abbreviated version of the original article has ...
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/ Antique Toys, Features, Toy Box
Side by side: Original mid-1950s Dinky Toys Riley with its original box on left, next to a reproduction box made by D.R.R.B.

The Toy Box: Originals and Reproductions and Telling the Difference

By Douglas R. Kelly There’s a box full of empty boxes in a storage space under the eaves of our ...
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/ Features, japanese tin toys, tin toys
Vintage old toy, tin & celluloid, wind-up Tumbling Fido Dog, Occupied Japan Box, for sale on ebay for $299.

Japanese Tin Toys: A Craze That Rebuilt Post-War Japan

By Bruce Elsass, collector, the Golden Glow of Christmas • Introduction by Judy Gonyeau, managing editor At the end of ...
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/ Casper, Features, Harvey Comics, joe palooka, Richie Rich, sad sack
Harvey Comics Toys – A History In Four Characters

Harvey Comics Toys – A History In Four Characters

By Jonathan Sternfeld I started collecting Harvey Comics as a child in the late 1970s, but my interest in merchandise ...
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/ Features, LEGO, toys
The snazzy bow-tie-wearing boy on the right is Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, CEO of LEGO from 1979-2004. In 2007 he was the richest man in Denmark, with an estimated net worth of $3.3 billion (U.S.).

LEGO®: Building a Company Brick by Brick

By Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher “Our idea has been to create a toy that prepares the child for life – appealing ...
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/ Features, Sports giveaways
A gallery of giveaways: a 1973 Brooks Robinson Slurpee cup is flanked by a 1970 Kellogg’s card of Gale Sayers and a 1962 Henry Aaron Salada Tea coin.

Free of Charge? Sports giveaways were worth the price

By Douglas R. Kelly If you were roaming the earth in the 1950s, 1960s, or 1970s, you most likely spent ...
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/ Antique Marketplace News, Antiques Roadshow, Appraisers, Expert Insights, Features, Simeon Lipman
Simeon on Antiques Roadshow in San Antonio, TX.

An Interview with Simeon Lipman: Appraiser, Collector, Entrepreneur

by Judy Gonyeau, managing editor Simeon Lipman is a lifelong pop culture, film, music, art, history, and sports enthusiast, who ...
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/ Dick Perez, Features
Signed promo card for Diamond Kings and Dick Perez

Dick Perez: The Diamond King of Baseball Artists

By Barry Blair, Sports Collectors Digest Most long-time readers of Sports Collectors Digest know the name Dick Perez as well ...
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/ Colonial Williamsburg, Features, First Baptist Church
Docent marking the first permanent location of Williamsburg’s historic First Baptist Church on South Nassau Street, spring 2020. A partnership led by First Baptist Church and Colonial Williamsburg has resumed archaeological investigation of the site, which last took place in 1957. Let Freedom Ring Foundation

An Archaeological Project Attempts to Find Clues About the Beginnings of One of America’s Oldest Black Churches, but Where Is The Story?

By The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation staff A version of this article first appeared in the winter 2021 issue of Trend ...
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/ Antique Marketplace News, Expert Insights, Features, Howard Products, restoration, Vintage Living
RESTORATION or RENOVATION WITH BRETT HOWARD

RESTORATION or RENOVATION WITH BRETT HOWARD

1. 1940s Mid-Century Modern Art Deco Waterfall Dresser With Mirror, restored with Howard Restor-A-Finish a. Pieces like this can be ...
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/ Antique Marketplace News, Expert Insights, Features, Fine Art Restoration, Julian Baumgartner
Julian Baumgartner

An Interview with Julian Baumgartner of Baumgartner Fine Art Restoration

by Judy Gonyeau, managing editor On the left, is a delicate portrait of a beautiful young girl. She may look ...
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/ Features, restoration, The White House
Typical construction scene inside the White House on Jan.23, 1951. This shows a view from the Lincoln Room. Abbie Rowe, NPS photographer photo

White House Relics and the Stories They Tell

By Wayne Smith Collect the White House … really? Can you even do that? That’s a phrase, or a variation ...
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/ Edith Wharton, Features, The Mount
Edith Wharton’s Library at The Mount by Eric Limon Photography

A Spiritual Reunion: The Recovery and Return of Edith Wharton’s Personal Library to The Mount

By Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher Edith Wharton’s Library at The Mount by Eric Limon Photography A December 15, 2005, article in ...
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