In the days before TV, families would often gather of an evening to play board or card games. Kids and collectors still love games, and there is a wide variety of playthings from which to choose. Chess Chess has been played for centuries, and chess sets...

History of the Pocket Watch The earliest pocket watches were so expensive that only the wealthy could afford to own them, and as they were unreliable and notoriously inaccurate, one has to wonder why anyone wanted them! The first watches were designed...

Popular with military history buffs, Zippo lighters have done their bit in every American war, and had a starring role in war movies since 1933. Zippo is Born George Blaisdell watched across the table over dinner at a country club as a friend struggled...

In October of 2006, Granville Ohio went into major sell mode. The Chamber of Commerce sponsored their annual Antiques Show, the Presbyterian Church held a rummage sale, Kendal of Granville , the retirement community had a garage sale, and numerous residents...

While lots of Halloween items were made of tin and later plastic, the bulk of the older pieces are pressed-cardboard, paper composition, or papier-mache. Papier-mache candy containers were handed out to children at parties, where the point was the candy...

By the 1960's, everyone's mother, aunt, or grannie had a lady head vase somewhere in the house! These beautiful women were originally used by florists for small bunches of flowers the way glass bud vases are used today, but unlike their contemporary...

In 1973, Hallmark introduced its first line of collectible Christmas ornaments. They were the first to sell them individually, introducing what would become the single most lucrative portion of their business. Their first release included six collectible...

In today’s collectible world, where the most unusual items are sought after, it comes as no surprise that an emotionally loaded, nostalgia laden item with small intrinsic value is avidly sought by serious collectors. That Irritating and Pokey Little...

Grannie’s Button Tin Everyone has a button jar, basket, box or tin. It’s where we put those extra buttons that hang on the tags of new clothing, the ones we scoop out of the lint trap, and the single buttons of unknown origin that are simply...

Collectible Characters from TV, Comics and More Shrewd advertisers and manufacturers recognized early the power of beloved popular culture figures, both real and fictional, in the selling of products. Collecting opportunities abound, and at a wide variety...

There’s Money in Purses! Purses as a means of transporting valuables and necessities have been around since ancient days, and have been used by both men and women. The ancient Egyptians hung pouches from their waists, and during the 17 th century,...

In the mid 1750’s, the Worcester factory in England brought a version of the enormously popular blue and white dinnerware to the middle classes through a method of transfer printing elaborate and intricate patterns onto unglazed pottery bodies....

Brief History of Britains Vintage and antique military figures for play and collecting are loved by boys young and old, and nobody did them better than Britains. Famous for quality and knowledge of authentic arms and uniforms, Britians was established...

Maria Longworth Nichols-Founder of The Rookwood Pottery When Maria Longworth Nichols' goal of artistic yet affordable pottery combined with her husband's deep pockets, The Rookwood Pottery was born. From its start in 1880 in an abandoned schoolhouse...

Smoking Prohibited-Pezzing Allowed Austrian Edward Haas III was avidly anti-smoking, and invented the first ever breath mint as an alternative to cigarettes in 1927. The lozenge-shaped mints were made of compressed sugar and peppermint oil, and were sold...

Brief History of Bakelite Bakelite, invented in 1907 by chemist Dr. Leo Hendrik Baekeland, was the first entirely manmade plastic. Earlier plastics were a mixture of natural and synthetic ingredients. Bakelite, which was named after its inventor Leo Baekeland,...

Staffordshire is the umbrella name for over 1500 potteries that have produced ceramic ware for hundreds of years. The pottery has been so highly popular for so many years, that some of the early forgeries are almost a century old. Between forged marks,...

Stools Through the Ages For thousands of years, the stool has played an important part in homelife of all cultures and countries. Today, collectors enjoy their compact size and variety of styles, details, and finishes. The stool had been the chief mode...

Brief History of Tea Drinking Legend has it that an early Emperor of China accidentally discovered tea as a tasty beverage when some tea leaves blew into the hot water he was drinking. Tea was introduced in London as a health beverage in the mid-1600’s,...

Antique Sewing Machines-Everyone has Them, Few Want to buy Them. . . . Early Sewing Machines In Europe, at least five different sewing machines were patented before one actually worked. In America, Walter Hunt developed a machine, but Elias Howe, Jr....

1940’s Textiles Feature Vivid Colors and Exciting Graphics Twenty dollars can buy a 1940’s table cloth dripping in hand printed daisies or cherries, and because the cloths were mostly manufactured of pure cotton or linen in a durable, heavy-weight...

Beatrice Alexander Founded in 1923, the Alexander Doll Company was the brainchild of Beatrice Alexander Behrman, daughter of Jewish immigrants Maurice and Hannah Alexander. Maurice ran the nation’s first doll hospital on the Lower East Side in New...

Hummel- the World’s Most Famous Collectible Mention the word Hummel, and almost everyone can conjure up a mental image of a rosy cheeked cherubic child involved in a homespun activity like herding chicks or playing a fiddle for a puppy. Possibly...

No cookie jar collection is complete without examples from these major American manufacturers; however, due to the popularity of cookie jars, there are lots of fakes and forgeries out there. Before you buy (or sell) make sure you know if you have the...

A Party on Your Dinner Table Since 1936 In 1936, the Homer Laughlin China Company, like every other manufacturer in America, was desperate for a new product that would generate sales during the difficult financial times of the Depression. With help the...