My folks, Antiquips, recently listed this antique photograph of two ladies with their backs to the camera.
Aside from just being an odd pose (especially when photography was more of an event than it is today), and so a way to define or refine your photograph collection, does anyone know if the pose has any other significance?
See more antique photos with people posing with their backs to the camera here.
Most collectors are aware that they are curating their collections — or at least they should be! But now, there’s online curation, or more specifically, online content curation.
Unlike blogging or writing on the web (called “content creation”), content curation is the process of sorting through the created content on the web and presenting it to others. In the most simple terms, it’s rather like being the editor of your own magazine, picking the stories, images, and information you’d like to keep and/or share with others (unless you want to keep it private). Almost all curation sites include standard social networking features (being able to follow members and/or subscribe to curated collections) as well as allow you to connect and even sign-up easily via Facebook and Twitter.
While a lot of attention has been made of using digital curation for businesses and bloggers, collectors of antiques and vintage items will enjoy this as well. It’s a great way to organize information on what you collect, save links to resources, show off what you and your collecting friends have posted of your collections online, do some window shopping… Maybe drop a few hints… *wink*
Here are my favorite three sites for content curation for collectors of antiques & vintage collectibles:
The most well-known content curation site is Pinterest. While Pinterest is not the first of these content curation sites (far from it!), it has managed to capture a lot of media attention and an incredibly high number of users.
Pinterest is primarily image based, which works well for showing off pretty things, such as collectibles and DIY project ideas, but it isn’t necessarily suited well for articles and “how to”s. In fact, many Pinterest members go out of their way not to properly credit what’s shared, like Tumblr folks. This can be quite annoying for both those who have created content as well as those who want the information behind the photograph. Also, such little text also makes searching a bit more difficult.
However, Pinterest is rather easy to use, and allows for a rather unlimited number of collections or “pin boards” and probably has people you know there, making interacting easy. The site currently has you join a wait list rather than begin immediately. Typically, you only wait a day or two, even less if a friend invites you; but it does put a damper on one’s enthusiasm.
If your intent is to drive traffic to your own website, Pinterest leaves a bit to be desired as most people there for the pretty pictures — and once they’ve seen them on Pinterest, they aren’t as inclined to find out more. Pinterest does not show you any statistics on how many people have seen your pins or pinboards.
(This is me at Pinterest.)
Scoop.It has a great name which invokes what you are doing: You “scoop” content off the Internet and create pages which resemble little newspapers or magazines.
Since Scoop.It is focused on articles, you get to include far more text with your “scoop,” yet not give away the whole article, which just makes for better Internet friends. You also can add an image to your “scoop”, which is a nice visual when the article you are using doesn’t have one. And Scoop.It also has a suggestion option which allows you to suggest a link for another member to scoop onto their own topic. If your suggestion is used, you get a little link crediting you. This is a nice community feature that allows you to connect with other members and participate in topics past your own.
At the free level, you may have up to five collections, called “Topics.” Because you only have five free collections, you should think ahead of time and decide just what collections you want to focus on curating. If you collect a lot things, or do a lot of research, you probably want to go make each topic a bit broader, rather than being too specific on each one. Or you can pay to upgrade your service, which includes not only a larger number of topics but the option to use your own domain name. Unlike many other content curation sites, Scoop.It does not have a main page on which you can just watch the action of what other members are doing, so you’ll have to rely on the site’s search function to see what other topics you’ll want to subscribe to. And Scoop.It does not allow for you to have private topics.
Scoop.It is designed to push folks out to the original content sources, so even though finding topics and scoops is a bit more difficult, there is some traffic to be found here. Scoop.It‘s stats take some getting used to; paid members apparently get more information on stats and analytics than free users.
(This is me at Scoop.It.)
Now we get to my favorite content curation site: Snip.It. Like it sounds, you curate by “snipping” content from the web, making your own digital scrapbooks out of the articles and images others have produced — while giving the creators proper credit and encouraging folks to go visit the content creators website, blog, gallery, etc.
Why is Snip.It my favorite? Because it primarily focuses on article curation in ways that suit me best. Along with being able to have a rather unlimited number of collections (including private ones for research I don’t want to share yet), Snip.It highlights or features great collections on the site, making it easier to find collections to subscribe to and collectors to follow.
On the main page, the most recent “snips” from featured collections are shown, with the most recent at the top. And there are also specific categories (such as “Arts & Culture” and “History”) which contain featured collections, also with the most recent “snips” at the top. Since featured collections are selected by the folks working for Snip.It, real people are differentiating good curation from spammers who join and just want to promote junk. Because of this way of showcasing good snipped content and good snippers, I’ve been able to find a number of great resources for reading, researching — and maybe even collecting, who knows? *wink*
This is the site I’ve also had the most conversations with other members, via comments. I like that.
Snip.It is created with readers and snippers in mind, and drives people to the curated content. Even though I’ve been participating in Snip.It the least amount of time, I’ve seen the most about of traffic to my sites from it. Snip.It does offer stats on how often your collections are viewed; additional, more in depth, stats will be available soon.
(This is me at Snip.It.)
Whichever online curation site you choose, I’m sure you’ll quickly find yourself enjoying it — just don’t spend so much time online that you forget to go to garage sales, flea markets and auctions! *wink*
Have you found any good content curation sites? Please do share in the comments!
A packet of vintage St. Patrick seals by Dennison Mfg. Co., Framingham, Mass., U.S.A., No. 80-924.
The cover boasts of 36 seals in six different designs, but some are missing from my thrift store find. In fact, the missing ones are what charm me…
It’s the plain old shamrock seals or stickers which are missing. Was this owned by a teacher or parent who wanted to be fair by giving each child the same seal? Were the shamrock’s just the right size for the project or envelope or whatnot? Wondering is part of the charm for me.
Personally, I find the pretty pinup woman like a figurehead on the Eire harp the coolest seal. …Maybe the original owner was saving those for him or herself. *wink*
On shows like Oddities there’s much talk about cabinets of curiosities, but you needn’t have a fancy cabinet — or anything morbid, or even Victorian, to display in it — to arouse curiosity. In fact, I consider my entire home a display and I thrill when anyone stops and looks in wonder. It’s like a large, living, scrapbook. My home may not be at the level of Anthony Pisano’s, but whenever friends and family, like my young niece, take the time to look at what I’ve got on my shelves, I’m ecstatic that my objects start the conversations, the stories, the wonder…
Photo Credits: In Awe by Gracie Clark.
PS You really should see Anthony Pisano’s collection and home!
Whether or not you an add another camera to your collection, you may want to consider this Vintage Camera Garland from Christine of Flapper Girl:
This garland celebrates the beauty of vintage cameras with a Wardette, Starflash, Brownie Hawkeye, a handful of retro lightfilter boxes, and two photos documenting what fun can be had with a camera in tow!
All components of this garland were hand-cut by me. The vintage cameras and lightfilters depicted in this garland are from my personal collection, and were photographed and edited by me.
Garland measures approx. 48″ long.
I love how everything looks like prints drying on the wires in a darkroom.
Flappergirl offers other paper garlands, in varying themes, in her Etsy shop — and I find them very inspiring:
These garland designs are the result of my endless fascination with, research into, and love of their subjects. Countless hours are spent collecting and assembling the perfect elements for each piece.
Each garland design is uniquely considered, elegant, and beautiful. Everything is hand-cut, hand-folded, and hand-glued. My passion and dedication is evident in their small, unexpected details and craftsmanship, making them unique and delicate treasures.
The Girl Scouts were founded on March 12, 1912, so this year marks the 100th Anniversary of the Girl Scouts. (Yes, there’s a Girl Scout patch for that!)
Along with a national event to be held March 10-11 at the Mall of America, many troops are planning celebrations. For example, Girl Scouts from across southeast Louisiana will be celebrating with an Extravaganza on Saturday, March 17 in Gonzales. Part of this event will include a historic exhibit showcasing Girl Scouting over its 100 years — and volunteers are seeking memorabilia to include in this display. “Vintage Girl Scout uniforms, photos, books, newspaper articles, or any other Girl Scout-related items are welcome,” said Kevin Shipp, event coordinator.
If you’re a collector of Girl Scout items, or a former Girl Scout with goodies saved, contact your local Girl Scout troop or council to see how you can add to the celebration near you. You may also want to participate in their Oral History Project.
If you collect vintage fashions, you tend to end up with a lot of heartbreakers — not only items which won’t fit, but garments which are in such poor shape, all you can do is salvage pieces of fabric, buttons and other trims. And if you collect vintage sewing items and notions, you typically end up with a lot of vintage buttons too. You can certainly collect buttons. But if you’re looking for another way to enjoy them, get creative!
Dream Merchants II has taken old fabric-covered buttons and combined them with beads to make a one of a kind bracelet!
The buttons and beads are woven onto heavy duty beading wire, with the last button going through a loop at the end to fasten it. (She also takes custom orders, if you are all thumbs working with suck little bits and bobs.)
ThatOldBlueHouse2 takes old buttons and adds them to charm bracelets for extra charm, color and texture.
Vintage buttons can even be given the spotlight and be placed in settings, like the jewels they are. This green one is from 2fillesdunord.
At CountryCoveCreations, old buttons are used to create pins or brooches — like this colorful mod one where the retro buttons are layered on a retro plastic belt buckle.
All great ideas to preserve something from vintage fashions, a special occasion dress, or even a favorite shirt that no longer fits.
I found this idea for novelty planters at The Daily Telecraft: Brainstorm: What to do with plastic animals! [Large & small]. Just Dremel out a section on the beast’s back, spray paint them, fill them with dirt and add a small plant or cactus.
It’s a great way to recycle those plastic animal toys the kids have left behind as well as to fill-out a windowsill or other spot with groupings of vintage animal planters.
If you have a green thumb but are all butter-fingers with a Dremel, here are some planters ready to purchase!
In the latest issue of Jet Magazine (February 6, 2012), Iman Jefferson gets six tips from Ronda Racha Penrice, author of African American History For Dummies
The first tip was to record family members about their experiences during a pivotal time in history. We’ve been making general (not historical event oriented) audio recordings of our own family members — and both my husband and I have been flabbergasted to find out how much we really didn’t know about even our own parents’ lives! (If you need help starting, check out StoryCorps.)
The second was to “play the original song versions used in samples of your kids’ favorite hits” and discuss what melodies have been borrowed from yesteryear. Our kids tease us about the music we listen to (admittedly we are eclectic listeners!) and we tease them right back with information about how that music isn’t “new.” These discussions, however intended, have given our children a wider knowledge of music, culture and history than most of their peers.
Tip number three:
Identify longstanding Black-owned restaurants, retail shops or other companies, then call them up and arrange a visit. Many will have older equipment, as well as photos, so it will encourage interactive learning.
I’m so ready for a field trip!
The next tip was to challenge kids to find items in the home or community which were invented or created by African-American icons featured on postage stamps. This is a great idea, like a historical philately-based scavenger hunt!
Tip number five was to have your child research a person prior to watching a biopic and then have them compare what they read to what they saw. I can tell you that I’ve personally done this dozens of times, including performing online searches during the commercial breaks when watching biographies and biopics on TV. (In fact, I just did this last week watching a biopic about Jessica Savitch!)
The last tip was actually quite a mind-blower…
Often we drive by local honorary street signs in predominantly African American neighborhoods but may not know the history of each honoree. Visit the local library and have your children research the real person behind the road marker.
Honest to gawd, hubby and I had just had a similar, though not person-related, discussion when he “discovered” the location of a “missing city.” He’s a prolific reader of old newspapers and read about one no longer on maps: Golden Gate City, in South Dakata. There’s a Golden Gate Street in Central City, South Daktoa, but sans town we bet there are people living there who don’t even know why the street has it’s name. How many streets do we all drive on of which we are ignorant to the street’s name’s origins?
We don’t discuss a lot of new things here at Inherited Values, but today we make an exception…
One of my friends is helping a friend with her wedding plans and the subject of wedding gifts came up. Specifically those wedding gifts the bride and groom give to those in the bridal party, the groomsmen, the parents, etc. As lovers of vintage and antiques, we naturally gravitated to the idea of an excuse to scour antique malls and online stores for just the right gifts. But not everyone loves old things.
Since weddings are special occasions, when families grow and joint memories begin, you want to give pieces which will be saved — you want to give things which will become heirlooms.
Heirlooms are those items saved and passed along within a family for generations. They all have to begin somewhere. But in order to become an heirloom, they must be special enough to be saved by the first person they are given to. This means they should be special from the start, carrying not just the weight of the special occasion itself, but the warmth and significance of the relationship itself as well as offering some sort of practicality or use that make the items more than jut dust collectors. (If that “practicality” notion bothers you, please see the history and origins of the word!)
When selecting gifts to mark the occasion of a wedding, consider who the item is for, their role in the special day, and what sentiments are likely to be attached to that day. Drinking glasses and flasks are popular for men because items associated with drinking are reminders of the wedding toasts made. Jewelry and jewelry boxes are popular for female attendants because they are reminders of special days in the past as well as more to come. Personalized teddy bears are great options for children because they are playmates for that day, and toys that sit proudly on display to remind kids of the special day they took part in.
Of course, the more weddings a person has participated in, the more glassware and jewelry they are likely to have, but it just requires a bit more thinking…
There really aren’t any wrong gifts to give, but thinking about the future use of items helps ensure that they will be saved — and on their way to becoming heirlooms!
OK, so you waited around, hoping just the right thing was going to pop up at eBay or some other site, and now, as the shipping delivery window narrows, you’re starting to worry that all you can do is go with the obvious eBay gift card or get something lame. Gift certificates, from eBay, your local antique mall or online dealer, aren’t bad ideas. But here are a few other options you might wish to consider…
Gift Idea #1 Newspaper Archives is the largest online newspaper archive, with over 100 million pages, covering more than 400 years, from more than 10 countries — and growing! I know that as a collector and researcher, having an online database of old newspapers to search through is one of the most awesome things ever. Let me repeat that: One of the most awesome things ever.
This isn’t just a great gift idea for collectors, history nuts, or those obsessed with research; it’s a great tool for genealogists too. While genealogy sites offer lots of information, old newspapers help fill in more of the stories… Not just information on people and events, but it’s a great way to find photographs of buildings, family businesses, and other places long gone.
Gift Idea #2 Magazines, such as Antique Trader, The Magazine Antiques, and other collectible publications as well as genealogy magazines can still be subscribed to online at Amazon — and even though it may take 6 to 10 weeks for the first issue to arrive, you can have a gift notice sent to the recipient!
1.) Add the magazine to your cart,
2.) On the next page mark the “this will be a gift” box
3.) Enter your gift recipient’s address during the checkout process.
4.) After placing your order, look for the “Send Magazine Gift Notification” link on the order confirmation page, or go directly to the Magazine Subscription Manager to manage your gift subscriptions.
Gift Idea #3 Maybe you’ve already settled on a gift card, but aren’t sure how to present it? How about a nifty greeting card that’s also a bookmark? In My Book® is a line of 15 cards which are perforated, so tearing along the perforations changes the greeting card into a bookmark!
These novel gifts and cards in one are printed in Pennsylvania, shipped from Brooklyn, New York, and cost just $3.95 (plus shipping) each. (I’ve interviewed the creator, Robin Blum, here, having met her at the first annual Bookmark Collectors Virtual Convention.)
Related: Practical, Yet Thoughtful, Gifts & Stocking Stuffers For Collectors.
Image credits: Christmas tree in Sydney’s 2UW radio station, Christmas Eve, 1937; via.
When I stumbled into this auction for original Katzenjammer Kids art, I was excited to read the story behind the piece:
Grapefruitmoon Gallery just acquired an important collection of pen & ink original illustration art comic drawings from many of the leading Golden Age of Illustration comic strip illustrators that were received by a persistent young girl named Emma Pratt Hall who lived in Mansfield Mass. She wrote many fan letters requesting doodles from her favorite comic artists of the era, nearly one hundred artists honored her requests. These are all from the years of 1939 – 1940 and many have letters that accompany the drawings. It really is amazing the response she received this collection is outstanding. I would guess she was a persuasive letter writer and by the personalized content of many of the letters she was likely a young girl. Her comic art collection gained her some recognition as she received a press newspaper mention from a Sheffield England newspaper that is not included in this auction – but we included a scan of it the bottom of the listing as reference and provenance.
The date of the newspaper clipping is unknown to me, and I’ve no idea what percentage of Emma’s total collection this is, but there’s a wide variety of pieces, subjects, artists, and styles.
Beyond the incredible provenance, and even that this was a child collecting back then, what’s really fascinating about the Emma Pratt Hall collection is the sad fact that it could not be done today.
Unlike those autograph collections we hear about, folks — including children — cannot just write in and request a signature, a doodle, or anything like that today. Nowadays, fans are lucky if they even receive a stamped-signed photo when they mail their favorite celebrities. But to take the time to respond to an individual’s request for a “doodle” from an artist or illustrator?! No way. The more established or famous the person, the more they are likely to charge for an autograph or reply with a price list of available works. Yet here we have a collection which proves that not only could young Emma make a request of a popular illustrator (for all these illustrators were paid and popular at the time) and have her wish granted, but she’d receive lovely little letters showing how happy the illustrator, comic strip creator, political cartoonist, commercial artist, etc. was to have such a request!
All images via Grapefruit Moon Gallery.
Like I said, I’m becoming a resident vintage and antiques expert at Listia. Recently I was helping identify an item listed as “Tell Me What This Is” — headlines like that will always pull me in. *wink*
I immediately knew what it was, as I own several of these items myself. It’s a rug making shuttle or a rug shuttle needle. I know because the box on my Betsey Ross Rug Needle tells me so!
I just had to have this one because of it’s ties to women’s history, the fact that it had it’s original box, and the wicked looking nature of the tool itself.
Since then, I’ve been able to identify the other old wooden ones that I’ve ignorantly wound-up with over the years, being in auction box lots of old sewing and things.
I’ve not put any of mine into use yet, but it’s rather simple — the wooden “shuttle” pushes or prods the metal piece which pushes or prods the fabric strips through material backing, such as burlap, etc. It’s rather easy to see the process in these photos of my old wooden 1100 Kirkwood Of Des Moines shuttle.
Rugs including rag rugs made this way are often called “proddy rugs” for this prodding action.
While in my original comments at the auction at Listia I focused on the proddies (the strip of fabric in the Listia auction photo “prodded” me into thinking of those *wink*), these are also used to make “punch needle” style rugs too. Punch needle rugs are much like rug hooking, only you punch the thread or fabric through the back of the canvas rather than using the latch hooks most hobby kits have today.
Here’s what the Betsey Ross, ATK Product, box has to say:
Directions:
Thread as shown, push needle point through canvas and operate handles up and down, keeping the bottom of one of the handles on the canvas at all times and move toward the right. The length of the stitch can be regulated by bending the needle in for short stitches and out for long stitches, always be sure to have the yarn or rag free from tension so the loops will not pull out when the needle point is raised up and down. To get a chenille effect clip the loops with scissors. With a little practice beautiful rugs can be produced with this needle.
Rug shuttles like this may still be made; but I prefer to use older items myself — makes me feel like I’m part of the tradition and closer to the women who crafted this way. I’m no Betsey Ross, either in historic terms or crafting proficiency, but just owning this makes me feel closer to her and generations of women who once had such skills. My hands sweat where another’s once did. Or, rather, mine will once I find the time to sit down and give rug making a try.
I probably need to stop writing about antiques and collectibles to find that time, huh? *wink*
For further reading, I suggest quilt and hooked rug restorer Tracy Jamar‘s article A Few Loops Of Hooked Rug History and this basic page on hooked rugs at Red Clover Rugs.
At first look, this vintage fashion catalog from the 1930s is just a cool piece for ephemera and fashion collectors… But as you know, you should never judge a book by it’s cover!
This is an incredible and unique vintage scrapbook as the 1931 Carlton Fashions catalog used as a scrapbook for crime clippings. According to the seller, Light Years Vintage, the vintage fashions catalog “was used for the purpose of collecting child abduction, murder, and violent crime clippings.”
The very juxtaposition of the graphic crime news against happy illustrated fashion models makes this a fascinating work of altered art! The fact that it’s a vintage voyeuristic preservation of crime news as well as a time capsule of fashions makes it even more rare and collectible.
Sometimes dealers and other sellers of antiques and collectibles get a bad rap — OK, a lot of times they do, and I’m not going to go into all of that, but…
As a collector there are times when your auction lots runneth over and you end up with more than you want (or can even house). So it seems only natural to trade or sell a few things here and there… That’s pretty much what a dealer is, you know; someone who deals or trades in antiques and vintage stuff, with the most agreed upon fair trade equity being money, honey. So it’s all good, right? Right.
Anyway, there’s another time a collector becomes a seller. Such as when they find themselves in the possession of something they feel someone else would value so much they feel guilty holding onto it. That’s how I feel about this particular item.
I do collect vintage pinups and I’ve been paring down my collection (making more room in my house and wallet), but this particular vintage matchbook struck a chord…
On the front of the vintage matchbook it reads:
Greetings From Joe Gorenc
Skat Trounament
Every Wed. & Third Sun.
Ice Cool Eights
Any Time
2413 Calumet Drive
Sheboygan, Wis
Despite the condition issues, this is cool enough for the pinup and the reference to the old Skat tournament games too — but, you see, I know that there was a Joe Gorenc who was a POW in WWII. He did live in Sheboygan after the war, until his death in the 1950s, and I just feel like someone else should have this. So it’s up for sale, in my listings at eBay.
And I don’t think it’s unfair to charge for it. After all, I did pay for it — and I’ve kept it safe another decade or so before realizing what I had and then carefully describing it, making it available for the person or persons searching for it.
In most cases, this is what dealers do. It’s what collectors do, sooner or later.
And it’s not dirty. It’s a good thing.
We do it for love. And money. Not necessarily for the love of money. But there’s no reason we can’t lovingly spend the time to make sure things are preserved and available in the marketplace. After all, as collectors, we are there putting our time and money back into that marketplace. Usually at a hugely disproportionate rate. *wink*
Many people collect postcards for what’s on the front… Maybe they collect real photo postcards, or vintage images of animals on postcards, or antique images of cities… Maybe they collect by artist or publisher. But some of us fall in love with what’s on the backs of the postcards.
Some postcards were used as contest entry forms, or direct response responses, like this vintage postcard requesting a Sergeant’s dog book. But perhaps even better than that, are the handwritten notes — like little glimpses into lives, short stories as sweet as snapshots.
Here’s an example:
Seward, Alaska
Aug. 12, 193(3?)Dearest Aunts:
At last we are back on the coast again (and much too soon to suit us). The Kenai Peninsula camping trip we have had these last two weeks has been unbelievably glorious. One very interesting place we visited is the biggest and most scientific fox farm in Alaska on Kenai Lake not far from Moose Pass. (?) Mrs. Williamson (she attended the V. of California) showed us around their farm and we handled this very tame silver fox.
Lots of love, Ben
I’m guessing, from this article on the fox farms of Kenai, that the postcard’s Mrs. Williamson was Harriet “Mickey” Williamson; but I have no idea about Ben or his unmarried Aunts.
Call me a romantic, but I like to imagine or create their stories… How the “spinster” sisters enjoyed the postcards from Ben. Who Ben traveled with. For how long… And, of course, that the tame silver fox lived to a ripe old age, despite his “scientific” home at a fur farm.
Image Credits: 1930s real photo postcard of a woman with a fox on her shoulders, via Lynnstudios.
A vintage kit for making paper Valentines, circa 1940s, from Gibson, the greeting card company. This kit was to make eight different Valentine’s Day cards for “kiddies.”
Inside the box (with charming graphics) there are eight cardboard bases for the cards, eight lace Valentines, two sheets of die-cut graphics to decorate the cards with, and, or course, eight envelopes.
For sale from Jones Antiques.
This is a photo of my dad, aka the Grinnin’ half of Inherited Values own Antiquips, aka The Dean. It was taken at the Elkhorn Antique Flea Market by Urban Flea Marketer, the photo-blogger of You Bought WHAT?! From Who?.
My dad’s story from her post:
I mean, he was just cute. He was totally a hoot. I asked him what he’d grab if the market set on fire, and don’t say your wife/husband because everyone says that, usually because they are standing right there… He laughed & said I wasn’t going to! I want my clock {because} it’s expensive & my wife is cheap. LOVE!
She collects photos of people at flea markets, especially “cute old grandpas” — her love of them sounds like my thing for “old coots.” Probably the same thing; just a different name. *wink*
At that same flea market…
Tom Cerny aka “Hippie Tom” of American Pickers fame. (That’s less than six degrees between me and Frank & Mike!)
With Tom was his friend Jeff Purcell:
Now I LOVED this photo of Jeff & Tom, but it was more like a snap shot & not a portrait. What I really wanted to do was photograph Tom’s hands. All of his cuts and wounds were wrapped in duct tape… Like a true modern hippie. Jeff was such a sweet guy. He invited me up to the farm if I ever wanted. He was really truly just a happy guy. It was sweet. At 26, he is back at school, studying geology. He recently returned from a trip to I believe Switzerland, studying glaciers with a professor. I don’t know why, but I love that.
You really should check out You Bought WHAT?! From Who?.. Because this girl really gets what flea markets etc. are all about.
This is a vintage snapshot or photograph storage tip from Edward O’Connor of Mineola, NY, I found published in Household Help, Fifth Series of Hints & Time Savers for the Home (offered by New York’s Picture Newspaper and published by News Syndicate Co., Inc., 1966).
The tip reads:
Before storing snapshots, classify them according to the year in which the pictures were taken. The put them in individual envelopes with the year written on the upper right hand corner and file in suitable container.
At first read, the tip seems quite quaint; not all of us recall the days of bringing home multiple packets of photographs from the film processor. But even in today’s digital age, we do sometimes have more prints than photo frames, right? Plus, we collectors know that once you bring home your garage sale, flea market, thrift store, and antique mall finds, there are piles of vintage photographic images, antique postcards and other bits of old and odd ephemera that we must deal with…
I’ve written about this problem of storing ephemera before — and sadly, there’s been little sharing of what you all do. So maybe I’m not the only one struggling with organization?
While O’Connor’s tip may seem faulty in terms of sorting or organizing by year, certainly it’s a starting place — and the basic idea can be extrapolated into other categories or themes that suit you and your collection(s) best. Just remember, you absolutely want to interpret O’Connor’s envelopes and “suitable container” to mean proper archival photo storage items and/or decent archival quality papers, sleeves & containers in general. But hey, this is a start.
And we all have to start somewhere.
Last Tuesday, August 2, 2011, Picker Sisters aired on the Lifetime Television. (If you were confused by the ads showing American Pickers Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz promoting the show on the History Channel, that’s because both Lifetime and History are part of A&E Television Networks — but that really didn’t help those who went to The History Channel on Tuesday night and, confused, wondered why the TV promos weren’t as clear as they could have been.)
The show’s premise is that best friends and interior designers, Tracy Hutson and Tanya McQueen (of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition — Picker Sisters has the same producer, RelativityREAL) are on the hunt for what Wolfe and Fritz would call “farm fresh rusty gold” to turn into “stunning pieces for their Los Angeles home decor pop-up shop.”
[I don’t want to start any rumors, but I can’t find a single reference to this shop… Or where it ever pops up. Establishing shots in show episodes feature the store front with a sign that indicates the shop is named I-10. But not only did searches find nothing, neither are there details or links at Hutson’s offical site, the official Facebook page, Tanya McQueen’s Twitter, the official Hutson-McQueen blog, etc.]
To assist the designers in the creative process, there’s a third cast member, contractor, Alan Luxmore, himself with connections to Extreme Makeover and previous host of A&E’s Fix This Yard.
Despite early complaints or fears (primarily based on the American Pickers‘ promos) that Picker Sisters was going to emphasize pretty women (including the use of short-shorts and other feminine charms in order to get deals), I was looking forward to the show. Like Cash & Cari, I was hoping this series would emphasize decorating both in terms of objects and projects; much like Cash & Cari, I was to be disappointed. As with Cash & Cari, I was hoping we’d not only have the Picker Sisters show us what they transformed, but how it was done. But it misses that mark.
Since the success of these collecting shows is partially dependent on the personality of the cast, it bears mentioning that Hutson and McQueen come across as Valley Girls meet former professional NFL cheerleaders; perhaps a bit to bubbly and hair-twirly for most of us. (And those 80’s headbands only emphasis it.)
I don’t want to bash these beauties for how they look; that would be as wrong as saying someone isn’t good-looking enough to be on TV. But there are practical matters here…
Those of us willing to pick on farms, through old industrial items, etc., we don’t only have work gloves, we wear jeans or long pants to protect our legs — no matter how fab our legs look in short shorts. I get that they are on camera, but aren’t they annoyed enough by their own Farrah Fawcett locks, blowing into their eyes, sticking to the sweat on their necks, to put it up in a ponytail or something? I’m less worried about two grown women — complete with camera crew — getting hurt heading off with strange men than I am about cuts, infections and diseases from stumbling about improperly dressed in places where tetanus and hantaviruses make excellent bedfellows.
As I mentioned, I feel that Luxmore‘s work is slighted… But perhaps that’s because he’s an actor playing a character role. In the few scenes Luxmore is in, he plays the frustrated “daddy” to the two little girls on the road, ominous about projects, money spent, design ideas. Worse, he’s shown working while appearing straight out of some Gap ad or GQ photo-shoot, his black sleeveless muscle shirt taunt across his chest, tightly and neatly tucked into crisp belted green khakis. If he’s a master of the 100 hour build, why is he playing a stock masculine character, one part beefcake one part paternal male disapproving of his errant shopping sex kittens?
Like his female cast members, Luxmore ought to dress for the work at hand. We’ll notice he’s handsome, anyway, I promise.
Overall, the show feels far more Hollywood glossy than “unscripted” (the new word for reality shows). While this may appeal to a certain part of the television audience, I feel it’s a disservice to the cast — showing them more as pretty and, due to the lack of “reality,” more bumbling than the educated and experienced people they are. Coupled with the absence of any shop or announcements of where it will appear, the pretty posing makes me feel the shop is simply a premise. Television does blur with tinsel town, you know, so it all feels too glossy, too fake…
Perhaps we’re supposed to enjoy the fashionista-fish out of water thing… But McQueen, Hutson and Luxmore are build and design heavyweights, so maybe they should have left them a little more raw and saved all the polishing for the finished project pieces.
That said, there are good things in the show…
There’s less of a monetary focus on the show; though that could simply be due to the too-small price / sold graphics.
And it is fun to see the before and afters — even if it is at sacrificing how it’s done. I consider myself a creative person, a visual person with an eye for seeing the potential in “junk” and I’m not bored with what I’ve seen so far — far from it, I’m inspired by all the repurposing of industrial items!
I won’t be glued to episodes, but I will watch more of Picker Sisters. Even if I am hoping the show format itself will undergo a transformation of it’s own.
PS Because Lifetime quickly signed on for a seven-part, one-hour series (originally entitled To Live and Buy), I’m not sure we’ll see any changes in Picker Sisters; the slick format’s likely set.
PPS Check out the comments below for more & updates!
Have you ever thought about the painted backgrounds in antique and vintage photographs?
No? Me neither.
Not until I read The Painted Backdrop: Behind the Sitter in American Tintype Photography, by Jim Linderman (with an essay by Kate Bloomquist), that is.
In fact, the story of and between 19th century painters and American photography really has never been told — or, I should say, “hasn’t been explored” until Linderman came along and looked into it via his collection of antique tintype photographs.
If you’re curious now, if you collect antique tintypes, are a collector of photographs and/or cameras, are an artist or have other interest in photographic history, I can’t recommend this book enough.
Technology, commerce, art, and culture collide at a crossroads, supposed “forward progress” exposing values, leaving the role of art and artists themselves as question marks…
My full review of the book is here — and my exclusive interview with the author is here.
Image credits: Jim Linderman
