Category: The Hobby Of Collecting

Is Your Collection Museum Worthy?

I’ve long compared individual collectors and their collections to the work of professional curators managing museum collections, so I enjoy hearing how “real” museum curators approach their work.

In What Does it Mean to be “Museum-Worthy?” How a Political History Curator Defines the Term, Larry Bird, curator of the campaign collection in the division of political history at the National Museum of American History, shares his thoughts in an interview.

Two things really stand out for me:

What do you collect?

There are things that the campaign gives out that are sort of “officially sanctioned,” that they are using to get their message out, like a button. And then there are things that people make and wear themselves. Typically, I like to try to get something from a person who’s wearing something—it could be a lapel pin, a sign they made or a sign they’re carrying. It’s very difficult to talk that item off of a person and in fact, it’s almost not even fair because if they could just give it to you, would you want it? What you want is what they can’t give you. It means so much to them personally. That’s what you want to collect.  You want to collect the material of activism and engagement.

How do you know it’s “museum worthy?”

“Museum worthy” implies that there’s some kind of aesthetic judgment going on, which there may be, but that’s hardly the first thing that you think of.  The material that we get is so inherently ephemeral; it doesn’t really have any great inherent value. The items can be quite modest and even flawed—they can have rough edges and corners and be duct-taped to a paint paddle or something. I mean for a couple of bucks you can pick up a couple of buttons, but when you get it all together at the end of the year, it really is quite valuable as a record because it doesn’t exist anywhere else.

Along with the reassurance that even professional collecting is subjective (which I admit I still need like to hear), I’m thrilled to hear that curators — at this level, even — are seeking to cultivate a contextual collection based on the rather intimate items of individuals.

Antiques & Vintage Collectibles In Display Case

Is that any different than what we do?

I don’t think so.

They even want the stuff more when it’s hard to get, when people are less likely to give/sell!

We can argue, or, more accurately, belittle the importance of our collections. We can say we “just” have silly little pieces. We can say we don’t have anything of any real significance. But at the end of the day, we are doing the same thing the museum is doing: collecting a segment, preserving a set of objects (maybe even using home security systems like www.safemart.com), which when put together are a record or a snapshot of what was.

In related news, Scientists hope to unlock secrets of museum smells, hoping to see if the smell or, more accurately, the air surrounding the objects contains anything that could be used to understand their composition or condition; museums and collectors could then use such technology to assess collections without touching the objects.

Image: Photo of my own case in an antique mall.

The Value In Collecting & Reading Antique & Vintage Publications

It’s funny how your perspective changes…

I first wrote/posted about this November 1953 issue of Silhouette Magazine in July of 2008 — but when preparing to list it for sale on eBay, I found myself thumbing through the vintage publication with completely different eyes. For you see, when I first posted those images and silly thoughts, it would be another four months before Things Your Grandmother Knew would be born. Now I’m spotting tips on cleaning corduroy in a very different light!

Funny how perspective changes… Not just the out-of-sight-out-of-mind of putting the vintage booklet away, but the way we look at things, what we take from them, what our intentions are in terms of use — and the blinders we put on ourselves even when our intentions are “good” and purposeful. Yes, adding another blog opened my eyes to see old information in a new light. But what else might I see with another blog (oh, no, I have enough!) or in another few years, as life shifts my purpose, my interests, my needs? How does the old stuff maintain the same yet live on with new purpose?

In theory, and practice, this is the heart of recycling. But had I recycled this vintage booklet (either in the practical paper way or in an artistic one, using it for an altered art product or something), the content itself likely would have been lost.

As a collector and a reader, I’m often amazed at the power old periodicals and books have. Good fiction remains good fiction. And the non-fiction still teaches us things. Sure, some of it’s frightfully funny — or just plain frightful. Old medical and science texts, obviously spring to mind. So do the works which expose the woefully ignorant in terms of cultural issues, such as gender, race, etc.

But even when the information is hopelessly outdated or just plain hopeless, reading old works gives us great insights into how things really were at that time. And let me tell you, not a whole lot has changed. Humans still desire the same things, buy and sell with the same motivation, and whatever styles have faded to black have zoomed back into fashion too. More or less. The cultural or political pendulum swings back and forth. What’s gone around, comes around. Especially history we are doomed to repeat for having overlooked the earlier lessons.

Antique and vintage publications are too often overlooked themselves. Even by collectors. At appraisal fairs and on the television shows, experts continue to tell us “Old books, newspapers, and magazines have no value,” except in very rare cases. Perhaps that’s true in terms of the market price evaluation — but that’s merely a reflection of a lack of buyer interest. And the few who are buying old magazines and books often do so not for the written content, but for the cover art, the illustrations inside. (I personally feel they should just buy poster reprints and stop cutting up my precious bound babies!) Even those who buy firsts and other rare works seem to value the objects, but not the contents themselves.

It seems rather messed-up to me. You should buy an old book, magazine or newspaper for the same reasons you’d buy a new one: because of the story it tells, the information it provides — because you want to read it. And maybe even reread a few of them because your opinion may change over time.

If you really don’t want it, pass it along to one who does. We’re out there, really we are!

Racist Greeting Card Collecting

George sent in this vintage greeting card…

Along with the following information:

I have a stereotype birthday card from Canada.

It is approx. dated between 1916-1931 by William E. Coutts Co. Ltd.

On the front printed: HAPPY BIRFDAY
(with caricature of small dark child with bright red lips, bow in hair, in dress, holding Good Wishes cards)

GOOD WISHES AM EXACTLY WHAT I SENDS YOU ALL I’SE GOT
OF (and inside card printed, with same picture of girl in
a shy, flirting pose)

‘CAUSE LIKIN’ YOU IS SOMETHIN’ DAT I DOES A POWERFUL
LOT OF!

(Signed by Tiny)

On the back of card, COPYRIGHT WM. E. COUTTS CO.
LIMITED TORONTO, CANADA 5 B 103

Coutts came to Toronto in 1895. In 1916, he founded the William E. Coutts Company, Limited. In 1931, Mr. Coutts entered into a gentlemen’s agreement with Mr. Joyce C. Hall of “Hall Brothers Inc.” and then purchased 40% interest in the William E. Coutts Company, Limited in 1948. The Hall Brothers Company became Hallmark Cards Inc. of Kansas City, Missouri, one of the world’s largest privately held companies.

It is unusual for a black stereotype card to come from a large greeting card company from Canada besides the USA. I cannot find any other Canadian racist examples like mine.

Contact me when you can.

As I told George, most of my cards of this nature I’ve sold. (It’s not just a “make money” thing; I feel these items are better off in the collections of those persons more dedicated to preserving their own history. Yeah, and as a white person, I not only feel that guilt many white people do, but I’m uncomfortable with the idea of being found with such things in my possession — will others know I’m preserving history, or just think I’m a racist who “likes” the things? So unless the items fit into my other areas of collecting, I move them on to other collectors.)  But I have made a number of blog posts about racist items (both items I’ve owned and those I’ve found on the web); most of them can be found at my Kitsch-Slapped blog, under the category Colorful Prism Of Racism.

Yet George’s comment about the US having produced more racist or stereotypical greeting cards is intriguing… I don’t know if that’s a purely anecdotal statement base on what George has seen, or if there’s some data behind it. But it’s an interesting perspective. We Americans sure have a problem accepting our difficulty with race — then and now.

As I noted in my review of The Very Best from Hallmark: Greeting Cards Through the Years, by Ellen Stern, there was no admission of any racist Hallmark greeting cards — and very few cards featuring people of color period. So the documentation of our racist history is probably best left to collectors who are more interested in cultural history than in preserving a pristine corporate image.

Which reminds me that as Americans, we resist calling racist cards what they are, racist. Instead, we call racist depictions of African-Americans “Black Americana.” ( Do Canadians use “Black Canadiana”? I don’t know; you Canadians will have to tell me.) Is it more or less respectful to use such a term?

However, even if using such an intellectual term to white-wash the racist reality of the past seems almost as pejorative as the words and illustrations used, at least it’s some sort of (sideways) recognition. Other racist, prejudicial or stereotypical depictions of races and ethnicities are referred to as “not PC” or “not politically correct,” as if it was just a minor social faux paus that was made. (Ditto gender stereotypes.) So maybe the term “Black Americana” is better than that. I don’t know…

But in any case, help George and I out here.

Share your knowledge and observations on racist and stereotypical vintage greeting cards (and other items too). George is especially interested in Canadian cards, but I’d love to hear from collectors in all countries. What do you call this category of collecting?  Did America produce the most of these items?

Share your thoughts in the comments. Give us links to your posts on this area of collecting. Send me your images and comments via email (Deanna.Pop.Tart@gmail.com). Do all of the above!

Unique Way To Display Your Button Or Pinback Collection

I spotted this clever display idea at a local antique mall: the dealer has put a selection of collectible pinbacks in a birdbath.

At home, of course, this might present a dusting problem (always the bane of collectors!), but if you used a sturdy cement birdbath, you could place a large round piece of glass or Plexiglass over the top. Like the kind used to make those round boudoir tables.

The clear covers would keep dust, pet hair and other contaminants out (and, if UV protective, damaging sunlight too) while still allowing the collection of vintage lithos, celluloid, and metal pinbacks to be on display. This would work well for housing and displaying vintage and antique buttons and other small bits and bobs too.

Imagine it as an end table, next to your sofa or chair, with a little vintage lamp on top, lighting the contents, inviting guests to look inside. A very charming conversation piece!

Vintage Standard Doll Co. Catalog Pages

I don’t only dig through stacks of old magazines and papers; I go through them, page by page. How else would I find this page listing Virginia Lakin publications? (More scans from that booklet here.)

Found inside this 1977 Standard Doll Co. catalog, along with this page of Kate Greenaway postcards, miniature patterns, dollhouse items, etc..

Vintage catalogs are great ways to help date and identify what you have — and identify other items you need for your collection. *wink*

What I Dig Through

What I Dig Through

As an antiques dealer, or picker, I spend my days digging through great volumes of stuff trying to find the things collectors want.

 

On any given day, I might be at an auction, sorting and sifting through the items and boxed lots and waiting for specific items to go up for bidding. I might be driving around, going from rummage sale to garage sale to yard sale, looking over all the used clothing and household items for the vintage collectibles and antiques. I might spend hours at a single thrift shop, sorting through, piece by piece, thousands of old crafting booklets (see photo). I might be waiting in the snow for my chance to enter an estate sale. I might be waiting in the rain (or, if I’m lucky, in my car waiting out the rain) at a flea market. I might be on the way home from the grocery store and find myself stopping for an impromptu dumpster dive or negotiation with a guy just cleaning out his garage.

Such glamorous work, right? *giggle*

Most collectors appreciate these efforts and understand that’s why prices are what they are; I am paid, in part, for my efforts in finding the collectible needle in the proverbial hay stack. Collectors know how much work this is because they’ve done it themselves. Collectors pay not only because I was the finder of the keepers, but because they may not have the time to search as many places, for as many hours, as I do.

But…

Have you ever noticed the number of people who complain about prices dealers ask for?

Not just comments made in antique malls and flea markets, but the accusations made in comments left at blog posts and forums about collecting television shows?

People seem so outraged that pickers, auction buyers, dealers, pawn show owners, et al want to buy low in order to turn a profit. As if they would sit on a floor at a thrift shop, sorting through every single craft booklet, for several hours — on the chance they’ll find anything interesting. And, should they find something deemed worthy, take the gamble on the investment hoping for a return if and when another person finds it worthy of their own collection.

If these people who complain about the unfairness of pricing had ever put in such time and effort, well, they wouldn’t complain!

(And, of course, dealers also have overhead or costs of doing business. Whether it’s a physical shop or selling online, there are costs beyond the initial cost of the item.)

I know most of you reading here are collectors — and many of you are pickers and dealers too. So you get all this. But sometimes a girl just has to defend the realities of collecting, to vent a bit. Even if it is like preaching to the choir. *wink*

(Feel free to vent yourself by leaving a comment!)

Pawn Queens Becomes A Series

Via Entertainment Weekly, news that TLC has picked-up episodes of Pawn Queens.

Stating that the two episodes I reviewed, which aired back-to-back, was a “special,” TLC has committed to an eight-episode series order.

I’m excited to see Pawn Queens return to the air (but remain appalled by the sexist comments that continue to poor in about the show).

No word, yet, on TLC’s other antiques and collectibles special/show, What The Sell?!

American Pickers’ DVD Giveaway!

In celebration of Season Two, and all things American Pickers, we’ve been given two copies of American Pickers: The Complete Season 1 to giveaway!

American Pickers is the antiques and collectibles show on the History Channel, featuring childhood buddies turned business partners Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz who travel the country “picking,” hoping to find treasures among the trash.

And they don’t mind having a little fun — even at their own expense — as they do it.

Frank & Mike As Laurel & Hardy

But you fans already know this and just want to hear how you can win the DVD. Even those who haven’t yet seen the show want me to get on to the contest details. *wink*

How can you be one of the lucky winners?

It’s easy! Leave a comment here, telling us your favorite American Pickers moment, find or favorite thing about the show in general. Or, if you’ve not yet been able to see the show, tell us one of your favorite things about Inherited Values.

You can also get extra credit by entering in these additional ways — use them all, or take your “pick.”

* Blog about this giveaway, giving your answer (favorite thing about American Pickers &/or Inherited Values) and linking to this giveaway post. Then come back and leave the URL of your post as a comment.

* Follow Inherited Values on Twitter, @InheritedValues, and let us know by leaving a comment here, including your @twitter handle.

* Tweet about the contest simply by tweeting this:

Win @americanpicker DVDs from @InheritedValues Enter #giveaway here: http://tinyurl.com/663z933

You can Tweet twice a day.

* Follow or “like” Inherited Values at FaceBook.

* Follow or “like” American Pickers at FaceBook. (Be sure to leave a comment with your FaceBook ID so we can confirm your entry!)

Fine Print Rules:

This contest giveaway is open to those who reside in the US &/or Canada.

Since there are two DVDs, there will be two winners; one copy per winner.

Entries must be received/posted on or before February 2, 2011 (that would be midnight, central time, on February 1, 2011). Only entries as described above, will be included in the random draw.

Scene From Season Two Of American Pickers

Talk About Hot Legs!

I’d love to add this vintage Gotham Gold Stripe stockings matchbook (circa 1930s) to my meager matchbook and advertising collection — the little stocking-covered leg matches would be nice sitting next to my lipstick matches, right?

Vintage Gotham Gold Stripe matchbook photos via rcktmn714.

The Stuff Collectors Nightmares Are Made Of

Picture it… A vending machine filled with glassware, china, and porcelain figurines… You insert a coin, a piece of fragile china slowly moves forward — only to fall into the bottom of the machine, breaking.

Calm down — it’s only art!

A set of three interactive sculptural pieces by Yarisal and Kublitz. Called Passive/Aggressive Anger Release Machine, the artists claim that once you deposit the coin and shatter the breakable the experience leaves you “happy and relieved of anger.”

I doubt that it works for collectors of glassware, ceramics, pottery, etc.

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HGTV’s Cash & Cari

When I first heard about HGTV’s Cash and Cari, I got a little excited thinking this show might focus more on decorative collectibles, plus offer a splash of do-it-yourself (DIY) home decor creativity. While the show has all that potential, I really was disappointed.

Cash and Cari (Cari is not pronounced like “carry,” but like “car” with an “e” on the end, so it’s not quite the pun your eyes expect) follows the work of “estate sale guru” Cari Cucksey of Michigan’s RePurpose Estate Services.

If you like watching how to set up an estate or rummage sale, then maybe you’ll like this. However, for me, the show lost points when it dropped a standard part of the collectible shows format: the visit with the expert or in depth look at a few items. I realize this part of the show’s time was given to the DIY component — and that was something I was looking forward to; but in this particular episode this segment infuriated me.

In this debut episode, Cari purchases an older used bench for $40 and has a staff member give it “an impressive makeover.” The makeover consisted of repainting the bench, removing the older upholstered seat, and replacing it with new fabric — sewing a decorative throw pillow to match. However, the new “upholstery” job was terrible.

The fabric was staple-gunned in place and the staples hidden from view by hot-glue-gunning some sort of open-weave rick-rack lace over it. Use of a glue gun on the seat of a bench in place is anything but quality. (The dried glue will be lumpy, visible, and likely to peel away if the object has any use whatsoever ; it’s not appropriate for furniture or seating or anything besides the purely decorative.) Anything but quality and certainly not worth, in my opinion, the $300 they proposed to sell it for. Normally I don’t like to argue the price someone gets for something; different location alone can create marked price differentials. But this bench was really a shoddy DIY job and not fit for an audience of antiques and vintage collectibles fans.

Collectors of antiques are looking for quality.

Plus, the item was to be sold at “the shop,” and it kind of makes you wonder how the bench will be presented there… As an antique or vintage piece, or as a quickly made home decor piece? It’s the sort of thing an experienced collector wouldn’t be fooled by, but it’s also the sort of thing, like reproductions offered for sale, that most collectors want to know are properly represented so that no one feels tricked. No mention of this — after such a cheap makeover, weakens Cari’s credibility.

Yes, I watch a lott of the collectibles shows, and I did consider how potential “burn out” might be coloring my thoughts about Cash and Cari; but I don’t think that’s it (see my post about Oddities).

Where Cash and Cari suffers is a lack of focus on what makes the other shows great (personalities and drama of “cast,” information segments, &/or presentation of values of items) and a complete fumbling of the potentially fabulous DIY segment.

In trying to be kind, I wished HGTV had, as many of the other networks have, given us more than one episode to watch so that I could see if another episode could make me a fan… But then I realized HGTV thought this episode was strong enough to be the series lean-in and if that was their best foot forward, I don’t think I’ll watch another episode.

Collections In Old Shoeboxes

Shoebox

I just put an empty shoebox in my son’s room. Why? Because every kid should have empy shoeboxes to fill.

I remember as a kid all the services shoeboxes had.

Some held saved greeting cards, playing cards and jokers, and other bits of ephemera grown-ups needed not to see when they came to supervise room cleaning.

Other boxes held Barbie’s clothes — especially those I made out of hankies and safety pins and whatnot and so could not easily be stored on the hangers in her houses.

My little plastic horses didn’t have fancy play or storage sets, so shoeboxes took care of those needs.

And once I found the coolest blue metallic beetle-bug outside and I kept it in the shoebox under my bed, sorry mom & dad. (Don’t worry; he didn’t get out in the house. He died in there and that made me so sad that from then on I only played with such things on the screened-in sun porch… I bet you remember my inchworm “habitats” — and that each and every inchworm went back outside after I played with them. Lesson of the shoebox bug learned.)

My point is that each shoebox was like a treasure chest, full of a child’s idea of booty. Inside each cardboard container, secrets were kept, preserved, and most important of all — the prizes remained protected from the prying eyes of parents and siblings alike (any of which had their own motives for plundering).

Shoeboxes contained, preserved, and, because they were so innocuously portable, even displayed the tangible relics of our soles souls. Filling your father’s empty shoeboxes was like the antidote for “filling your father’s shoes.” Each box was all about you.

I’ll confess that I’ve saved one such shoebox collection of my own…

Childhood Shoebox Collection

It’s not the actual same shoebox I used as a child.  But as I down-sized the boxes through the years, these are the bits and bobs I saved… My old playing card jokers;  two of my most beloved plastic toy horses , Sugar and Flame; Sugar’s saddle and hitching post; a small horse head I made in art class; and a few other assorted pieces of ephemera.  And when I found myself with such a little bit to save, I grabbed the nearest shoebox and I knew my childhood pieces had found their home. (I swear Flame and Sugar whinnied in appreciation!)

My adult self knows that cardboard boxes aren’t the best long term storage solution options for most things aged and fragile, especially paper. But the amazing thing about shoeboxes is their ability to hold, preserve and maintain the memories and all the joyful magic of childhood inside them — no matter how many years pass.

I strongly encourage you to save your shoeboxes. Give them to the children in your lives. And, if you have not already done so, be sure to save a few for yourself.

Make a time capsule of your childhood, start a new secret collection, recapture the joy of collecting in a shoebox.

Discover(y) The Oddities

You might just think I’d be tired of watching and reviewing all these antique and collectible TV shows — so tired of them, in fact, that I’d be dreading yet one more. But if that’s what you were thinking, you’d be wrong; Discovery Channel’s Oddities has become a favorite “can’t miss” in terms of my television viewing.

On Oddities, we watch the on-goings of the owners (Evan Michelson and Mike Zohn) and staff (Ryan Matthew and Ersan, intern aka The Cerd) of Obscura Antiques and Oddities, a shop located on New York City’s East Village, dedicated to “the weird world of strange and extraordinary science artifacts.” Here you’ll find the more eclectic and shall we say less mainstream antiques and collectibles, such as antique medical devices, anatomical art, sideshow relic taxidermy.

Some of my personal highlights:

An ancient Egyptian mummy hand — which is notable alone for the one time in one of these shows I’ve seen the expert put on gloves. Plus, we hear from that museum professional that his coworker actually has a taste test for authenticating mummies; too bad she wasn’t around that day. But even if it is authentic, is it legal to sell? …Oh, now that’s another interesting turn.

Rachel Betty Case brought her “human ivory” artwork — made from human fingernails (well, and toenails, and pet nail clippings); which I found fascinatingly beautiful.

A guy who wants a bug to scare his wife with; another man who wants the perfect creepy dental gift for his retiring dentist friend.

I’m not sure I even want a two-headed cow or four-footed chicken taxidermy piece… But if I did, I now know better how to tell if such a thing is due to an animal with an authentic genetic defect and not some fake.

And Laura Flook, embalmer turned model come fashion designer. Yup, you read that right. Flook is at Obscura looking for a mortuary table for her fashion shoots. As Ryan says, “One interesting thing about Laura is her devotion to art whether it’s a mortician, model or a clothing designer.” So devoted, yet this designer of clothing inspired by Victorian-era mourning wear is dreamily flabbergasted when she returns to Obscura in another episode to discover corsets. Admittedly, one of the medical corsets is not the normal corsetry that springs to mind; but she buys one that I’ve got in my own collection. This Flook is fascinating to me… The way she talks, everything. I hope she returns in future episodes.

Along the way there are also various circus performers (sword swallower, escape artist, etc.), theatre folk (an unusual playwright, a performer who uses blood to increase the drama), and some more mainstream celebrities (not unusual given the name dropping at the Discovery Channel’s site).

Oh, and yeah, there are the collectibles too. From horrifying medical implements to medical quackery devices, from odd little vintage toys and masks to coffins (cradle to grave, I tell you!), and other assorted (or is that a-sordid?) pieces of history.

Another great feature of this show is it’s ability to leave the shop.  It’s because of that we not only see the great lengths the staff goes to in order to procure an object for a collector, but we see the fabulously odd collections of others.  That’s something missing from most of these shows.

But with this Oddities, you definitely come for the surprises. Even if you come for the antiques and collectibles, you’ll find your intrigued by a lot more; and that’s a surprise too, right?

Because the items themselves are more dramatic, the majority of clientele themselves more interesting, there’s no need for the cast to be fraught with personality dramas, or for the show to bilk the monetary value. (Honestly, this is one area where the prices seem too low to me; the items are that, well, obscure!) So while this is part of the same genre of collectibles programming, it’s not quite the same trite formula. And it’s done absolutely right.

Oddities can be seen on Thursdays at 10:30 p.m. E/P on the Discovery Channel and also on its sister channel, the Science Channel, Wednesdays at 9 & 9:30 PM E/P. Join me in watching it — at least once!

The Mentor Magazine

The Mentor magazine is an obscure vintage magazine for several reasons: The creator’s intentions, its various incarnations, and rather shoddy historical record (it is not listed in the National Union Catalogue of Periodicals).

The publication begins with William David Moffat. Moffat attended Princeton; while in school he has several works published, mostly sports stories for boys under the name William D. Moffat. Upon his graduation in 1884, he went to work for Scribner’s where he’d stay for two decades, working his way up from sales, to the education department and finally the business manager for The Book Buyer and Scribner’s Magazine. In 1905 he leaves Scribner to form his own publishing house, Moffat, Yard & Company, with fellow Princeton alum Robert S. Yard. By June of 1912, Yard was no longer active in the company, and Moffat, Yard & Co. announced it was moving in to share the offices of another publishing house, John Lane Company. While this was said not to be a true merger, but rather a shared management and expenses sort of a thing, it is at this time that Moffat begins The Mentor Association.

The Mentor Association is rather like Moffat’s attempt at a think tank. He gathers men who were specialists in their area and, with himself as editor, they proceed to share their information in a publication so that persons might “learn one thing every day.” This publication was The Mentor. Here’s how the association and publication were described (taken from The Mentor, Volume I, Number 38, November 3, 1913):

The purpose of The Mentor Association is to give people, in an interesting and attractive way, the information in various fields of knowledge that they all want and ought to have. The information is imparted by interesting reading matter, prepared under the direction of leading authors, and by beautiful pictures, produced by the most highly perfected modern processes.

The object of The Mentor Association is to enable people to acquire useful knowledge without effort, so that they may come easily and agreeably to know the world s great men and women, the great achievements, and the permanently interesting things in art, literature, science, history, nature and travel.

…We want The Mentor to be regarded as a companion. It has often been said that books are friends. We give you in The Mentor the good things out of many books, and in a form that is easy to read and that taxes you little for time. A library is a valuable thing to have if you know how to use it. But there are not many people who know how to use a library. If you are one of those who don t know, it would certainly be worth your while to have a friend who could take from a large library just what you want to know and give it to you in a pleasant way. The Mentor can be such a friend to you.

And since the word “library” has been used, let us follow that just a bit further. The Mentor may well become yourself in library form. Does that statement seem odd? Then let us put it this way: The Mentor is a cumulative library for you, each day, each week a library that grows and develops as you grow and develop a library that has in it just the things that you want to know and ought to know and nothing else. Day by day and week by week you add with each number of The Mentor something to your mental growth. You add it as you add to your stature by healthy development; and the knowledge that you acquire in this natural, agreeable way becomes a permanent possession. You gather weekly what you want to know, and you have it in an attractive, convenient form. It be comes thus, in every sense, your library, containing the varied things that you know. And you have its information and its beautiful pictures always ready to hand to refer to and to refresh your mind.

So in time your assembled numbers of The Mentor will represent in printed and pictorial form the fullness of your own knowledge.

It is also in this issue, that The Mentor gets a new look:

We have chosen this cover after a number of experiments. It has not been an easy matter to settle. The Mentor, as we have stated more than once, is not simply a magazine. It does not call for the usual magazine cover treatment. What we have always wanted and have always sought for from the beginning has been a cover that would express, in the features of its design, the quality of the publication. In the endeavor to make clear by dignified design the educational value and importance of The Mentor, the tendency would be to lead on to academic severity and that we desire least of all. On the other hand, it would be manifestly inappropriate to wear a coat of many colors. The position of The Mentor in the field of publication is peculiar its interest unique. How best could its character be expressed in decorative design?

We believe that Mr. Edwards has given us in the present cover a fitting expression of the character of The Mentor. It is unusual in its lines that is, for a periodical. It has the quality of a fine book cover design at least so we think. It will, we believe, invite readers of taste and intelligence to look inside The Mentor, and as experience has taught us, an introduction
to The Mentor usually leads on to continued acquaintance.

Originally The Mentor was a weekly, published by the Associated Newspaper School, Inc. (New York City) and hardly more than a pamphlet or folio; a dozen or so pages with “exquisite intaglio gravures” loose inside. (The fact that these images were not bound in the publication means issues are often found incomplete.) Each slim issue was on a specific theme and there were tie-ins with newspapers, adding to The Mentor‘s educational publication feel.

From a practical standpoint, the narrow focus of each theme likely complicated or limited the periodical’s circulation numbers. It’s one thing to say your publication is “an institution of learning established for the development of a popular interest in art, literature, science, history, nature, and travel,” but with such issue-specific themes, readers may have done what collectors who spot copies do today: Pending the theme, either fell in love or turned up their noses and eschewed the entire publication.

(Most collectors seem to covet The Mentor on an issue by issue basis; seeking out the single issue the theme of which suits their collecting interest, or coveting the January 1929 issue on Famous Collectors & Collecting.)

Perhaps this is why in its second year, The Mentor ceases weekly publication and lowers costs by being published only twice a month.(Subscription fees change from $5 to $3 a year.) It still retains the single theme per issue, but perhaps the frequency of publication change is also seen as a better way to market itself. It is also at this time that the publisher is changed from Associated Newspaper School to The Mentor Association.

By mid-1919 wartime inflation would forced the price of subscriptions to The Mentor to increase to $4 per year — but bigger changes were coming.

It was during this time that The Mentor becomes a monthly and introduces more color on the covers.

In the October 1920 issue, the magazine increased the number of pages to 40 and, finally, the six gravure pictures were bound into the center of the magazine, becoming numbered pages in each issue. It is also at this time that The Mentor softens its strict each-issue-devoted-to-a-theme stance, allowing the last five pages of each issue to free of the main topic.

In 1921, The Mentor is purchased by Crowell Publishing Co. with W. D. Moffat remaining on as editor. There are no noted changes until the August 1922 issue’s page size increase. (By the April 1927 issue, the page size of The Mentor would grow to the same size as that time’s Atlantic Monthly.)

In 1929, the 63 year old Moffat is ready to retire as editor of The Mentor. It is in this news bit from Time magazine (August 19, 1929) announcing the change, that we get more insight into the Moffat’s intentions and legacy:

Editor Moffat never aimed at mass-circulation. Even when mass-circularizing Crowell Publishing Co. (American Magazine, Colliers, Woman’s Home Companion) bought The Mentor in 1920, it did not commercialize original Mentor ideals, but retained Editor Moffat, continued to please the 50,000, the 70,000, finally the 100,000 who liked The Mentor for what it was.

And now is when the magazine changes significantly; as reported in that same Time article:

Starting with the next (September) issue, The Mentor will no longer have a theme-subject. Instead there will be articles on many a different topic, by such authors as Walter Davenport, W. E. Woodward, Margaret Widdemer, Will Durant. There will be seven four-color pages in place of rotogravure; a cover in the “modern manner”; a history of tennis by William Tatem Tilden, 2nd; a history of dog fashions by Albert Payson Terhune.

To make The Mentor youthful, Crowell Publishing Co. has put a youthful man in the editorship, Hugh Anthony Leamy, just past 30, round-faced, amiable, onetime New York Sun reporter, for the last three years an associate editor of Collier’s. About The Mentor, what its plans are, he will talk with hopeful enthusiasm. About new Editor Leamy he is reticent. “I’m still an untried man at this job,” he explains. “But The Mentor? Well, you know, we thought it best to go through with a big change all at once to keep it up with the changing times. . . . You might call the new Mentor a nonfiction, up-to-date magazine for people who want to learn about various matters, but who want to be amused at the same time—not bored.”

Now The Mentor is printed in the style of that period’s Vanity Fair; from the slick paper and illustrative appearance to the “modern” and “amusing” content, including fiction.

But the dumbing-down and dressing-up didn’t help circulation any; as Time reported in April 21, 1930:

Crowell Publishing Co. employes found an announcement on their bulletin board one morning last week, which read: “The Company has sold The Mentor to the World Traveler Magazine Corp. — George R. Martin, publisher.† They will assume the publishing of The Mentor, beginning with the June 1930 issue. We have become convinced that The Mentor will have a much better opportunity if handled by a publisher equipped to take care of the smaller units. Here we are fully and thoroughly geared up to handle large units and it has become difficult to give The Mentor the necessary small unit attention. We feel that Mr. Martin and his organization are equipped to continue The Mentor successfully.”

…Although the magazine’s circulation reached 85,000, it became apparent that it would never pull in harness with its whopping big Crowell team-mates—Woman’s Home Companion, Collier’s, The Country Home (onetime Farm & Fireside), The American Magazine — whose combined circulation is over 8,500,000.

To World Traveler, the Mentor went lock, stock & barrel—with the exception of Editor Leamy.

…Publisher Martin contemplates fusing his old magazine with his new, placing the amalgam under the direction of World Traveler’s Editor Charles P. Norcross, now junketing in the Orient. Because World Traveler has about one-fourth of its stablemate’s distribution, and because when two magazines combine one inevitably swallows the other, publishers guessed that the ever-mutating Mentor would be the one to endure.

† Not to be confused with George Martin, one-time (1918—29) editor of Crowell’s Farm & Fireside.

The publications were combined as The Mentor — World Traveller and given a new look, the pages enlarged to slightly larger than the size of Life magazine. But contrary to what the publishers in that 1930 Time magazine article said, The Mentor doesn’t seem to be the one to have endured. Nor did the The Mentor — World Traveller.

According to Paul W. Healy in The Ecphorizer:

As an indication that the end was not far off, the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature stopped indexing the magazine in December 1930. My last issue is January 1931; I have reason to believe it was the last published.

If you have anything to add to The Mentor story, please let us know!

Image Credits:

First issue of The Mentor magazine (Volume 1, Number 1, February 17, 1913) with six gravures via 2010lilbolharsky.

Photo of set of three vintage Mentor issues and April 1930 cover via mom-and-me-1971.

A Pair Of Rare Vintage Republican Pinback Buttons

As a (small) dealer at Antiques On Broadway, I have the opportunity to see items as they come in or are waiting to be priced; that’s how I came to discover these funky vintage political pinback buttons.

(I apologize for the poor quality of the photos; I snapped them quickly with my cell.)

The first vintage pin caught my eye with its  simple line drawing of a presumably Republican elephant on a brown background.

I gather the “Trunks up!” phrase is some sort of rally cry.

Elephants with the trunks turned up are supposed to be good luck, as opposed to elephants with the trunks pointing down; many collectors of elephants (figurines, etc.; not the actual animals!) will only collect them with the trunks up. However, I’ve met other collectors who dare to do the opposite. And many collectors who don’t care one way or another.

The second vintage pinback button was far less iconic in its simplicity — but far more intriguing…

A white flower shape on a blue background with “Organized Housewives For Forsythe” printed in the same shade of blue. It begged me to do a little research. (Oh how I love such invitations!)

While I did learn a lot more about political women’s organizations and housewives and social issues in general, the Organized Housewives For Forsythe was a needle in a rich historical haystack.

The only concrete thing I could find was this political advertisement, published in the Austin Daily Herald on November 1, 1966:

In 1966 Walter Mondale would defeat Republican candidate Robert A. Forsythe and retain his Minnesota Senate seat — but it wasn’t with the help of the Organized Housewives.

If you know more about this group, or these pinbacks, please share by leaving a comment.

Lessons In Cold Paint From The Pirate Duck

I purchased this vintage wall pocket awhile ago simply for it’s whimsy; what’s not to love about a pirate duck?


It simply has to ‘quack’ you up — or you’ll be forced to walk the plank, arr!

It’s a vintage ceramic piece, made in Japan, rather nicely painted under the glaze with additional spots of cold paint on the bow and hat.

“Cold paint” refers to paint which has been applied after the pottery piece has been both glazed and fired. Because this painting is done after firing and is not fired (heated) itself it is called “cold paint,” “cold painted,” or “cold painting.” And because cold painting was done to save money, the results were not only less expensive but cheap in terms of quality: Paint applied over a glaze easily slides or washes off.

However, as this was such a common manufacturing method, most collectors expect such wear and are more accepting of such missing paint than they are of chips, quacks cracks — or puns.

In fact, while vintage cold painted ceramic and pottery pieces with the majority or all of the paint intact will sell for much higher prices, if the cold paint looks too good to be true, it could be a sign that the piece may be a repro (reproduction) and not vintage at all.

So the missing paint on this little vintage ducky wallpocket may just be the proof that it is great pirate booty. *wink*

…Now if someone could just tell me what the heck I’m supposed to put in a wallpocket — that won’t risk damages to the china.

UPDATE: Give the down-sized space issues while we restore the old house, I’ve listed this cute duckling pirate for sale at Etsy.

Vintage Beauty & Cosmetic Tips Explain Vanity Collectible Conditions

More things for collectors to learn from that 1940’s Hint Hunt booklet — this time the tips could explain some condition issues you find with vintage vanity collectibles.  These vintage beauty and cosmetic tips explain why you might just spot pinholes in powder boxes and find beads in perfume bottles.

For me, such pin pricks and beads are the tangible evidence of the intimacy of these old items… Clues to the connections between decades, even centuries, of women who desire both beauty and practicality.

Antiques & Collectibles Shows On TLC, Maybe

The Learning Channel (TLC) dips its programming toes in the antiques and collectibles TV show waters — very tentatively.

The first try was Pawn Queens, a show not listed anywhere on the TLC website.

Pawn Queens follows the activities of Tom Brunzelle, Greg Holloway, Nikki Ruehl, and Minda Grabiec as they run the Naperville, Illinois, Jewelry & Loan. Since the pawn and resale shop tries to attract mainly female customers, the focus of the show is Nikki Ruehl and Minda Grabiec.

The first two trial episodes focused on the blunders of their business — a misplaced $9,000 diamond ring, not enough cash on hand to purchase a vintage Barbie, and, my favorite, when two of the partners clash over the purchase of an antique stove which needs a lot of restoration. (What made it my favorite was that Tom and Minda bicker like an old married couple; Tom’s purchase and beautiful professional restoration “wins” in terms of eventually satisfying Minda, but we never do see the stove sell so…)

At TV By The Numbers, where the press release for the show was published, there are many negative comments. Most of the comments are, in my opinion, extremely sexist. Not just the obvious comments on breasts, but the comparisons to Pawn Stars (of which I am a fan) are clearly filled with heated testosterone.

Even the more serious complaints at other sites of improper use of diamond testers and jewelers loupes are rather ridiculous — this is television! When have you ever seen any cast member or expert on any of the plethora of antiques and collectibles shows even put on a pair of archival gloves when handling fragile old documents? Grrr!

And, yeah, I think they (eventually) did over-pay for the Barbie; but then I don’t sell in the Illinois market.  I’m always rather struck by prices on these shows from California and Las Vegas which suggest prices we dealers can’t fathom here in Fargo — but that, long with the mistakes made and rare finds, are rather part of why I’m entertained and, somewhat, educated by these collectibles shows.

I saw the first two episodes of Pawn Queens and rather liked them; but after frantically searching for more, I couldn’t find any… The show isn’t listed at the production company’ website either, so I suspect it has been canceled.

However, in searching the channel guide so often, I found TLC’s second try, What The Sell?!

What The Sell?! isn’t only TLC’s return to antiques and collectibles television — it’s another return to Illinois and, for the jaded, a return to the reality show Pawn Stars format of three generations running a business.

In this show, the action is focused on Kate Martin (the daughter), Judy Martin (Kate’s mother), and Gloria Moroni (Kate’s grandmother), the owners and appraisers of The Perfect Thing, an upscale consignment boutique in Wheaton, IL. That means more antiques, art, and decorative pieces than in many of the other shows which seem so male focused.

As you might guess, there are the usual family frictions, such as when Daughter doesn’t listen to Mom when having a chair reupholstered, and the usual dickering — including among the ladies for who has the right to purchase and take home a favored item. And lots of giggling when Grandma is the only one mature enough to discuss the 1920s tin of condoms found inside a Flapper’s purse.

I’ve only seen one and a half episodes of this new(ish) show, but it holds some interest.

What The Sell?! barely has a mark on the TLC website; just a few episodes listed on the schedule — which is more than Pawn Queens has, but still, that’s not too promising…

My only real comment is that TLC ought to commit to antiques and collectibles programming, give us a chance to find new shows — especially in a busy holiday season.

Ephemera Collector Saves Baby & Bathwater From Being Tossed Out

Ephemera collector Dick Sheaff shares this 1875 carte de visite (CDV) photograph by William Shaw Warren of Boston which seems to be the source for The Pond’s Extract Company’s trade card advertising.