Believe it or not, they were free promotional give away drinking glasses. I’d heard that, but until I found this vintage matchbook, I was still suspicious of the legend.
This vintage matchbook featuring Gil Elvgren’s “Sports Model” pinup on the cover was from Trackside Super Gasoline (2004 Calumet Dr., Sheboygan, Wisconsin). At the bottom “free glassware” is mentioned, and when you open the empty matchbook completely, you see Trackside continues the promotion: “This cover is but one of a series of the famous Elvgren Girls. Bring in a set of all five covers — the five different girls, and receive a set of 5 beautiful Glasses absolutely free.”
Not dated per se; but inside the matchbook it reads “This Offer Expired Jan. 1, 1943.”
This gas station also said they saved you two cents per gallon — savings, free girlie matchbooks, and free pinup drinking glasses?! Today, do we get any of that? No. …With today’s gas prices, we ought to get a free date with a pin up model! lol
Have you ever watched one of the antiques and collectibles shows, or history shows, and screamed, “Put on your gloves!” Not the work gloves worn when picking (though we’ve gone that too lol), but the archival gloves worn to protect objects from skin oils etc.? Hubby and I do, so we were thrilled to see one of our favorite shows, PBS’s History Detectives, address this issue in a recent (but recorded) episode.
The clip is below; but please watch all of it, because it’s sort of telling the story a bit backwards, saying “they respect the rules of the institutions and organizations they are at,” before explaining why some preservationists do not want gloves or other precautions taken…
It drives me nuts when appraisers, auctioneers et al. dismiss books (along with magazines and ephemera) as having “little no value” — unless, of course, they are ultra rare first printings of first editions, signed works, manuscripts and journals from historic persons or covering historic events, contain original art, etc. I mean, a-duh! These things are not so much valued for the works themselves, but really are coveted and collected for other reasons; i.e. a signed Hemingway book is collected for the signature, not-so-much the book itself. So at best, I call those works cross-collectibles which benefit from higher prices due to a competitive audience across collecting genres — especially from those non-book collectors.
The sad fact is, the experts are right. Most books, magazines and ephemera have little monetary value because fewer people are collecting them, keeping the prices (the value that matters to most decision makers of popularity) low. This is why you rarely see these items on the collecting shows. *sigh*
The fine folks at Heritage give an auction estimate of $1. One friggin’ dollar! Oh, and a neatly tacked on “- up”, which I presume to mean “and up.” (Though, the “- up” also means the mandatory Buyer’s Premium, 19.5% of the successful bid with minimum $14 per lot.)
It’s not that Heritage Auctions is wrong in their estimate (or their buyer’s premium; it’s their business and someone should get paid for posting info online so people like me can rant). The auction closes in a couple of days and the antique work is still at $1.
But here’s the kicker.
I’ve actually sold a few copies of this book. It pained me to do so each time. Not only because it’s hard for me to let go of things, but because they sold for like $29 to $45 — something I thought rather an insult for such an old, richly illustrated book. I consoled myself then that eBay wasn’t where the really big book collectors and history lovers were; that bigger legitimate auction houses would reach a wider audience, fetch more appropriate — bigger — bids for such books. But if Heritage can’t do it…
I should clarify a few things. For both my peace of mind and accuracy.
I sold my copies of this book (in the exact blue cloth boards with photo inset) on eBay nearly a decade ago; the prices on eBay haven’t changed much though — if the book actually sells, it’s at a higher price than the one at Heritage. (So if you’re interested… *wink*) And I sold copies I found because then, as now, I sell so that a person just longing for that item can have it, rather than it being less loved and sitting on my shelf. At least there I succeeded.
If there’s a moral to this little story, it’s this: Books, magazines, etc. don’t have the monetary value they ought to; but that means those of us with less money can afford to collect and enjoy them. And, collectors shouldn’t make assumptions that “the big auction houses have higher auction prices.” Even with the buyer’s premium, the antique Roosevelt hunting in Africa book is 50% cheaper than on eBay. So whether you’re new to collecting or an old hand at it, include the big auction sites in your hunting and see what killer deals you can make.
The Associate Producer for the new TLC series My Collection Obsession (How did I miss this show?! Oh, it aired as a “special.”) contacted us about casting for the first season.
We are currently casting for our first season, and are on the hunt for serious and dedicated collectors that would like to showcase and their prized collections and share their passionate pursuits for the next great piece.
I am reaching out to see if you know of collectors that may be interested in participating in our show, and if there was anyway we could post a casting call through your site.
“Yup.” And, “yup.” *wink*
Below is the official casting call. If you do contact them with hopes of getting on the TV show, please do Inherited Values a favor, and let them know you spotted the call here, thanks!
TLC and the producers of “My Collection Obsession” are currently looking for serious and dedicated collectors of all kinds.
Marilyn With Doll Collection On TLC's My Collection Obsession
Is collecting a part of your daily life?
Are parts of your collection in every room of your house?
Do you have unique and special objects that you are extremely proud of?
Requirements:
* Collectors must reside within the united states & U.S. Territories/Canada.
* Your collection must either be truly grand in scale, extremely unique or rare, or have an amazing back story.
* Collecting must be part of your lifestyle, not just a small side hobby.
If interested, please send a description of what you collect, and why and how you do so to mycollectionobsession@gmail.com If available, please also include any photos, articles, or videos that will help us assess the extent of your collection. All submissions will be kept for internal use only.
The New Vintage Reviews carnival, edition number eight, has been published. Even though I started the blog carnival, it’s been ages since I ran an edition; but I’m starting it up again — and the next edition will be posted here at Inherited Values on or around October 20 (2011).
Check it out — and submit your reviews (or reviews you liked) of vintage books, films, games, records, etc. here by October 15th to be considered in the next issue of New Vintage Reviews!
The Guide is a no-nonsense book on the basics of the Pickers’ business model. As shown on the show, Mike and Frank are antique and collectibles middle-men who try and find sources, usually collectors and original owners, to buy from in order to resell to antique dealers and collectors. Aside from their dense Rolodex of existing sellers, the pair cold-call potential customers and mine other interesting ‘honey-holes’ for their wares. After decades in the business, the Pickers have their business down to a science and this book breaks it down into its simplest components. Picking is a specific facet of the antique and collectibles industry, and Guide to Picking does a good job of making the differences clear. A picker is like a gold miner rather than a coin dealer; picking gets down and dirty with the abandoned or forgotten collectibles.
Although the book is full of anecdotes, it uses them as part of the teaching process. It is fun to hear stories about Mike and Frank’s adventures, but the book sticks to business throughout. I particularly like that anecdotes from the show assume you’ve seen the show, rather than repeating the entire story in the book. From finding sources, to making the deal, to turning a profit by selling to a customer, the Guide gives tips and tricks for making the deals go as smoothly as possible. It doesn’t promise making millionaires, though; they’re clear about the amount of work it takes and the amount of risk involved, so it may, possibly for the better, scare off people hoping for easy money. The book comes right from the mouths of people doing the work every day, which makes it feel more trusted than a more traditional antique dealer guide.
The most approachable aspect of the book is that conversational tone, but this also contributes to the weakest part of the Guide. As i mentioned above, the book cover credits four writers, and the acknowledgments thank several other contributors for their part. Having a lot of cooks in the kitchen makes the Guide difficult to follow at some points, because the conversational tone uses a lot of “I” and “me” without being clear about who’s doing the speaking at the time. This difficulty becomes more manageable once the reader gets a little ways into the book, so once that hump is over the Guide feels like sitting in a southern-Minnesota Perkins restaurant, eating a piece of the pie of the day and shooting the shit with two dusty guys who just got done climbing in the rafters of a slowly disintegrating barn.
Every antique dealer has their own business philosophy, a fact that the Guide addresses multiple times, but I have to say that the American Pickers Guide to Picking has a pretty firm grasp on the uncertainty and fluidity of antiques and collectibles dealing. Much of the time, the book doesn’t just have the One Right Way to do things; each chapter covers a variety of options, based on benefits and drawbacks, to put in a toolbox of skills for making a go of the picking industry. The last chapter, too, covers the future of picking — and the entire industry of collecting, by extension — by acknowledging the huge impact of the ever-changing internet and how the collectors of the future are the kids of today.
At a little over 200 pages, the Guide to Picking is an easy read, but it crams a lot of information into those pages. A lot may feel old-hat to other antique dealers, but the personal voice makes it a fun read, in line with the tone of the show, and there might be something still to be learned hidden in the pages. American Pickers Guide to Picking is a fun how-to book, full of tips and tales of the picking world, ready to make a picker out of anyone willing to pull on the gloves and get a little dirty.
American Pickers Guide to Picking
By Libby Callaway, with Mike Wolfe, Frank Fritz, and Danielle Colby
ISBN 978-1401324483
Approx 206 pages, 6″x9″ hardcover
Hyperion, 2011
Around here, in the frozen tundra of Fargo, North Dakota, the Labor Day holiday weekend signals the end of summer, cook-outs on the grill — and the flea market season. Sure, there are a few stragglers… The odd garage sale sign posted every now and then, the rare nice afternoon to still barbecue on the grill… But the major collectibles hunting (and food preparation) is now limited to indoor places.
As a Wisconsin native, I miss the nicer weather which extends the antiques and collectibles hunting season. And I know, those of you much further south have no real seasonal limits — how I envy that! I’m looking forward to the day I can travel to extend my hunting, so won’t you help me out?
Post in the comments where you live and when the antiquing season ends (or, if it doesn’t end, when it slows or what seasonal or weather changes bring) and I’ll enter you in a chance to win this vintage grilling cookbook: the Big Boy Barbecue Book, by the Home Economics Staff of Tested Recipe Institute, Inc, with the cooperation of the barbecue experts of Big Boy Manufacturing Co. and the Kinsgford Chemical Co., copyright 1956.
Additional Ways To Enter:
* Follow Inherited Values on Twitter:@InheritedValues. (Please leave your Twitter username in your comment so I can check.)
and/or
* Tweet the following:
I’m talking about the flea market season, antiques & vintage collectibles @InheritedValues — There’s a giveaway too!
(Remember to come back here and leave a comment with your tweet for me to verify.)
* Post about this contest at your blog or website — if you do this you must include in your post to this contest post or Inherited Values in general. (Please include the link to your blog post in the comments section so that I can find your post.)
You can do any or all of these, but remember, the only one you can do daily is Tweet. Thanks!
Here’s the giveaway fine print:
* Giveaway is open to US residents only
* Contest ends September 16, 2011; entries must be made on or before midnight, central time, September 15, 2011. Winner will be announced/contacted on September 17, 2011. Winner has 48 hours to respond; otherwise, I’ll draw another name.
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.
“Life’s more fun if you tilt things now and then. ” – Elizabeth Spatz
I had an online friend, Laura (which is also my own name), who loved floaty pens. Like so many people you meet online in chats, forums and various other virtual places, I lost track of her after the group fell apart/ faded away. Without turning this post into a tell all true confessions thing, I will say that I really liked Laura but (at the time) I was shocked to find out she was having an affair with one of the married men in the group. She was also married. I’ve become a little jaded or seasoned since those early days, back when we talked on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) and used mIRC.
Anyway, Laura had begun to create a site for her floaty pen collection. She shared the link with me. But, that was probably ten years ago. I don’t have the link and so far I don’t think I’ve found it. Many of the personal collection floaty pen sites I’ve found are pretty neglected/ forgotten. Not all, some are as active as this year, pretty good for a small niche hobby page/ site.
I do have a couple of floaty pens buried away in the stuff I haven’t unpacked. I have been something of a vagabond, moving every 5 to ten years. Unpacking wears thin. One of my floaty pens came from my Grandmother’s trip to London, UK. Another I had bought myself with my allowance money on a family trip to Niagara Falls, Ontario. A third pen is from the CN Tower here in Toronto, another family trip though we had arrived on a foggy day and never did go up to the observation deck to try looking for our house.
There is a recent pen, pink for breast cancer awareness. It’s not as fun as watching London bridge rise and fall or the elevator go up and down the length of the CN Tower but it is pretty in pink, with the pink ribbon floating along a line of women standing together. I bought it at Zellers, when I was still working there as a cashier.
History of Floaty Pens
In the 1950s, Esso (now Exxon Mobil) approached Peder Eskesen, a one-time baker and the owner of a small acrylic factory in Denmark. Eskesen had been working on a pen that contained mineral oil, and Esso wanted to have an original ballpoint pen made with a small oil drum floating in oil. Buoyed by this first floating success, in the decades that followed Eskesen produced numerous corporate and tourist souvenir floaty pens. A later standout invention was the famous (or infamous) tip ‘n strip pen. Long a staple of dorm rooms and source for teenage snickering, these x-rated pens featured scantily clad female or male strippers whose black-colored underwear vanish completely with a simple tip of the pen. Of course, the mechanism behind these conceal & reveal pens have also been put to good use with other, less controversial corporate messages.
Over 63 Years of Float Pen History
Typical Danish-made Eskesen floating pens create a detailed miniature scene inside the confines of a 16×80 millimeter translucent tube, and inside the tube, some object (a plane, a car, etc.) always floats by. The liquid inside the pen is not water but rather mineral oil, which allows the floating objects to float smoothly and slowly across the scene.
Eskesen was not the first company to attempt floating pens. Other styles had been created over the years. But inventors had been plagued by the problem of leaking mineral oil. In 1946, Peder Eskesen, a Danish baker, developed a method of effectively sealing the oil-filled tubes, launching him quickly in front of his competitors. Eskesen has continued on to become the leader in float pen technology, and the company’s sealing process is still a carefully-guarded secret.
Early Eskesen pens often held 3-dimensional floating objects, such as the mermaid pen (below). There were many mechanical pencils made, and many of the parts were metal. In the 1960’s, however, it became difficult to find workers willing to hand paint the 3-D floating objects, and the metal parts became too expensive to be profitable.
Eskesen’s first pen order was for Esso (now Exxon) and contained a bobbing oil drum. Soon the company was marketing the pens worldwide.
I’d never seen anything like them before, so here’s what the seller, dahntahntoys, has to say about them:
54 mm solidcast women’s Suffragette Band by Charles Hall, bought in 1970s at the MFCA show. Eight pieces in mint condition. See photos. Colorful Victorian era female musicians and placard carriers for Women’s Right to Vote.
That still didn’t tell me very much, so I began to research Charles Hall.
Information is disappointingly scant. Charles Hall is said to have been a former police officer in Glasgow, Scotland who started his scale miniature toy production with some Scottish regiments figures about the mid 1970s. Eventually, he produced up to 350 different figures.
During the 1970’s when Britains where not producing metal band figures;three prolific makers emerged in the English speaking world. They all made complete lines from their own masters and moulds. …The least know was a Scottish maker who named his line after himself CHARLES HALL.
Charles produced two areas of personal interest to himself from 1975 t0 1985 which were German Bands and Salvation Army Bands. In the early 1990’s Hank Anton of the USA bought Halls moulds but never produced very many sets from the line.
Along with the suffragettes, there are Dixieland jazz bands (and other bands with black musicians) and the largest variety of Salvation Army figures ever issued.
But Hall also seems to have specialized in miniature scale versions of many civilian figures, including fictional characters, figures such as Scotland Yard’s finest, Laurel & Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, Hitler, Dracula, the beautifully odd Burke and Hare (Edinburgh’s most infamous grave robbers), and others… Including, perhaps, the most interesting miniature collectible toy pieces: Hitler and oddball Nazi caricatures.
I’d love to hear from collectors or anyone who knows more about Charles Hall and his wonderful scale miniatures!
Image credits: Charles Hall suffragette band photos via dahntahntoys; Charles Hall of Scotland figures, “listed as Camerons,they look to be Gordons,” via Treefrog Treasures Toy Soldier Forums; Dixieland band set of figures by Charles Hall via Bill The Bandman; Holmes & Watson by Charles Hall, via James H Hillestad’s article on Sherlock Holmes; Charles Hall Edinburgh Scotland “Burke and Hare the Body Snatchers” with Coffin and Corpse, circa 1985, via Live Auctioneers; Adolph Hitler (black overcoat at salute, 1978), S-Trooper Hitler caricature (on a spotted mule) and a caricature of a pregnant Irma Griese (1979), via Bill The Bandman.
Until I spotted this vintage image of a girl doing the twist, I’d never really paid much attention to “Lenticulars” — partly because I didn’t know they even had a name. (We just called them “those plastic image things that wink or move when you tilt them.”)
This particular Vari-Vue Lenticular was available for free at Lista (see my review of Listia) and I’m bummed that I missed it — especially as it only cost 202 credits!
VARI-VUE Lenticular (wiggle) picture. 1957-1958 according to the patent number. Shows 1950’s fashioned black-haired girl dancing the twist. Man can she wiggle! Two smaller dancers also dance in the background. There are 3 small age spots that do not detract much at all. The back side has the wording:
VARI-VUE (R) PAT. NO 2,815,310
Mount Vernon N.Y.-MADE IN U.S.A.
So as not to miss out again, I decided to search more — and arm myself with some knowledge…
Vari-Vue invented modern lenticular technology, starting with a patent in 1936 which led to the formal incorporation of the Vari-Vue company in 1948 and billboards in 1955. Vari-Vue coined the following terms: “lenticular” to describe their linier lenses, “Winkies” to describe the blinking eyes, and “Magic-Motion” to describe any lenticular image containing motion.
By the late 1940’s, VariVue had become a household name by producing millions of animated and stereographic lenticular images which were
available everywhere. These images included everything from wall hangings, to record album covers, CrackerJack prizes, greeting cards, post cards, political buttons and so much more. By the 1950’s, VariVue’s lenticular images had become a craze and many, if not most famous personalities of the time, wanted to be featured in VariVue advertisements. At the same time, VariVue buttons were used in every political campaign throughout the country and were available everywhere.
…In the 1960’s and early 1970’s, Vari-Vue created a network of Lenticular license holders world wide which greatly increased the recognition of this technology. Vari-Vue has been the world leader in stereo (3D) and animated printing.
4.) Last, but not least, I thought you should know that Alan Luxmore of Picker Sisters is more than talented and hot; he’s incredibly funny. Not only did Luxmore leave a classy comment on my review of the show, but he also replied to my Facebook post in a very charming way. Producers of the show really need to make sure that we, the viewing audience, see more of all all Luxmore’s fabulous assets — his build skills and his sense of humor. (Whatever else God gave him, Luxmore showcases well enough so we can’t miss it *wink*)
One of the most fascinating areas of collecting antique and vintage photographs are those images showing the interior of shops and retails stores — like these real photo postcards, circa 1907.
Notice the well-dressed help and the tin tiles on the walls; the fine array of items, such as china in the display cases, the baby buggies and strollers… Oh, the things you could see with the actual antique postcard in your hand and a magnifying glass!
In this next image, there are plenty of guns, tools, keys, and hardware — along with spinning wheels, a few stray things, such as coffee pots and lanterns. On the walls there are other intriguing photographs… Lots of lovely ladies — including one with two horses! Perhaps a circus act? Among all the beauties, what appears to be the bottom half a wrestler or other male athlete.
Is it best to hang them or set them on something – And do you set things in them or attach them inside the little boxes?
I’ve seen them painted but I really don’t want to do that…
I’d love it to end up looking cool and eclectic but not like something off the show Hoarders. I want it to look cohesive not a big ol’ hairy mess…
I don’t have any old wooden printer’s drawers; if we did have them, they’d likely be filled with old print blocks. (And while most of the print blocks would be hubby’s, guess who’d get to dust it? *wink*)
Although, we shouldn’t overlook the original and obvious intent of keeping it flat, storing and organizing anything from screws to Legos in it. But this is a collectors’ blog, so I’m going to stick to displaying collectibles. Plus, as the drawer has no cover, it would need to be stored flat in a place not likely to be disturbed. (If you have one of those places, please tell me how to get one! lol) I highly recommend the wooden drawer is to be hung on the wall for the most visual appeal; you can use small amounts of museum putty to hold the items safely and securely in place.
I remember that my mom once used to display her thimble collection in a printer’s tray. If you have a collection of “the same things” to fit inside, this is the ultimate way to keep things from looking like a “big ol’ hairy mess.” As many decorators advise in general: keep to a theme.
Here’s an example of glassware and travel souvenirs; however, even those pieces are likely too large for the spaces in a drawer meant to hold printers blocks. You might have smaller items on a theme… Buttons, marbles, shells, rocks and minerals, pinbacks, vintage game pieces, jewelry, coins, fishing lures… Even if only half the little objects on display are say, marbles, the number of them will move the eye about and give the cohesive look of a theme.
Another interior design principal for creating a unified look is to select a color palette for the items on display. Since the antique wood is rather dark, and the spaces small, I’d suggest light colors to create more of a contrast and visual interest; perhaps whatever bits and bobs you have in shades of white and ivory… Again, even if you can’t carry the color theme throughout the entire drawer, proper placement, spreading the items of common color around, will create the impression of a carefully cultivated, organized collection.
Personally, I find little displays of “whatever” to be quite charming. Here’s an small wooden antique shelf, with nicely scrolled details, that I’ve put little bits of random childish sentimental loveliness upon.
Yes, every item in there has a story — and it’s my hope that whoever visits our house will ask to hear each and every one!
That’s only likely to happen when another collector visits. And one who has already heard the stories behind all the larger, more attention-grabbing items and collections in the house. A pretty tall order indeed. *wink*
Last night, Melissa Harris-Perry was the guest host of The Rachel Maddow Show and the Best New Thing segment was about scruffy mutt named Owney. Owney was the nation’s most famous canine, riding with Railway Mail Service clerks and mailbags all across the nation from 1888 until his death in 1897. And Owney was a collector — everywhere this dog went, he was given souvenir dog tags, exonumia, tokens, “trade checks.”
I can say without reservation that I would happily give up the glass jar full of matchboxes that sits on the bathroom shelf (and I’ll throw in all of my Foursquare check-ins ever) for a chance to grow a cool collection of medals like Owney’s.
It’s hard not to feel “licked” by this dog when it comes to collecting! (Even if the new postage stamp is one of those self-adhesive types.)
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…
If you’re like me and enjoy collecting and have a creative streak, you’ve probably faced the issue of balancing your delight in making things with your collector’s desire to keep the integrity of your antiques and vintage items. While this clash of interests often presents a quandary for all artsy folk who collect, my primary problem persists in the area of vintage graphics.
Kindness Of Strangers Altered Art Piece By Deanna Dahlsad
I love to make collages, make special scrapbook pages, and in general practice the paper altered arts — but I’m extremely uncomfortable destroying antique books, vintage magazines and other old piece of ephemera. If a book or magazine is so damaged that it’s of no real value; fine, I can render the rest of it useful and beautiful once again with a paper project. But if the work is sound, no matter how filled with lovely images it is, I just can’t do harm. …Yet another part of my soul aches to use what’s right there, in reach. However, this digital age now puts an end to the majority of our concerns via the gift of the scanner.
In most cases, even the most delicate antique books and papers can be safely scanned. Not only does this offer collectors a virtual copy of the works, but, when scanned at a proper size (300 dpi or larger), this gives you a printable file. In just a few minutes you’ve preserved a copy of the image and created one you can now print (as many copies as you’d like) for use in collages, altered art paper projects, scrapbooking, and other projects.
What other projects, you ask? Well, now, thanks to all sorts of printers, gadgets, programs, and papers, you can transform your digital image files into patterns for cross stitch, needlepoint, and other needlework patterns; iron-on transfer papers to images to use on t-shirts, quilt squares, pillows and other fabric projects; LCD projector or DLP projector, opaque projector, and even slide projectors (though the lights often burn out before your project is done, resulting in problems lining up the image again) allow the image to be projected onto walls, canvas, etc. for painting murals and other larger decorating or art pieces — really, the possibilities are only limited by your imagination!
If you’re unsure where to start, there’s an online course you can take. While it focuses on paper art collage principals, it will help you get used to a lot of the basics. And there are places like Zazzle which do all the work, placing your images onto everything from posters, apparel and mugs, to greeting cards, iPod cases, and skateboards. You can make stuff just for you and your friends and family (at discounted prices) as well as sell stuff with your images to others. (I do it! This is my Zazzle shops with friends.)
The only note of caution I have is that if you decide to sell anything, you should know your intellectual property or copyright laws; items created for personal use fine.
So start flipping through your antique books, your vintage magazines, your postcards and other paper collectibles, with a creative eye… Who knows what images you can now safely use? It’s like having your cake and eating it too!
Image Credits: My own altered art piece made from antique and vintage images, used in my art collaborative project, Kindness Of Strangers, at Etsy & Zazzle.
Maybe I love that comment so much because it took me so long to realize that I was a book collector. Sometimes bucking bookshelves aren’t enough of a sign. …To yourself. Not when you think there are “real collectors” with “real collections” out there.
But with the help of the complied advice from other book collectors at Private Library, you shouldn’t be intimidated — you should be inspired! Go learn how to get started in book collecting and set your own bookshelves to sagging. *wink*
If you are asking if a quilt’s appraised value will change; yes, it will. In general, the appraised value of a quilt is determined by the last work that’s been completed…
Some quilts have more value because of who and when they were made, or what designs are used…
Most of us don’t have quilts with that provenance so I suggest those quilt tops and quilt blocks will have more value being finished so they can be enjoyed.
What’s amazing about this is the fact that this post is the exception to an unfortunate rule.
Quilt Tops and Quilt Blocks
It’s a fact that so many people in the antiques and collectibles area only define the word “value” in the monetary sense — and that’s neither the only definition nor the primary motivating force behind why we keep what we do. While it’s true we should keep in mind that the way we care for, treat, repair, refinish, store, etc. our objects matters, monetary value really only matters when we lose the objects, be it to sell them or to be reimbursed when they are damaged or stolen. For objects we love, for objects we value above their monetary value — those things we really value, having them around us to be enjoyed is what really matters.
Articles like Charlotte’s are important for the tips they present, but valued even more because they recognize the object’s real value.
In most cases, the quilts and textiles we have — be they antique, vintage or new — are valuable because we can see them, use them, enjoy them. So go ahead, finish that vintage quilt top, sew those antique quilt blocks into the quilt you’re making, repair grandma’s handmade quilt. The real value will be in snuggling in it, having it on display, keeping the tradition and the textile alive to pass onto the next generation.
Here’s a good tip cropped out of the scan on polishing guns without scratching:
One thing to remember is to never discard worn polishing cloth, even when “worn out completely.” New cloth cuts. Used cloth polishes without cutting.
This is an illustrated guide to foreign (German, English, Birmingham, Austrian-Hungarian-Czechoslovakian, French, Belgian, Spanish & Italian) barrel proof marks which were “in common use today” — which was 1950.
Here are some pages identifying some rifle ammunition and bullets:
“Life’s more fun if you tilt things now and then. ” – 
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to hold the items safely and securely in place.
, and even slide projectors (though the lights often burn out before your project is done, resulting in problems lining up the image again) allow the image to be projected onto walls, canvas, etc. for painting murals and other larger decorating or art pieces — really, the possibilities are only limited by your imagination!
