Features
A nickel’s worth of fun Jukeboxes spin the tunes and create memories
A classic Wurlitzer 1015 model. Created in 1946, it is the biggest selling jukebox in history. (Image courtesy of The Men’s Cave)May 2025Cover Story"A nickel’s worth of fun" Jukeboxes spin the tunes and create memoriesby Corbin CrableThe jukebox remains one of the...
Molded meals Aspics inspired bizarre dishes, but rarely appetite
Apsics remain quite common in European cultures. For instance, this colorful shrimp and veggie aspic makes a delightful Italian lunch entree. (Image courtesy of La Cucina Italiana)April 2025Cover StoryMolded meals Aspics inspired bizarre dishes, but rarely appetiteby...
Do the Hustle! Disco made us boogie-woogie the night away in the ‘70s
The iconic mirror ball, setting the tone and delighting disco dancers for decades. (Image courtesy of dancepoise.com)March 2025Cover StoryDo the Hustle! Disco made us boogie-woogie the night away in the ‘70sby Corbin CrableThose who remember the bygone days of disco...
You’re 75, Charlie Brown! Good grief! Peanuts gang has made readers chuckle since 1950
Peanuts Gang Valentine image (image courtesy of schulz museum)February 2025Cover StoryYou’re 75, Charlie Brown! Good grief! Peanuts gang has made readers chuckle since 1950by Corbin CrableOne beloved American comic strip has allowed readers to see the world through...
The Name of Luxury Royal Doulton has stood for the finest in bone china, ceramics since 1815
Royal Doulton “Pomeroy,” pattern # D5270. Inspired by Davenport engravings of 1793, made circa 1933-60. (image courtesy of cynthiafindlay.com)Dec 2024 / Jan 2025Cover Story The Name of Luxury Royal Doulton has stood for the finest in bone china, ceramics since 1815by...
Got a light? Smoking accessories continue their collectible streak
If there’s one thing advertising in the 1950s and ‘60s taught us, it’s that smoking was an activity that brought people together. (Image courtesy of Pinterest)November 2024Cover Story Got a light? Smoking accessories continue their collectible streakby Corbin...
Jukebox songs that put a song in our hearts
Photo by The Retro Store on Unsplash & jukebox (Image courtesy of rock-ola.com) May 2025Everything Old Jukebox songs that put a song in our heartsby Corbin Crable In this issue of Discover Vintage America, we place the jukebox under a figurative magnifying...
What were we thinking? Bizarre dishes of yesteryear
Image created by adobe fireflyApril 2025Everything Old What were we thinking? Bizarre dishes of yesteryearby Corbin Crable The star of the show in this month’s issue of Discover Vintage America is the aspic – that oft-consumed dish that seemed to be synonymous with...
Dressing the part for disco
(Image created by Adobe Firefly)March 2025Everything Old Dressing the part for discoby Corbin Crable It’s 1977. You and your friends spent the afternoon going to the local cinema and watching the new film “Saturday Night Fever.” Now you’re inspired -- you want to go...
Schulz’s Peanuts has KC connection
(Image courtesy of the Schulz Museum)February 2025Everything Old Schulz’s Peanuts has KC connectionby Corbin Crable You’ve read their antics on the comics page of your local newspaper. They’ve celebrated life’s milestones with you in greeting cards. And they’ve made...
See a movie, get a gravy boat
Image from adobe firefly Dec 2024 / Jan 2025 Everything Old See a movie, get a gravy boat by Corbin Crable Holiday Films The holiday season is big business for the film industry, and even though many former moviegoers prefer to stay home and stream their favorite...
Smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em
If there’s one thing advertising in the 1950s and ‘60s, The “Marlboro Man”, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” (Image courtesy of Pinterest)November 2024Everything Old Smoke ‘em if ya got ‘emby Corbin Crable Until the mid-1960s Until the mid-1960s, the act of smoking was an...
Prices vary for early Russel Wright-designed items
1927 - 2023ANTIQUE DETECTIVE Prices vary for early Russel Wright-designed itemsby Anne GilbertThe big hunt for Russel Wright (1904-76) Fiesta pottery, chrome objects and furniture that began in the late 1970s and ‘80s, has leveled off, as have prices. It all depends...
Would you recognize a Chinoiserie-finish antique?
May 2023ANTIQUE DETECTIVE Would you recognize a Chinoiserie-finish antique?by Anne GilbertJapanning or Chinoiserie Whether you call it Japanning or Chinoiserie, if it was made before the 20th century, call it expensive. Even some examples made in the early 20th...
Once-popular painted porcelain plaques can be pricey and reproductions
April 2023ANTIQUE DETECTIVE Once-popular painted porcelain plaques can be pricey and reproductionsby Anne GilbertPainted Porcelain Plaques Back in the 1970s and ‘80s, 19th-century small or miniature painted porcelain portrait plaques were hot collectibles. When they...
Quilt art by the piece
May 2025Good Eye Quilt art by the pieceby Peggy Whiteneck Most of us are familiar with quilted bed coverings, which have a history going back centuries. We’re also familiar with the prices the best of antique quilts can command today. Quilts can be found in many...
Hold that door! Doorstops have been around as long as doors
March 2025Good Eye Hold that door! Doorstops have been around as long as doorsby Peggy Whiteneck These days, what with open-concept home layouts and modern-style sliding and other doors, we don’t have much use for doorstops anymore – except of course - as a...
Some ‘almost’ antique kitchen and dinnerware
February 2025Good Eye Some ‘almost’ antique kitchen and dinnerwareby Peggy Whiteneck When I began collecting mid-century American-made kitchen and dinnerware sets, I quickly learned that even items made by entirely different manufacturers could be pleasingly matched...
Flying Geese classic quilting block helps quilts take flight
May 2025Covering Quilts Flying Geese classic quilting block helps quilts take flightby Sandra Starley Egyptian pyramids, Mayan Temples and myriad European churches feature this iconic triangle. This ancient shape was quickly adopted by very early quilt makers as a...
Bow Tie or Neck Tie quilts – when fashion meets quilting
March 2025Covering Quilts Bow Tie or Neck Tie quilts – when fashion meets quiltingby Sandra Starley While many quilt pattern names from the 1800s are cloaked in myth, mystery, and marketing, the Bow Tie pattern is clearly a representational block depicting male...
Fall in love with New York – AQSG adventures, Part 3
February 2025 Covering Quilts Fall in love with New York – AQSG adventures, Part 3 by Sandra Starley Every fall, quilt historians and people who just love old and new quilts attend the annual meeting of the American Quilt Study Group (AQSG). So much happens during the...
Find your cheer at What Cheer Flea Market
May 2025 Find your cheer at What Cheer Flea Market Hailed as “one of the don’t miss flea markets in the Midwest,” the What Cheer Flea Market returns to the What Cheer Fairgrounds, May 1-4. Fabulous flea finds at the market include antiques, military...
Find your next treasure at Brownville Spring Flea Market
May 2025Find your next treasure at Brownville Spring Flea Market Now in its 67th year, the Brownville Spring Flea Market will delight a new generation of antique enthusiasts when it returns to town May 24-26, at Main Street and the Historic Depot in...
Get crafty on the Square in Garnett
May 2025Get crafty on the Square in Garnett Enjoy some small-town hospitality (and homemade crafts, of course) in downtown Garnett during the 2025 Square Fair on May 10. The annual event held on Mother’s Day weekend each year is sponsored by the local Business &...
Kansas City’s early-day airports helped make flying history
May 2025Vintage Discoveries Kansas City’s early-day airports helped make flying history by Ken Weyand Operating in an era when airplanes were a novelty, pilots navigated using “dead reckoning, and a good landing was “any landing you could walk away from,” Kansas...
Remembering my ‘Dirt Road Days’
February 2025 Vintage Discoveries Remembering my ‘Dirt Road Days’ by Ken Weyand Years before J.D. Vance penned his “Hillbilly Elegy” about his Appalachian origins, I put together an e-book that recalled my early years on a Northeast Missouri farm. As the blurb on the...
Keokuk, IA, celebrates 10-year restoration of 1891 Union Depot
December 2024Vintage Discoveries Keokuk, IA, celebrates 10-year restoration of 1891 Union Depotby Ken Weyand Back in its day, the massive and ornate Victorian-style depot building built in 1891 was a centerpiece of Keokuk, IA. Then a bustling transportation center,...
“Tomorrow’s Heirlooms” By Trina Robbins
March 2025Books for Collectors“Tomorrow’s Heirlooms” By Trina Robbins By Corbin Crable Ladies of the 1960s and ‘70s often looked pretty in polyester (and paisley, too). Twenty years of fashion trends for women are covered in Trina Robbins’ “Tomorrow’s...
“Peanuts Gang Collectibles” By Jan Lindenberger
February 2025Books for Collectors “Peanuts Gang Collectibles” By Jan Lindenberger By Corbin Crable Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and the rest of the Peanuts gang have delighted readers for 75 years, bringing their own brand of humor and life lessons to comic...
“A Century of Royal Doulton Character and Toby Jugs” By Steve Mullins with David Fastenau and Louise Irvine
December 2024Books for Collectors Century of Royal Doulton Character and Toby Jugs By Corbin Crable Collectors of Royal Doulton ceramics – for more than 200 years, the giant among other luxury home goods brands – “A Century of Royal Doulton Character and...