Features
Deck the halls with Hallmark Keepsakes help collectors make their season merry and bright
Hallmark’s Christmas offerings include more than ornaments for your tree. This tabletop decoration pays tribute to “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” which first aired in 1965. (Image courtesy of Hallmark.com)December 2025Cover StoryDeck the halls with Hallmark Keepsakes...
A salute to militaria Military collectibles preserve history of service to country
Examples of militaria from the Great War can be found at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, MO. (Image courtesy of U.S. News and World Report Travel)November 2025Cover StoryA salute to militaria Military collectibles preserve history of...
Tales of the unknown Ghost stories still spook, delight us
Edgar Allan Poe, considered one of the writers who kicked off the golden age of ghost stories, penned many a terrifying tale in his time – including a short story called “The Black Cat,” in which a seemingly supernatural cat takes center stage as the narrator reels...
That nifty neon Neon signs brightly beckon our collective nostalgia
The interior of the American Sign Museum in Cincinnatti, OH. (Image courtesy of The American Sign Museum)September 2025Cover StoryThat nifty neon Neon signs brightly beckon our collective nostalgiaby Corbin Crable Petula Clark’s 1964 hit song “Downtown” made neon...
UP, UP AND AWAY Comic books’ popularity only growing in Digital Age
Nicknamed “The Big Blue Boy Scout,” DC Comics’ Superman is the gold standard for superheroes and the pursuit of good. (Image courtesy of Metaweb)August 2025Cover Story UP, UP AND AWAY Comic books' popularity only growing in Digital Ageby Corbin Crable The box office...
Swingin’ into Summer Stop and watch the world go by on a porch swing
If you’re looking to buy a porch swing on a budget, this retro model is available online for $195. (Image courtesy of The Porch Swing Co.)July 2025Cover StorySwingin’ into Summer Stop and watch the world go by on a porch swingby Corbin CrableThey’ve gone through...
Kansas City’s veritable Christmas playground
The annual tree lighting at Crown Center, Kansas City, MODecember 2025Everything Old Kansas City’s veritable Christmas playgroundby Corbin Crable If you’ve ever sent or received a greeting card, chances are, it was a Hallmark card. But the Kansas City-based Hallmark...
An illuminating experience
Photo by Horst Heuck on UnsplashNovember 2025Everything Old An illuminating experienceby Corbin Crable Arecent issue of Discover Vintage America shone a light on neon lights – their history, their function, the way they evoke a sense of yearning for an earlier age....
Spiritualism, mummy crazes enveloped Victorian Era
Photo by Edward Xu on UnsplashOctober 2025Everything Old Spiritualism, mummy crazes enveloped Victorian Eraby Corbin Crable This month’s issue of Discover Vintage America will help conjure up some good, old-fashioned ghouls and spirits with our lead editorial on the...
Let’s do lunch! Lunch boxes display pop culture trends
Image generated by Adobe FireflySeptember 2025Everything Old Let’s do lunch! Lunch boxes display pop culture trendsby Corbin Crable When I was in elementary school in the late 1980s, a pretty girl in my class slipped me a note in the opening days of the school year....
Midcentury study blamed comic books for society’s ills
Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash August 2025Everything Old Midcentury study blamed comic books for society’s illsby Corbin Crable In this issue of Discover Vintage America, we examine the history and popularity of comic books, that highly entertaining form of ephemera...
Porchfests put a song on the lips of passersby
Photo by Brandon Hoogenboom on Unsplash July 2025Everything Old Porchfests put a song on the lips of passersbyby Corbin Crable When I was a young boy, my parents would always drive by an old farmhouse on the way out of town. Without fail, no matter the time of day, on...
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...
Upcycling for damaged antiques
December 2025Good EyeUpcycling for damaged antiquesby Peggy WhiteneckIn former generations, it was common to repurpose worn-out items so that they could continue to be used. This could be a means of controlling household expenses by modifying items originally designed...
Cast iron cookery – a timeless skill
October 2025Good EyeCast iron cookery - a timeless skillby Peggy WhiteneckMy dad swore by cast iron cookware. He liked using it to cook over his antique cast iron cooking stove (We had a gas range, but he preferred the old stove). He said the cast iron pans heated...
Laying down a Tile
September 2025Good EyeLaying down a Tileby Peggy WhiteneckWall tiles aren’t just an antique decorative accent but a treat for modern collectors. They have a long history: Ancient tiles were being used for paving various surfaces as early as centuries before Christ....
Divine inspiration: Bible stories depicted in quilts
November 2025Covering QuiltsDivine inspiration: Bible stories depicted in quilts by Sandra Starley For decades, the Bible has been an inspiration for quilters who depicted stories from its pages in cloth. Among them - the Song of Solomon’s Rose of Sharon, King...
The Honey Bee quilt block
October 2025Covering QuiltsThe Honey Bee quilt block by Sandra Starley Like many of today’s popular blocks, this pattern was first published during the 1930s Quilt Revival, a time when many antique quilt patterns were updated and named, or renamed several times...
Colonial Quilters and Scrap Quilts – Some Treasured Myths of Early Quilting
September 2025Covering QuiltsColonial Quilters and Scrap Quilts – Some Treasured Myths of Early Quilting by Sandra Starley What do you picture when I say, “Colonial Quilts”? Betsy Ross and Martha Washington sewing scrappy quilts by candlelight or quilting...
Red Wing’s MidWinter Weekend to feature sales, social events
December 2025Red Wing’s MidWinter Weekend to feature sales, social events The Red Wing Collector Society’s MidWinter Weekend will bring enthusiasts to Des Moines for the 2026 MidWinter Weekend, Jan. 29-31 at the Holiday Inn Northwest. Room sales, educational...
Save big this holiday season at Wichita’s Paramount stores
December 2025Save big this holiday season at Wichita’s Paramount stores Two big events at Paramount Antique Mall and Paramount Marketplace in Wichita are sure to keep you busy as you try to lose those pesky holiday pounds. The stores’ annual Holiday Sale takes...
Christmas Small Mall ensures you won’t break the bank shopping for the holidays
December 2025Christmas Small Mall ensures you won’t break the bank shopping for the holidays The C.W. Parker Carousel Museum’s tradition of selling cost-effective gifts to the little elves in your family continues with its annual Children’s Small Mall, Dec. 6-7...
Papier maché Santa dates from 1930s
December 2025Vintage Discoveries Papier maché Santa dates from 1930sby Ken Weyand Somewhere in my collection of “old stuff,” there’s a faded Kodak print showing the living room of our farm house at Christmas, sometime in the 1930s. A decorated cedar tree dominates...
Remembering Thanksgivings with Lucy
November 2025Vintage Discoveries Remembering Thanksgivings with Lucyby Ken Weyand My earliest memories of Thanksgiving go back to the 1940s, when my parents and I often spent the day with my step-grandmother Lucy and my Aunt Ruth at their home in Hamilton, IL, about...
Tiny jail includes strange tale of early-day witches
October 2025Vintage Discoveries Tiny jail includes strange tale of early-day witchesby Ken Weyand A recent visit to the Parkville Nature Sanctuary north of the downtown area in Parkville, Missouri revealed a tiny jail near the north edge of the parking lot. The...
“The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Metal Lunch Boxes,” 2nd ed. By Allen Woodall and Sean Brickell
September 2025Books for Collectors“The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Metal Lunch Boxes,” By Allen Woodall and Sean Brickell By Corbin Crable School days have officially returned, and with it, memories of that fabulous piece of pop culture, the lunch box. The...
“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...
