Features
Tupperware: An American icon
A housewife hosts a Tupperware party in the 1950s. (Image courtesy of Click Americana)June 2023Cover StoryTupperware: An American iconby Corbin CrableThey’re durable, they’re colorful, and they’re cherished hand-me-downs that have survived decades in your kitchen and...
Fill ‘er up! Oil and gas collectibles remain popular with collectors
A metal sign advertising Mobilgas from the company that would later become Exxon Mobil. The company used the mythological winged horse Pegasus on most of its advertising and logos. (Image courtesy of eBay)May 2023Cover StoryFill ‘er up! Oil and gas collectibles...
Just Your Type – Typewriters find second life as beloved antiques
(Image courtesy of Patti Klinge)Apr 2023Cover StoryJust Your Type Typewriters find second life as beloved antiquesby Corbin CrableHear that clickety-clack as the keys pound away. Feel the smooth keys under your fingers as they fly across the keyboard. Marvel at...
Walk Like An Egyptian, Egyptomania Resurrects Country’s Magic, Mysticism
(Image courtesy of Classic Media)Mar 2023Cover Story Walk Like An Egyptian Egyptomania Resurrects Country’s Magic, Mysticismby Corbin Crable Though fascination with all things Egyptian has endured since the ancient world, it wasn’t until the last 200 years or so that...
It’s a date! Celebrate your love with these old-fashioned date ideas
(Image courtesy of Classic Media)Jan/Feb 2023Cover Story It’s a date! Celebrate your love with these old-fashioned date ideasby Corbin Crable With the arrival of Valentine’s Day comes a certain anxiety, whether you’re heading out for a first date with a new love...
Our favorite Christmas characters Yuletide TV specials continue to draw nostalgic audiences
(Image courtesy of Classic Media)December 2022Cover Story Our favorite Christmas characters Yuletide TV specials continue to draw nostalgic audiencesby Corbin Crable The holiday season is a time for nostalgia, savoring warm memories created with friends and family –...
Anniversary is a time to remember days, people past
Photo by Lucas Law on UnsplashJune 2023Everything OldAnniversary is a time to remember days, people pastby Corbin Crable50th anniversary This year includes a couple of very special occasions that are near and dear to my heart. The first, we’ll celebrate with all of...
Good luck finding these long-gone jobs
Photo by Leon Seibert on UnsplashMay 2023Everything OldGood luck finding these long-gone jobsby Corbin CrableGas Station Attendants It’s about that time of year when people pack their bags, gas up their cars, and hit the road on a summer vacation or road trip. Our...
Bring on the bunnies
Apr 2023Everything OldBring on the bunniesby Corbin Crable Easter Sunday is coming up quickly, on Sunday, April 9, and if you live in Kansas City or are at least from here, that can mean only one thing – a trip to the Country Club Plaza to see the Easter...
Turn the page on old reading habits
Photo by Catherine Hammond on UnsplashMar 2023Everything OldTurn the page on old reading habitsby Corbin Crable March is National Reading Month, and with it comes a greater awareness of the benefits of reading. Established to honor Dr. Seuss, one of the first...
How to finally keep your new year’s resolution
Photo by Tim Mossholder on UnsplashJan/Feb 2023Everything OldHow to finally keep your new year’s resolutionby Corbin Crable Keeping your Resolutions How are you doing on keeping your resolutions for the new year so far? Still going strong? Or maybe you’ve...
Support your local small businesses this holiday season
Photo by Tim Mossholder on UnsplashDecember 2022Everything OldSupport your local small businesses this holiday seasonby Corbin Crable Ideal gift for that special someone If you’re still looking for the ideal gift for that special someone on your holiday...
Prices vary for early Russel Wright-designed items
June 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 on...
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...
Consolidation, contraction and closing
June 2023Good Eye Consolidation, contraction and closingby Peggy Whiteneck Recently, national news sources have highlighted consolidation in American industries. Reports have focused, for example, on the airline industry, whose flight arrival and departure times have...
Feathered nests – in glass!
May 2023Good Eye Feathered nests – in glass!by Peggy Whiteneck In May, we celebrate Mother’s Day, not just for human moms but for birds - and not just feathered birds on twigged and grassy nests but moulded birds on glassy nests! In my last column, I shared a photo of...
Mould shopping and swapping in American glass
April 2023Good Eye Mould shopping and swapping in American glassby Peggy Whiteneck Moulded Glass One of the challenges in collecting American art glass is identifying the maker, given the amount of mould swapping that took place between companies. This usually...
Classic patterns made modern – Rocky Road to Kansas
June 2023Covering Quilts Classic patterns made modern – Rocky Road to Kansas by Sandra Starley Last month, I wrote about the origins of the classic antique quilt pattern, Rocky Road To Kansas. While it sounds like a design dating back to the pioneer days of...
Classic Patterns: Rocky Road to Kansas
May 2023Covering Quilts Classic Patterns: Rocky Road to Kansas by Sandra Starley Quilt names : ‘Rocky Road to Kansas,’ ‘Texas Tears,’ and ‘Rocky Road to California’, It’s a quilt name that stirs up images of wagons full of bonneted prairie ladies busily sewing...
Puff Quilts are back – Part 2
April 2023Covering Quilts Puff Quilts are back - Part Two by Sandra Starley Those puffy, pillowy quilts from the 1970s are back and better than ever. Puff, pillow, biscuit, or bubble quilts are generally extra puffy or dimensional. There are myriad methods of...
Springfield Antiques Show and Sale is back
June 2023 ... Springfield Antiques Show and Sale is back The 19th annual Springfield Antiques Show and Sale, scheduled for June 2-4 at Orr Building on the State Fairgrounds, will feature more than 50 quality displays from across the country. The long-running...
Quilt festival comes to KC this month
June 2023 ... Quilt festival comes to KC this month If you’re hooked on quilting, be sure to stop by the annual Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival, June 15-17 at the Overland Park Convention Center in Overland Park. As in previous years, the festival includes...
Happy birthday to Shawnee Antique Mall
June 2023 ... Happy birthday to Shawnee Antique Mall Shawnee Antique Mall in Shawnee is once again celebrating its birthday by giving gifts to its own customers – in the form of summer sales throughout the entire store on June 10. The mall boasts 15,000 square...
Old coloring book recalls WWII
June 2023Vintage Discoveries Old coloring book recalls WWIIby Ken Weyand One of the items I’ve saved from my childhood is a coloring book, and its subject matter makes it a bit special. “Fighting Yanks” measures 11 x 14 inches, with a full-color display of warplanes,...
1900 ‘Health Book’ advised rural families what to do before the doctor comes
May 2023Vintage Discoveries 1900 ‘Health Book’ advised rural families what to do before the doctor comesby Ken Weyand Wealth of healthy living advice in 1900 A small hardbound book, part of my family’s accumulation of “old stuff,” contains a wealth of healthy living...
One of my Dad’s treasures was unique ‘Chatterbox’ book
April 2023Vintage Discoveries One of my Dad’s treasures was unique ‘Chatterbox’ bookby Ken Weyand Childhood Books As an impoverished orphan in 1900, my dad had few possessions. Luckily, his older sisters supplied him with a few books and other items that helped him...
One Hundred Years of Valentines
February 2023Books for Collectors"One Hundred Years of Valentines" by Katherine KreiderBy Corbin Crable Remember sitting at your desk in elementary school on Valentine’s Day and anxiously waiting for your crush to slip a small envelope into the box you had...
“Valentine Treasury: A Century of Valentine’s Day Cards”
February 2022Books for Collectors“Valentine Treasury: A Century of Valentine’s Day Cards”By Corbin Crable What would the month of February be without the traditional exchanging of Valentine’s Day cards with your sweetheart or best friend? It’s a ritual we all...
“Cabbage Patch Kids Collectibles” By Jan Lindenberger
January 2022Books for Collectors“Cabbage Patch Kids Collectibles”By Corbin Crable The birth of the Cabbage Patch Kids craze in 1983 changed the doll industry forever – and made a veritable mint for Coleco, the company that produced the dolls. But, as author Jan...