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Privacy, please Outhouses were a part of daily lives in centuries past
Outhouses usually were located 50 to 100 yards from the back of one’s home. (Image courtesy of Daniel Coronoa / Unsplash.com) June 2024Cover Story Privacy, please Outhouses were a part of daily lives in centuries pastby Corbin CrableWe all take indoor plumbing for...
Two of a kind Salt and pepper shakers make inexpensive, colorful collectibles
These shakers have their original cobalt blue glass liners with silverplated frames and lids. (Image courtesy of Antiques and Teacups) May 2024Cover Story Two of a kind Salt and pepper shakers make inexpensive, colorful collectiblesby Corbin CrableIt’s one of the...
What a doll! Barbie continues to inspire after all these years
Barbie, seen here in her original design, made her debut at the North American International Toy Show in 1959. (Image courtesy of Flatiron Nomad)Apr 2024Cover Story What a doll! Barbie continues to inspire after all these yearsby Corbin CrableRuth Handler had seen it...
Landing Among the Stars NASA collectibles enjoy resurgence in popularity
The NASA logo, also referred to as “the meatball,” was designed by a NASA employee in 1959, the year after the organization was founded.Mar 2024Cover Story Landing Among the Stars NASA collectibles enjoy resurgence in popularityby Corbin CrableAmericans will be...
Pinball Wizard Pinball machines stay in the game even 100 years after initial release
Detail of a vintage pinball machine. (Image courtesy of Design Market)Jan/Feb 2024Cover Story Pinball Wizard Pinball machines stay in the game even 100 years after initial releaseby Corbin CrableClack! go the flippers as the ball is launched. Pop! go the bumpers as...
The Reason for the Season Nativity scenes from around the world depict birth of Christ
The Night Arch Nativity is beautifully hand-carved and painted by artisans in Indonesia. (image courtesy of TenThousandVillages.com)December 2023Cover Story The Reason for the Season Nativity scenes from around the world depict birth of Christby Corbin Crable For...
If you sprinkle when you tinkle…
Photo by Adobe FireflyJune 2024Everything Old If you sprinkle when you tinkle…by Corbin Crable This month’s cover story relays the history of outhouses, those quiet but stinky outdoor private places where everyone did their business in the 19th century. First,...
The seasoning with a storied history
Photo by Lachlan on UnsplashMay 2024Everything Old The seasoning with a storied historyby Corbin Crable Everyone knows there are two types of people: Those who crave sugary snacks, and those who would prefer something salty instead. I’ve always fallen into the latter...
Action figures were toy industry’s answer to Barbie
Photo by D A V I D S O N L U N A on UnsplashApril 2024Everything Old Action figures were toy industry’s answer to Barbieby Corbin Crable As little girls in the late 1950s and early 1960s played with a new doll named “Barbie,” their younger brothers probably wondered,...
Space Age design dominated postwar America
https://firefly.adobe.com/generate/imagesMarch 2024Everything Old Space Age design dominated postwar Americaby Corbin Crable This issue of Discover Vintage America will present decades of vintage NASA collectibles, which have chronicled our fascination with space...
Pachinko is Japan’s answer to pinball
Photo by Emile Guillemot on UnsplashJan/Feb 2024Everything Old Pachinko is Japan’s answer to pinballby Corbin Crable In this issue of Discover Vintage America, you’ll read about the storied history of the pinball machine, from the controversy it faced in the game’s...
Stores shine spotlight on ethically sourced, sustainable items
https://firefly.adobe.com/generate/imagesDecember 2023Everything Old Stores shine spotlight on ethically sourced, sustainable itemsby Corbin Crable If you’ve ever taken a leisurely stroll throughout the picturesque, quaint downtown Overland Park, KS, you likely have a...
Learn the many names and types of quilts
November 2022ANTIQUE DETECTIVE Learn the many names and types of quiltsby Anne Gilbert Collecting Quilts In 1996, when I began researching for my book, “Collecting Quilts,” I quickly realized that research is a must. Would you recognize a Kapa, Crazy quilt, or a...
American patriotic-themed objects still popular with today’s collectors, artisans
September 2022ANTIQUE DETECTIVE American patriotic-themed objects still popular with today’s collectors, artisansby Anne Gilbert Collecting fads may come and go, but items decorated with historic American subjects still attract a new generation of current collectors....
Early Americans saved family history with decorative Frakturs
August 2022ANTIQUE DETECTIVE Early Americans saved family history with decorative Fraktursby Anne Gilbert Frakturs show family history in pictures These days when we get a printed birth or marriage certificate, we put the document in a drawer or bank document box. It...
Feast your eyes on delicious antique custard glass
October 2024 Good Eye Feast your eyes on delicious antique custard glass by Peggy Whiteneck Custard glass is creamy ivory or pale-yellow pressed glass that was popular in the late 19th and very early 20th centuries. It was used in tableware made by some English and...
The heyday of glass lampshades
September 2024Good Eye The Heyday of Glass Lampshadesby Peggy Whiteneck Most of the lampshades made before the late 19th century were glass globes for oil lamps. Sometimes these would be produced in colored glass for both the lamp base and the shade. But most shades...
Snagged in the Web?
August 2024Good Eye Snagged in the Web? by Peggy Whiteneck Whether we’re collectors or dealers, most of us will come across items for possible acquisition that we haven’t seen before and about which we may know little or nothing beyond a gut intuition that it’s...
Adventures in quilt rescue
October 2024Covering Quilts Adventures in quilt rescueby Sandra Starley Several years ago, I acquired a funky leaf appliqué quilt from an online auction. I put in a single small bid, then forgot about the item. I was surprised to find that I was the new owner,...
Journeys in quilt history – political patchwork quilts
September 2024Covering Quilts Journeys in quilt history – Political Patchwork Quiltsby Sandra Starley There is no better way to learn history and have fun than through examining, studying, and researching antique quilts. In preparation for my American Quilt...
Mission impossible – The International Quilt Museum heist
July 2024Covering Quilts Mission impossible – The International Quilt Museum heistby Sandra Starley Imagine being let loose in the most amazing quilt museum in the world and getting to pick out any quilt to take home. Well … This was my most recent quilty...
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World’s Fair souvenir book reveals styles of the ‘thirties
September 2024Vintage Discoveries World’s Fair souvenir book reveals styles of the ‘thirtiesby Ken Weyand Six years ago in my column, I recalled a trip my mother and her parents made in 1934 to the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. Recently, I discovered a...
Old ‘Wonder Tower’ in Colorado offered views of 6 states
August 2024Vintage Discoveries Old ‘Wonder Tower’ in Colorado offered views of 6 statesby Ken Weyand Back in the mid-1920s, a favorite ‘”tourist attraction” in eastern Colorado was a crude 65-foot tower built on what was reported to be the highest point between New...
Old brochure touts Ford’s automotive progress – in 1935
July 2024Vintage Discoveries Old brochure touts Ford’s automotive progress – in 1935by Ken Weyand A few years ago, I chronicled the story of a long “road trip” my parents and grandparents took to California in 1935, a couple of years before I was born. My parents and...
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...