Almost everyone has a piece of old glass that has been in the family for years, and every piece seems to have a glamorous history behind it. Most of the stories are more fable than fact. There were stories in…
Until the eighteenth century, gems and jewelry were worn only by the wealthy. That changed in 1730, when “paste,” a glass that could be cut and polished to resemble gemstones, was invented. It was often backed with foil to make…
Prints, photographs, and all sorts of small paper ephemera, including baseball cards, postcards, and labels, became important to collectors in the twentieth century. Printed pictures, often drawings, were published to illustrate news stories in the nineteenth century. Lithographs, woodblocks, even…
Why do people collect? How do they decide what to collect? Is the man with 5,000 adjustable wrenches seeking to learn how the design improved or does it bring memories of fixing cars with dad? Does the woman with hundreds…
We can buy plates, scarves and even bedspreads that picture Elvis Presley, a rock star icon. At the turn of the 18th century it was President George Washington who was the idol of the nation. Knowing that there was an…
Housework in the 19th century meant cleaning, cooking, sewing and doing the laundry. If a woman could afford it, the washing and ironing were sent out or hired help did it at home. The wash for a family of four…