Toy Cars

The toy auto of the 1920s and 1930s is an important vestige of childhood and a collector’s treasure. Collectors distinguish between cars made before 1940 and cars made after World War II. Metal toy cars were not manufactured in the United States from mid-1942 to late 1945 because of the war. Many of the bronze […]

Toy Cars Manufacturing Techniques

Miniature metal cars were usually made by stamping, slush-casting, or die-casting. The earliest lightweight metal cars were stamped from sheet steel or tin and had either hand-painted or lithographed decorations. European stamped-tin cars date from the early 1890s. Slush-cast toys were made in molds that pot metal was poured into and right out again, causing […]

Toy Cars Value

It is important for a toy car to have all original parts. Sometimes the original wheels, headlights, or accessories are missing or have been replaced. Any old toy car, from mint condition to broken, has a resale value. Don’t throw anything away before checking with a toy collector. Don’t repaint, restore, or even clean an […]

Rules For Most Car Wheels

Wheels can help to date a car. Before World War II, toy cars had open-spoked metal wheels, solid metal disk wheels, solid metal disk wheels with embossed spokes, white rubber tires with metal rims, or solid white rubber tires mounted directly on the axles. The general rule is that white rubber tires were used before […]

Furniture Buyer’s Kit

The furniture buyer’s kit should contain a tape measure or ruler, magnifying glass, magnet, and a flashlight. Also helpful are a corsage pin and a knife. An antiques dealer will usually let you examine the furniture, remove drawers, and even unscrew screws if the piece is expensive. Use the tape measure to check the diameter […]

Nails

There is a legend in the world of the antiques novice that a square-headed nail indicates an early piece of furniture. This is only partly true, for square-headed nails are still being made and sold. There are even shops that straighten salvaged square-headed nails to sell to customers who are building authentic reproductions or restoring […]

Screws

The screw is not a recent invention, and screws could appear on an antique of any age. The wood screw was made by hand in the United States and was used by many furniture makers by the early eighteenth century. Because of the design of the screw, it was able to hold and keep hinges […]

Hardware Style Examples

William and Mary drop pull 1690-1720 Queen Anne bail pull with pierced backplate 1720-1750 Chippendale bail pull with solid backplate 1750-1780 Empire ring pull 1815-1840 Double swan-neck bail pull 1720-1770 Chippendale bail pull with pierced backplate 1750-1780 Hepplewhite bail pull with oval backplate 1785-1800 Victorian bail handle with pierced backplate 1840-1900

Selling Advice

Decades ago, the Kovels’ wrote: “There is a time in everyone’s life when you must decide what to do with an attic, basement, or even a drawer full of odd bits of small “junk.” Don’t throw anything away. More good antiques have been lost because of overeager housekeeping than by all other ways combined. Open […]

How to Buy or Sell — Sports Collectibles

Baseball cards and other sports cards have been collected since they were first distributed in the 1880s. The first cards were placed in packs of cigarettes or tobacco as free advertising promotion pieces. From 1910 to 1915 cards were made by the millions, then only a few were made until the 1930s. The second period […]