Appliances

Electric or gas-powered appliances also changed the look of the twentieth-century kitchen, and today the old appliances are wanted by those restoring early twentieth-century houses. Electric refrigerators were made by the 1920s by Kelvinator, General Electric, and General Motors (Frigidaire). They were heavy, with wooden cases and nickel hinges, and were too expensive for the […]

Glass Kitchenware—Pyrex

Corning Glass Works of Corning, New York, introduced Pyrex brand glass baking dishes in 1915. The first Pyrex products included covered casseroles, pie pans, shirred egg dishes, custard cups, an individual baker, an au gratin dish, and a loaf pan. Within two years, Corning added several more shapes and sizes of Pyrex transparent ovenware, and […]

Flameware

In the 1930s, Corning’s chemists invented another type of clear glassware that the company used to make stovetop cookware marketed as Pyrex Flameware. Products, which were tinted slightly blue, included saucepans and skillets with detachable handles, double boilers, a teakettle and a teapot, coffee percolators, bottles, bowls, refrigerator storage containers, and additional kitchenware. In 1947 […]

Kitchens

Most kitchens 100 years ago had a stove that burned coal, oil, or wood. There might have been a small wooden icebox to keep food cold. Cabinets were small pieces of furniture that could be moved or mounted on a wall. Food preparation was done at a table with a wooden top. Some families still […]

Advice For Tool Collectors

The best advice for a novice collector of tools is: If it looks like an unusual tool, save it. Try to identify it by consulting books, museums, the Internet, or old-timers. Don’t paint it, wax it, refinish it, or otherwise change the condition. Photo: Conestoga Auction Group

Fire-Fighting Equipment

For collectors, fire-fighting equipment is in a field of its own, and there are many who will buy anything that relates to a fire department, including helmets, hose nozzles, belts, photographs, and fire-chief trumpets. Fire marks were first used in the eighteenth century and could be found on many homes until the 1870s. These plaques […]

Stanley—A Famous Name in Tools

New Britain, Connecticut, was an early center for iron work. The shop belonging to William and Frederick Stanley was the first in the city to use steam power. In 1842 the brothers began to manufacture bolts and door hardware. They soon expanded, and by 1852 they were able to cast, forge and manufacture metals, and […]

Woodworking

Woodworking tools have been used for centuries, and many of the tools seen today are similar to old ones. The ancient Egyptians put models of tools into tombs, and these, together with many wall paintings, have left a good record of early woodworking. By the first part of the sixteenth century, houses were built by […]

Anglo-Japonesque Table

A table has four legs and a flat top except when it is designed by a clever cabinet maker. Freeman’s Auction in Philadelphia sold an unusual rosewood able with two partial shelves built below the 20 -inch square tabletop. The Anglo-Japonesque inlaid rosewood table was made about 1880. It is decorated with carved dragons on […]

Emile Galle Pottery

Emile Galle is a famous artist, a leader of the Art Nouveau movement in France in the mid-1800s. He started his art while working at his father’s furniture and pottery factory and by 1877 he managed the factory and started making clear glass. He soon developed a style of his own making vases of heavy […]