On the Road — Let’s Stop at the Big Muskie for Lunch!

While driving along American roadways in the mid-20th century, it was common to see restaurants masquerading as a massive 65-foot-long muskie, gas stations in the shape of a teapot, and motels that looked like wigwams and railroad cars. Before the arrival of corporate advertising, franchise branding, and building conformity, the architectural environment in the U.S. […]

Kovels On Antiques & Collectibles May 2023 Newsletter Now Available

Kovels On Antiques & Collectibles newsletter is available as a print subscription, or as a digital version that is included in the Kovels Knowledge and Kovels All Access memberships. Start your Kovels Knowledge Free Trial now or login. Kovels’ May 2023 newsletter features sales reports on 1970s Italian furniture, vintage toy airplanes, Clarice Cliff pottery, […]

M&M Re-branding Is Collecting Opportunity 

Time for a fashion update. And some tweaking of a logo. That was the decision at Mars Wrigley, which owns M&Ms, on the candy’s six popular chocolate characters and its iconic logo. In an effort to make the advertising characters look more current, Brown M&M now has lower high heels, Red and Yellow’s shoes have […]

Top 5 County Fair Collectibles 

Bring out the blue-ribbon cows! How about some sheep? And of course, let’s put aside any diets and savor fried elephant ears covered in powdered sugar, skinny French fries drenched in ketchup and served in a giant cup, cotton candy and, of course, deep-fried anything. It’s county fair time, that popular All-American tradition. Vintage county […]

Diamond Dyes Cabinet

Q: We found this Diamond Dyes cabinet in the basement of an old drugstore in 1962. It looks like it’s made of cherry. It’s 28 1/2 inches high, 21 1/2 inches wide, and 10 inches deep. The compartments inside are eight across and seven rows deep. There are a few pamphlets, sample cards, and packages […]

July 2021 Prices

ADVERTISING Dispenser, Curtis Baby Ruth Chocolate Fudge, warmer, removable china insert, flip top lid, tin body, red paint, aluminum Baby Ruth tag, ladle, paper tag on bottom, No. 3, instructions, Fountain Maid, Chicago, 9 x 6 in., $230 Tin, Thurber’s Best Yeast Power, revolving cylinder for different spices, lithograph, woman in oval, red & black, […]

Top 5 Gift Suggestions for the Dad In Your Life!

In 1910, Sonora Smart Dodd, the daughter of American Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, wanted to honor her father in the same way mothers were honored on Mother’s Day. The idea caught on and in 1972 Congress made the third Sunday of June the official holiday. Here are the interesting vintage and collectible presents […]

Wrigley’s Gum Advertising

Hundreds of Wrigley’s Chewing Gum advertising items from a single owner’s collection brought high interest and affordable prices recently for collectors of vintage advertising. The owner had access to Wrigley’s archives, and over the years had acquired many items with great graphics and historic importance. The sale, at Lyn Knight Auctions of Overland Park, Kansas, […]

March 2021 Prices

ADVERTISING Menu board, Golden Ice Cream, “World’s Best Ice Cream Value!” chalkboard, tin lithograph, 24 x 16 in., $100 Thermometer, Cincinnati Sporting Good, red & black, lithographed, “For Your Riding Apparel/Driving Pants/Sports Cloths…” R.J. Becht & Son, 1981, 36 in. , $230 Poster, Apple II computer, Rainbow Apple logo, stylized black text “Apple ][, home/personal […]

Commemorative Farm Sign Found, Returned to Family After 40 Years 

Seven generations of the MacNevin family have operated a farm in Prince Edward Island in Canada. In 1964, farms in the region were given signs to commemorate their status as century farms. The MacNevin family wasn’t sure how, but over the years their sign was lost. Now, the family’s part of history has been returned, […]