Actually it’s one month, two days, and one hundred and fifty-two years ago as I write this. We apologize for posting our Fourth of July article so late, but a big storm in June zapped our printer (which is also our scanner) and we’ve been on another road trip to New England that we just returned from. Consequently, we are acknowledging the Fourth of July in August.

I picked up this little ribbon at a flea market about a week or two before the Fourth of July this year. I paid about twenty dollars for it, and the picture of it pretty much explains what it is. It is just under seven inches in length.

What gives an antique value is often what it represents. There was a lot going on in and around Philadelphia leading up to the Fourth of July, 1863. Most importantly, Philadelphia and the rest of the United States were right in the middle of the Civil War.

The spring of 1863 had not been a good time for the Union forces. Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia had won stunning victories at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, Virginia. In June, his forces had entered Pennsylvania with the hopes of bringing the North to the peace table to end the war with a negotiated peace. This would have brought about an independent Confederate States of America.

There was a very real possibility that Harrisburg and Philadelphia would end up under Southern occupation. Philadelphia was shoring up its defenses and there were calls for more militia units to defend Pennsylvania.
Fortunately, as things were looking their darkest, Union forces finally checked Lee’s forces at the Battle of Gettysburg – about 100 miles west of Philadelphia. The three day battle, which took place on July 1,2,3, was not only the bloodiest battle of the war- it was the turning point. Lee’s forces never came that far north again.

As if that weren’t enough, the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi fell to the Union forces under the command of Ulysses S. Grant on the Fourth of July, 1863. This opened up the Mississippi River to Union forces and split the confederacy in two. Vicksburg would not celebrate the Fourth of July again until World War II.

I doubt that the citizens of Philadelphia had been able to absorb all that had happened in just those few days, but there must have been a great sense of relief. When the “Friends of the Union” celebrated the Fourth of July, 1863 in Philadelphia, they were also celebrating the turning point of the war and one of the most important events in American history.

That’s a lot of history in one little ribbon found at a flea market.

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The corners of the groom’s mouth are slightly upturned.  Not so the bride’s.

She looks like she might still be a teenager.  He looks nearly old enough to be her father.  The facial expression and body language speak volumes.

No one looks particularly happy here.  The flowers are quite beautiful, though.

Someone must have made a pass at a girl who wore glasses but she doesn’t seem happy about it.

Both bride and groom look desperately like they want the photo session to end.

Hopefully the photographer did not tell the bride to think of her husband-to-be as he snapped the photo.

This petite bride seems to be pondering how she’s going to tell her lanky groom to find another hair stylist.

Stiff and formal but certainly not ecstatically happy.

Standing next to his beautiful bride, the groom appears to stoically accept his fate.

Of course, it’s natural for brides and grooms to be nervous and apprehensive on their wedding day.  Most likely, they are dressed in the most expensive clothes they will ever wear with dozens upon dozens of family members and friends looking on.  It’s an occasion that calls for a certain amount of solemnity and gravity.  No one knows, at this point, what the future holds.

But what about the couples who are celebrating their golden anniversary?  Surely fifty years of working together as a team leads to happiness and gratitude…doesn’t it?

This couple looks slightly happy – or at least bemused – about the fuss generated by their golden anniversary.

In this case, the wife has seemingly enjoyed those five decades of marriage, but the husband is clearly worn out.

It doesn’t get much happier than this.  Could they be any further apart?

The post Happy Is the Bride…Perhaps – Vintage Photos of Unhappy Brides appeared first on The Collector Gene.

New to our Christmas display this year but not new to our collection is this Bliss Adirondack Cottage circa 1905.  When we bought it from a small local antique shop almost three years ago, we weren’t sure how to display it, but we said even then that it would make a great Santa Claus workshop.  That vision was finally realized this year.

Here you see the front of the cottage with German bisque elves playing on the upper and lower porches while a nice old composition German Santa sits on his wooden sled.

Here you see the back of the cottage just filled with toys and decorated Christmas trees and another playful elf.

This doll house came with a paper from an auction when it was purchased by someone else in 2005.  It was described thus:  Bliss Adirondack Cottage – an unusual doll house with lithographed paper exterior, stained wood roof and base, 4-room interior with period wallpaper, 17.5 inches tall.”

We have loved Bliss doll houses from the moment we first saw them early in our collecting years, and we have been fortunate enough to acquire about four of them at affordable prices.  Bliss doll houses are characterized by their wood construction and beautiful chromolithographed paper coverings.  The peak of production was at the turn of the century, and the most elaborate houses are beautiful miniature renderings of highly Victorian-style houses in all their gingerbread glory.  This “cottage” is unusual and, we believe, rare because it is quite simple in style and decoration.  The very realistic-looking logs are, indeed, just printed paper.

Rufus Bliss went into business as a carpenter in Pawtucket, Rhode Island back in 1823.  He was highly skilled and inventive in his carpentry techniques, becoming best known for his lathe-turned wooden screws and clamps.  He took on a partner, A.N. Bullock, in 1845 and the name of the company became R. Bliss and Company.  In 1867, several years before the company first advertised the making of toys, Mr. Bliss withdrew from the business.  In 1873, Mr. Bullock died.  However, the company continued on with Mrs. Bullock retaining an interest, and a stock company involving Bullock family members among others was formed in 1874.  The company continued to make practical things like wooden screws, clamps, and tool handles, but they expanded further into croquet sets, tennis racquets, and paper-lithographed toys.  Today, their doll houses, wooden boats, and pull-toys are among the most prized and expensive of American antique toys.  A Massachusetts company bought out the toy-making end of the business in 1914 and kept the name, but it ceased production in 1935.

The post Season’s Greetings from Santa’s Workshop – Our Bliss Adirondack Cottage appeared first on The Collector Gene.

Franklin Pierce was the Democratic candidate in 1852 running against Winfield Scott, the last Whig candidate.  Successfully elected, he has gone down in the history books as one of our worst presidents, usually joined at the bottom of the list with his successor James Buchanan and Warren G. Harding.  This paper ballot out of Virginia was typical of those used in the mid-nineteenth century.  Notice that the voter is choosing electors, not directly voting for the president. Technically, we still do that; we just don’t see the list of electors anymore. This marks only the second Franklin Pierce item in Jim’s collection, so he was quite pleased to find it.

This window decal from 1932 has great graphics and an ironic message.  Clearly, the elephant is oblivious to the angry donkey coming at him.  By 1932, the country was mired in the Great Depression with no relief in sight, and Herbert Hoover was receiving most of the blame.  Referencing the old adage, “Don’t change horses in the middle of the stream,” this decal did little to stop the juggernaut that was Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Americans wanted change, and they swept FDR into the White House by a landslide.

The post 2014 Road Trip Blog: Franklin Pierce Ballot & Herbert Hoover Decal appeared first on The Collector Gene.

This trip did not yield as many photos as I wish it had, but I’m sure Jim would say that I found enough.  Here are some of my favorites.

These two snapshots were found in the same bowl and were priced at a quarter each.  I suspect they came from the same family and possibly the same trip.  I love the guy standing next to the giant ox/long horn steer.  We found several giant tourist attraction statues on this trip, particularly in North Dakota, so I could relate to this snapshot.  The second photo shows some sort of cheesy tourist trap.  I wonder what the shrunken body inside the building looked like?  Was it a real deal or some fake thing?  I also love the old Coca-Cola sign.

I like family snapshots if they tell a story.  Both of these fit the bill.  The top photo of the dad and his two sons is dated 1960 and appears to have been taken on Easter.  Everyone is very nattily dressed, especially Dad.  You have to wonder if he was ever seen in public again wearing that coat.  The second photo is a genre that I have several examples of – people holding birthday cakes.  I’m wondering why there are two cakes here.  It must have been a big party.  I like the look of pride on both the boy and the grandmother.

This little boy looks happy enough to be dressed in his sailor suit and Mary Jane shoes, but he sure wouldn’t survive a minute in today’s world.

This is a real photo postcard with no identification whatsoever.  It’s a beautiful family portrait from the early 1900’s.  You can’t help but wonder how life turned out for this family.  The little girl is so sweet and serious about posing nicely for the photographer.

This is a large sepia photo that measures 7 1/2 by 9 1/2 inches.  It was found in a shop in Helena, MT priced at $3.  It was taken by a photographer from North Columbia, California.  North Columbia was a gold rush town in the Sierra Nevadas.  This photo probably dates to the 1880’s.  The house looks sturdy and somewhat prosperous.  I suspect the three people in the center are a married couple and their young son.  I wonder if the young man on the left is their other son.  The other three gentlemen could be relations or workers who board with them.  Clearly, everyone is dressed in his/her finest clothes and there are several pocket watches and/or fobs on display.  If only photos could talk, what stories could they tell?

This wedding photo from Sumner, Iowa was found in a shop in Montana.  Having been to Iowa and knowing that Iowa was settled by immigrants from European countries like Norway and Czechoslovakia, I was intrigued by the bride’s elaborate wedding veil, clearly an indication of her ethnic origin.  Unfortunately, I don’t know what that is.  To me, the photo is a visual reminder of the many people who came to the United States looking for a better life, with marriage being the real starting point for a family.

Last, but not least, here is the photo that I can most relate to.  I call it “The Barbie Girls.”  These young ladies are probably about two years younger than me because they are posing with their new bubble-cut Barbie dolls.  I never got to that point with my Barbie “collection.”  I had one and only one doll, and she was a ponytail version.  The bubble-cuts came out in 1961, so I believe this photo dates to about that time or possibly 1962.  Note that a couple of the girls even have shirts that match Barbie’s black and white striped bathing suit.  Also note that one poor girl who doesn’t even show in the photo is holding a fake Barbie!  My heart goes out to her.  This little snapshot was one of my favorite finds at the gigantic Gold Rush Days Flea Market in Oronoco, MN.

The post 2014 Road Trip Blog: Vintage Photos appeared first on The Collector Gene.

I spent my Mother’s Day doing what I enjoy most – antiquing with my family – and I turned up this circa 1880-90 photo at a Pennsylvania flea market earlier today.  This looks like an immigrant grandmother cuddling her young grandchildren.  Note the antique doll – and grandma’s warts!

This hand-tinted photo from the 1930’s shows a proud grandmother with her decidedly uncomfortable grandson.  The facial expressions and body language say it all.  Based on grandma’s spring coat and corsage, this most likely was taken on Easter, but it could have been taken on Mother’s Day as well.  Look carefully and you’ll see grandpop with coffee cup in hand, too.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there.  Maybe next year I’ll show lovely young mothers with their beautiful babies, but ferreting out photos like these is much more fun.

The post HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY – Enjoy These Vintage Photos appeared first on The Collector Gene.

“Antique” is a word that is frequently abused, especially in the past twenty or thirty years. It is often paired with the word “collectibles” and its true meaning frequently overlooked. For something to be truly “antique”, it is supposed to be at least one hundred years old. I would venture to guess that in many antique shops today less than five percent of the merchandise comes anywhere close to that – and that’s being generous.

Finding a true antique, especially something that is rare, unique and – best of all – affordable is, therefore, always a thrill. A case in point is the subject of this article – our miniature slant top desk. Measuring just twelve inches wide by twelve inches tall and about six and one half inches deep, this little guy was entirely hand made by someone with a copious amount of patience and skill. The hours spent making it would have been considerable.

Carol and I found our little treasure in a Pennsylvania antique shop about two and a half years ago. The shop was housed in an old mill filled with very little else but genuine good quality antique furniture. I found the little desk upstairs lying on top of a table. It was in overall good condition but was missing a couple of feet and one of the brass drawer knobs. The dealer, who obviously knew a thing or two about furniture, estimated the little desk to be circa 1860 to 1880. No argument there; I thought about 1870. Carol quickly informed me that this was going to be my birthday present in a couple of months, so it soon disappeared from sight. A great present to be sure but not exactly a surprise.

Amy was able to make two new feet for it using wood from an old picture frame, and it was finished by the time my birthday rolled around. After searching for about a year and a half, I eventually found a replacement brass knob at a flea market. Now our little desk is complete once again.

So why exactly was it made? There is no way of knowing for sure. Most miniature pieces of nineteenth century furniture are assumed to be either salesman’s samples or apprentice pieces made by someone learning the furniture trade. It is certainly possible that it is one or both of those. If it is indeed from that 1860 to 1880 period, I suspect it was displayed in a cabinet maker’s shop in a large city such as New York or Philadelphia and used to show all the latest features available to the prospective customer. All the drawers and doors work and there is some indication of the maker on the bottom of the lower drawers – unfortunately not enough to determine exactly who it is.

Our little desk created quite a sensation when we showed it to some fellow antique collectors recently. It’s not the sort of thing you see very often or ever have the chance to purchase. We’re just glad we were in the right place at the right time.

Shortly after this piece was made, factory-produced furniture at affordable prices would become available to the average American, and local furniture makers would die out. I think this little piece represents the end of their era.

Whatever its origins, it embodies the skill and craftsmanship of a bygone time, and it’s awfully cute, too!

The post Miniature Slant Front Desk – Salesman Sample or Something Else? appeared first on The Collector Gene.

Ever since I was a child reading and re-reading a 1930’s biography of Lincoln that was passed down to me by my aunt, I have admired Abe.  And ever since I married a collector of political items, we have searched for affordable antiques that have something to do with Lincoln.  Of course, Jim wants campaign items, which are very rare and very expensive, indeed.  I’m not quite so picky.

Before there was a Presidents’ Day in February, we celebrated – separately – the February births of Washington and Lincoln.  When I was a child, the decorations for these holidays were principally cardboard cut-outs that teachers could staple on the classroom bulletin board.  However, eighty or ninety or more years ago, there were all sorts of neat three-dimensional party favors for every holiday of the year, including George Washington and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdays.  Here are two Lincoln pieces from our collection:

The bust of Lincoln on the left is a small candy container about three inches high that was most likely made in Germany.  A circular plug in the bottom can be removed and the hollow interior would have been filled with tiny candy pellets.  In general, candy containers from this era (about 1920 – 1930) are getting harder to come by.  They have been a “hot” collectible for the past forty years.

The unusual full figure of Lincoln on the right has a moveable arm and stands about four and a half inches tall.  At first glance, he does not appear to be a candy container since his base is merely a disc made of wood.  However, on the bottom are traces of glue.  Very likely, this figure was originally glued to a cardboard box that would, indeed, have held candy.

I am very fond of both of these pieces.  The bust, especially, is a very good likeness of Abraham Lincoln.  The other piece, which I must admit could easily turn into an Irishman for St. Patrick’s Day if painted differently, is funny and charming in its own right.  And while you do see a bigger variety of vintage Washington party favors, you just don’t see Abe very often.

Happy Birthday, Abe!  I, for one, am glad that you continue to be recognized as one of the greats.

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Being there two days also gave us lots of time to check out what the other dealers had to sell as well.  When we are selling I get in what I call a “selling mode” which means I’m not much in a “buying mode”.  Nevertheless, I wasn’t about to come home empty handed.

I ended up purchasing this copper lustre pitcher from a fellow dealer for twenty dollars.  It was the second day of the show and he dropped the price from thirty dollars to move it along.  I liked the hand painted decoration on both sides of what appears to be a mother teaching her daughter how to write.  Perhaps it’s supposed to be the Bronte sisters.  I don’t really know but it’s always nice to speculate.

Copper Lustre was made in the Staffordshire district of England from about 1820 to about 1860 when it fell out of fashion.  A lot of it was shipped to the United States at that time so it isn’t unusual to find a piece or two at your local flea market or antique shop.  Unfortunately it seems to have fallen out of fashion with modern collectors as well.  Consequently when you do find it these days it’s really cheap, which is kind of sad.

So why did I buy something that nobody else seems to be buying right now?  First, I like it.  Second, it was cheap.  Third, it can only go up over time.  Fourth, think of the history it represents.

The piece I bought was probably made in a factory at the very earliest stages of the Industrial Revolution.  Perhaps the person who decorated it lived in a cottage with a thatched roof.  Queen Victoria may not have even been Queen when it was made.  It would have been shipped by horse and wagon to a nearby port where it would have been loaded onto a sailing ship and sent to a still young America.  The twenty dollar bill I purchased it with had the picture of Andrew Jackson on it, who could have been our President at the time it was made.  The great westward expansion and Civil War were still to come and slavery had yet to be abolished.

Somehow this little pitcher survived all that in its one hundred and seventy or eighty years without any chips or cracks.  Why wouldn’t I buy it!

There was a saying back in the sixties that went “Do your own thing”.  There is an opportunity out there right now to buy true antiques at affordable prices.  I doubt it will be around forever.

The post Copper Lustre Pitcher – Really Old and Really Cheap appeared first on The Collector Gene.

This all happened a few years ago – 2005 to be exact, when through a happy turn of events Ben was able to secure tickets for all four of us to go to the “Roadshow”.  The bad news was that the closest event to us that year was in Providence, Rhode Island, about a seven hour drive away.  Even so, we weren’t about to pass up the chance to see our favorite show in person.  Since we knew the odds of getting on TV were less than one percent, we pretty much abandoned hope of making it to the little screen.  We figured the best thing to do was to use this experience as an opportunity to find out more about some of the stuff we were having trouble finding values for on our own.  We wanted to hear what the experts had to say.

One of the items we determined to be “Roadshow” worthy was our little Michelin statue. Purchased by Carol in 1987 for the grand sum of seven dollars, she found it at the yard sale of an auctioneer.  I received it as a birthday present that year.   Standing just fourteen and a half  inches tall, this little guy doesn’t look much like the cuter powdered doughnut version of Bibendum (yes, he has a name) that we see in commercials today.  Bibendum’s origins go all the way back to 1898 in France.  The Quaker Oats guy and Aunt Jemima have been around longer but they have human forms, they’re not made out of, well,  tires after all, nor do they smoke, drink and dance with women in their early ads either!  Leave it to the French to have an advertising icon with a true joie de vie!  Indeed, Bibendum, by the way, is Latin for “drink to be done”!  He was sort of the bad boy of early advertising icons!  Like all bad boys, however, that made him kind of cool.

We arrived at the Rhode Island Convention Center at about 8:30 that June morning and were greeted at the door by volunteers wearing light blue “Antiques Roadshow” polo shirts who directed us to go up the stairs and to the end of the ever growing line.  The line moved quickly, however and soon our tickets were checked and we each showed our items to a couple of ladies who determined which appraisers we would each see.  The Michelin Man earned me a ticket to the “collectibles” line which was understandably among the longest there.  In about only fifteen minutes or so though, I found myself face to face with Gary Sohmers (the guy with the white ponytail) who looked at my little tire guy and determined that Noel Barrett (at the adjacent toy table) would know more about it than he.  Suddenly there was Noel Barrett holding my little French advertising icon in his hands.  They seemed to be sizing each other up!  The seasoned dealer, auctioneer and appraiser looking down and Bibendum looking up.  There obviously was a bond forming.

Noel Barrett (the other guy with a ponytail by the way) then motioned that I come over to the toy table and have a seat behind the appraisers desk while he contacted his producer.  Holy cow, he wants to put us (mainly Bibendum) on TV!  I motioned for the rest of the family to join me and nobody seemed to mind all of us sitting there watching all the activity before us.  We also met a nice lady from Maine with her doll furniture, who was also waiting to talk with the producer.  She would end up on TV also.

Eventually the producer (Marsha Bemko) came over and talked first to the nice lady from Maine and then to me.  After a few question I was asked if I would like to be on TV and escorted to the “green room”.  The green room wasn’t actually green but was a separate area partitioned off by curtains.  There were several long tables by which to sit and wait your turn.  In each corner was a monitor showing the live raw feed of what was being taped.  There were also two make-up people.  The appraisers would go to one before their taping and the rest of us went to the other.  While in there we met Mark Wahlberg, who was on his first day on the job as the new host.  He, Noel Barrett, and everyone else was very nice to us.

My turn finally came and out I went holding the Michelin Man.  I was directed to one of the three tables in the center of the room set up for taping.  My microphone was hooked up and soon Noel Barrett joined me and off we went.  My three minutes of fame had begun!  I can’t say that I wasn’t at least a little nervous but I was really enjoying drinking in the experience (that would be bibendum in Latin) and I realized that I was actually living something that I had dreamed about.  One of the advantages that comes with age is that you worry less about what other people may think – even if there’s several million of them.  I had a great time.

I would have to wait eleven months to see if I made the cut that day.  As with most TV shows, the “Roadshow” tapes more material than it uses, so the possibility of ending up on the cutting room floor still existed.  Finally in May, 2006 in hour 2 from Providence, Rhode Island, there I was.  I was on TV.  I had made the cut.  So far my episode seems to run about every two years.  The last time I saw it on TV was last summer (2012).  It became the gift that kept on giving!

As far as the appraisal is concerned, below is the page from the 2010 “Antiques Roadshow” calendar which tells the story.  You can also view the appraisal on the “Antiques Roadshow” website in the archive section – just type in “Michelin”.

Watch the clip and read the transcript here at the Antiques Roadshow website.

By the way, the Michelin Man is still with us.  He wasn’t so valuable that we felt we had to sell him.  Valued at $1200 to $1800 he went right back to his familiar spot in our family room, but now he has a great story behind him.  He was, after all, on the “Antiques Roadshow”.

As for me, it didn’t exactly make me rich or famous.  Many people I knew told me that they saw me on TV but nobody ever asked for my autograph.  The whole experience, however, has only made me fonder of the “Roadshow”.  May it keep going for many years to come.

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