Month: September 2020

What is the difference between collectible, antique and vintage?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Beginning to collect, History1 Comment

There are common questions that you will hear when you dive into the world of antiques.  One of the more questions that you will hear is this—what exactly is the difference between collectible, antique and vintage?

The term collectible is often applied to items that are more valuable than what they originally sold for.  I have also seen this term be applied to items that are newer than 20 years old.

When items are vintage, items in this area are at least 20 years old.  Items are usually considered vintage up until they are 99 years old.

When you hear the term Antique, this applies to items that are at least 100 years old. 

There are also other ways to describe the age of an item.  What terms have you heard?

What are some different types of furniture that you can use a different way?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn FurnitureLeave a comment

Over the years, there have been pieces of furniture that have come along that proved especially useful. 

Pie safes, coat valets and even card tables are a small handful of the pieces.

Here are some great ideas for different uses for some of the pieces of furniture you might run across:

Blanket chest—this is a piece of furniture with a hinged lid and a large storage area inside.  There are pieces that also come with one or two drawers under it.  As the name suggests, it was common to store blankets inside—you can use this now to store anything from CD’s ad DVD’s to your kid’s toys.

Telephone chairs—this chair has a built-in table on the side, and its main use was to hold your landline telephone.  These days you can use these to hold your laptop or tablet while you get some work done.

Old Magazine racks—this was to give you a place to stash your magazines and newspapers.  Today, you could use this to stash your boxes of aluminum foil and plastic wrap, have it hold cutting boards, or even a place to put your flip flops.

This is just a few pieces that you can use differently.  What kinds of furniture do you use differently?

There was a Half Disme? Really?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Money, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

When 1792 rolled around, the United States started to produce coins under the Coinage Act Of 1792.  Some of the coins that the United States mint (which is based in Philadelphia) include a half dollar, a cent, and even some gold pieces.  But did you know that they also produced a coin called a half disme?

*Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.com

Pictured above is one of the early examples of a half disme, which ultimately became a half dime.  The face value of the piece is what the name suggests it was worth 5 cents.  The coin was produced in pure silver up to the time it was renamed in 1873.

The coin was renamed to 5 cent piece, which is what it is called today, and today one of the nicknames for it is “nickel” (which is a pretty good description for the metal which it is made of).

What kind weird names have you heard a coin called?

They’re going the wrong way!

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn HistoryLeave a comment

There are times that you will run across a collectible that will have an interesting story.  There are even times that the collectibles that are tied to a famous person and event.  Here are some items that have a fun way to collect them by going the wrong way:

Wrong Way Corrigan—Douglas Corrigan was an American Aviator, and he earned the nickname “Wrong Way” Corrigan in 1938.  Douglas Corrigan was supposed to return to Long Beach, California on a transcontinental flight.  The problem was was that he landed in Dublin, Ireland instead of California.

There are article clippings, newspapers, commemorative stamps and envelopes and even a book about Corrigan that’s titled “That’s My Story”.  There is a lot a New York Post paper that is dated Friday August 5, 1938 that has a mirrored banner headline to commemorate Wrong Way Corrigan that you can start a collection with.

Roy “Wrong Way” Riegels—Roy earned his nickname for running the wrong way at the 1929 Rose Bowl football game.  Roy played for the California Golden Bears when this happened.  He was 30 yards away from scoring a touchdown and somehow got turned around to where he ran 65 yards towards his own end zone.

He was eventually tackled on his own 1-yard line.  Do you know what the bad part is?  When the team tried to punt the ball away, it was blocked, and the other team scored a safety.

It is considered the worst blunder in the history of College football.  Things like the program for the game are collectible, and there even was a picture book that came out in 2011 that describes a play-by-play description of the moment.

The Vaudeville acts that parodied his famous run also have items that you can add to your collection.

These are some of the fun ways that you can start a collection or add to your current one.  What kinds of items have you purchased because of the history that that is attached to it?

Technology introduced in the early 1900’s

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn HistoryLeave a comment

Over the years, there has been technology that has was introduced that caught on amazingly fast.  Bakelite plastic, escalators and even disposable razors were some of the amazing items introduced in the early 1900’s, here are some more that was released around the same time:

February 1900—The brownie camera is invented, and this was also the start of the Eastman Kodak company.  This was the camera that popularized low cost photography, and it also introduced the concept of something called the snapshot.

1902—The neon lamp is invented by Georges Claude.  Claude started to work on neon tubes that could be used as ordinary bulbs.  In the year of 1912, his associate began selling neon discharge tubs as advertising signs.

1906—An early jukebox-like machine called The Gabel Automatic Entertainer is invented.  It was invented by John Gabel and it is the first machine to play a series of gramophone records.

1908—This is when Ford started to build the Model T.  This car is generally regarded as the car that “put America on wheels”.

This is a very tiny look at some of the technology that has been released over the years.  What other types of technology do you know of that was released during this time?