Author: wisdomlaneantiques

I've been going to auctions, antique malls, flea markets, etc. since I could walk. My lifelong love of anything vintage, old, or shabby (everything really is better with age) is now my full-time job.

Ever see a Victorian Red Tomato Server?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Serving sets, Silverplate items, Victorian era, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

At a local flea market, I ran across a box of spoons not too long ago.  When I started looking through them, I found quite a few utensils that really got my interest.  The Victorian Era was pretty interesting when it came to the serving pieces that were made, and one of those serving pieces was in that box I bought.

That piece is a red tomato server and is marked WM ROGERS MFG ORIGINAL ROGERS.  The server has the LA FRANCE pattern and dates to the early 1900’s.

tomato server

Here’s the kicker—there are two different types of tomato servers.  There’s one for red tomatoes and for green.

There’s a big difference to the server, and it’s that the spade on the green tomato server is not perforated. The red tomatoes can be juicy, so the perforations lets the juice drip through.  Green tomatoes are not nearly as messy so you don’t have to worry as much about spilling tomato juice on the table cloth.

spade

A modern twist on this type of server is that you could use the green tomato server to serve fried green tomatoes.  You can see the red tomato server in my Etsy store here.

What kinds of Victorian serving pieces have you run across?

Great vocabulary words for the glass collector

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Glassware, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!, Vocabulary WordsLeave a comment

Over time, you will pick up quite a few words that describe what a piece is. It could be anything really–there are times when they apply to how a piece is made or what happens to a piece over time. Here are some words that apply to the glassware field:

Chop Plate – this is a large, flat serving plate. This piece is also sometimes called a salver.  You’ll see this type of piece in both pottery and glassware.

Cane –this is a glass rod that’s used in glass making to produce effects like twisted filigree or even marbles.

Sickness – this refers to a cloudy haze that’s in glass vessels such as vases, decanters bottles, and even tumblers. This can be something as simple as hard water deposits (hard water stains can be cleaned off with a little foaming denture cleaner).

So what kind of fun words have you heard?

A variety of graniteware pieces

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Enamelware, My Background, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

Wither at an estate sale, a garage sale, or even at an auction, I run across quite a few pieces of graniteware in my neck of the woods.  There’s a pretty wide variety of pieces that I find when I’m out shopping.  It could be anything from a tea kettle to a creamer–you never know what you will run across.

When I was young, people in my area collected graniteware like crazy.  They still do, but not as much as they did when I was young.  Here lately, the prices have cooled off mainly because there is so much of it here.

Because of the fact that the prices have come down and people have lost a little interest in graniteware, some of the pieces in collections have even come up for sale.  Some of the pieces that I have run across lately really have surprised me when I ran across them.  One piece that did was this graniteware fireplace salesman’s sample.

Enamelware Graniteware Fireplace Salesmans Sample Ashtray Advertising The Cleveland Foundry Company

This even has a plaque on the front that reads, “The Cleveland Foundry Company.”  You can see it in my Etsy shop here.

Pie pans are pretty plentiful, but they are usually a solid color.  So when I ran across this brown swirl pie pan, I snatched it up pretty fast.

Brown And White Swirl Enamelware Graniteware Pie Pan Unmarked Made 1930s To 1940s

What struck me was that it’s in great condition, usually pie pans around here get knocked around pretty good.  You can see it in my Etsy shop here, and more graniteware examples here.

What’s great about graniteware is the fact that it gives a more urban area a splash of country.

What kinds of graniteware pieces have you run across?

Memories of childhood

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Serving sets, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

Summer vacation, bicycle riding, a game of baseball in the empty lot at the end of the block, and even a tall glass of Kool Aid are just some of the great memories of childhood.

Who didn’t love to down Kool Aid—whether it be a cool drink or a Popsicle that mom made from your favorite flavor?  I loved it when my mom made Kool Aid ice cubes to go along with the grape Kool Aid she made.

I recently ran across a red Kool aid pitcher and tumblers set at a recent estate sale that I attended.

Kool Aid set

This set was made in the 1980’s by Tupperware, and it has a pitcher and two glasses in the set.  There are plenty of memories that come flooding back when you see this terrific Kool Aid set that has a pitcher and matching tumblers with the face of the Kool Aid man on them.

kool aid pitcher

kool aid tumblers

You can see this terrific Kool Aid set in my Etsy shop here.  What is your favorite flavor of Kool Aid?

Great vocabulary words to remember for the antiques lover

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Pottery, Vocabulary WordsLeave a comment

It doesn’t take very long for you to hear some interesting words when you deal with antiques.  They could apply to just about anything, here’s some of them that I have run across.

Lavabo—this is a French word that means “wash bowl.”

Nesting tables—this is a group of tables (there’s usually three, every once in a while there’s more) that is constructed so that one fits under the other.

Tin glaze—it’s an opaque white glaze that contains tin oxide.  It has been used on faience, delftwares and even majolica pottery.

This is only a small portion of the words that I have heard over the years.  What kinds of words have you come across?

What do you do when you attend an auction?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Auctions, My Background, Tips for the beginner1 Comment

So you have decided to go and see what goes on at an auction.  You scouted out the perfect one, and have even showed up about 30 minutes before it started.  Now what do you do?

The first thing that you need to do is to register to get a bidders number.  More often than not, the auction company will have a special area set up for just this purpose.  All that you need to is to show the auction company a valid ID and supply a phone number, and you have a biding number.  What this is for is to let the auction company know who you are and even able to contact you if something arises (like if something that you bought gets left behind).

Whenever I have attended an auction, this will only take a few minutes at most, and it doesn’t cost me anything to do so.

The next thing that you will want to do is to look at the merchandise that’s in the sale.  Getting to the auction a few minutes before it starts will help you look over the items to see what’s there and to see what kind of condition that it’s in.

Make sure that you listen to what the auctioneers say at the very beginning of the auction when they make their announcements.  This will let you know what will happen during the course of the auction and what will be sold first.

So have some fun when you go to auctions and see what’s out there!

Several diferent types of sports memorabilia

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Fashion, Sports of all sorts1 Comment

Have a favorite sport or sports team?  Do you love to hang out in a jersey with your favorite jeans?  I have several jerseys right now on eBay that you could do this with and cheer on your favorite team.

The first is this jersey for Terrell Owens when he played football for the Philadelphia Eagles.

owens jersey

You can see this great jersey in my eBay shop here.  If football is not your cup of tea, then you could throw on a soccer jersey, like this one for the Avalon Soccer Club.

avalon

You can see this great jersey in my eBay shop here.  You can also see the rest of the jerseys in my eBay shop here.  If you happen to go to a game, you may need to keep warm, and the best way to do that is with this terrific San Deigo Chargers coat made by STARTER.

starter chargers jacket

You can see it in my eBay shop here.  You can also wear a cap to cheer on your favorite team, just like this one for the Chicago Cubs.

cubbies

The Cubs cap was made by COMPETITOR, and the great thing about it is that it still has the original tags attached.  You can see it in my Ebay shop here.

What kinds of clothing do you love to wear when you are watching your favorite team?

Here’s some more vocabulary words that new collectors will run across

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Glassware, Pottery, Vocabulary Words, Wisdom Lane2 Comments

You never know what words you may run across when you dive into the world of antiques and collectibles.  Here are a couple that I have run across over the years:

Greenware—this is any unfired clay body before the piece is Bisque Fired, and it is very fragile.

Cased Glass—this is two or more layers of different colored glass get blown with one layer over the other.  Sometimes glass makers carve images into the glass, revealing the multiple layers and colors of glass in the process.

Mercury Gilding–this is a technique of applying a gilt finish consisting of gold and mercury to decorative objects like a mirror.  Mercury is a metal that is liquid at room temperature. When combined with gold or silver, it becomes viscous, its consistency becoming similar to that of butter. Mercury gilding is the process in which mercury is mixed with gold to make an amalgam that is applied to the surface of an object.  When the object is heated up by fire, the mercury evaporates away and the gold is left behind.  This is a VERY toxic technique and is illegal to do in many countries.

This is just a small sample of what I have heard, what kinds of words have you run across?

Thimbles for the sewing memorabilia lover

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn ThimblesLeave a comment

I never thought much about thimbles as being a collectible.  My mother always has had one in her sewing box–the typical cheap metal silver colored one.  I thought their only reason for being around was to keep your finger from getting pricked by a needle.

That is–until a recent trip to a local flea market I came across a collection of them.  I quickly found out that they come in many forms, like this glass millifiori thimble.

thimble

You can see this great thimble in my Etsy shop here.  Others are made out of sterling silver, like this German one.

silver

You can see it in my Etsy shop here.  There are stone, wood, enameled and even advertising thimbles for you to look for.  There are even pottery ones that you could find with different motifs like flowers or birds.

You can see all of the thimbles that I have for sale in my Etsy shop here.  What kinds of thimbles have you run across?

A vintage prom dress for today’s modern gal

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn FashionLeave a comment

You never know what you might find at an estates sale, auction or even a garage sale.  I found this terrific prom dress that’s decidedly from the 1950’s at an estate sale not to long ago.

yellow dress

This wonderful yellow spaghetti strap tiered dress drew me in with what it was made out of–the stiff netting on the skirt.  That netting was all the rage in the 1950’s, and it was found in many colors from yellow to red to even blue.

skirt

What I also love about the dress is the fact that it was handmade by a really good seamstress, it was not store bought.

This really cool one-of-a-kind, eye catching yet attractive formal dress would be perfect to knock any other look way out of the water.  You can find this dress in my Etsy store here.

Where have you run across a dress like this?