Category: History

What are some of the things that happened in 1912?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn HistoryLeave a comment

Whenever I buy an item to sell, I will find out everything out that I can about that item.  Along the way, I happen to find out something that happened during a particular year.  It could be an item made its debut or even a new fad that came about.

What are some of the things that happened in 1912?

On February 19, Cracker Jack’s prize in every box made its debut.

March 6th saw the National Biscuit Company (better known as Nabisco) sold its very first Oreo Cookie.

April 15 saw the sinking of the RMS Titanic after it stuck an iceberg.  Even after the sinking, the popularity of both the ship and the items related to the ship have been very popular.

December 6 saw the Nefertiti Bust being found at Amarna in Egypt.  The German Oriental Company that was led by archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt found it, and it has become one of the most copied images from ancient Egypt.

The Keystone Cops (also known as Keystone Kops) make their debut in silent film slapstick comedies from the Keystone Film Company in 1912.

This is only a handful of things that happened during 1912.  What are some things that happened that you have heard of?

What in the world is a dummy stamp?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Beginning to collect, History, Paper, Stamps, Tips for the beginnerLeave a comment
image courtesy of wikipedia.com

Many years ago, I attended an auction that sold a huge collection of both coins and stamps.  While I was watching the stamps sell, I heard many different vocabulary words that applies to the stamp collection world, and one of the words was dummy stamp.

So, what exactly is a dummy stamp?

A dummy stamp is an officially produced imitation stamp that is used to train employees.  It can also test automatic machines that dispense stamps.  This type of stamp is usually blank or carry special inscriptions or other distinguishing ornamentation.

In the United States, the Dummy Stamp term relates to test and training stamps.  You will see the term used in the United Kingdom more widely to include the promotional and even sample stamps that are produced by the printers.

Dummy stamps are not intended to be collected, but they do reach the hands of collectors by the postal employees that have access to them.

Have you ever run across a dummy stamp?

What happened in the year 1932?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn History, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

Whenever I look on the internet or a reference book that I have to look for information on an item that I am about to sell, I will run across really interesting tidbits about what happened during a certain year.

It could be the debut of a product, something that aired on the radio or television or even something that was captivating and held everyone’s interest for a portion of that particular year.

So, what happened during the year of 1932?

May 25—Goofy makes his appearance in the Disney cartoon titled Mickey’s Revue.

August 8—American Gridiron football was a demonstration sport of the Summer Olympics in Los Angles.

October 1—Game 3 of the World Series saw Babe Ruth hit a home run over the center field wall in the fifth inning.  This became to be known as the famous called shot by Babe Ruth.

November 7 saw the debut of the first science fiction show on radio.  It was called Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.

This is just a handful of all the things that happened during the year 1932. What are some of the things that you heard of?

What happened in the year 1928?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn HistoryLeave a comment

Whenever I do research on the items that I just bought, I often run across some fun facts that happened during a certain year.  It could be a product that was released in a certain year, an advertising icon was debuted, or even something was invented that we never thought we could do without.

So what are some of the things that happened in the year 1928?

January 1—the first office building with air conditioning opened to the public.

July 9—saw the debut of the Plymouth car.

July 29—Walt Disney creates some test footage for Steamboat Willie.  This footage features the iconic character Mickey Mouse.

The famous British brand of men’s hair styling products called Brylcreem makes its debut.

An accountant for the Fleer Chewing Gum Company by the name of Walter Diemer invents the fruit flavored (and usually pink) Dubble Bubble gum in 1928.

This is just a handful of the things that happened in 1928.  What are some of the things that you heard of?

Josh Tatum strikes!

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn HistoryLeave a comment

In 1883, the United States mint released a new 5 cent coin design.  There was one problem with it—it came without the word CENT anywhere on the coin.

The 5-cent coin quickly became known as the “Racketeer Nickel” because there was a group of people that would gold plate the coins and pass them off as $5 gold coins.

One of the more famous of people to be accused of gold plating the coins is a man by the name of Josh Tatum.  Josh would walk into a store and purchase an item for 5 cents.  He would then pay for it with the gold-plated fake.  Sometimes he would get $4.95 in change, and sometimes he wouldn’t if the clerk knew the actual denomination of the coin really was.

He then would leave with his purchase.  The striking thing about the entire thing was the fact that Josh would not say a single word throughout the entire transaction.

Why is this?  It is believed that Josh was a deaf mute.

The law finally caught up to Josh and promptly arrested and tried him for fraud.  The charges could not stick because of the fact that he did not say a word when the purchase was made, so it was up to the clerk to decide if the coin was worth 5 cents or 5 dollars.

The phrase “Just Joshing you” to this story.

What amazing bits of history like this have you heard?

What happened during the year of 1946?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn HistoryLeave a comment

Whenever I am looking up an item that I have recently bought, I will occasionally run across a fun fact that happened during a certain year.  You never know what you might run across, and I always find what I run across interesting.

Here is what I have run across for the year 1946:

The movie IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE was considered a failure at the box office when it came out in 1946.  What helped make it a Christmas classic was a clerical error that put the film in the public domain.  This let many local TV networks to play the movie for free starting in 1974.

The Cozy Dog made its debut in 1946.  This was the first corn dog on a stick, and it was invented by Ed Waldmire Jr.

The Magic 8 Ball, Lionel Trains with ‘steam’ and even the Streater Steam shovel truck were popular Christmas gifts for 1946.

This is a small handful of what I have run across for the 1946 year.  What interesting tidbits have you run across?

ITEM SPOTLIGHT:  Fenton Grape Leaf pattern pink milk glass from the 1950’s

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Fenton, Glassware, History, Item highlight, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

During the 1950’s, the Fenton Glassware company produced many patterns and pieces.  One of the patterns that was produced is called the GRAPE LEAF pattern.  It comes in many colors like white and pink milk glass to name just a few.

The pattern was made for a couple of years, and one of the pieces that was made in this pattern was this footed decorative plate.  You can tell that it was made by Fenton is the fact that some of the pieces were marked on the bottom of the plate.  If it is not marked on the bottom, one of the giveaways that it’s a Fenton piece outside the pattern itself is by the styling of the handle and the edge that is on the plate.

Even though desert, salad or even Buffalo wings are only a small portion of what you can serve on this plate; it was described by Fenton as a decorative plate (so most likely you will see this item displayed on the top of a piano with either candy or potpourri).

What kind of interesting pieces of Fenton Art Glass have you seen?

What happened in the year 1880?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn HistoryLeave a comment

When I am on the internet looking for some info about an item that I just bought, I often run across things that happened during a certain year.  It’s always fun for me to see what I run across; I never know what I might find.

Here are a few things that I have run across that happened in the year 1880:

January 3 was when Francis Brown, the Irish Jesuit priest that became famous for the last photos of the doomed luxury liner RMS Titanic, was born on this date.

February 2 saw the first electric streetlight get installed in Wabash, Indiana.

March 31 was when Wabash, Indiana become the very first electrically lit city in the world.

November 4 was the day that the first cash register was patented.  It was patented by James and John Ritty of Dayton, Ohio.  They called it “Ritty’s Incorruptible Cashier”.

1880 also saw The British Perforated Paper Company debut a new item called toilet paper.  Not only that, but the English Inventor John Milne also create the modern seismograph.

This is just a handful of what came about in the year 1880.  What are some of the things that you have heard about?

What are some of the things that happened in 1984?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn History, Tips for the beginnerLeave a comment

Whenever I look for info on an item that I buy, I try to find out some things about it (like when it was made, the value, etc.).  When I do this, there are times when I run across tidbits of information that happened during a certain year.

I knew that the Summer Olympics and the Louisiana World Exposition were going on in 1984, and there were some tidbits I saw that were really surprising.

On January 24, The Apple Macintosh was released to become the first mass-marketed featuring a graphical user interface and mouse.

May 14 saw the introduction of the one-dollar coin in Australia.

June 6 was the release date of the video game called TETRIS.  This immediately became popular, and the game has been recognized by The Guiness World Records as the most ported game in video game history (it has been on 65 different platforms as of 2011).

Do you know what really surprised me?  The Chrysler Corporation officially debuted the first vehicles that are to be officially labeled as minivans (I thought this one actually happened in the 1970’s!).

This is a small handful of what happened during 1984.  What were some of the things that happened during 1984 do you remember?

What are some of the things that happened in 1974?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn HistoryLeave a comment

Whenever I am looking for some info on a purchase that I made recently, I often run into some fun info that happened during a certain year.  I never know what I might find—it could be anything from what happened in sports to a little history on Fiesta pottery to even something about coins.

Here are some of the things I ran across that happened during the year of 1974:

The Magna Doodle made its debut in 1974, and there were millions of this art pad sold (this was a decade and a half after The Ohio Art Company introduced an item called the Etch A Sketch).

April 8 saw “Hammerin Hank” Hank Aaron hit home run number 715, breaking Babe Ruth’s lifetime home run record.  Two fans ran onto the field to congratulate Hank on the home run while he was going past second base.

August 8 saw the resignation of President Nixon because of the Watergate scandal.

This is just a handful of what happened during 1974.  What are some of the other items that you have heard that happened during this year?