Tag: History

What were some of the things that happened in 1988?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn HistoryLeave a comment

Whenever I buy vintage items to sell, I will look for information on the internet or in a reference book I have about that item.  I always run across some great tidbits about something else that happened during a certain year.

Here is what I have run across for the year 1988:

May 27 saw the release of Windows 2.1.  This was the first version of Windows to require a hard disk drive in the computer.

June 12 saw Rusty Wallace win the last NASCAR Winston Cup race at Riverside International Raceway.

July 15 saw the debut of the blockbuster movie DIE HARD in movie theaters.

October 20—the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Oakland A’s on this date to win Major League Baseball’s World Series.

December 31—Extremely dense fog created The Fog Bowl game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Bears.  The fog was so dense that the fans could not see the players or the game.

1988 also saw DC Comics run a phone poll asking people to vote on Batman’s sidekick Robin live or die for the famous storyline called “Death In The Family”.

Table Tennis also became a sport in the Olympics.

This is just a few of the things that happened in 1988.  What are some of things that you know happened in 1988?

What are some of the things that made their debut in 1939?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn HistoryLeave a comment

Whenever I happen to buy an item to sell, I will look either online or in reference books that I have to see what I can find out about that item.  It could be anything from a little history about the item or even when it made its debut.

Here are some of the things that I have found that debuted in 1939:

January 1—the Hewlett-Packard Company is founded.

April 14—The Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck is first published.

April 30—The World’s Fair Opened in New York and ran until October 27, 1940.

May 1—the debut appearance of Batman in Detective Comics number 27 and it was released by DC Comics.

1939 saw The Wizard Of OZ hit the theaters August 15 and Gone With The Wind hit the theaters December 15.

This is just a few of the items that made their debut in 1939.  What items do you know of that debuted in 1939?

What are some fun facts for the year 1910?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn HistoryLeave a comment

Whenever I run across an item, I will look either in reference books or online to see what I can find out about that item.  There are times when I happen to run across some fun facts about other items.

Here are some fun facts for the year 1910:

January 10—Joyce Hall founded Hallmark Cards.

February 8—The Boy Scouts Of America are incorporated.

April 10—Halley’s comet arrived in the inner solar system.

July 24 saw James MacGillvray publish an account of Paul Bunyan in THE DETROIT NEWS.

1910 also saw G. Washington mass produce instant coffee and The Tor electric washing machine to become the first commercially available electric clothes washer in the United States.

The Buick 60 Special that was made by Buick made its debut in 1910. These are only a few of the things that happened for the year 1910.  What are some fun facts that you have run across?

Nefertiti and the Whiskey decanter by Michter’s

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Advertising, Item highlight, PotteryLeave a comment

When 1979 rolled around, a whiskey decanter was released and it featured something different, something that you may not expect to be on a whiskey decanter.  The decanter sports the bust of Nefertiti.

Nefertiti?  Who in the world is Nefertiti you say?  She was a Queen in ancient Egypt and the original bust was found in 1912 and has become one of the more famous artifacts that has come out of ancient Egypt.

It has become so popular that it is featured on items like this decanter from Mitcher’s.  When it was released, there was also another decanter that featured King Tut.

When Mitcher’s made the decanter, they really went all out and put a pretty good amount of detail onto the decanter.  It is also striking with the gold glaze that they put on it as well.

You can see the decanter in my shop on Etsy here.  Head on over and check it out!

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 are some of the different types of coins that are made?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Beginning to collect, Coins, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!, Vocabulary WordsLeave a comment

When you start to collect coins, you will quickly find out that there are different types of coins that you can find.  The strike, what it’s made of or even the shape will quickly jump out at you.

Here is a few of the different types that you can find:

Business strike—this is a coin that is produced for general circulation, and you will find it in pocket change.

Commemorative coin—this is either a coin or medal that is issued to honor an outstanding event (like a bicentennial) or even a person (like Booker T. Washington).

Bi-Metallic—this is a coin that has been made out of two different materials like bronze and silver that have been bonded or fused together.

Proof—this is a coin that has been struck on a specially produced highly polished planchets and dies.  There are even proof coins that can be purchased that are struck more than once on the dies to help accent the design.This is a small look at some of the different types of coins that you can find.  What have you run across?