Articles and Interviews on Antiques and Collecting
By Daniel Bean The tale of the Regina Music Box Company is one composed of innovation, initial success, perseverance, and the struggle to remain relevant in the capricious home music landscape of the US at the turn of the century. To fully understand how the Regina music box emerged it is necessary to travel nearly [ ]
By Luke Honey In September 2023, a thousand strands of antique barbed wire, amassed over 75 years by a dedicated Californian collector, sold for $999 on eBay. As the Antique Barbed Wire Society says, Barbed wire has been an integral and important part of the history of the West. First patented in 1863, the invention [ ]
By Luke Honey Automata, best described as self-operating machines, were known in the Ancient World. In 1900, divers recovered the remarkable Antikythera Mechanism an Ancient Greek model of the solar system, dating from circa 87 BC considered the oldest known example of an analogue computer operated by a complex system of bronze gears. [ ]
By Luke Honey Valentine s Day is upon us- the day of love and romance. Americans send out an estimated 145 million Valentine s cards annually- in an industry valued at $20 billion. Yet, despite its modern relevance, the original festival- or feast- of St Valentine has a curious history. The two legendary saints associated with that [ ]
By Patrick Morgan The Barbie doll was first presented to the public in 1959, at the American Toy Fair in New York City. She was priced at $3 and made in Japan for Mattel toys. She would go on to become one of the most iconic American toys of the 20th as well as 21st [ ]
By Patrick Morgan From Shiny Bright Christmas ornaments, vintage 1960’s Aluminum Christmas trees, to blow mold Santa’s, these top collectibles are in high demand this festive season…. Everyone knows at least one person who goes absolutely bonkers over Christmas. You know the type, garland covering every banister, big, life-sized Santa with all 12 reindeer in [ ]
By Alexander Bitar There are a few – if any – things in pop culture history that are more recognizable and iconic than Michael Jackson s glove. Just by showing people an image of the glove, they immediately understand what it is. That s how universal and iconic the glove is. Known as the King of Pop , [ ]
By Ryan Mungia In the late 1930s, as the United States was still reeling from the Great Depression and European countries were bracing for an inevitable clash with Hitler, a group of nine artists from disparate backgrounds connected in Taos, New Mexico based on a shared desire to paint the unseen. Calling themselves the Transcendental [ ]
By Alexander Bitar Imagine a hidden underground location filled with an endless amount of important books and manuscripts on nearly 100 km of shelving, including a manuscript that dates to 809 AD. Sounds incredible? It sure is. Although non-political, the Holy See has been a powerhouse in the world of politics for many centuries. This [ ]
By Alexander Bitar Celebrity-owned watches have proved to be incredibly valuable after setting plenty of auction records in recent years. The Holy Grail of celebrity watches has for many years been John Lennon s Patek Philippe, which has been lost since 1980 – until it was recently discovered. In 2017, Phillips in New York set a [ ]