Articles


Subscribe to RSS feed

Collecting Metal Lunch Boxes

Vintage Lunch Box

Vintage Lunch Box

There was a time when almost every child carried their lunch to school in a metal lunch box. The idea of a lunch box has been around since the early or middle 1800’s. During the Victorian age, manufacturers began to produce tin food containers that resembled lunch boxes. Once the containers were empty they were used to carry lunches and other items.

The thermos bottle came along in 1903 and made the perfect partner for lunch boxes. And, by 1935, Mickey Mouse had became the first licensed character to grace a metal lunch box. In 1950, the television industry kicked off a long line of character lunch boxes. (more…)

Related Articles:

Collecting Vintage Metal Signs

Vintage CocaCola

Vintage CocaCola

Vintage items just have an attraction that modern day products can’t match. Whether it’s for the memories or the old world style, vintage items just have a whole different personality than new ones produced today. And, vintage signs are no different than vintage glass, toys or other collectables.

Vintage signs carry a piece of history from a much simpler life time. They were made of tin or metal and were either stamped or painted to promote products that ranged from drinks and food to car oil and gasoline. The advertising was plain and simple and generally only one line slogans that caught on and became synonymous to each specific product. (more…)

Related Articles:

Collecting Vintage Bank Notes

1901 $10 Bison

1901 $10 Bison

While coin collecting has been a widely popular hobby for decades, until recently paper money wasn’t quite as popular. There still aren’t near as many collectors of paper money as their is of coins, but it is becoming more popular every year.

Most collectors fit into one of two categories, either they collect only U.S. currency or they collect paper money from around the world. Some collectors concentrate on specific time periods such as World War II or the Civil War era. While other collectors search for specific designs such as animals and political figures. (more…)

Related Articles:

Collecting Avon Bottles

Vintage Avon Bottle

Vintage Avon Bottle

At 16, David H. McConnel was a door to door salesman that sold books. He wasn’t seeing much success in sales and began handing out samples of perfume he’d created as a way to entice women into purchasing books. The perfume became so popular, that many of the women didn’t want to use any other kind. In 1886, he founded the California Perfume Company and began manufacturing his perfume in a 500 square foot office.

The company quickly grew and by 1897, he’d built a 3000 square foot laboratory and by 1928, yearly sales had totaled $2 million! The company became Avon Products Inc. in October of 1939 and in 1954, yearly sales topped out at $55 million. Today, Avon is sold worldwide with sales averaging $8 billion! (more…)

Related Articles:

Collecting Carnival Glass

The much loved iridized coating that creates carnival glass began appearing in the early 1900’s. Carnival glass is pressed with the use of a mold. Iron molds are used to create the beautiful patterns while the glass is in molten form. Once cooled, metallic salts are sprayed onto the glass that gives it the wonderful multi-color coating.

There are other types of glass that is iridized, some date back for thousands of years. Many of these old pieces were merely iridized from chemicals found in the soil in which they were buried for centuries. But, the manufacturing process of carnival glass didn’t start until Fenton began producing the pieces in 1907. (more…)

Related Articles:

Collecting Vintage Christmas Ornaments

Vintage Christmas Ornaments

Vintage Christmas Ornaments

Vintage Christmas Ornaments: A Collection of Christmas Past

Even if you don’t consider yourself a collector, you probably have a collection of Christmas ornaments! Anyone that celebrates the Christmas season generally has several boxes of their favorite ornaments that they’ve had for years.

From a baby’s first ornament to an ornament you received as a gift, most ornaments hold some type of sentimental value. And, if you love Christmas and love decorating for the holiday season, collecting vintage Christmas ornaments would be a great hobby for you!

Vintage Christmas ornaments make such a great collectable because unlike many other items that are for display only, they can actually be used during the holiday season. The history and nostalgia of vintage pieces can add so much to the beauty of the tree and the traditions of the season. (more…)

Related Articles:

Collecting Vintage Postcards

Vintage Postcard

Vintage Postcard

Collecting Vintage Postcards Is The Third Largest Hobby!

Collecting vintage postcards is a much loved hobby enjoyed by people around the world. Postcards rank as the third largest collectable items in the world, only being surpassed by stamp and coin collecting! The proper name for postcard collecting is actually deltiolgy.

For years it was thought that postcards were first offered for sale at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois in May of 1893. These postcards depicted views of the Exposition and the surrounding buildings. They were sold as both advertisements and souvenirs. (more…)

Related Articles:

Collect a Piece of History With Antique Guns

Antique Firearm

Antique Firearm

Guns have had a pretty extensive and sorted history. They’ve saved lives and taken lives as new frontiers were settled. They’ve won wars and fed families on daily hunts. They’ve made their mark forever in history and have been around for centuries.

At one time there were few families that didn’t have at least one gun, survival literally depended on it. Today, guns have became much loved and sought after collectors items. And, with many guns being valued at thousands of dollars, they’re also being purchased as investments.

(more…)

Related Articles:

Collecting Vintage and Classic Records

Vinyl 33 1/3 LP Record

Vinyl 33 1/3 LP Record

Technology may keep advancing and cassettes might get replaced with CDs, but the old vinyl LP’s won’t ever go out of style! For many people the sound of the old records just can’t be matched by anything else!

Collecting vintage and classic LP’s started for many when they were still teenagers. From buying the newest release when they first came out, to scouring yard sales, flea markets and thrift stores, those collections have continued to grow through the years!

(more…)

Related Articles:

Fast Food Toys Aren’t Just For Kids

McDonalds Happy Meal

McDonalds Happy Meal

Anyone can be a big collector of fast food toys, but the simple truth is that most avid collectors are grown ups! With every new movie, video game or comic book a new toy shows up in one of the fast food chains. And, each one quickly becomes a much loved collectable for someone. 

These cute little toys started out as a lure to get children to ask for the restaurants kid meals. But, adults are often seen buying these small portion meals just to get another toy to add to their collection! The small toys quickly became the biggest advertising gimmick in the world.

(more…)

Related Articles:

« Previous Entries

Categories