KOVELS
Kovels Antiques: Spice boxes were vital item for food safety
Spices were an important part of cooking in the days before refrigeration was available in most homes. Meat and fish were smoked, pickled, peppered, salted or treated with combinations of spices that kept the food from rotting.
By Terry Kovel , July 01, 2011
Kovels Antiques: Ayer’s items remain popular with collectors
Deceptive advertising has been a problem for centuries. The “cures” of Victorian times were promoted with posters, trade cards, almanacs, recipe books, calendars and other testimonials.
By Terry Kovel , April 22, 2011
Kovels Antiques: Unusual articles of furniture often uncomfortable
Should a chair be a “conversation piece” or be comfortable? Twentieth-century designers’ chairs can be either, but they’re rarely both.
By Terry Kovel , April 15, 2011
Kovels Antiques: Collectors pay well for older garden gnomes
Gnomes have gone from kitsch to fabulous since they became animated movie stars in “Gnomeo and Juliet.” But they have been used in gardens since the mid-18th century.
By Terry Kovel , April 08, 2011
Kovels Antiques: One person’s kitsch another’s idea of stylish
"Kitsch” is a term that refers to something that’s overly sentimental or vulgar or in just plain poor taste. Paintings on velvet of Elvis Presley, plastic pink flamingos and hula girl statues were all once considered kitsch – and laughable.
By Terry Kovel , February 25, 2011
Kovels Antiques: Alphabet plates often included strange images
Opinions change with time. Throughout the past 40 years, it has become popular to “think green.” But our ancestors had to hunt for food and killed buffalo, deer and passenger pigeons, making some species endangered and others extinct.
By Terry Kovel , February 18, 2011
Odd ‘whatsits’ made for farm, kitchen use
Unfamiliar objects used by our ancestors continue to confuse and amuse today’s collectors. “Whatsits” were a popular subject on television shows.
By Terry Kovel , January 28, 2011
Kovels Antiques: Role of comfort in furniture has seen changes
Before the 1850s, few chairs were made for comfort. Seventeenth and early 18th-century American chairs were designed with hard seats and straight backs, and few had arms. No slouching allowed. People were expected to sit up straight.
By Terry Kovel , January 21, 2011
Kovels Antiques: Santa’s look has changed over the years
Santa Claus hasn’t always been a fat, jolly man with a beard and a red coat. He hasn’t even always lived at the North Pole. The Santa of today often is called the “Coca-Cola Santa” because he was first drawn in the 1930s for a series of Coke ads.
By Terry Kovel , December 24, 2010
Kovels Antiques: Tin toy market came from rise of middle class
Because the 19th-century industrial revolution resulted in new technology and the creation of a middle class, the invention of tin toys was possible and profitable.
By Terry Kovel , December 17, 2010
Kovels Antiques: Antique censers come in variety of unique styles
A “censer” sometimes can be found at an antique shop, but the word can be confusing. It has nothing to do with a “censor,” the person who decides what is acceptable to be published in books or shown on television. A vintage censer is an old container used for burning incense.
By Terry Kovel , December 10, 2010
Kovels Antiques: Topsy-turvy, upside-down styles popular
"Topsy-turvy” designs, sometimes called “upside-down” or “two-faced portraits,” were a clever idea that found favor in the 1870s and later.
Plates, cups, pitchers, advertising mirrors, advertising cards, vases, comic strips and even books could be made that way.
By Terry Kovel , December 03, 2010
Kovels Antiques: Traditional dining tables have evolved
The last half of the 19th century was a time of creative energy in the United States. Thousands of patents were granted for improvements to household goods, from eggbeaters and apple peelers to vacuum cleaners.
By Terry Kovel , November 26, 2010
Kovels Antiques: Diversity reigns with collectible candy containers
All types of candy containers are popular collectibles – everything from tin boxes to papier-mache figures to figural glass containers.
By Terry Kovel , November 19, 2010
Kovels Antiques: Well-adorned country-store items sell well
Country-store collectibles still are selling well if they’re large, colorful and have unusual graphics or wording. Huge signs made of paper, tin or enamel and giant floor-size coffee grinders are wanted by collectors and decorators.
By Terry Kovel , November 05, 2010
View your ad here! Cost effective targeted advertising.
Contextual advertising starting as low as $79/month. This includes targeted ad delivery and search results!
Add your business to the Marketplace »
RSS Feeds