3 Romantic Getaways for Couples

3 Romantic Getaways for Couples

Shopping List for Back to School Supplies

Many schools are opening their doors to welcome back teachers and students from summer fun that is endless until the night before the First Day.  Alarm clocks are set once again, teenage curfews and childrens' bedtimes are scheduled earlier, clothes and backpacks so carefully chosen lay ready for that First Day.

As I prepare the lunches for opening day I reminisce about the differences in shopping for school supplies in todays'  technological maze of connections and the school supplies of an earlier, less technological world.

Ink purchased in small bottles for dipping into an inkwell is not on the list of school supplies today.  School desks of today are not equipped to hold an inkwell.  Most people envision a glass inkwell although they were also made of porcelain, pottery, copper, wood, stone, and plastic. 

Conklin was the company that made the first fountain pen.  Fountain pens enjoyed a were common from the 1800s the ball point pen was invented in 1945.  Today jell pens in all sorts of colors including neon pink, green, purple, are more likely to be found in students' hands than a ballpoint pen. 

With so many schools moving to the latest innovation in personal computers I can't help but wonder if the jell pen and the water clean up colored markers with scents of orange and grape will soon be included in the list of vintage writing instruments and school supplies.

Till next time, stay well, stay happy  

Pink Depression Glass Original or Repro?

Day for a Drive

It was a beautiful weekend to take a spin in the old car.  Not searching for anything special, just packing the computer away for a few hours and taking to the road in search of yard sales, open air markets, and the occasional freebie on the side of the road. 

Technology significantly changed the way folks buy and sell their antiques, collectible, and just plain stuff.  It seems you no longer need to know what you are selling, just a desire to sell and ask a price that is reasonable to the buyer.  All in all, the folks you meet on the Internet and the folks I have met over the years in live selling environments are pretty much the same.  They share a passion for all things old.  Styles change and now there is a big movement called Steampunk. To me this area holds little interest yet it is similar to the recycling of items once used that no longer have a use, and turning them into something of use or at least something that someone is interested in owning. 

I consider myself a restorationist, I would rather restore an item than rework it to look and be something it was not designed to be in the first place.

With water and sandwiches on board we set off to see what the world would show us today that we would long to bring home.

Yard Sale Ahead

We did not get too far from our initial destination when along the road we saw several signs for yard sales. With no where special to be and all day to be there we slowed down to scout the goods.  Lots of plastic toys, plastic dolls, too new to be thrown away yet no longer useful to the child they were purchased for.  We passed on that and moved onto a section of odds and ends of glassware and porcelain.  When looking at glassware one needs to be careful and knowledgeable about how to tell the difference between new and old. 

In some intances it is easy.  You may recognize a pattern or a particular set from some thing you have seen recently in the store or a catalogue.  Maybe you have the same set at home.  Old glass was often not marked, other times the company etched their logo or name. This ususally appears on the bottom of a piece.  I always carry of loupe, a magnifier with built in light, and a small black light   My eye spotted a piece of colored glass in pink.    Ahhhhhh! 


There are fewer and fewer folks around who lived through the Great Depression in the 1930s.  There are many of us who had grandparents and parents who lived through the Great Depression.  Recycling was not born in the 1960s, it was alive and well during the 1930s, born out of necessity.  What has this to do with the pink glassware I was walking toward?

Depression glass is highly collectible, the stuff that was made during the depression, not the reproduction and fake depression glass that is being imported from countries we do not even know the names of.  

 

Pink Depression Glass 

 

The piece above was made by the Jeanette Glass Company between 1932 -1934.  The pieces were also produced in green, which are actually much rarer than the pieces in pink although pink is more collectible.  The name of the pattern is Adam and it is a 9 inch square salad dish. After feeling along the sides of the plate to detect any minor or major cracks or chips I then held the plate up to the light to determine if there were any fine line cracks.  Having satisfied with my "naked" eye, I whipped out my black light and ducking under a table to get some darkness on this sunny day, a scanned the dish with the light.  Nothing!  That was good.

Convinced there was no damage I proceeded to check more carefully the pattern.  You see, repros have differences from the originals.  After examining the size by measuring, looking at the "arrowhead" like lines and seeing what direction they pointed, and investigating the vine pattern, I was certain I was holding an original depression plate.

 

 

After chatting about the weather, as New Englanders do, our conversation turned to the many items for sale.  The seller knew little about what I held in my hand and she gave me a price that I could not refuse.  After paying for my find I looked around a bit more, smiled and waved good-bye while saying it was a great day for a yard sale. 

 

Will my new found old piece of glassware find its way into some new style Steampunk.  Not likely, It will be cleaned and placed in a spot deserving of a pink dish that has survived without scars for nearly 75 years.

 

Till next time, stay well, stay happy.

 

 

 

 

antiquesattheirongate.com 

 

Respect and Friendship: Japanese Ichimatsu Dolls

We live in a throw-away society.  The items we purchase are no longer meant to last a lifetime.  In deed, there is a built in obsolescence to many of our purchases.   Beginning in the 1960s relationships began to be cast away with relative ease as divorce became a more common option when the glow of love was reduced to a cinder.  So how do we instill in our children pride and respect for a job well done and for the family and friends that surround them, for objects that no longer have a use in our technological world? 

I do agree that this is an unusual way to begin a blog about antiques and collectibles.  The first question parents often ask of teachers is "Does my child show respect to others?"  The first statements a teacher will often make of a child pertains to whether the child shows pride in their efforts at learning and whether the child respects the property and rights of classmates.  As a School Psychologist I believe there is much to be learned in understanding the close connection between the early collections of a child and the character of the adult.

   

Childhood Collections

My earliest collections were dandelion flowers which I delivered to my mother.  She loved flowers and there was an abundance in our neighbor' s yard.  I was careful to select the most perfect flowers I could find and was gentle as I presented them  to my mother so as not too damage the delicate yellow  petals.  My collection of dandelions were not very lasting but they were the start of my collecting.  Like most little children we tend to collect things that are close to the ground, things that we can easily reach and carry home.  Some other things I collected were shells gathered at the beach, rocks gathered on walks, and leaves falling from trees in autumn.  To me they were treasures and I felt proud like I had found the riches of the world.

Gathering fireflies during summer evenings was a collecting activity enjoyed with friends.  We quickly learned that to enjoy the light show we had to set our collection of fireflies free.  Lesson learned: respect life else the beauty is lost.

My collection of match books was gathered over a period of years and continues to this day as I experience new dining pleasures with family and friends. With matchbook collecting one learns to be respectful of how to store and present the collection as well as who can be trusted to view the collection to avoid the obvious hazard of matches. 

Some children play with their dolls, soldiers, and action figures which are the universal collectibles of children.  Remember to the plush animals and toys that are sold with fast food.  Unlike the food that is quickly eaten and forgotten many of the toys that accompany these meals and other toys of childhood become the collectibles of adulthood.

So it happened in 1927 when children from the United States extended the hand of friendship holding a doll to more than 10,000 Japanese children.    

Japanese Friendship Dolls

One of the dolls finding its way into my collection was a doll from Japan known as an Ishimatsu or Friendship Doll. 

 

In 1927 the United States sent more than 13,000 blue eyed dolls to Japanese children.  The Japanese children met the dolls with enthusiasm and the dolls were known as Friendship Dolls.

Wanting to return this act of friendship,  Eiichi Shibusawa, a Japanese businessperson and educator arranged to have 58 special dolls made and sent to the United States.

The dolls were 33 inches tall and dressed in the finest silk
kimonos.  The dolls were called Friendship Dolls.  The Friendship Dolls came with accessories including parasols and lacquered chests. 

When the dolls arrived in the United States they toured the country.  Eventually they were placed in various museums
across the country for the public to view and enjoy.

 

With the United States entering WWII, the dolls were packed away and forgotten.  At that time no one wanted to view dolls from a country that had attacked Pearl Harbor.

It was in 1984 that an article was written about a Japanese Friendship Doll being found stored in the Smithsonian that interest was renewed in these dolls.  45 dolls are unaccounted for although the search continues.

Finding Friendship Dolls

A browse through the internet auction and mall sites will likely lead you to find dolls referred to as Japanese Friendship Dolls or Ichimatsu Dolls.  While it is unlikely you will find one of the original 58 dolls, the dolls being offered today are generally of excellent quality.  The dolls are made by master doll artists in Japan who are able to transform shell into pale complexion dolls that rival the bisque doll complexions.  Ichimatsu dolls are also dressed in traditional kimonos make of the finest silk. The boy Ichimatsu dolls are rarer and their costumes are less colorful than their girl counterparts.
The Ichimatsu dolls of today are destined to be the antiques of tomorrow



Till next time, stay well, stay happy