Stop by to view our newest collection of handcrafted tree ornaments
Till next time stay well, stay happy
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Thoughts for the Season
A Thanksgiving Wish
As our family remembers it's blessings and gives thanks this season, we extend best wishes and thanks to you and your family. It's time to step away from our desks, connect with family and friends for the long weekend and smile.
Till next time, stay well, stay happy
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Collectible Antique Silver for Your Holiday Dining
Decorate Your Holiday Table in Silver
The Victorians adored gadgets and were eager to adopt the latest technology. Their love of gadgets is also evident in the number of eating utensils. A proper Victorian dinner table was set with a felt cloth to protect the table from heat and a clean white damask cloth. The damask cloth was removed before the dessert course was served. Place mats with an otherwise uncovered table were never used at dinner, although they were acceptable for lunch. This permitted the highly polished table to show.
The Victorians developed tools, including a variety of eating utensils for every imaginable food. There were grapefruit spoons, oyster dishes, bone dishes, knife holders, pickle casters and more.
Antique Silver Pickle Castor
Pickle castors were produced in a variety of colors and decorations. Jars were made of glass and the frame was cast in silver The set included a silver fork to gather the pickle from the jar. When not in use, the fork hung on the frame.
Condiment sets were another standard item on the Victorian table. Condiment bottles were made in various colors of glass. Some sets included several different types of bottles for various condiments whereas other sets included bottles for two condiments. The bottles rested in a silver frame.
Antique Condiment Set
Not all Victorian serving and eating utensils were silver. Pieces that are silver are often marked .925. This indicates the piece is sterling silver, the kind that tarnishes and requires polishing every so often. However, it is primarily an American tradition to mark sterling in this way, and not all manufacturers marked their sterling. In England it is common to find sterling silver unmarked and marked with the manufacturers mark, such as a lion or family crest. British silver markings also identify the piece by town, date, and duty mark.
Silver tongs will be necessary if you are serving coffee or tea with sugar cubes rather than sugar packets tucked into a bowl, at least let the bowl be silver! If you are serving fish, there is a fish slice which is shaped like a large kitchen knife.
The egg frame is another interesting piece. The egg frame was designed to hold a breakfast egg and spoon. Grapefruit and orange spoons were designed with pinched end and serrated edges to allow for removing the sections of the fruit with ease and without squirting other guests! Another interesting spoon is the mote spoon.
The mote spoon is a large perforated spoon used to remove berries from juice. Smaller versions are still made today.
Silver Mote Spoon
I find the world of antique Victorian silver fascinating. Between now and the holidays I will be on the lookout for interesting pieces I will bring to my holiday table
Christmas Dinner Menu
from Godey's Lady's Book, December 1890
Raw Oysters
Bouillon
Fried smelts
Sauce tartare
Potatoes a la Maitre d' Hotel
Sweetbread Pates
Peas
Roast Turkey
Cranberry Sauce
Roman Punch
Quail with Truffles
Rice Croquettes
Parisian Salad
Crackers and Cheese
Nesselrode Pudding
Fancy Cakes
Fruit
Coffee
Bon Apetit!
Till next time stay well, stay happy
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Exciting Childhood Hobbies
Raising the Next Generation of Antique Collectors
Children are natural collectors.
A leisurely walk often results in a varied collection of weeds, pebbles, leaves, twigs, and bits of gum wrappers that sparkle in the sunlight, being gathered up. And what mother has not shrieked with delight when her child returns from a walk in the woods with a critter found wiggling from under a rock!
A family day at the beach can yield buckets of collectible delights. Seashells of varying shapes and colors, driftwood, and seaweed washed ashore, even the very sand of the beach if held tightly in tiny hands to show what treasures have been found. If you are really lucky you may find a message in a bottle tossed into the ocean years before by an unknown friend.
Childhood Collecting in the 1900s
In the 1900s boys frequently collected buttons, books, stamps, pictures, pens and pencils, stones, marbles, railroad timetables, bats and balls, neckties, scarf-pins, tickets, tops, rulers, and shoe-laces. Girls collected dolls, ribbons, shells and spoons handkerchiefs, cups and saucers, calling cards and lace and sewing thimbles.
Free Choice Generation of Collectors
In today's world boys can collect dolls and girls can collect trains. This free-choice collecting allows our children to experience a variety in collecting, handling, arranging and classifying their collected items. When engaging in their collections children are animating and empathizing in make-believe adventures that encourages creativity, logical thought, and developing social relationships with peers.
When purchasing gifts for your child this holiday season remember- you may be sparking an interest that leads to the start of a hobby for your child. We have all heard or read stories of famous personalities who relied professionally on their leisure collections for inspiration, knowledge, and skills. Here are just a few examples.
- Notable scientist Charles Darwin became interested in studying nature when as a child he collected bugs.
- Physics Nobel Prize winner, David Lee, collected bugs, railway time tables, and meteorological charts
- Acclaimed novelist Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita and many more books, collected butterflies
Encouraging Your Young Collector
Visit museums, art galleries, zoos, living history sites
Let your child accompany you on shopping trips, even better if they include antique shops
Read, watch, talk about books, videos, and movies you watch together as a family
Share your childhood experiences with collecting, better still if you have your collection to show your child
Start a collection with your child, it can be of action figures, books, cards, anything your child finds interesting and is age appropriate
" if you have two of something you have the start of a collection"
Till next time, stay well, stay happy
Friday, November 15, 2013
Essential Gifts for Your Favorite Antique Collector
Here are my top 5 essential stocking stuffer picks for antique collectors.I don't go anywhere without them.
In my early days of yard sailing I was hunting for fun, purchasing items that I could repurpose or include in a unique way in my garden. Some of the time that meant purchasing an item that had obvious flaws, such as a clock that did not work, or a plate that had a chip During that time period I relied on my sense of sight and touch to determine the presence of damage to items of which I had an interest.
As I started to attend auctions I was no longer buying for myself. I was purchasing items that I liked and that I hoped someone would purchase from me. That required a few tools of the trade to determine the condition of items that might be damaged but to the unaided eye looked fine.
My 5 Essential Gift Choices For the Antique Collector
Magnifying Lens/Loupe
These come in various sizes and levels of magnification. They are essential for looking for any type of hairline crack, chip, clarity in porcelain, jewelry, glass, dolls, even checking engravings in jewelry, and any small print like copyright dates, jewelry grading, size.
Tape Measure
A definite need, if you don't know how wide or deep your car is. This information is good to know when you are purchasing at an auction or estate sale and you must move the piece immediately. It helps to measure the piece before you buy so you will know whether it will fit in your vehicle. Measuring porcelain is helpful as reproductions are not the size of originals. Many folks have learned the hard way when purchasing the Little Red Riding Hood Cookie Jar.
Black Light
The black light flashlight is especially good for detecting hairline cracks in porcelain, porcelain dolls and in determining whether there has been any restoration to a piece.
Different paints will show up different colours. A picture sold as an original may be made from a digital reproduction and the black light will let you identify this deception.
What is really great is blacklight lets you know if you are looking at original Vaseline glass as that glows in the dark under black light-- so cool.
Magazine Subscription
What ever your collector is into collecting there
is bound to be a magazine devoted to the subject.
Price Guide of Choice
Price guides can be purchased in various forms. Membership to a collecting organization, for example, English Import Pottery,ususally have price guides and appriasals for their membership. Other options include online subsciption price guides and price guides for e-readers or print books.
Till next time, stay well, stay happy.
www.antiquesattheirongate.com
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Gifting Your Antique Loving Chef
Thanksgiving is a quick peek around the corner.
If you are the chef planning a dinner for family and friends at your home, consider my list a wish list. Leave in a prominent spot in your home, the refrigerator works well in my house as it is a high traffic area, for all to see as they are seeking nourishment for a marathon day of holiday shopping.
If you are the guest, an early cookbook is a perfect gift for your antique loving chef.
Antique Cook Books
Your chef may not need another cook book; however antique loving chefs adore early cookbooks. The earliest cookbooks arrived from Britain, but it was not long before settlers in America began producing cookbooks for dishes made from ingredients indigenous to their new homeland.
Consider an early American cookbook from a favorite city. For example, The Approved Recipe Book, 1839, New Jersey; The Family's Guide,1833, New York; New Bedford Practical Recipe Book, 1859, Massachusetts.
Cookbooks from the 20th Century were often created by companies who provided recipes using their ingredients. Companies including Jello, Gerber Baby Foods, Durkee, and Knox Gelatin are just a few companies who highlighted their product in a recipe book. Prices for such recipe booklets, as they were often paper covers, can typically be found for $20.00 dollars (USD) and under.
The Boston Cooking School Cookbook continues to be highly prized as is was when it was produced in 1896. Fannie Merritt Farmer published the first edition of this classic using $300.00 of her own money.
Care and Display of Antique Cookbooks
Old paper is fragile and once torn or creased or faded, devalues the book. Take these precautions to preserve value, looks, and readability of books and paper.
You will want to keep your old cookbooks out of sunlight, free from dust and damp. An ideal way to display your collection of antique cookbooks would be to place them in a glass front cabinet. You can easily replace the front of one of your kitchen cupboards with glass, display in a china cabinet or small display table that has an enclosed top made of glass.
Other options include wrapping the book in acid-free, UV-resistant plastic book covers. Doing so will protect the any type of book cover from the oils on your hands, from dust, and over-handling.
Gifting and collecting early cookbooks can be affordable and fun. You may even discover an amazing delicious new recipe!
Till next time, stay well, stay happy
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Holiday Open House
A bouquet of warm thank you's to everyone who attended our Holiday Open House
The cider was refreshing and the cookies were a delight to look at, even better to eat
Congratulations to Samantha W from Whitinsville who won a Holiday Gift Certificate
I am busy decorating and searching for unique treasures to meet your holiday gift giving needs
Till next time stay well, stay happy
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