Caring for Antique Textiles

Antique textiles come in a variety of forms.  Textiles include  clothing, scraps of fabrics, draperies, curtains, tapestries, quilts, doll clothes, needlepoint and much more.  I also include the upholstery on my antique chairs when discussing care of antique textiles  

How to care for your treasured pieces depends on many factors, including
size, age, material, and whether you want to display or store the piece for long periods of time.  My upholstered chairs remain on duty for sitting all year whereas my antique table linens are used occasionally  and mostly stored throughout the year.

Whether you use or store your antique textiles there are a few basics you must follow to preserve your pieces.



Before handling antique textiles tell yourself the piece is fragile, exactly how fragile the piece is will become known when you handle it.  Know that silk textiles "melt" and if you see melted silk immediately know to handle with care.

The 3 Basics of Handling Antique Textiles

1. Wash you hands before handling antique fabrics and textiles.  Natural oils from our hands can stain delicate textiles.  The use of hand lotions gives dust a surface to collect and the piece will get stained and require cleaning quicker

2. Keep your food and drinks away for from antique textiles. The obvious reason is the danger of spilling.  Water can create as much damage to a piece as coffee or tea.

3. Remove jewelry especially rings and bracelets that can catch on delicate fabrics leaving torn threads and pulls.  Even a long necklace can create damage to a textile if it catches and pulls on the piece.

 Storing Antique Textiles

1.  Keep antique textiles out of direct sunlight, rain, and any dampness.

2.  Store in acid free containers using acid free paper,  polyester batting.  Cotton sheeting may be used if available.

3.  Do not store antique textiles in cardboard boxes, directly in wooden trunks, or in plastic.

Preserving our clothing and textile heritage

 

When to Seek Expert Advice

1.  Identify the type of material the item is made from, date the item

2.  Before removing a stain

3.  Precautions to take if you want to wear or use the item

4.  Restoring or mending an item

5.  When you suspect insect damage

Till Next Time Stay Well Stay Happy

auctionmom80@gmail.com

www.antiquesattheirongate.com 

                                   

http://www.threadflip.com/Threads

Collecting Buttons Family Fun and Decorating Activities

While I am enjoying the snow this winter, mainly because I can conduct most of my business over the Internet, I have started to think Spring.  That includes thinking about gardening,decorating inside and outside the shop, and what types of new craft items I might want to add to the shop for those who like new items crafted from antiques.

My first stop was my sewing area, where I quickly became engaged in browsing through the many buttons gathered over the years.  Some gained by design for a specific project, others purchased due to the sheer beauty of them, others taken from clothes that are no longer fit for the public eye but with buttons that speak something special to you.

Buttons are mentioned in writings from the 17th Century and there is a record of John Eliot from England ordering three gross of pewter buttons for trading in the New World.

Philadelphia buttons were crafted from brass and became extremely popular in the early 1700s. Buttons at this time were also produced in crystal, glass, horn, beads, and tapestry.  Some finer buttons were trimmed with silver.

Wooden buttons gained in popularity in the 1800s.

In 1851 Nelson Goodyear patented a button crafted of rubber that was rigid enough to make a button.

Buttons of the 20th Century were largely plain with little or no decoration. Darker buttons were more desirable than light colored buttons.  Buttons made before 1920 are generally more collectible than those made after this date.  Exceptions include Bakelite buttons of the 1940s and Lucite buttons of the 1959s.

Buttons continue to be made out of various materials with great variety of decoration and styles.  Buttons can be round, triangular, square, or made to look like a flower bud.  Buttons made for children's clothing offers a fun collecting activity.

Buttons as a collection can be displayed in a variety of ways.  I have some displayed in small glass display case, others are placed in jars trimmed with vintage ribbon and line the shelf in a guest room. I think learning math is more fun when counting bunnies on colorful red buttons!

Button offer a wide variety of collecting choices and endless ways in which to display and gain enjoyment from your collection


 Button collecting can really be a family activity that is fun and requires no special knowledge or    equipment.   

Till next time, stay well, stay happy

auctionmom80@gmail.com
www.antiquesattheirongte.com

 
 
   

Easy and Fun Holiday Cookies Using Vintage Cookie Cutters

Having a family, including me, who enjoys making and eating cookies requires I do a lot of baking for the holiday season.

Thankfully, I have a collection of cookie cutters that was started by my family and gifted to me.  Over the years I have added to that collection through purchases I have made in my travels to antique shows, shops, and auctions.  As newer cartoon and movie characters are made into cookie cutters I have a growing collection of newer cookie cutters featuring characters like SpongeBob, Casper, and Batman.




For the Christmas holiday the cookies remain traditional using the older cookie cutters designed to create cookies in the shapes of trees, stars, reindeer and Santa Clause.

Very early cookie cutters were made of tin and typically had no handle by which to hold the cutter. By the mid 1800's commercial machinery had developed in both the United States and Europe to the point manufacturers were creating and distributing cookie cutters in this fashion. Cookie cutters were offered for sale in catalogs, advertisements. During the first half of the 20th century aluminum and plastic were being used.

These 1940s gingerbread cookie cutters with self handles, have made hundreds of cookies by my hands alone. One year we had a gingerbread man theme tree decorated with more than 100 baked gingerbread men.  When the tree was put away for the season, the kids dipped the cookies in peanut butter and then outdoor bird seed and hung them on the bare tree limbs throughout the winter.  I am not sure who had more fun,the birds who ate the gingerbread treats or the kids who had fun identifying and keeping track of which birds were feeding at their buffet.


We know some shape cookie cutters were made in Germany because they are signed. They were probably made in 1906 or later.We know that others were imported by the S. Joseph Company.

Aluminum Cookie Cutters with Wood Knobs

The oldest known cutters with wood handles are pictured in a 1933 book, Kitchen Guide, The Aluminum Goods Manufacturing Company, Manitowoc, WI.  The cutters are aluminum card shapes with rivets all the way through the handles. The box is labeled “Trump Cooky Cutter Set.” The colors of knobs are known to be black, red, and green.  

A Quick Chronology

• 1750 The cookie cutter existed apart from the carved mold. At the end of the century tinsmiths in the United States begin making cutters.

• 1850 The development of machinery provided for the manufacture of cookie cutters. The first known documented catalog offering cutters is dated 1869

•  1905  Tinsmithing began to wane as cutters were both manufactured in the United States and imported from Europe, primarily from Germany. Advertising cutters were used by companies to proclaim their products.

• 1920  Aluminum cookie cutters were at the height in production.

• 1940  Plastic began to be used to produce cutters.

• 1950  Plastic and metal cutters continued to be manufactured.

• 1970  During this decade, the numbers of different designs as well as choice of styles of design increased. 

          The Cookie Cutter Collector’s Club was founded.

• 1980  Cookie cutters made in Japan gave way to Taiwan and then to Hong Kong. 

• China now is the major producer of cookie cutters for US markets. 

  

 Till next time Happy New Year !

auctionmom@gmail.com

www.antiquesattheirongate.com

Countdown to Christmas

I hope everyone is enjoying the last minute Christmas rush.  This is the time I enjoy most as it really gets me in the holiday spirit.  So many things to do and get ready, that's the fun.  The shop is buzzing and I have opened two new online shopping venues Threads and AntiqueLuvs.  These sites will sell vintage clothing accessories, and unique one of a kind handcrafted items from various talented artisans.  Please stop by, we are adding items daily.

Most of all, I want to thank all of you who have supported us and believed in me this past year.

My New Year Resolution is to continue to bring to you a unique blend of items past.

Family will be joining me for the holidays and I do look forward to a couple of days relaxing and enjoying the company of friends and family.  I wish you the same.

        Merry Christmas

   and

        Happy New Year 

auctionmom80@gmail.com

www.antiquesattheirongate.com

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
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

http://www.antiquesattheirongate.com

            

 

Save The Date Teddy Bear Convention

Artist Doll & Teddy Bear Convention presented by the Susan Quinlan Doll & Teddy Bear Museum Clarion Hotel & Convention Center Near Philadelphia International Airport (free shuttle to the hotel) May 1-3, 2014 Optional Workshops: Thursday 8a.m.-5p.m. Convention: Thursday 5:30p.m. to Saturday 8:30p.m.   This is a super fun convention. Can anyone resist a teddy bear? I'll be providing valuable information on American and German Teddy Bears so you will enter the convention looking and feeling like an expert   Till next time, stay well, stay happy

 Headed to the Lexington Historical Society Antique show this weekend.  I will be bringing along a couple of books that Ken Gloss from the Brattle Book Shop will appraise for a small donation to the Historical Society.  Also on hand will be an appraiser from one of the largest auction houses, again, a small donation to the Historical Society will  take the guesswork out of that piece you inherited and have no idea if it is worth anything.

            

  

Till next time stay well, stay happy