Columns
These sought-after sections offer expert auction analysis, cultural commentary, and more, adding depth, variety, and a personal touch to every issue. Columns include Gavels ’n’ Paddles, Psychology of Collecting, The Beat, Pop Culture Collecting, Toys from the Attic, and Civil War Collector.
Makes Good Cents: Vintage Gumball Machines
by Douglas R. Kelly All of the debate surrounding the U.S. government’s potential elimination of the penny—a coin with a long and illustrious history—ignores what I think might be the ...
It’s A Cardboard Thing
by Douglas R. Kelly Ironing vintage toy boxes and writing about the process in the February issue of the Journal got me thinking about some of the other boxes on ...
Crumpled Cardboard Toy Boxes: Doing the Ironing
By Douglas R. Kelly On the annoyance scale, there are probably worse things than a creased/wrinkled/crumpled box. I just can’t think of any at the moment. Finding a great vintage ...
Rubber Toys
by Douglas R. Kelly Best to get this out in the open, right off the bat: I’m not a rubber toy person. Over the years, I’ve owned a total of ...
Toy Sleds: Just One More Run
by Douglas R. Kelly When my editor, Judy Gonyeau, pinged me a while back and told me that toy sleds might make for a fun topic for this Holiday issue of ...
Paper Trail
by Douglas R. Kelly Given the time and energy we spend pursuing antiquities and artifacts, it’s kind of surprising to me that we have a tendency to give short shrift ...
Collecting Collectoys
by Douglas R. Kelly Louis Marx is never far from my mind. I didn’t know the man, but his company made so many cool and wonderful toys in the 1930s, ...
Summertime Scores
by Douglas R. Kelly Seems to me it doesn’t get much better than going on a summer vacation. This year, with family and job commitments, mine has been limited to ...
Out of This World Toys
by Douglas R. Kelly Science fiction movies made during the 1950s are among life’s greatest pleasures for at least two reasons. One, we didn’t know as much—as individuals or as ...
The American Sign Museum
American Sign Museum (ASM) follows the creation and innovation of commercial signs and sign-making from 1870 to today. This 20,000-square-foot museum brings visitors through the ages of technology and design ...
Micro Signage
by Douglas R. Kelly My great friend of many years, Renny Schoonmaker, likes to call these kinds of things “go-with items.” These are the displays, the ads, and the accessories that ...
Doing The Rounds
by Douglas R. Kelly If there’s an alternate me in a parallel universe, he may just be a milkman doing his rounds in a Divco milk truck. Not that I’m a ...
Hubley Manufacturing Company
by Douglas R. Kelly Hubleys have been pushing their way onto my radar screen lately. Over the years, I’ve more or less pursued the Pennsylvania-based toy maker’s “Real Toys” series ...
Wanted: All the Funny Pages – Bill Blackbeard, Funnies Collector
by Judy Gonyeau, managing editor Imagine trying to gather all the grains of sand before the next wave hits the beach and takes them all away. This was the mission ...
The T in Tinplate
by Douglas R. Kelly Most people familiar with automotive history know that Henry Ford’s Model T put America on wheels. In fact, the T changed the course of history, being ...
A Bird in the Hand
by Douglas R. Kelly American toys that are made in Asia are nothing new. Over the last 35 years, many American producers have switched production to China. Before that, Japan and ...
Coin Banks: Cold Hard Cash
by Douglas R. Kelly Strange, but I don’t remember ever owning a piggy bank. What I did have growing up was a plastic bassett hound bank, which I’ve since learned ...
British Americans
By Douglas R. Kelly There’s an old saying among collectors that is more than just an old saying: “It’s not so much the toys/paintings/table clocks that matter … it’s the ...
Prize Power
by Douglas R. Kelly Who doesn’t like winning prizes? Real prizes, that is, the good stuff … a jumbo stuffed animal at the carnival, or a cool treasure you pull ...
Wishful Thinking
by Douglas R. Kelly You’d think I’d know better by now. I’ve been hunting and grooving on vintage toys for more than 40 years, and I’ve learned my share of ...
The National Museum of Funeral History: The Heritage of Death Care
While not a favorite topic for discussion, “death care is one of man’s oldest professions,” according to Robert L. Waltrip, an undertaker turned collector on the topic. In 1992, Waltrip ...
Upholstery Across the Ages
by Leif Johnson, TLC Upholstery, Palmer, MA, interviewed by Judy Gonyeau The true beginnings of upholstery took place in Ancient Egypt. Animal skins and dressed leather was stretched across a ...
One Hundred Years of American Trunk Innovation
By Paul Norton Trunks and travel articles tell a story of adventure and intrigue. The impulse to travel—into town or overseas—required bringing along one’s necessities. As 18th and 19th century ...
The Courting Chair
by Judy Gonyeau, managing editor When two were courting in early 19th century France, Victorian England, or during America’s Gilded Age, maintaining one’s perceived virtue was paramount. Keeping a pair ...
Street Clocks & Their Restoration
By Eric Ryback, restorer and owner, Saint Louis Street Clock Company “I never wore a watch. I always depend on public clocks, and stores have clocks, but that is strange.” ...
