by Kary Pardy Footage from a 1950s 9-second video shows a grey, boxy machine using mechanical levers to exactly mimic the slopes and angles of a person’s handwriting. Since the invention and popularized use of the power autopen in…
by Kary Pardy Imagine you lived in the 17th or 18th century. Chances are good that you would be surrounded by wooden buildings and that you would be very wary of fire. Firefighting technology at that time involved crews of people…
by Kary Pardy Consider the humble blanket chest: a piece of furniture that might travel with its owners across an ocean or a country. Such a solid, practical item seems like the last place for surprising features, but without…
by Kary Pardy If patterned antique glass has ever caught your eye, you’ve likely appreciated the flowing lines and swirling, ribbed decoration of a “Pitkin” flask. The term “Pitkin” is a more recent collector’s designation that references Connecticut’s Pitkin Glass…
by Kary Pardy Knitting is everywhere recently. Creating warm hats, scarves, wraps, sweaters, and mittens is currently a fashionable pastime for people of all ages, and skilled knitters can create art with their complex stitches and colors. When you ask…
by Kary Pardy Someone mentions taxidermy and a few main themes come to mind: trophies in hunting lodges, decor in rustic cabins, or the old stuffed fox at your grandparent’s house or neighborhood antique store. The practice of preserving dead…
Exploring Antique Technologies by Kary Pardy Most of us in snowy climates have fond memories of racing downhill on sleds, and these memories are not unique to our generation. Americans have been searching for worthy hills since before the American…
Exploring Antique Technologies by Kary Pardy Peabody Essex Museum Russell W. Knight Curator of Maritime Art and History, Daniel Finamore, appears on the museums’ webpage to discuss the appeal of the sea. He argues, “the concept of voyaging is, I…
Exploring Antique Technologies by Kary Pardy It’s no accident that when we think of ephemera, we think of printed materials. Paper, though powerful as a vessel for art and the written word, is not prized for its durability. The very…
Exploring Antique Technologies by Kary Pardy The river that flows two ways, the river of tides, the Great River of the Mountains – The Hudson has inspired countless artists and dreamers but is more than just a muse. From the…
Exploring Antique Technologies by Kary Pardy Balance-based scales appear in the historical record around 2400-1800 BC, in what is now modern-day Pakistan. Their simplicity, however, has led scholars to believe that scales may have been used way before they ever…
Exploring Antique Technologies by Kary Pardy Considered ideal Man Cave accessories for their flashy glow and their connection to popular brands, neon lights made a splash in advertising throughout the twentieth century and have been mounting a comeback. Could your…
