This is a photo of my dad, aka the Grinnin’ half of Inherited Values own Antiquips, aka The Dean. It was taken at the Elkhorn Antique Flea Market by Urban Flea Marketer, the photo-blogger of You Bought WHAT?! From Who?. My dad’s story from her post: I mean, he was just cute. He was totally [...]

This is a vintage snapshot or photograph storage tip from Edward O’Connor of Mineola, NY, I found published in Household Help, Fifth Series of Hints & Time Savers for the Home (offered by New York’s Picture Newspaper and published by News Syndicate Co., Inc., 1966). The tip reads: Before storing snapshots, classify them according to [...]

Since I love all things pertaining to women’s history, from kitschy to suffragette, I’ve become smitten with these eight female figures in a suffragette band: I’d never seen anything like them before, so here’s what the seller, dahntahntoys, has to say about them: 54 mm solidcast women’s Suffragette Band by Charles Hall, bought in 1970s [...]

Until I spotted this vintage image of a girl doing the twist, I’d never really paid much attention to “Lenticulars” — partly because I didn’t know they even had a name. (We just called them “those plastic image things that wink or move when you tilt them.”) This particular Vari-Vue Lenticular was available for free [...]

1.) In Share & Share Alike: Why Posting Your “Junk” Is Worthy Of Your Time, yours truly (at one of her other blogs) shares an incredible example of why people should post and write about their collections and collectibles online. 2.) The Ephemera Society of America has posted a call for papers for presentation at [...]

The seller of this real photo photo postcard (RPPC) featuring two children with a rocking horse, says it’s from Central Pennsylvania, circa 1910s. You can’t help but wonder if the older sister is wishing she was still young enough to ride, rather than watch the younger child on the porch. *wink* Image via Lynnstudios.

One of the most fascinating areas of collecting antique and vintage photographs are those images showing the interior of shops and retails stores — like these real photo postcards, circa 1907. Notice the well-dressed help and the tin tiles on the walls; the fine array of items, such as china in the display cases, the [...]

Last Tuesday, August 2, 2001, Picker Sisters aired on the Lifetime Television. (If you were confused by the ads showing American Pickers Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz promoting the show on the History Channel, that’s because both Lifetime and History are part of A&E Television Networks — but that really didn’t help those who went [...]

Over at Crazy Suburban Mom, Tracy wonders what to do with antique printer’s trays. Is it best to hang them or set them on something – And do you set things in them or attach them inside the little boxes? I’ve seen them painted but I really don’t want to do that… I’d love it [...]

My hubby, Derek Dahlsad (who I continue to try to get to write here at Inherited Values) had another one of his stories on NPR’s Dakota Datebook today. Nail Picking In Langdon, 1931 is the early story of dirt roads and automobiles — and the magnetic vehicles used to keep the roads clean for tires [...]

Last night, Melissa Harris-Perry was the guest host of The Rachel Maddow Show and the Best New Thing segment was about scruffy mutt named Owney. Owney was the nation’s most famous canine, riding with Railway Mail Service clerks and mailbags all across the nation from 1888 until his death in 1897. And Owney was a [...]

Have you ever thought about the painted backgrounds in antique and vintage photographs? No?  Me neither. Not until I read The Painted Backdrop: Behind the Sitter in American Tintype Photography, by Jim Linderman (with an essay by Kate Bloomquist), that is. In fact, the story of and between 19th century painters and American photography really [...]

If you’re like me and enjoy collecting and have a creative streak, you’ve probably faced the issue of balancing your delight in making things with your collector’s desire to keep the integrity of your antiques and vintage items. While this clash of interests often presents a quandary for all artsy folk who collect, my primary [...]

No, this stunning vintage yellow nylon nightgown isn’t an actual prop, but it does have ties to more than pom-pons — it has ties to television. This vintage nightgown or peignoir wasn’t worn or, to my knowledge, used on the set of TV’s Bewitched, but one just like it was! In fact, Lucie Ann lingerie [...]

Not everyone has to have a wonderfully fully registered private library with first editions in a specially designed humidity controlled room. That’s my favorite bit of advice from Advice to New Book Collectors from Other Book Collectors (which continues in part two) over at Private Library. Maybe I love that comment so much because it [...]

At Bluebird Gardens, Charlotte Ekker Wiggins answers the question, “If I buy a vintage quilt top, and then quilt and finish it, does this reduce its value?” And I just love how she answers: If you are asking if a quilt’s appraised value will change; yes, it will. In general, the appraised value of a [...]

The following tips and scans of vintage hunting gun charts and guides come from The Standard Book of Hunting & Shooting, edited by Robert B. Stringfellow, copyright 1950, Stackpole & Heck, Inc. They are shared here to help gun collectors. (I’ve also posted some vintage hunting decoy designs from this book here.) Various types of [...]

If you haven’t already heard of Listia, let me introduce you to your next obsession. Listia is a relatively new kind of online auction site — where you bid on other people’s stuff using credits instead of real money. We make it easy for you to give away stuff you don’t need anymore and get [...]

Today is my birthday, so here’s one of my favorite vintage greeting cards to celebrate. I seriously have a thing for flocked vintage cards — and horses. So this red flocked card of a stuffed toy horse quickly caught my eye. The inside reads: This horsey’s stuffed with wishes and here’s what he’s going to [...]

An interview about collecting Frankoma and other vintage decorative pottery with Molly Ives Brower, aka The Vintage Reader. How and why did you start collecting Frankoma pottery? Was it, at first, just part of decorating the house? When I was in high school I started going to the Tulsa Flea Market with my mother every [...]

I spotted this clever display at an antique mall and I thought it would be great for use in the home too: a simple vintage wall shelf, with the vintage postcards in the little spaces for knick knacks — the vases and glassware keep the postcards upright. Wouldn’t it be great to pair travel postcards [...]