A reader of Inherited Values is in the beginning stages of planing an antiquing trip abroad and has asked me about travel insurance. Since I’ve, unfortunately, not yet left the country for this sort of thing, and never even considered what happens if you get ill overseas (I shudder to think of it now!), I [...]

Those oil-filled pens and other objects with moveable images are called “floating action,” “tilt” or “action” items — or just plain old “floaty” collectibles. These simple but fascinating things have been popular souvenir and promotional give-away items since the process was invented in the late 1940s. Pens are the most common floaty items, but pencils, [...]

Sometimes dealers and other sellers of antiques and collectibles get a bad rap — OK, a lot of times they do, and I’m not going to go into all of that, but… As a collector there are times when your auction lots runneth over and you end up with more than you want (or can [...]

More scans from that antique, turn of the century, Japan travel guide; these are advertisements found in the back of the book. S. Nishimura, “one price silk store,” founded in 1604. K. Kawata, another silk vendor ad, this one targeting “Ladies desiring Embroideries or Drawn Work.” K. Tamamura, “the leading photographer of Japan.” K. Kimbei, [...]

There are many charming and antiquated things of note in this antique travel book titled The Club Hotel, Limited: Guide Book of Yokohama, Tokyo and Principal Places in Japan and I thought I’d share a few of them before this book and map sells. Printed at the “Box Of Curios,” No. 58, Main Street, Yokohama, [...]

Many people collect postcards for what’s on the front… Maybe they collect real photo postcards, or vintage images of animals on postcards, or antique images of cities… Maybe they collect by artist or publisher. But some of us fall in love with what’s on the backs of the postcards. Some postcards were used as contest [...]

Believe it or not, they were free promotional give away drinking glasses. I’d heard that, but until I found this vintage matchbook, I was still suspicious of the legend. This vintage matchbook featuring Gil Elvgren’s “Sports Model” pinup on the cover was from Trackside Super Gasoline (2004 Calumet Dr., Sheboygan, Wisconsin). At the bottom “free [...]

I love ephemera, so I was thrilled to find this pair of vintage travel ephemera from Three Lakes Wisconsin. The first piece is a brochure for Three Lakes, Wisconsin, issued by Three Lakes Resort Association, which has black and white (and color photos), showing the usual outdoor vacation stuff… But wait — what’s this? Three [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Because I’m rather well connected to Kellerman on the Internet, I was contacted by Nick Bannikoff, a graphic designer in Sydney, Australia, who had recently worked on the refurbished Annette Kellerman Aquatic Centre in Marrickville. The centre is now finished, and Bannikoff was was hoping I could help him find quality images to be used [...]

I was so thrilled when I spotted these vintage photos because it reminded me of this recent tweet by TheLarmy: All I have in the fridge is baking soda, camera film and boysenberry yogurt. Anyone got any recipes? I then knew it was the writing staff behind Cougar Town who wrote the tweet — because [...]

So you and your family are driving down the road, on your way to some vacation destination spot, and suddenly a giant dog appears — I mean a huge building designed to look like a dog. A classic roadside attraction offering ice cream, coffee, sandwiches, and, of course, hot dogs. It didn’t matter if you [...]

I love bears. A lot. So I sure would have been lured into staying at this motel promoted by an ad featuring dancing bears — especially when the ad says, “You’ll feel like doing a dance too when you Visit Your Smokies!” But, unfortunately, this vintage advertisement was for the Bearskin Motel. Which doesn’t bode [...]

Andrea Porter, an honors graduate from Fashion Institute of Technology, spent over 14 years working in the textile business until one day she found herself in need of a new coffee table. Unhappy with the current options available in today’s commercial design world, she decided to look into the past and created a coffee table [...]

I just wanted to share this photo of an antique street cleaner because it reminds me of one of my fondest memories. Every Forth Of July, I love watching not the parades, but my dad‘s face. He always has such joy watching the street cleaners or street sweepers clean up all the crepe paper, bullet [...]

The collectibles spin-off show I’ve been waiting for is here: American Restoration. You may have heard about it, sometimes promoted or promised under other names such as Rick’s Restorations and Rusty Nuts (I prefer the title Rusty Nuts, but with the success of American Pickers, I guess the corporate guys figured American Restoration was more [...]

Typically, you grab the knob, turn it to open the door and step inside. How many doorknobs have you had in your hand and not really noticed them at all?  I like the unique, decadent doorknobs made of crystal, glass and metals. I’ve seen especially nice brass doorknobs in Creemore, Ontario. If you look for [...]