My parents will correct me if I’m wrong, but I didn’t have a doll house when I was little. At my grandma’s house, there was my aunt’s old metal dollhouse… And I had Barbie houses and the like. But I never had a real dollhouse, a real miniature world of my own… Until now. At [...]

It’s that time of the year again, when people ask me, “What gifts can I get the collectors in my life?” Some say it’s easier to buy gifts for those who collect modern collectibles; you simply run out and purchase the latest release — and boast to everyone else that you got it, they’ll have [...]

While interviewing the charming and delightful artisan behind I Sew Cute and As Luck Would Have It, I naturally had to ask her if she was a collector too… Someone told me that if you have three of anything, then you have a collection. If that’s true, then I have dozens of collections! I guess [...]

At an estate sale on Friday I grabbed this book, thinking it would have some interesting recipes and tips for my vintage home ec blog. It was $5, which I’ll admit is a bit more than I typically pay for a book I know nothing about… Oddly, there was no table of contents to assist [...]

I know folks like to think I rationalize my compulsion for vintage booklets and magazines, but I think there’s gold in them-there old pages! Today’s example comes from 367 Prize Winning Household Hints From The Armour Radio Show Hint Hunt, circa 1940s, a booklet from the daily CBS radio show. Included in this vintage booklet [...]

Grin: I decided to clean out some desk drawers and filing cabinets. Trash collection is tomorrow and I can’t seem to close some of my drawers anymore. Pick: You never could keep your drawers closed. Grin: I resemble that remark, and blame you for my condition. But to the point, I have trashed some stuff [...]

Hello again, Grin here, Pick is out shopping in one of those bedroom communities where the old stores that once housed the local butcher, baker and bookie, now are home to the crafts crowd, crepes kitchen and bobbles and bangles boutique.  So I’m left to ponder what’s new in our antique world. Wait, is “new [...]

Pick: That was such a fun auction we went to the other night! Lots of variety, friendly crowd, and it moved along quickly too. My favorite thing was the treasure we got, almost a piece of your family heritage! Grin: I started my inspection of the items going up for auction at the far end [...]

This charming antique composition baby doll has a sawdust stuffed cloth body beneath the original stripped cloth outfit. This 12 inch tall antique doll is identified by the EIH © 1911 mark on the  back of the neck. One of the Horsman Can’t Break ‘Em character dolls, the head and face of this sweet antique [...]

Another Blog from Anti-quips – the Collecting Couple Pick: Have you ever looked back and said “boy, I wish I had bought that!” Grin: You’d run out of ink in the cartridge before I could print out that list. P: Oh, really, that many? Give me an example. G: How about that hotel ice bucket [...]

Pick-Let’s talk some more about the antique recycling in our home. Grin-Does that mean you are finally going to clean out your clothes closet? P-No, silly. I mean our “decorating recycling”, things we have saved from a dumpster or land fill by fixing it up and putting it to a good use. How about discussing [...]

As an online seller of vintage collectibles, I hit a lot of garage and yard sales. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. They are really the main way I find inventory, and over time I’ve developed a great system to maximize my results, and to minimize my time and effort. I [...]

This is so ephemeral that I can barely stand it! It’s a paper matchbook… With matchheads of “Stay-Tru” Almay lipstick! I’m not sure why you’d want to sell beauty on the idea of putting a match to your lips, or how these survived (mostly intact; one ‘strike’ is missing), but I love it!

I know next to nothing about hot rods, dragsters, automobilia or even cars in general, but I do recognize the value of vintage car part catalogs, like these Almquist “Equipment of Champions” catalogs, to fans and collectors of such things. And I’ll admit, looking at old hot rod custom sport bodies, kits, 3-D chrome emblems, [...]