Homer Laughlin introduced Fiestaware in January 1936 at the Pottery and Glass Show in Pittsburgh. By the 1940s, 2,500 workers were cranking out 30 million pieces a year. The streamlined, modernistic dinnerware initially came in five colors: red, dark blue, yellow, light green and ivory. Colors changed like the leaves in fall. Turquoise was added in 1937. … [Read more...]
Pewter: The Poor Man’s Silver
In 1635, Richard Graves opened the first recorded American pewter store in Salem, Mass. He supplied the homes, taverns, and churches in the colonies with ladles, mugs, plates, bowls and spoons. Clergymen offered communion from his pewter chalices. Housewives served stew in his containers, and taverns sold beer in his tankards. … [Read more...]
Yale wonder clock in a class by itself
The Yale Wonder Clock is rare. Talk about gimmicks and options. This unusual oak clock is about 7 feet tall. It’s a marriage of clock, music box, coin collecting, and arcade machine. When you insert a nickel-size, stamped aluminum coin lights flash, music plays, and a token drops into a reward cup potentially worth 5¢, 10¢, 15¢, or 25¢. While all this is happening within the case, three numbered tiny reels spin, generating a random number between 000 and 999. … [Read more...]
Hunt for old bottles and flasks digging up great returns
Some of the most desirable bottles were made between 1810 and 1910. Before 1810, few bottles were produced in this country. After 1910, most were machine made. The bottle-making world experienced a revolution in 1903 when the automatic bottle-machine appeared. Within 10-years, the glassblower’s touch became a thing of the past in glass houses. The artistry also disappeared, and that’s why later bottles are of less significance to collectors now (unless they have unusual characteristics like … [Read more...]
Time Marches on with old clocks
Trying to figure out who invented the mechanical clock is like trying to decide who invented the bicycle. There are many possibilities but no one really knows for sure. The first clocks were public tower or turret clocks. They were meant to be heard and not seen, so they didn’t have dials or hands. They were basically automatic bell sounders. Until the first decade of the 19th century, both European and American clocks were products of the craftsman’s shop. Many people were required to … [Read more...]
Lalique glass the most influential glassware of its time
Some artists identify with the mediums in which they work so well with; they take them to the next level. That’s precisely what Rene Lalique did in France with pressed glass in the early-20th century. He turned simple pressed-glass into an art form. Lalique used some of the most influential Art Deco images like the female face and form and immortalized each in pressed and mold-blown glass. Great design was the result in vases, bowls, perfume bottles, clocks and car mascots. … [Read more...]
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