Collecting News Briefs

Showing posts with label artifacts. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

1883 Pair of Civil war flag stands - Capt. Wallace Foster & Son - "W.R.C." - 16 bids $125 | JJ's Auction ends Wednesday

Lot of interest in these Civil War era flag stands with a makers mark reading: Capt. Wallace Foster & Son and date 1883. I think the mark also reads: Indiana Falls, Indiana

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Collecting: Best Video Game Collecting Site? - Nick and Steve's ...

Collecting: Best Video Game Collecting Site? (Forum post)

RF Generation. The Classic and Modern Gaming Databases.

Nick and Steve's: First off I'd like to say RF GENERATION is the best collecting website out there! I have been on a few sites while I think NintendoAge and SegaAGE are separate ...

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Image by nickstone333 via Flickr

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Meet the thimble queen | queen, simply, many - Burlington Times News

Meet the thimble queen | queen, simply, many - Burlington Times News:

"Blaylock has at least one thimble for each of the 50 states and multiple countries, all the holidays, a Morton Salt and an Aunt Jemima thimble. She has a soda pop collection with Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper thimbles, the months of the year in which her family members were born, and thimbles made from pewter, silver, tin, copper, cedar and even seal skin.

And the thimbles aren’t just limited to the ones in the cases.

“The presidents are in a box,” Blaylock said, indicating the collection she ordered while Bush was in office. She said her Obama thimble is on its way, to make the set complete."

Blaylock’s sister, Blanche Wrenn, is partially responsible for building her thimble collection. Blaylock said she showed an interest in thimbles after a friend brought one back from Texas 30 years ago and started picking them up at yard sales, sometimes scoring five for $1. “Unless you’re collecting them, they don’t mean anything,” she said. Blaylock also began picking up thimbles anywhere she visited, including The Petroleum Museum in Midland, Texas. “Anywhere that I would go that had a thimble, I’d buy it,” she said. Then her sister started ordering from Gimbel & Sons collectibles catalogs, Blaylock said.

Image via Wikipedia

As a thimble collector, don’t forget about other related items, like the original Monopoly thimble game piece, which is no longer in production.

"No one seems to know who actually invented the thimble, but it is believed they were introduced around 7000 BC, at the time when people started using cloth and needles."

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Sinclair Dinoland Waxy-Plastic Dinosaurs - Pavilions & Attractions | nywf64.com

Pavilions & Attractions - Sinclair Dinoland - Page Seven:
Dinoland Poster

Yet another toy that Mother's everywhere threw away by the bucket-full.

Sinclair Dinoland Waxy-Plastic Dinosaurs were distributed all over the country in the 1960s and 70s to promote Sinclair gas stations which used a brontosaurus as their mascot (or if you are a purist - the Apatosaurus). These toys were produced in front of your eyes with portable injection-molding machines that traveled the country to parking lots and proto-shopping malls of the day. The slippery or "waxy-plastic" is likely the result of using a soft plastic with a low-melting point to safely produce the figures with the "Mold-a-Rama" portable machine in any condition. (Oh yes, the days when -rama was used as a suffix, like the ever popular -a go-go as in "Whiskey A Go-Go").

Sinclair Oil Collectable Dinosaurs

Shuttle Tiles for Teachers + Space Food for Schools: Nasa Historic Artifacts | GSAXcess® Home - NASA Space Programs

Space Shuttle Tiles for Teachers

Program Overview
NASA is now offering space shuttle tiles to educational institutions. Would you like to have a piece of history for your classroom or lecture space? Sign up now because a limited number of tiles are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

"Space Food For Schools: A limited number of packaged meals (~350) astronauts eat in space are currently available for schools' and universities' educational use (not for consumption) on a first-come, first serve basis."

How to Apply
Schools may request space food at the "NASA Space Programs - Historic Artifacts Prescreening" Web site. Once at the site, go to the "NASA Artifacts Prescreening Register" block of information to register and receive your login ID and password.

You must first Register to receive a User ID and password. To register you will need the Department of Education's statistics tracking number (an NCES Number if you are a school or an IPEDS Number if you are a University). Just follow the links provided (highlighted text) to obtain the NCES or IPEDS numbers and to register. At the end of Registration, the system will forward your User ID and password via email allowing you to search and select NASA Space Programs Historic Artifacts.

Other Food Information Links:
+ Space Food Fact Sheets

+ Space Food History for Students

+ Space Food [PDF 98KB]

+ Incredible Edibles from Space [PDF 2.5MB]

+ Cosmic Cuisine [PDF 59KB]

+ Space Station Overview [PDF 91KB]

Astronaut Brian Duffy, STS-92 mission commander, samples a beverage during a crew food evaluation session in the food laboratory at the Engineering and Applications Development Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center (JSC).

Collecting relics and religious statuary | SILive.com

Spiritual aspect fuels pastor's saintly collection | SILive.com:

Kateri Tekakwitha, the patron of ecologists, e...

Image via Wikipedia

"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Upon entering the rectory at St. Adalbert's R.C. Church, Elm Park, one is struck by the abundance of statues of saints on display. It's no coincidence that the pastor of the church, the Rev. Eugene Carrella, has been a collector of saints' statues and religious relics since he was a youngster.

When Father Eugene moved to Staten Island from Brooklyn in 1967, he was 9. He lived in Westerleigh and later Willowbrook, where his parents still reside.He became a collector of statues of saints, relics -- which are actual pieces of bone or flesh from saints -- and holy cards at a young age, ever since his grandmother gave him his first statue, of St. Lucy."

Father Eugene hopes to establish a chapel-museum hybrid, in which his relics and statues can find a permanent home. It would be a place "where these relics, statues and holy cards can be properly displayed and the people can come to properly venerate them," he said.

Despite his seemingly large collection, there are still pieces that exist that he is on the lookout for. "One of them is blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680). She was Native American and has roots in upstate New York and Canada."

He says that there are a lot of imitations on the market, especially on-line. A genuine relic has a wax seal and a document with a corresponding seal. "Some people have learned how to create the seal and document and I've come a long way in learning how to tell if (the relics) are fake."

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Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Firefighting memorabilia collector proposed museum - Inland Southern California | PE.com

PASS: Firefighting memorabilia collector envisions starting museum | PE.com | News for Inland Southern California:

"Hammer, 62, has an extensive collection of firefighting artifacts that he has amassed over many years. Old lanterns, ladders, nozzles, hoses, breathing masks, toys, rattles, bells, hand pumps, fire extinguishers and much more are stored in a 2,400-square-foot building behind the Hammer's house.

The fire engines parked at home number nine, and four of them are his. The other five belong to a nonprofit organization, Fire Memories Inc., of which Hammer is volunteer chief executive officer.

Robert and Carolyn Green founded Fire Memories in 1998 in Indio and opened a museum in Washington state. When Robert Green died, his widow was unable to continue the museum and it was closed.

Now, Hammer and his associates at Fire Memories have proposed opening a fire museum at Noble Creek Community Park in Beaumont."

Monday, August 1, 2011

Collecting law enforcement patches - proposed Museum | DesMoinesRegister.com

Museum patches through to police | The Des Moines Register

Dick Draper, assistant museum curator with the Des Moines Police Museum, holds a special patch from Parkersburg that is part of the collection of 1,500 police patches.

"Draper has invested countless hours in locating patches from all over Iowa and putting together multiple displays.

Most notable are the more than 1,500 patches he donated to the museum, located inside the police station, 25 E. First St.

'I do it to keep busy. It's better than watching TV 24 hours a day; that gets old,' he said.

Draper, a retired railroad worker, is a big-time collector. For a decade he has traveled across the state to law enforcement agencies and facilities in pursuit of their patches."

Related articles (& comic relief)

Boy Scout collectibles - 100 kinds of merit badges and the Boy Scout Manual | Post Bulletin

Antiques and Collectibles: 100 years of Boy Scout collectibles - Post Bulletin:

"You can learn about sports, crafts, science, trades, business and future careers as you earn merit badges in Boy Scouts. There are more than 100 merit badges, ranging from American business to woodworking.

“My collecting started around 1978, as I tried to replace the patches my brother had traded,' Dietz said. 'I now have more than 1,000 items.”

Troop insignia, patches and pins are popular with collectors, but out of all the collectible items, the most popular is the Boy Scout handbook.

“I have started to limit my collecting to old uniforms, books, merit badges and trophies,' Dietz said. 'I have two items in my collection that are exceptionally valuable to me. One is a first edition of the first Boy Scouts of America handbook. The other is a full-size, original lithograph poster encouraging the purchase of war bonds for World War I. It is a 1918 poster by J. C. Leyendecker.”"

See more photos at the Post Bulletin

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Saturday, July 16, 2011

$32,000 Miller Twin Pin glass insulator : 42nd National Insulator Association Convention (slideshow) - San Jose Mercury News

The insulator crowd is full of electrifying stories - San Jose Mercury News

Image by DarkFokus2 via Flickr

But it's not about the money or the horse-trading or the backlit jewel boxes shimmering with these increasingly obsolete relics of our heavily-wired past. It's about the stories.

"You won't see people just sitting there behind a table," said Lou Hall, a retired home designer from Fresno and the president of the 1,500-member group, as he led visitors Saturday into the convention floor at the Doubletree airport hotel. "It's a buzz of conversation. It's stories told and retold. Where was that one found? Who did you buy this one from? Did you hear Fred died last fall? What happened to his collection?"

Not really related articles

Monday, July 11, 2011

Kitchen gadgets collection (photos) - North Reading, MA Patch

Resident Works Forty Years in Food Industry - North Reading, MA Patch:

"For the last 35 years, he has been collecting various kitchen items, menus, and antiques. His collection has over 12,000 kitchen gadgets, 1,000's of menus, and hundreds of books."