Central Kentucky Antiques and Collectibles

Copyright 2010

There has rarely been a more innovative period that the middle of the 20th century, and mid-century furniture and design features for the home made full advantage of the new materials and feelings of release that came as a result of the ending of the Second World War.

However, mid-century furniture design began long before then with the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, well known as an architect, and who adapted the geometry of his architecture to the design of his furniture in unique ways. He was the first designer to use metal for its own beauty rather than adapting it to mimic wood. His rigid designs with straight backs and geometric shapes are true investments for those seeking beauty in their investment in addition to a guaranteed increase in value. He regarded furniture as a form of architecture, and it certainly shows in his designs.

The same concepts were applied to Wright’s ceramics and glass, for example in collectible tiles exemplifying his designs such as ‘The May Basket’ tiles and others, that are just one form of Wright collectible in which many people specialize.

Originals are naturally extremely expensive, but the reproductions are equally beautiful and collectible, such as the Hoffman House Rug design that was never actually used in Max Hoffman’s’ home. This design, again available reproduced in various forms, exhibits perfectly the type of geometry that resulted from Frank Lloyd Wright’s genius and why so many people collect his work and reproductions of it today.

Another designer of the mid 20th century is Charles (and Ray) Eames, who expanded on the ideas of Frank Lloyd Wright while introducing concepts of organic design into his work originating from his observation of the natural world, an approach to design that found favor with the women of the day.

His furniture offered a more rounded look that that of Wright, exemplified by his molded plywood and fiberglass that were designed to support the body without the need for padded furnishings. His La Chaise, introduced in 1948, is a typical example although he later introduced upholstered versions such as the Italian leather Lounge Chair and Ottoman, released in 1956. Each of these offer what many regard as iconic design features of mid-century furniture.

Both Charles Eames and Frank Lloyd Wright pieces are much sought after by collectors and investors, both the originals when they are available and latter day reproductions. However, the period gave birth to more designers than just these, and the mid-century modernist movement is amply represented by designers such as Henry Dreyfuss with his ‘Princess’ telephone and Paul Frankl and his ‘skyscraper’ furniture.

Each one of these took advantage of a thirst for new, fresh and colorful designs to light up the lives of those that had lived through the Great Depression and then the war years with its austere aftermath. Come the late 1940s and early 1950s, the populations of Europe and North America were looking for freshness and innovation, and these mid-century furniture and artifact designers gave them what they demanded.

Mid 20th century furniture and design represented their time: a time of mourning for the lost but also of recovery, and of the frenetic music and dancing, the vivid colors and original designs, and the sheer delight in the freedom of choice that people found they once again had. The ‘Utility’ was replaced by the ‘Contemporary’, now known as the ‘Retro’, but no less amazing and beautiful, and also not only very collectible but also fabulous investments.

Whether you collect originals or simply ‘the look’, this period in history offers a fascinating opportunity for specialization in colors, shapes, articles and designers, and many of them are still manufactured today in reproduced and collectible forms. Nevertheless, many of the modernist designers were very productive, and Americans can find their original work in large numbers of antique stores and markets, private sales and even online auction sites.

Naturally, the Wrights and Eames of the world will require greater investment than those lesser known designers, but the fact still remains that this is a very collectible period in history, both for professional investors and those seeking themed furnishings and decorative articles for their own homes.

The very nature of the designs indicate a stepping out of the shadows of a bleak period of winter in our history into the spring and summer of the 1950s and 1960s with bright and airy designs, using natural and new-found synthetic materials and colorants. The strict geometric appeal of Frank Lloyd Wright, the more organic curves of Charles Eames and the sometimes quirky decorative elements of other such as Dreyfuss and Frankl all combine to offer something for everybody, whether their collections focus on designers, their designs or specific articles.

Collecting mid century furniture and design will always be popular, although, as with all forms of collecting and investing, knowing what to collect and where to look will always be an advantage.

Searching for mid-century furniture designs? Shop in central Kentucky!

Photo Credit - ApplecrossAntiques.com

Some may think that collecting porcelain chamber pots is a pretty outlandish activity, but such receptacles are actually very popular with collectors and can also be extremely valuable. It has been recorded in 1575 that Queen Elizabeth I p*ssed in a silver chamber pot (such vocabulary was normal in those days), and in 1672 a gold ‘pisspot’ was pawned by a well-to-do lady, obviously fallen on hard times.

Pewter chamber pots were common until the 18th century when stone and porcelain became the vogue. No prizes for guessing which class of population used which! Collecting chamber pots, therefore, can offer a fascinating insight into the history and social mores and definitions of the day, whether you are collecting as a hobby or for investment.

Until Thomas Crapper (okay… stop laughing, really) allegedly hauled our waste disposal practices into the late 19th century, the function was carried out by the rich in specially built cubicles round the walls of their castles, and by the common person out the window! Since this could be particularly inconvenient when one was awakened by a weak bladder or bowel at night (and also to passers by!), chamber pots came to be essential items of sanitary furniture, generally stored under the bed for convenience.

For the rich, it would the chambermaid’s duty to empty them, but for the poor – well, they slopped out themselves. Nevertheless, chamber pots took many forms, from simple earthenware bowls to beautifully fashioned porcelain creations that today are prized by collectors worldwide.

As intimated above, the material of construction was determined by the wealth of the owner, and one wonders if they ever compared chamber pots when visiting. The intricacy and decoration of many of these would indicate that they were not simply hidden away, which is good for the chamber pot collector because it led to a large variety of designs and external and internal decoration.

Many are hand painted, and just about every major and minor pottery, ceramic and porcelain factory produced their own version. From Minton to Wedgewood, and Delft to Dresden, the chamber pot was a major component of their range. That is part of the beauty of collecting porcelain chamber pots: it is one means of specializing and yet collecting from all of the major porcelain houses in the world.

Other names given to the chamber pot included the aforementioned pisspot (for obvious reasons), the guzunder (because it ‘goes under’ the bed) and the ‘Jerry’. This latter name came from the appearance of the Kaiser’s head on the bottom of receptacles produced in Britain during World War I, replaced with that of Hitler during World War II. Apologies to Germans, but this is a piece of history that many people collect as specialty items.

While collecting porcelain chamber pots, you might be interested in collecting some unusual versions, and those with lids are fairly common, though miniatures used for a child’s doll’s house can be fairly valuable. If you are very lucky, you might also come across enameled or gilded pots decorated with jewels.

Another aspect of collecting porcelain chamber pots is the commode. The design of chamber pot is not very conducive to sitting on it, particularly those fashioned from delicate porcelain rather than the original clay earthenware. The solution to chamber pots breaking under the user’s weight, with consequently disastrous results, was specially designed chairs with holes cut in them to accommodate the chamber pots. These commodes would be lidded, and the chambermaid would check for use each morning. Not the best job in the world!

There is a form of porcelain chamber pot known as the ‘Bourdaloue’, designed for women. Such pots are designed with an oval or long rectangular shape to accommodate the female anatomy. They are said to be named after a French priest of the same name, whose sermons were so long that women in the congregation would take their chamber pots with them to use under their skirts, but this is probably incorrect.

The term ‘loue’ probably comes from the French L’eau for water, the same derivation for the term ‘Gardyloo’ used in Scotland, (Gardez L’eau – watch out for the water) when residents threw the contents of their chamber pots out of their tenement windows with a yell of ‘Gardyloo’!. This is also the derivation of ‘loo’, used in the UK for a W/C or washroom. Norman French had an influence in Britain for centuries, and still influences the language.

It’s amazing how the original meaning of words and phrases becomes clear when one studies antiques! Collecting porcelain chamber pots will not only improve your vocabulary but will give you an insight into history and also offer you a great deal of pleasure in collecting items that were functional in the full sense of the word, but also very decorative.

Copyright 2010 – Kimberly Clay

When you think of the Kentucky Derby, all sorts of pictures may pop into your mind – mint juleps, beautifully dressed ladies wearing elegant hats, souvenir pins and the laid-back charm of the South. The Kentucky Derby is a time of glamor and glitz and also a great time to increase your collection of paraphernalia and collectibles – just for the fun of it – or as an investment.

This year, Woodford Reserve bourbon distillery celebrated the occasion of the Kentucky Derby by offering “the world’s most exclusive mint julep cup.” Woodford’s collection of 73 silver cups — exclusively designed by Tiffany & Company – was offered on Derby Day at Churchill Downs, and were also available for purchase online at www.woodfordreservemintjulep.com. The cups sold for $1,000 each and all proceeds benefited The Barnstable Brown Kentucky Diabetes & Obesity Center.

You may not want to spend that much on Kentucky Derby collectibles, but there are other bargains to be had. Recently, in an online article on best-selling eBay items, it was reported that vintage Kentucky Derby souvenirs were fetching high price bids, including drinking glasses from the 1930’s and 40’s, selling for as much as $4,000 per glass.

Hats are some of the most popular Kentucky Derby items sold online. They range from vintage hats worn to the big event by society ladies of times gone by to more flamboyant (and sometimes a little weird) hats worn by Derby goers who are trying to out-do each other with their outrageous fashion expressions. Many of these hats are extremely desirable as additions to your memorabilia collection.

Kentucky Derby tickets can also be highly collectible – especially the winning ones. They can be purchased online in groups, arranged behind glass and framed – or, you can purchase one-of-a-kind tickets and start your own framed collection.

Pins of every shape and size are also a great representation of the Kentucky Derby. Festival and Pegasus pins are popular purchases and can be found through online or offline sources in mint condition (still in the box), or in sets displayed behind glass and framed. There are trophy pins as well as jockey and winning horse pins. You can even find a pin depicting the head of Secretariat, one of the most popular horses to ever run in the Kentucky Derby.

Items of Kentucky Derby clothing include girls, men’s and women’s shirts and comfortable scrubs that sport the Kentucky Derby logo. You can wear them to show your support for one of the greatest sports events in the world or simply because they’re fun and comfortable.

Derby hats, pins, glasses, shirts and canes are just a few of the less expensive offerings that can be found. These items can be whimsical, useful or simply decorative – and you’ll own a bit of history besides.

If you didn’t make it to this year’s Kentucky Derby, never fear. Derby collectibles are easily found in many of the antiques shops in and around central Kentucky. And, there’s always next year, so start planning for your collection now! Happy hunting!

Copyright 2010 – Kimberly Clay

There has been an increase in the number of people seeking Star Wars collectibles, and as a result those with rarity value are becoming hard to find. The reasons for this increase are twofold:

a) The production of the latest set of Star Wars movies has given rise to a new generation of fans who have taken an interest in collecting the figures and other collectibles, and

b) As more people become interested and involved in collecting Start Wars items, their price increases and so even more people become involved in their collection. As long as the items remain desirable, it is a cycle that will continue until prices maximize and figures become the domain only of those who can afford to invest.

But, there is still a great deal of fun to be had in seeking Star Wars collectibles, and it is liable to be this way for a good while to come. Those figures that were common yesterday might tomorrow become rare. Not only that, but who knows what rare figures might appear in your next garage sale or local flea market. However, as with any form of collectible, as popularity increases then so does awareness, and with it prices rise and availability becomes scarcer.

So what should you be looking for in a Star Wars figure? Obviously rarity, but also demand. Rarity and demand go hand in hand, and 100 items sought after by 1000 collectors will command a higher price than 10 sought after by 50. Other factors that affect price are the publication of new novels, anniversaries of movie releases and the launch of special editions.

The original figures were produced by Kenner who bought the rights to the toys for the first three movies from 1977 to 1984. A large number of figures, spacecraft, vehicles, weapons and others were produced during that period, and since. The original figures can fetch premium prices, particularly in mint condition in their original boxes. If that box is still sealed, then . . .

Production of Star Wars figures recommenced in 1995, and the collectors and manufacturers have virtually created their own collectibles market. Figures were no longer launched as toys but as collector’s items. Even today, people purchase Start Wars figures to lay down, unopened in their original wrappings and boxes, awaiting the day when they assume a rarity value that renders their owners a good profit.

Those with greatest value are, as always, limited editions and exclusives. Among these are a model of Figrun D’An, made for Star Wars Insider, and real collectibles can go as far as the 1977 Obi-Wan Kenobi cloak, worn by Alex Guinness in the original Star Wars that sold 30 years later at Bonhams’, UK, for the equivalent of $90,000. Not all Star Wars collectibles are toys!

The way to collect figures that might one day make you your fortune is to seek them out at garage sales, flea markets, antique stores and other places where you could conceivably find something of which others might not be aware of its value. However, old, used toys are not worth collecting since most buyers are interested in mint items in the original box. The only exception to this would be an extremely rare item that has value regardless of its condition.

There are few doubts that mint Star Wars collectibles from the original 1977 – 1984 movie series will make better investments than those from the second series of movies, time introducing rarity. However, as the worth of such items have become increasingly more obvious, there has been a tendency for the manufacturer, and even the movie studio, to introduce characters and special editions with a view specifically to make money from their scarcity.

As with any other item that people collect, whether they have been produced with that in mind or not, market prices are dictated by rarity. This being the case, of course, does not infer that those items that are in relative abundance will necessarily be considerably easier on the pocket. Star Wars collectibles tend to have increased in value, and even those who collect them for their original purpose are having to dig deeper into their pockets for items of relatively low investment potential.

Just as great works of art are now beyond the means of the majority of those who would purchase them for their beauty as opposed to their future monetary value, so Star Wars collectibles are becoming the domain of the collector rather than the child or anyone else who would desire them for their worth simply as toys and nothing else. That, after all, was the original intention of their existence, but market forces now work to destroy such innocence of purpose, and such items are now manufactured with investment in mind.

Copyright 2010 – Kimberly Clay

The popularity of Coca Cola collectibles is likely connected both with the longevity of the beverage and also the unique shape that the bottle eventually assumed. It is also fairly ubiquitous around the world, and the brand even better known than McDonalds. The word ‘Coke’ has become synonymous with cola, just as ‘Hoover’ has with vacuum cleaners, and the fact that Coca Cola antiques are highly collectible comes as no surprise.

The distinctive Coke bottle shape was found by serendipity, in that it was intended to reflect the shape of the kola nut, but the artist was just an accountant and got it all wrong using the cacao pod instead. Without the mistake of an accountant, we would have had an altogether different shape of bottle to collect – but that’s accountants for you!

The worth on an old bottle depends on its age, shape, color and the design of the script. The very first bottles were Biedenharn Coca Cola bottles using a Hutchinson patent design. After 1900, however, the bottles were straight-sided with a crown top and had paper labels. They came in five colors of glass, namely clear, green, blue, amber and brown. You will generally pay more for an amber bottle than any of the others, although, as with any antique, the value of old Coca Cola bottles depends a lot on their condition.

The traditional Coke bottle shape, known as the hobble-skirt shape, was patented in 1915 and came into general use in 1917. These had the script embossed proud of the bottle as part of the mold. If you are seeking prices, straight-sided bottles are selling online at under $20 each. Some are a lot more, but the attraction of Coca Cola collectibles is their variety and their history, not their price. Nor are all collectibles antiques, because many people love collecting modern items – it is the name they collect rather than the age.

However, in saying that, it is the older items that most people tend to be interested in. Some will pay large sums of money for very rare items, such as the 50th anniversary cardboard poster issued in 1936 that sold at auction for $2,070 in 2008, or a 35″ x 11.5″ tin Coca Cola sign, selling for $805 in the same year. If you are interested in a price guide, check out Allan Petretti’s Coca Cola Collectibles Price Guide. You should be able to Google it for some useful pricing information.

This will give you information on prices for Coca Cola antiques, including antique bottles and collectibles in general. One 1934 tray is worth anything from $1 to $1800, depending upon the condition. As stated earlier, not all collectibles are antiques.

While most believe that those that are interested in Coke memorabilia must be restricted to bottles and advertising give-aways, this is not true because the company has issued a fabulous range of advertising paraphernalia that reflects the history of the cultural and artistic trends of the time. We can see the art nouveau influence of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the art deco of the 1920s to the 1940s, and the influence of the Second World War.

The posters offer an insight into the optimism of the 1950s, and then the freedoms that came in subsequent decades. There are no doubts that the company is unique in enabling collectors to follow the history of the entire 20th century in the reflection in its advertising of the social conditions and artistic developments of the day.

If you are interested in Coca Cola collectibles, or are already heavily involved in collecting old Coca Cola bottles or other antiques, what should you be looking for now? Who knows what will be collectible in the future, but modern technology has been responsible for the introduction of the plastic bottle, though it is interesting that these are available in both the straight and the hobble-skirt shapes. It is almost inconceivable that plastic bottles will one day attain some antique value, but then again, they said the same when iron and steel replaced the beautiful bronze sculptures of yesteryear, let alone the weapons!

However, back to the original question: why are Coca Cola antiques so popular? Perhaps because there are so many of them at such low prices, and that they indeed do reflect the society of their times. Perhaps because they can be easily categorized into trays, bottles, boxes and advertising posters, to name but a few. Specialization is possible, but not only that: they are colorful after a certain period.

And NO, coke is not an effective contraceptive, it did not become carbonated unintentionally, it has not been poisoned by Al Qaeda, it did not invent Santa Claus, it will not dissolve your teeth overnight and it will not get you high when mixed with aspirin. But, YES, it was once considered anti-Semitic, and yes, it did once contain cocaine.

And YES, Coca Cola collectibles are among the most collected items in the USA, and YES, prices of coca cola antiques can vary in price by 180,000% for the same item depending on condition. Happy hunting and collecting!