Innehållsförteckning för November 20, 2019 från Kovels Antique Trader

CLEVELAND, Ohio – A uniquely American collection of historical amusement park artifacts, led by a steam fire engine, are coming to Gray’s Auctioneers in Cleveland. The artifacts are being deaccessioned by venerable amusement park Cedar Point to make way for a new collection that will debut in 2020, one of the many events which will mark the park’s 150th anniversary. The auction on Monday, Nov. 18, features 160 lots of vintage arcade games, antique trains and fairground amusements, as well as locally relevant historical artifacts. Highlights include an American-LaFrance steam fire pumper built for the Greensboro, North Carolina, Fire Department in 1904, which has an estimate of $150,000-$250,000. It is a horse-drawn steam pumping engine built shortly after the merger of the American Fire Engine Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, and…

This is a question all antiques dealers should ask themselves: do you have products looking for a market, or do you look for products that fit your market? Most of us in the antiques business are product-focused rather than market-focused. When we are out picking, we look for unique items that we can buy low and sell high. Who might buy an item is usually an after-thought. This methodology is commonplace in the antiques trades. Joe Willard, author of The Pickers Bible: How to Pick Antiques Like the Pros suggests that our antiques inventories are harvested. He once wrote for Antique Trader: “The fact is, the majority of the inventory that many dealers have originated from the front lines of picking. What you see in an antiques store or a…

We love vintage things — clothes, music, cars, antiques and collectibles — and Thanksgiving dinner doesn’t have to be any different. Most everyone has their own must-have fare each year, and you can make your Thanksgiving meal as big or as small as you like, and as traditional or nontraditional — think the feast of popcorn, pretzels, toast, jellybeans and ice cream sundaes thrown together for everyone in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. But if you are up for adding something “new” to your table in the way of a vintage recipe, we looked through the online collection of “historically important” cookbooks in the public domain that the Henry Ford Museum has archived on its site at thehenryford.org/explore/recipes-and-cookbooks/ and rounded up a handful to share for consideration. While most of these…

NEW ORLEANS, La. – A fossilized woolly mammoth or mastodon tusk, a Steinway Model L ebonized baby grand player piano, a pair of superb men’s Rolex wristwatches and an oil painting by English artist Richard Hume Lancaster (1773-1853) are all part of Crescent City Auction Gallery’s next major auction Nov. 16-17. The fossilized woolly mammoth tusk is expected to bring $10,000-$15,000; the Steinway has an estimate of $8,000-$15,000. The auction is packed with 862 lots of the broad mix of merchandise people have come to expect from a Crescent City auction: fine period French, American and European furniture, original artworks by New Orleans and other regional artists, original artworks by American and foreign artists, estate jewelry, French clocks, Asian objects, Russian icons and gorgeous decorative accessories. Items will range from…

DALLAS - A peak-period masterpiece by Frank Frazetta took the top lot after selling for $495,000 at a recent Heritage Auctions sale of illustration art. Almost 400 lots were sold for a total of $2,697,373. Published as the paperback cover of Child of the Sun by Kyle Onstott and Lance Horner (Fawcett, 1972), Frazetta’s oil on canvasboard, which is 20 inches by 24 inches and signed at the lower left, was purchased by the owner in the early 1970s near the time the book was published, according to Heritage. It has resided in this same collection ever since and has never been offered on the market until now. The dramatic, multi-figure composition incorporates much more depth, fully realized painterly attention, and detail than many of Frazetta’s book covers, featuring not…

As Count von Count would say, “The number of the day is 50. Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!” After debuting on Nov. 10, 1969, on public television, the landmark TV show, “Sesame Street,” is celebrating 50 years of teaching generations of children around the world the alphabet, how to count and read, and love to learn. The first episode of the show introduced the world to a family of Muppets created by Jim Henson (1936-1990) and who are one of its most-loved aspects: giant yellow Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, a green (initially orange) Muppet who lives in a garbage can, Cookie Monster, the blue, furry monster who loves cookies, Kermit the Frog, Bert and Ernie, Grover, Elmo and so many more characters children fell in love with. Count von…

Falling between Halloween and Christmas, two holidays that have showier celebrations, Thanksgiving can get overlooked when it comes to decorating. Since the Thanksgiving table is typically the focal point for family and friends, creating an inviting setting is an easy way you can showcase your best collectibles and your personal style in how you present them in your table decorations. Tom Johnson, president and CEO of Ruby Lane, offers some great ideas and simple tips for creating a Thanksgiving table with vintage flair. At the home he shares with his husband, Denny, Johnson says that all of the turkeys and other vintage decorations come out every year and are a mix of items he has purchased on Ruby Lane over the years and family heirlooms that have been passed down.…

One of the favorite spices of Thanksgiving and Christmas is nutmeg. And unlike the many foods commonly associated with the Thanksgiving feast, like sweet potatoes and marshmallows, nutmeg was actually there from the start. It was one of the most popular spices with Europeans at the time of what is generally accepted as the first Thanksgiving in 1621 in Plymouth. This spice may seem humble and unassuming — something you add to a chicken dish or cake to give it a warm note — but nutmeg has quite a colorful and dark history that includes espionage, battles and lots of murders. It was also super pricey. According to thespruceeats.com, in the 14th century, half a kilogram of nutmeg cost as much as three sheep or a cow. In 1760, the…

Part of the cultural landscape since 1924, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York has become as traditional a part of the holiday as turkey and stuffing. This year’s parade will kick off at 9 a.m. on Nov. 28, with more than 3.5 million people expected to attend. Here are some highlights of the nearly 100-year history of what has become one of America’s most beloved parades, now with more than three million New Yorkers watching along the route and around an additional 50 million television viewers. 1924-27: The “Macy’s Christmas Parade” (it didn’t become the “Thanksgiving Day Parade” until 1927) made its debut and marked the welcoming of Santa Claus to the city. The parade featured marching elephants, monkeys, camels, bears and other animals borrowed from the Central…

STOCKBRIDGE, MASS. – Set on 36 acres of picturesque rolling countryside, the Norman Rockwell Museum houses the largest collection of original Rockwell art in the world. The Museum is also home to the Norman Rockwell Archives, a collection of more than 100,000 items, including working photographs, letters, personal calendars, fan mail and business documents. In addition, the museum offers a free mobile app that offers, among other features, a unique look at the work of Rockwell as well as other noted illustrators. The app is available at the iTunes App Store and the Google Play App Store. Founded in 1969 with the help of artist and his wife, Molly, Norman Rockwell Museum is dedicated to the enjoyment and study of Rockwell’s work and his contributions to society, popular culture and…