Innehållsförteckning för November 4, 2020 från Kovels Antique Trader

For the first time in two decades, a complete and original copy of Shakespeare’s first printed collection of plays hit the market. And The Bard’s work made quite an impression. Published in 1623 and referred to as the First Folio, Shakespeare’s collection sold for $10 million at Christie’s October 14. “A complete copy of the First Folio comes up more or less once in a generation,” said Margaret Ford, the International Head of Books and Manuscripts at Christie’s. The auction house took bids in New York City, and said the sale establishes a world auction record for any printed work of literature. Rare book collector Stephan Loewentheil bought the copy with a phone bid. At the time of its original printing, the folio was not only Shakespeare’s first collected edition…

LONDON — Auctions are at the heart of this year’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. American economists Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson have been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in economics for their contributions to auction theory, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on October 12. Milgrom and Wilson, who are both professors at Stanford University in California, were recognized for theoretical discoveries that improved how auctions work. According to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, they also designed auction formats for goods and services that are difficult to sell in a traditional way, such as radio frequencies. Milgrom and Wilson will share 10 million Swedish kroner ($1.1 million) in prize money. “This year's Laureates in Economic Sciences started out with fundamental theory and later used their results…

TED HAKE has been a collector since he was eight and a button dealer since the age of eighteen. In 1967, he founded Hake’s Auctions, America’s first auction house specializing in pop-culture artifacts. He has written seventeen collector guides spanning presidential campaign items, vintage Disneyana and comic character toys. For decades, Ted helped children’s author Maurice Sendak build his 1930s-era Mickey Mouse collection. Ted has received the American Political Items Collectors Lifetime Achievement Award and is a member of the Theodore Roosevelt Association Advisory Board. CHRISTEN CARTER has been a fan of buttons since she was twelve, when they were one of the few items cheap enough for her to buy with her own money. She loves how buttons are distilled graphic representations of thoughts that are meant to be…

You may not know that every time you’ve worn orange, you were advertising that you were full of passion befitting an animal and not someone who is pure. Well, back in Victorian times, you would have gotten some curious glances, anyway. Although autumn colors of browns, reds and golds were favored by Victorians, orange got a bad rap. Fashion magazines of the day advised against wearing dresses in orange because the color was viewed as generally being too strong and unflattering for the complexions of most women. Author George Audsley says in his 1870 book, Colour in Dress, that orange is “particularly to be avoided by the fair blonde,” while the 1855 Godey’s Lady’s Book minces no words: “Orange suits nobody. It whitens a brunette, but that is scarcely a…

When traffic is crawling instead of whizzing by, there is more time to gaze at the intricately carved butterflies, grapevines, wings and other designs on the concrete bridges that are the hallmark of Connecticut’s first divided highway. The Merritt Parkway is an important link connecting Connecticut to New York City. On Route 15, it runs from Stratford, Connecticut, to the New York state line, ending at Greenwich. Immediately noticeable are the lower-than-normal posted speeds: as low as 45 miles per hour at various points along the highway. It is a limited-access thoroughfare. There is a vehicle-height limit of eight feet due to the numerous low overpasses, a fact that prohibits any tractor trailer traffic. The road is also lacking the usual lengthy entrance and exit ramps. There’s a reason for…

EDITOR’S NOTE: The cancelations or postponements we have received are marked with asterisks. Be sure to check if events you are interested in are still on before you go. We will be updating this calendar and the one online as we receive official notification of any cancelations/postponements. ARIZONA Nov 1 to Dec 27, 2020 Scottsdale. Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market is excited to announce that it will be opening a pop-up location at Scottsdale Quarter, 15059 N. Scottsdale Rd, Suite H 1-180, Scottsdale, AZ off 72nd Place in The Quad. Shoppers will find a collection of creatively curated vintage, artisan-made, and other goods from local small businesses. The Holiday Pop-Up will feature over 25 of Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market’s vendors selling all things chippy, rusty, vintage and…

OUR WORLD IS A loud place. Social media rants, talk radio tirades and cable news bluster make for an endless clatter of opinions. Everyone has a voice. It’s a shame we don’t have more ears. Or pin-back buttons. Or better yet, more button makers like Christen Carter. Over the past twenty-five years, Carter and her Busy Beaver Button Company in Chicago have made more than 50 million buttons for bands, artists, campaigns of all kinds and just about anyone looking to connect. That’s saying a lot, without making a lot of noise. The button, by its very nature, is a big idea in a small package. It’s something people literally stand behind. But more than anything, the button makes a point without yelling. My ears appreciate that. “People who order…

RHINEBECK, N.Y. — Barn Star Productions announces that antiques expert and Antiques Roadshow appraiser Leigh Keno will be the sponsor of the upcoming Fall Antiques at Rhinebeck Online Show, November 13-15 on the Ruby Lane.com platform. “We have been extremely fortunate to welcome Mr. Keno to join our team in presenting our fourth online show and promising to be the best event of all,” said event manager Frank Gaglio. “Leigh’s knowledge and hands-on experience has been recognized throughout our industry from his time on Antiques Roadshow to specialized auctions presenting exceptional Americana and folk art throughout the years. “Additionally, Leigh brings a level of expertise and enthusiasm to every object he places his seal of approval on and that is what we attempt to bring to the Fall Antiques at…

Simplicity rules today’s presidential election posters. Political marketers long ago voted to engage focus groups to test taglines to death and, in a daring attempt to reach a younger audience, add a dash of trendy design. This is a fairly new and radical development. Although John Quincy Adams was the first presidential candidate to use posters in 1824, the oldest campaign poster in the digital files of the Library of Congress belongs to William Henry Harrison from 1840. The poster is, in a word, clunky. There’s a reason for that. In the 1800s, posters were far more detailed and featured etched portraits of candidates looking stately and stuffy. Printers used wood or metal plates, making the early efforts look even more stiff. Blocks of text were often the main feature…

Hardcover/$24.95 Princeton Architectural Press Christen Carter and Ted Hake bring an energy and passion to their new book, Button Power: 125 Years of Saying It with Buttons, you would expect from two of America’s foremost button experts. What is surprising, however, is just how wildly entertaining and informative their work is. Who knew the button could be so captivating? Handsomely designed and filled with lively insights and a contagious enthusiasm, Button Power, with the help of more than 1,500 images of pin-back buttons, provides a “people’s history,” capturing the big and small moments that have come to define us as a country. It’s a lot to ask of the humble button, but Carter and Hake pull it off with great panache and delight. Politicians, artists, athletes, actors, pop musicians, mascots,…