Edison Phonolamp dates to 1920s
#Middlebury #Antiques
Phonographs were invented in 1877. The early ones had one needle for recording and another needle for playing. The music was recorded on tinfoil-coated cylinders ... Continue Reading →
Blue Star Mother’s flag predates Gold Star flag
#Middlebury #Antiques
A reader asked, “What country uses a little flag with just a red border and a big blue star in the center?” It is a service flag designed in 1917 that identified ... Continue Reading →
Moorish Chair makes nice accent piece
#Middlebury #Antiques
The major furniture styles used in the United States have names, some for royalty, others for talented designers and cabinetmakers. But by the 1900s, furniture ... Continue Reading →
Mermaid lawn sprinkler is scarce collectible
#Middlebury #Antiques
Lawn sprinklers could not be used before the first water distribution systems were invented in the 1870s. The new ways to provide water through underground pipes ... Continue Reading →
Admiral Fitzroy clock has a barometer
#Middlebury #Antiques
Admiral Robert FitzRoy (1805-1865) is best known to collectors for a barometer he did not invent. But historians know about his accomplishments in the British ... Continue Reading →
Tiffany Lamp is highly desirable
#Middlebury #Antiques
Mention Tiffany and collectors may think of the very different things made by Louis Comfort Tiffany. He was so talented that it is almost impossible to know everything ... Continue Reading →
Rabbit doorstop was made in Connecticut
#Middlebury #Antiques
Where did the Easter bunny come from? There is no suggestion of an egg-laying rabbit or hare in the Bible’s scriptures. There were stories about decorated ... Continue Reading →
Donald Duck toy must be a knockoff
#Middlebury #Antiques
Donald Duck is a Disney character and there are strict laws about copying his likeness, so this wooden toy from the 1930s must be a knockoff. The duck could be ... Continue Reading →
Reworked filing cabinet is repurposed
#Middlebury #Antiques
Decorating has once again become informal, like the “country furniture” era in the 1980s that led to rooms with “non-furniture furniture.” An old cobbler’s ... Continue Reading →
French ‘vide poche’ stores things
#Middlebury #Antiques
An auction catalog called this strange dish a vide poche. It’s a French term, but the English translation – “trinket box,” “pin tray,” “empty ... Continue Reading →
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