Inherited Values

Around seven years ago, my family gave me the gift of art. Unlike most twenty-somethings, I wanted real art on my walls—something actually produced by the hands of a human, not a print. At the ...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2020/10/art-on-the-outside-collecting-pletan/

A reader sent me an email requesting advice on establishing the value of some items. It’s not the first time the I, or any of the other writers here, has received an email or blog post comment ...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2019/08/values-to-sell-or-not-to-sell-that-is-the-question/

A frequent item at antique shoppes are stereoview cards.  The technology both predates, and exceeds the quality of, film and television in a sense.   3D images were a simple step up from a reg...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2018/01/glass-stereograph-images/

Vintage metal skirt hangers are a great way to display photographs, postcards, and other pieces of ephemera. As the clips can be slid along the bars (to accommodate for various waist sizes), you ...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2017/10/display-photos-ephemera-with-tiered-hangers/

Spotted this at Country Living: Here’s how we recommend keeping the arrangement interesting: • Group similarly shaped items (fluted vases, trophy-like urns) together, but stagger heights and ...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2017/08/ways-to-display-monochromatic-collections-in-your-home/

Perhaps the one area in which you are least likely to feel “like a museum” or a curator is that, at least in the beginning, you may not have defined your collection. Museums have a plan which...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2017/02/curator-of-your-own-museum-part-two/

Last week we were in Wisconsin helping the in-laws get set up for their next estate sale.   Among all the breweriana, old cars, and used tools where a large number of old photos and photo album...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2016/10/getting-a-leg-up-in-the-1930s/

In The Beginning… Dolls, the playthings we know today, began their lives as something quite different. Called poppets or puppets originally, they were created as educational tools and for use i...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2016/10/the-lovely-disturbing-the-history-of-wax-dolls/

Like all collectors, collectors of Halloween items are busy collecting all year ‘round. Unlike most collectors, however, Halloween collectors find discussion and articles about their category o...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2016/10/collecting-halloween-the-history-of-halloween-postcards-costumes/

Dolls have been around nearly as long as humans have been on this earth. Small human-shaped figurines carved of mammoth ivory dating back to 28,000 and 35,000 years ago were found in Germany. And...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2016/10/doll-prehistory/

Perhaps you resist the notion that as a collector you have your own museum. Maybe you (still) imagine that a museum must be significantly historical or be meaningful to society at large. But let ...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2016/09/curator-of-your-own-museum-part-one/

When most people hear “chalkware” or “plaster” they think of those funny animal pieces and rip-offs of comic characters — the cheap prizes hawked by carnival barkers. Even at the circus...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2016/07/repairing-broken-or-missing-hangers-on-vintage-chalkware-plaques-or-plaster-wall-art/

I continually swear that I’m not going to write, again, about Marilyn; but here I am again… I may have been able to to get away with a wistful smile & a re-Tweet or two in the honor of her 90...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2016/06/marilyn-monroe-still-alluring-at-90/

Ever hear the song, “The Cat Came Back?”  Poor mister Johnson has a troublesome cat that he simply can’t get rid of: The song came out in 1893 and was popular throughout its history.   H...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2016/01/a-cat-losing-1888/

About the only way to control smallpox before immunization was quarantine.   So, if you’re on your way to your own wedding in 1902 and end up in the pest house, what do you do? ”       �...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2016/01/married-by-phonograph/

In What Is Left Behind, photographer Norm Diamond takes a look at what most collectors see at estate sales: the cycle of life. And then he photographs the objects. Among the artfully preserved po...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2016/01/things-that-go-to-make-up-a-life/

This vintage photograph is pretty enough to display with your vanity collectibles! The 8 X 10 glossy photo features Brenda Marshall wearing a feather-trimmed peignoir sitting at a vanity table ap...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2015/08/vintage-warner-brothers-studio-cosmetic-photo-featuring-brenda-marshall/

The upcoming Auction At Graceland includes a special section of early Elvis merchandising memorabilia from various owners and includes rare items from the collection of Darlene Parker Tafua, daug...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2015/08/amazing-authentic-elvis-items-up-for-auction/

When my parents were working on this latest estate sale, the found this miniature copper diver’s helmet. Attached to it was a note stating it was from a Rolex watch store display. Ever curious,...

http://www.inherited-values.com/2015/07/collectible-vintage-rolex-diving-watches-on-display/