Jeanette Glass Company

The Jeanette Glass Company is popular today for depression era glassware but the company actually got started making hand made bottles back in the late 1880's. In 1899 the O'Neil automated glass blowing machine came out, with this machine the Jeanette Glass Company started producing a variety of glass objects which included among other things automobile headlights and glass blocks for buildings.

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It wasn't until 1924 that they created a line of tableware that became quite popular and is today highly collectible. Jadeite kitchen items and Delphite glassware are among the highly collectible depression era glass which the Jeanette Glass Company once produced. In the 1960' s Jeanette Glass Company bought out the McGee division of another company and that too became a highly collectible line.

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There are several patterns that the Jeanette Glass Company produced and are sought after by collectors. These include Windsor, Iris and Herringbone, Floral, Cubist, Cherry Blossom, Swirl, Doric, Poinsettia, and Anniversary.

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The photo above is of two shell pink covered candy dishes, the creamy soft color gives them a delicate look but they are actually quite heavy. These two candy dishes are pieces of Jeanette Glass from the 1940's era.

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Identification of Jeanette Glass is easy when you find pieces marked with a J in a Square, J in a Triangle and a J inside of goblets, however, not all pieces are marked.

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The Jeanette Glass Company closed it's plant in 1983. You can find many of their collectible pieces on eBay and other Internet antique websites. Antique stores and flea markets are also a good place to find these highly collectible pieces. There are literally hundreds of depression glass identification and information books on the market and in the library that can help educate both sellers and collectors on the Jeanette Glass Company and the many pieces they produced.

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Post Cards

Post cards are a window to our past, especially picture post cards. Many depict real life scenes, historical buildings, social issues, people, fashion, roads, entertainers, entertainment and life in general.

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John P. Charlton patented Post Cards back in the early 1860’s. He sold his patent rights to H.L. Lipman and the very first mass produced cards were called Lipman's Postal Cards. It wasn't long before other countries started producing post cards.

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The USPS had a monopoly on pre-stamped post cards and if you wanted to write a quick note, it had to be written and sent on an USPS approved postcard. It actually took an act of Congress to pass a special act called the Private Mailing Card Act to release the monopoly in 1898. However, the USPS refused to give up the name post card so publishers had to call their cards souvenir cards.

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In 1901 USPS decided to give up the monopoly on the word post card and let private publishers call their cards post cards too. Up until 1908 USPS rules on sending a postcard only allowed a person to write on the front side of a post card. The backside of the post card was for the address. By 1908 that particular restriction was lifted.

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Here are some tips to date your vintage postcards: The earliest souvenir postcards date back to 1893, they had a small picture on the front with a large L-shaped border or a small space within the picture for people to write their message on. In 1901 the postcards with the large written “Post Card” on the reverse side was introduced and was used for address only. In 1907 the divided back post cards were introduced to the United States, and the restricted writing on the back was lifted. Real Photo Post Cards (RPPC) were introduced in 1908 and was popular through the 1950's. In 1916 white border post cards were introduced and were popular until 1930. The Linen post cards were introduced in 1931 and were popular until 1939. In 1939 the Chrome Cards or colored photo cards were introduced but it wasn't until 1950 that these were used predominately, this type of postcard is still used today.

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Collectors can find many vintage and antique post cards on eBay, in flea markets, antique stores, and estate auctions. Some of these postcards are quite valuable. Many people that collect postcards have a passion for their local history. I find that, as a seller, I have good luck selling vintage postcards of town or city scenes. Another highly collectible type of postcard is antique holiday post cards. Valentine, St. Patrick Day, New Years, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas post cards are also very popular.

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Regardless if you are a collector or a seller, you can’t help but look through them, the sorting and reading the history is very addictive. I bought about two hundred post cards the other day at an estate sale and once I got them home I spent hours looking them over. The two pictures at the top are some of the post cards I bought. The first group are linen post cards from the 1930's and the second group are Black and White RPPC picture postcards from the 1930's and 40's.

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Fenton Epergne

A large Fenton Epergne Vase is a centerpiece bowl. The base has a ruffled edged bowl that usually holds one to three vases called horns. I believe the intentions of this Epergne was to hold flowers in both the bowl and the horns although I have never actually seen an Epergne displayed with flowers. In an antique store sitting it’s all about the glass, maker and age so I might be wrong about the flowers. However, the original Fenton Epergne came with a flower frog so I can’t help but think that Fenton Epergne’s were elaborate flower vases.

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I just looked up the definition of an epergne and it says Epergne's have been around for centuries and the horns usually held flowers, fruit or candies. So unless anyone out there has any other information I’m going to assume I’m right.

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Fenton Epergne’s come in many different colors, size and art glass patterns. The Carnival Glass Epergne pictured is circa 1970's I believe and it is in the Diamond Lace Pattern. The green Epergne is called Green Emerald Opalescent in the Hobnail pattern circa. 1961-62.

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My husband thought these were very gaudy the first time he seen one and I had no clue what one would use it for but over the years these have grown on me. I have a bad habit of trying to make everything have a useful purpose but now I just view it as a beautiful piece of artwork. The colors and quality of the glass have a beauty of it’s own and yes it does makes a beautiful centerpiece display!

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Vintage Push Lawn Mower

Manual push lawn mowers were invented back in the 19th century. Originally a big cumbersome looking monstrosity they were quickly improved upon. Basically it looks the same now as it has for over a hundred and fifty years. These push mowers were extremely popular in the first half of the twentieth century. I vaguely remember seeing my brother push one of these when I was really little, however, gasoline motorized lawn mowers came of age in the early 1960's and we must have upgraded with the rest of America.

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In the past few years these push lawn mowers have made a comeback. Gas has gotten so expensive and people have become environmentally conscience. For small yards this is a perfect solution for a number of issues. Exercise, go green and saving a buck are very good reasons to go out and buy one of these push mowers.

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They actually do make new model push lawn mowers, that not only cut the grass well but makes your lawn look like the greens on a golf course. The pictured push mower is a vintage lawn mower, I purchased it at an auction for $17. Hubby thought he was going to put in a mini-golf course on our property and this little gem has been sitting in our shop for 5 years waiting for that to happen.

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I've seen these in flea markets and antique shops priced anywhere from $35 to $135. My old vintage mower has a wood handle and a heavy iron shaft and blades. It is heavy pushing and seems to get heavier the longer you push. It was once a green color but now has a fine coating of rust on it. The newer models are much lighter and easier to push, they cost on an average $150 - $200. They are brightly painted but they do the same job as my old vintage one.

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I think hubby has had enough time to use this treasure so it's going into my flea market booth this spring. It's probably a good thing it has sat so long, many times if you hold onto a unwanted item long enough it becomes hot again. I think this summer both the weather and the push lawn mowers will be hot.

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GI Joe

In 1964 Hasbro created GI Joe. Inspired solely by the success of the Barbie Doll, Hasbro believed that they could target boys to also enjoy the doll like figures, however, they had to make them manly. They did this by calling the dolls action figures and modeling them after men from all the branches of the US military. Action figures had beards and scars, they were shaped like men and they were 12" tall, much taller than Barbie. Unlike Barbie who had fashionable clothes, shoes and purses the GI Joes accessory packs included an arsenal of weapons and vehicles. Hasbro did indeed succeed in their goal, they created a phenomenon that most men today can relate to.

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My son played with GI Joe’s when he was a kid in the 1980’s, however, they were not the 12” variety modeled after the originals. GI Joe Action figures were reduced to 3 3/4”, they were modeled after the star war figures that were so popular in the 1980. That particular size GI Joe became a huge line that was even more profitable than the earlier Joe’s.

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Over the years several accessories have been added to both the 12” and the 3 3/4” action figures. Caps, dog tags, boots, field bags, tools and weapons are just a few. Vehicles, themed figures and exclusive limited time figures have also been added. There was even a pull cord talking GI Joe at one time, however, most of them I have come across do not work properly.

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The above picture is of the 25th Anniversary GI Joe, it was a 2007 Wal-Mart Exclusive, a set of five called the Adventure Team Figures. The complete set includes five 12" figures, Sea Adventurer, Air Adventurer, GI Joe Adventurer, Land Adventurer & Man of Action. These all have Kung Fu Grip and have the original fuzzy head and some even have beards. These were very limited and they were exclusive, they originally sold for $9.96 each. Today you can only purchase them on eBay or through other GI Joe collectors.

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Hasbro has an official GI Joe Club, like Barbie collectors, GI Joe collectors are very serious collectors. They have conventions where you can buy, sell and barter and just enjoy the company of fellow collectors.

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There are even GI Joe Repair men who can fix up GI Joes with severe problems. One guy that was recommended to me was: The Medic, Joe Degrella, PO Box 281, Buckner, KY 40010, gijoemedic@worldnet.att.net. If you do a google search you'll probably come up with many more.

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Most people have a realm of memories when it comes to toys they played with as children. It doesn’t matter which gender or age you are there is always some affection for toys of our childhood.

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Costume Jewelry

Inexpensive costume jewelry has been around for centuries, now days antique jewelry encompasses both fine and cheap jewelry of years past. Costume Jewelry is a fashion statement that changes era after era. Styles and designs continuously change influenced by the tastes and popularity of our society.

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It is considered fashionable to wear vintage costume jewelry, many of the pieces are sheik and beautiful. Some are so intricate they can be described as breathtaking. There are many collectors of vintage costume jewelry who both collect and wear their treasures. Flea Markets and eBay are the best places to find a large variety of vintage styles. You can also find some pretty good deals at yard sales every once in awhile. The jewelry in the picture is from a recent box of junky jewelry I got at an auction for $3.00. Some of it will go in my flea market booth and I think I might put the butterfly pins on ebay next week.

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Many collectors look for signed pieces or particular pieces such as brooches or rings or necklaces but most collect everything that catches their eye. Costume Jewelry is made from many different materials such as gold, silver, beads, plastic, celluloid, wood, leather and metal. Stones such as pearls, colored glass and rhinestones are extremely popular.

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Some popular designers of costume jewelry are Eisenberg, Monet, Trifari, Weiss, Hobe, Haskell, Coro, Kramer,and Lisner. If you are a reseller these signed pieces are much more valuable so do your research on them. If you plan on selling costume jewelry at a flea market or antique store signed pieces of jewelry should be kept in a lock box. I've had many beautiful pieces of costume jewelry walk off so now I lock it all up regardless of the value. If you are a jewelry collector keep in mind that these unique pieces can be worn stylishly today and will probably increase in value in years to come.

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Whatever your tastes are in costume jewelry buy pieces you really like, wear it and enjoy it. Accessories tend to make you look and feel stylish and they give us a little spark of confidence. Like beautiful jewelry we all like to sparkle and shine and little pieces of jewelry really help.

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