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Time Machine » The 1860s

1860s Related Articles

The International Influences of Buffalo Furniture

About 11 years ago, my wife and I went on some architectural tours. We joined the organization that sponsored the tours, and I volunteered to be the Webmaster for them. I dec… Read more

How Snake Oil Got a Bad Rap (Hint: It Wasn't The Snakes' Fault)

These days, "snake oil" is synonymous with quackery, the phoniest of phony medicines. A "snake oil salesman" promises you the world, takes your money, and is long gone by the… Read more

Before Steampunk: Star Wars’ 1800s Roots

More than 30 years ago, my wife, Helene, and I started collecting. She loved tribal masks—African, Oceanic, Indonesian, etc.—while I focused on medical, scientific, and industrial … Read more

Too Lazy To Work Out? Machines That Exercise for You, From Victorian Era to Now

Time was, humans didn't have to worry much about getting exercise. When we had to kill, gather, grow, or herd our own food, working out happened naturally. Of course, as soon… Read more

19th-Century Photographs, from Daguerreotypes to Cartes de Visites

I’ve always been interested in antiques. As a kid, I collected a variety of stuff – fossils, rocks, minerals, natural history stuff, Indian artifacts and antiques. I grew up … Read more

Bill Lindsey on How To Read a Bottle

My maternal grandfather and uncle got into bottles in about 1965 or ‘66 when I was in high school, and we started digging. My uncle was in Arizona, near some of the old minin… Read more

U.S. Pattern Coins Tell the Stories Behind Our Currency

I started collecting coins when I was five years old, and I started dealing when I was 13 or 14. Most kids start with coins of circulation—I had albums for Jefferson nickels,… Read more

John Werry Explains How To Appreciate Victorian Furniture

How did I get started collecting Victorian Furniture? Antiques is in my genes, my mother's family were longtime antiquers and lived in a house built in the 18th Century. But … Read more

U.S. Gold Coins: Holding the California Gold Rush in the Palm of Your Hand

The double eagle is really a result of the California Gold Rush. Prior to the California Gold Rush, the biggest gold discoveries were relatively small strikes in Georgia and … Read more

Malcolm Warrington Invites You to Learn about Victorian Greeting Cards

Malcolm Warrington is based 12 miles to the west of Central London. He is a council member of the UK Ephemera Society with responsibility for the society's web site. He also … Read more

During the Civil War, Some People Got Rich Quick By Minting Their Own Money

When coins were withdrawn from circulation in the northern states during the Civil War, opportunists began minting private pennies that became de facto legal tender throughou… Read more

The Colors and Forms of Early American Pattern Glass

My mother was our inspiration for collecting pattern glass. She collected it, and she died at a very young age. My sister and I inherited it and my aunt said not to sell anyt… Read more

1860s Related Categories

Stoneware

Stoneware is the roughhewn cousin of porcelain. Like porcelain, it is fired at very high temperatures (1,200 to 1,400 degrees), li… (more)

Flasks

While flasks have had a variety of uses over the years, such as the storing of gun powder, their primary purpose has long been to … (more)

Whiting Silver

Founded in Attleboro, Massachusetts, in 1866 by William Dean Whiting, who had already made a name for himself as a maker of sterli… (more)

Cartes-De-Visites

Cartes-De-Visites (CDVs), were part of a major shift in the 1860’s from glass and metal photographic media to treated paper mounte… (more)

Reed and Barton Silver

The Taunton, Massachusetts, firm of Reed & Barton began in 1824 as Babbitt & Crossman, which produced a cousin of pewter known as … (more)

Confederate Money

Just two months into the confederacy, in 1861, the Confederate States of America issued its first bank notes. Like the Continental… (more)

Tintypes

While most early photo processes involved paper or light metal plates, tintypes (aka ferrotypes) used a sheet of thin iron. Patent… (more)

Bitters Bottles

Bitters are a form of patent or proprietary medicine made by steeping herbs, roots, and other spices in alcohol. They likely origi… (more)

Trade Cards

Victorian trade cards are an early form of collectible advertising. Popularized after the Civil War by businesses, they offer a co… (more)

Early American Pattern Glass

Early American Pattern Glass (EAPG), also known as pressed glass, was produced from roughly 1850 to 1910. Cheaper to manufacture t… (more)

Magic Lantern

Magic lanterns, also known as optical lanterns, provided one of the most popular forms of entertainment during their heyday in the… (more)

Wallace Silver

Robert Wallace is considered the first metalsmith to make a spoon out of German silver, which is also known as nickel silver, even… (more)

Victorian Furniture

Victorian antique furniture refers to pieces made during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), and includes both mass produced … (more)

Ambrotypes

Invented by Frederick Scott Archer as a cheaper alternative to the daguerreotype, the ambrotype was popular from the 1850’s to 189… (more)

19th Century Unused US Stamps

The first official US stamps were issued in 1847, depicting Benjamin Franklin and George Washington (5 and 10 cents). These were f… (more)

Gorham Silver

In 1831, Jabez Gorham, in partnership with Henry Webster, founded the silver company that bears his name in his native Providence,… (more)



1970s1960s1950s1940s1930s1920s1910s1900s1890s1880s1870s1860sPre-1860s