Stuck on Comic Character Pinbacks
I started off collecting comic books, and still do, but I’d been given a few early Disney pinbacks as a child and always thought they were interesting. In the early 1990s, I … Read more
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Time Machine » The 1930s
1930s Related Articles
A History of Dimestore Christmas Village Houses
The following is a history of these wondrous little artifacts called cardboard Christmas village houses - a history devoted to establishing some way of categorizing them … Read more
Ian Macky Explains the Colors and History of Insulators
I got interested in insulators when I lived in El Cajon and my neighbor worked for San Diego Gas and Electric. His son had a bunch of insulators on the window sill in his… Read more
Where There's Smoke There's a Vintage Cigarette Lighter
At the very beginning, my interest in lighters was about the mechanism. I had my first lighter when I was 14. I saved up my nickels and dimes. I grew up in Oakland, and b… Read more
The Timeless Appeal of the Westclock Big and Baby Bens
How did I get interested in clocks? Something about them has always been ingrained in me. My mom’s father had a small collection of antique clocks and when I was a little boy… Read more
Why People Flip Over Vintage Pinball Machines
I didn’t really get into to pinball machine collecting until maybe 15 years ago, but when I was a freshman in college, video games were really big. I went to Purdue Unive… Read more
Piecing Together the History of Jigsaw Puzzles
What inspired me to collect old jigsaw puzzles? I grew up as a child with some wonderful world class puzzles in my household. They were puzzles my mother and grandmother … Read more
Reformed Gambling Swindle Becomes a Punch Board of Love
When Bay Area artist Lea Redmond, known for running the “World’s Smallest Post Service,” stumbled across Parlor Coo Coo on eBay, she knew she'd found something special. Sure … Read more
Sam Baker, Collector of Petroliana and Vintage Ford Cars and Signs
I’ve always had an old Ford Model A or something to tinker around with or play with. It may not have been on the road but I was always building or working on something. Aroun… Read more
Hidden Gems: Lost Hollywood Jewelry Trove Uncovered in Burbank Warehouse
Oh. My. God. I've just been given the location of the largest stash of Golden Age Hollywood jewelry in the world. Worn by stars like Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace K… Read more
Trends in Fishing Tackle Collecting
I’ve been a collector of antique fishing tackle for over 20 years, and have been selling antique tackle in my shop since 1990. I collect all aspects of fishing memorabili… Read more
Kem Weber: The Mid-Century Modern Designer Who Paved the Way for IKEA
When most people think of Mid-Century Modern, they conjure images of kidney-shaped coffee tables, boomerang-patterned lampshades, and wall clocks that explode in starbursts and o… Read more
Archtops, Hollowbodies, and Jimi's Legacy
I grew up in upstate New York in Rochester, and started playing guitar when I was about 10 years old. We had this place in Rochester; called the House of Guitars. It was … Read more
Hunting Down the Most Collectible Movie Posters, from 1930s Horror to 1960s Sci-Fi
I worked at 20th Century Fox in the publicity department, so I was always fascinated with film, and then I moved to Montreal in late ’68, right after I got married. I was… Read more
Understanding Antique Radios
You've just acquired an old radio, but apart from the manufacturer's name on the front, you don't know a blessed thing about it. Learning more about your radio may satisfy yo… Read more
Cowan Art Pottery of the Art Deco Era
I’m the curator here at the museum in Rocky River, a suburb west of Cleveland. I look at Cowan pottery from a historian’s angle because this is part of Rocky River’s cult… Read more
Collecting Toy Cars, from Diecast Chevys to Lithographed Tin
Ron Sturgeon: I had an automotive repair shop in about 1976 and spent a lot of time repairing Mercedes. About 1979 I decided to start collecting Mercedes toy cars. I was youn… Read more
Steve McVoy is Tuned Into Vintage Television Sets
In the 1950s when I was a teenager I used to work for a television repair shop and we’d get sets from the 40s every once in a while and I was fascinated by them. So in 19… Read more
Angry Chicken's Amy Karol on Sewing, Vintage Slips, and Her Apron Obsession
I think I started collecting vintage aprons seriously probably in 1991, my first year of college. I was an absolute junkie for vintage clothing, which was pretty much all… Read more
1930s Related Categories
Pie Birds
Pie birds, also called pie funnels, pie ventilators, pie cups, or pie chimneys, are small ceramic or glass kitchen tools used to v… (more)
Lou Gehrig Memorabilia
Lou Gehrig, known affectionately by fans as “The Iron Horse,” was one of the most popular professional baseball players of all tim… (more)
Minolta Cameras
Minolta cameras were born from a partnership between German optical engineers and Japanese manufacturing experts. The business was… (more)
Fishing Lures
Fishing lures have been around about as long as prehistoric humans have contrived ways to catch fish. The earliest, prehistoric lu… (more)
Insulators
Insulators were originally designed to keep the wires linking telegraphs and telephones insulated from the wooden poles that held … (more)
1920s and 1930s Womens Clothing
After the tight corsets and long-flowing dresses of the Edwardian Era, the 1920s was a decade of liberation for women. The most im… (more)
Murano and Italian Art Glass
When people talk about Italian art glass, they are usually referring to the vases, paperweights, goblets, and decorative objects p… (more)
Art Deco Lamps
When we think of Art Deco, we typically conjure images of streamlined architectural masterpieces like the Chrysler Building, sleek… (more)
Lobby Cards
In the days before multiplexes, movie theaters generally only had one screen and one movie. To boost ticket sales, studios printed… (more)
Tin Model Cars
Prior to the mid-19th century, toy model cars and trucks were generally made by hand from wood or thick card stock. As sheet-metal… (more)
Bakelite and Catalin Radios
When many people think of plastic Art Deco radios, the word Bakelite immediately comes to mind. That’s understandable enough, sinc… (more)
Art Deco
Art Deco was an international design and art movement in the 1920s and ’30s. Influenced by sources as varied as the Bauhaus School… (more)
Art Deco Clocks
Clock design was heavily influenced in the 1920s and ’30s by Art Deco, a machine-like aesthetic for a fast-paced industrial age. N… (more)
Lalique Art Glass
Even though he is known today for his antique art glass, René Lalique (1860-1945) began his career in 1881 as a freelance jeweler.… (more)
Fiesta Dinnerware
Fiesta was introduced in 1936 by the Homer Laughlin Pottery Company, discontinued in 1972, and went back into production in 1986. … (more)
Gas Pumps
The first gas pumps were built in the 1880's by the Bowser Company in Fort Wayne, Indiana, followed in 1898 by pumps that could pu… (more)
Ford Model A
Although Ford produced its first Model A in 1903, it was the 1927 model by that name which turned into a huge success, following i… (more)
Roseville Art Pottery
In 1890, George F. Young founded the Roseville Pottery Corporation in Roseville, Ohio, as a utility ware manufacturer. The move wa… (more)
Fishing and Hunting Licenses
Many states used small badges for anglers and hunters from the teens through the 1940s. Some issued license holders after the 40s,… (more)
Philco Radios
The Philadelphia Storage Battery Company was organized from the Helios Manufacturing Company in July 1906, with Frank S. Marr as i… (more)
78 Records
Before iTunes, CDs, 8-tracks, LPs, or even seven-inch EPs, 78s were the main medium for recorded music, so-called because they wer… (more)
Franciscan Dinnerware
The first dinnerware line offered by Gladding-McBean of Southern California was El Patio, designed by Mary K. Grant and marketed u… (more)
Christmas Houses, Villages, and Putz
The tradition of building miniature Christmas village landscapes (‘putz’), including houses, animals and other hand-crafted wooden… (more)
Coca Cola Trays
The Coca-Cola Company began distributing tin serving and change trays to soda fountains in 1897. Trays produced from that date unt… (more)
Depression Glass
During the 1920s, 19th-century pattern-glass manufacturers such as McKee, Heisey, and Fostoria struggled as the real thing from Wa… (more)
Milk Bottles
For many young people today, the milkman must seem like some creaky myth from the past. In fact, it wasn’t all that long ago that … (more)
Shirley Temple Dolls
During the bleak years of the Great Depression, the lovable Shirley Temple became a symbol of happiness and hope for audiences aro… (more)
Bakelite Costume Jewelry
Bakelite was an early plastic resin, developed by Leo Baekeland in 1907. Originally used for industrial purposes thanks to its abi… (more)
Aladdin Lamps
At the turn of the 20th century, light was still considered a somewhat supernatural commodity. Edison’s light bulb remained a work… (more)
Martin Guitars
When Levon Helm of The Band sang "I pulled into Nazareth, was feelin' about half past dead" in "The Weight," he wasn’t alluding to… (more)
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