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Time Machine » The 1930s

1930s Related Articles

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

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

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

Stuck on Comic Character Pinbacks

I started off collecting comics, 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 start… 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1930s Related Categories

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)

Christmas Houses, Villages, and Putz

The tradition of building miniature Christmas village landscapes (‘putz’), including houses, animals and other hand-crafted wooden… (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)

Depression Glass

During the 1920s, 19th-century pattern-glass manufacturers such as McKee, Heisey, and Fostoria struggled as the real thing from Wa… (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)

Minolta Cameras

Minolta cameras were born from a partnership between German optical engineers and Japanese manufacturing experts. The business was… (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)

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)

Lobby Cards

In the days before multiplexes, movie theaters generally only had one screen and one movie. To boost ticket sales, studios printed… (more)

Insulators

Insulators were originally designed to keep the wires linking telegraphs and telephones insulated from the wooden poles that held … (more)

Fishing Licenses

Many states used small badges for anglers and hunters from the teens through the 1940s. Some issued license holders after the 40s,… (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)

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)

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)

Franciscan Dinnerware

First offered in 1934 by Gladding-McBean and Company in California, Franciscan ware designs were largely floral. One Franciscan st… (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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

Philco Radios

The Philadelphia Storage Battery Company was organized from the Helios Manufacturing Company in July 1906, with Frank S. Marr as i… (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)

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)

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)

Art Deco Lamps

When we think of Art Deco, we typically conjure images of streamlined architectural masterpieces like the Chrysler Building, sleek… (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)

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)



1970s1960s1950s1940s1930s1920s1910s1900s1890s1880s1870s1860sPre-1860s