If These Shirts Could Talk: The Tantalizing Tales Behind Used Clothes
The mysterious packages kept arriving, some from eBay, others from the Home …
Jockeying for Position: How Boxers and Briefs Got Into Men's Pants
Just as underclothes are shielded from public view, the evolution of men's most intimate apparel is shrouded in secrecy. But the story of men's underwear is about more …
Gloriously Grotesque 19th-Century Pipes
The meerschaum pipes carved in Eastern Europe at the end of the 19th century are among the most bizarre and improbable concoctions in decorative art. Some feature …
In the Hot Seat: Is Your Antique Windsor a Fake?
While researching her book, "Killer Stuff and Tons of Money," Maureen Stanton came across all sorts of characters. For years, she shadowed her antiques-dealer friend …
Bizarro Beauty Products, from 1889 to Now
We tend to think of the union of vanity and technology as a particularly modern affliction. It's only recently that science brought the world botox and collagen injections, skin peels, liposucti…
Love at First Kite: How Pizza and Pente Led to One Oklahoman's High-Flying Obsession
Vintage kites from all over the world hang from the ceiling and walls of Richard Dermer’s popula…
Pin-Up Queens: Three Female Artists Who Shaped the American Dream Girl
It’s easy to think of pin-up art as a charming relic of the old boys’ club—images that might line the walls of a …
Say Ahhh: An Oral Surgeon's Quest to Reimagine the Garage-Band Guitar
It’s not unusual for men of a certain age to have a soft spot in their hearts for the look of vintage guitars and the sound…
Tokens for Sweethearts, in Times of War
A keepsake, an item that recognizes a loved one, strikes a deep, sentimental chord in each of us—particularly that of a sweetheart. The popularity of keepsakes grew in the United States during the period from 1917 to 1919 as our country ent…
American Picker Dream, Part I: Mike Wolfe On His Love Affair With Bikes
I was walking to school one day and saw all these bikes in the garbage. I was just amazed because I didn't have one and I found it incredible that anyone was throwing them out. So I gathered…
We try to find people to interview who have deep knowledge of a specific collecting area. Typically they will be longtime collectors themselves, but may also be museum curators, club officers, dealers, auctioneers and so forth. Many of the folks we’ve interviewed also have websites in our Hall of Fame.
If you know of a very knowledgeable collector you think we should interview, please send us an email letting us know what their area of expertise is, why they would be good to interview (have they written a book, etc.), and include their contact information if possible. We can’t promise we’ll be able to (we’ve got a pretty big backlog), but we’ll certainly take a look. Thanks!