By Maribeth Keane

In this interview, Richard Rose discusses collecting vintage Ericofon telephones of the 1960s, and trends in telephone collecting in general. Based in Minnesota, Richard can be reached via his website, Ericofon.com, which is a member of our Hall of Fame.

I like mechanical things. I’ve collected outboard motors, things like that in the past. I got into the telephones probably 15 years ago, and I’ve been there ever since. Starting to collect all the Ericofon colors was just an attempt to try and find out everything there was to know on the Ericofon. …

continue reading | 7 Comments

By Maribeth Keane

In this interview, Clay Harrell talks about his experiences collecting vintage guitars, especially pre-1964 Gibsons, Martins, Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters, Nationals and Dobros. Based in the Detroit area, Clay can be reached via his website, Vintage Guitars Info, which is a member of our Hall of Fame.

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 this huge independent music store, I think it was the largest in …

continue reading | 14 Comments

By Maribeth Keane, Collectors Weekly Staff (Copyright 2008)

In this interview, Steve Cabella talks about collecting the work of designers Charles and Ray Eames, and about the mid century modern movement. Steve lives in an authentically restored early mid-century house, and can be reached via his web site, Eamescollector.com, which is a member of our Hall of Fame.

As a teenager, I collected everything from vintage bicycles to Coca-Cola to Victorian stuff. Once I realized some of this stuff contained concepts of art and design, I started looking for vintage objects that also represented art or …

continue reading | 4 Comments

By Maribeth Keane

Gary Rose talks about the hobby of scripophily, or collecting antique and vintage stock and bond certificates. Based in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, Gary can be reached through his site, Certificate Collector, which is a member of our Hall of Fame.

I got interested in stock certificates by happenstance, really. I collected stamps at one point, and sold my collection to put a down payment on the house. I tried to get back into stamp collecting by going to an auction a year or two later, and ended up not buying any stamps. But at the …

continue reading | 49 Comments

By Maribeth Keane, Collectors Weekly Staff (Copyright 2008)

Chuck LaChiusa discusses the furniture and architecture of Buffalo, NY, especially late 19th and early 20th Century styles like Arts and Crafts, Colonial Revival, Eastlake Victorian, Beaux Arts, and early modern. Based in Buffalo, Chuck can be reached through his website, Buffalo Architecture and History, which is a member of our Hall of Fame.

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 decided to take a few photographs to …

continue reading | 7 Comments

By Maribeth Keane

In this interview, Jim Snell talks about collectible classic Chevrolet cars, including the 1957 Bel Air, the 1959 Impala, and the 1960’s Camaro muscle cars. He also discusses vintage Schwinn bicycles. Based in Indiana, Jim can be reached through his website, Jims59.com, which is a member of our Hall of Fame.

I’ve been around Chevy cars my whole life and had them when I was in high school. It’s a lifetime thing. Some people do Fords; others Chryslers. It can be as easy as what your first car was. My …

continue reading | 13 Comments

By Lizzie Bramlett (Copyright 2008)

Lizzie Bramlett is a collector of vintage clothing and sewing patterns, and can be reached via her website, Fuzzylizzie.com

Paper sewing patterns were first manufactured in the middle of the 1800s. These first paper patterns were designed by Ellen Curtis Demorest. Starting in 1860, these patterns were sold through her magazine, Mme. Demorest’s Mirror of Fashion.  In 1863, American tailor Ebenezer Butterick was the first to create a sewing pattern in various sizes.  It was his idea to use tissue paper for the mass production of sewing patterns. Butterick’s company was also the first …

continue reading | 12 Comments

By Maribeth Keane

Bill Lindsey discusses antique bottles, including mouth blown bottles, bitters, figurals, inks, medicines, flasks, and many other varieties. He also explains the history and methods of early bottle production, and how diggers find bottles. Bill, based in Klamath Falls, Oregon, can be reached through his website, Historic Glass Bottle Identification, which is a member of our Hall of Fame.

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 …

continue reading | 65 Comments

By Maribeth Keane

In this interview, Richard Polt talks about collecting typewriters, from the early experimental machines of the 1890s to more modern postwar portables. Polt, who lives in Cincinnati and teaches philosophy at Xavier University, can be reached through his website, The Classic Typewriter Page, which is a member of our Hall of Fame.

I started to get interested in typewriters around age 12. My dad and I stopped at a garage sale and he bought me this typewriter from the 1930s, and I was just learning to type at the time. It’s a Remington Noiseless Portable, and …

continue reading | 15 Comments

By Maribeth Keane, Collectors Weekly Staff (Copyright 2008)

In this interview David Kornacki discusses the history of the Roycroft copper shop and its production of hammered copper items. Based in Manhattan, Kornacki can be reached through his website, Roycroft Copper, which is a member of our Hall of Fame.

I started collecting Roycroft around 1992 when I visited the Peter Roberts Gallery in New York City. That was sort of the peak of the Arts and Crafts mania and there were many galleries in SoHo: Gallery 532, Peter Roberts Gallery, Michael Carey Gallery, and so on. I was …

continue reading | 5 Comments