By Thomas Hamilton Ormsbee

The following piece details the establishment of the Worcester china manufacturers in 1751 by a small group of men hoping to bring economic stability to their town of Worcester, as well as the pottery’s evolution during its early years, which was influenced by changes in ownership. It originally appeared in the January 1939 issue of American Collector magazine (Volume VII Number 12), a publication which ran from …

By Maribeth Keane, Collectors Weekly Staff (Copyright 2009)

Tom Shieber, Senior Curator at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, discusses baseball memorabilia, the history of baseball, the evolution of bats and balls, and selected items in the Hall of Fame’s museum. Based in Cooperstown, New York, Tom can be reached via the Baseball Hall of Fame website, which is a member of our Collectors Weekly Hall of Fame.

The …

By Maribeth Keane, Collectors Weekly Staff (Copyright 2009)

Brent Lambert talks about the history of model railroading and describes current trends in the hobby. Since 2003, Brent has been the Director of the National Model Railroad Association’s A.C. Kalmbach Memorial Library in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He can be contacted via the library’s website at http://library.nmra.org.

The NMRA library’s original purpose was to focus on model railroading, but over time we’ve …

By Maribeth Keane, Collectors Weekly Staff (Copyright 2009)

Patrick Lundborg talks about vinyl psych and garage records, including the popular artists, the best places to find records from obscure underground bands, and the differences between the psych and garage genres. Patrick can be contacted via his website, http://www.lysergia.com.

I’ve been interested in psych records for about 25 years now. It started with just 1960s music, the Beatles and …

By Maribeth Keane, Collectors Weekly Staff (Copyright 2009)

Jamie Coville talks about comic book collecting, and the evolution of comics from the earliest 10 cent books up through the golden and silver superhero ages and the adult-oriented comics of today. Based in Canada, Jamie can be reached via his website, TheComicBooks.com, which is a member of our Hall of Fame.

I’ve been interested in comic books since I …

By Maribeth Keane, Collectors Weekly Staff (Copyright 2009)

Eddy Scheepers talks about the history of Loetz art glass, how iridescent art glass became popular in the 1880s, and the various designs Loetz produced up through 1940. Based in Belgium, Eddy can be contacted via his website, Loetz.com, which is a member of our Hall of Fame.

Loetz was a Bohemian company. It was a factory; and the region’s biggest …

By Maribeth Keane, Collectors Weekly Staff (Copyright 2009)

Chris Sloan talks about collecting airline memorabilia, including models, timetables, silverware, brochures and more, from airlines such as TWA, Braniff, Eastern and Pan Am. Chris can be contacted via his website, Airchive.com, which is a member of our Hall of Fame.

I’ve got one of the largest private collections of airline memorabilia in the world. Many people who’ve seen it say …

By Maribeth Keane, Collectors Weekly Staff (Copyright 2009)

Heidi Kellner discusses the history, colors and styles of vintage Fiesta dinnerware and other Homer Laughlin Company lines such as Harlequin and Riviera. Heidi can be contacted via her website, Art of the Table: Fiesta Pottery, which is a member of our Hall of Fame.

I started as a collector and I’m a web designer, so I thought I would design …

By Dave Margulius, Collectors Weekly Staff (Copyright 2009)

Jeff L. Rosenheim, curator of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Department of Photographs, talks about “Walker Evans and the Picture Postcard,” an exhibit opening in February 2009 featuring 9,000 postcards from Evans’ personal collection. Evans collected postcards his whole life, a pursuit which heavily influenced his artistic style as a photographer. Rosenheim has been a curator at The Met for 21 …

By Maribeth Keane, Collectors Weekly Staff (Copyright 2009)

Gary Herzenstiel talks about 78 rpm records, the major 78rpm manufacturers, their technology, and the history of the record industry in general. Based in Detroit, Michigan, Gary can be contacted through his site, 78rpmrecord.com.

I have about 20,000 records in my collection at my house and another 7,000 at another house. I keep them in a room in the basement that …

By Maribeth Keane, Collectors Weekly Staff (Copyright 2009)

Rita Smith talks about children’s literature, specifically the history of children’s books, the various collectible genres, the development of cover designs, and some of the classics. Rita is curator of the Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature in Florida, whose website is a member of our Hall of Fame.

I started working as the curator of the Baldwin Library of Historical …

By Maribeth Keane, Collectors Weekly Staff (Copyright 2009)

In this interview, Howie Schecter talks about silver bookmarks, specifically the major manufacturers, designs, and the materials used to make them. Based in Los Angeles, Howie can be reached via his website, Silver Bookmarks, which is a member of our Hall of Fame.

I’m a packrat, so in 1995, I was itching to collect something. I went around to local flea …