By Maribeth Keane and Ben Marks

Phil Mooney has been the historian and archivist for The Coca-Cola Company for three decades. Recently, we spoke with Mooney about Coca-Cola collectibles, the artists who created many of Coke’s most famous images, and some of the rarest pieces he’s ever seen. Mooney writes a blog called Coca-Cola Conversations, which is a member of our Hall of Fame.

As the archivist for Coca-Cola, I’m interested in preserving the history of this company. Integrally tied to that history are all of the things that we’ve used to market and promote the products. That’s really …

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By Maribeth Keane
One of my favorite daily activities here at Collectors Weekly is talking to all of the colorful and knowledgeable collectors I come across. I learn about a plethora of interesting collections as people describe them to me, but I can only conjure up visuals in my head of what their display rooms might look like.
In my previous fall semester at the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, I was given an assignment to make a group of portraits. As I sat confused about who to photograph, something sparked in my brain and …

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By Dave Margulius

Nothing gets my heart pumping like spotting an antique “in the wild.”  Seeing a piece of the past in its natural habitat, still hanging on after so many decades.

Most collectors fantasize about stumbling on some forgotten trove,  like Tutankhamun’s tomb, hidden in a shed or barn or basement, untouched since being stashed away. It occasionally happens. But these finds aren’t wild – they’ve already been taken into captivity.

Wild antiques are standing proud where they’ve always stood, often still serving their original …

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By Maribeth Keane

Richard Frajola talks about postal history, discussing covers, stamp designs and markings, and the detective work involved in determining how letters got to their destination in the 19th century. He can be contacted via his website, PhilaMercury, which is a member of our Hall of Fame.

I have a stamp collection, but I don’t consider myself a collector. I have a collection of my initials on stamps from Great Britain. I’ve been collecting those for a long time, but I’m a dealer and a consultant for postal history more than a stamp collector.

My interest started …

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Growing up in England, going to the beach meant putting on every winter coat I owned and sitting on pebbles the size of golf balls while battling the wind in an attempt to barbeque sausages. If we were lucky, we’d find a patch of sand, filled with tiny seashell fragments, and make sandcastles in the shape of racecars—but that was only if we were brave enough to get close to the piercing cold water.

Now that I live in sunny California, going to the beach has an entirely different meaning. I …

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Looks like a busy summer for folks interested in antique and vintage jewelry! A quick look around the web yields some interesting finds:

Alexander Calder jewelry exhibit opens in San Diego

Opening in San Diego next week, this stunning vintage jewelry exhibit features playful “wearable mini mobiles” made by sculptor Alexander Calder out of simple materials like industrial-type wire. Over his lifetime, Calder created more than 1,800 pieces of jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, earrings, brooches) from wire, brass, silver, gold, pieces of broken …

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I read the news today, oh boy! About a lucky bunch of video-game enthusiasts and Beatles fans whose garage-band wet dreams are about to come true. Yes, the Beatles are finally loosening the legal stranglehold on their music catalog to allow Harmonix, maker of the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises, to release a new video game for the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and Sony PlayStation 3. Titled “The Beatles: Rock Band,” the game is due in stores on September 9, 2009 and is destined to become an instant piece …

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By Ben Marks

Jonathan Snellenburg is the Director of Watches and Clocks for Bonhams New York. Snellenburg holds a Ph.D. in geochemistry, did post-doctoral work in extraterrestrial geology at the American Museum of Natural History, and graded diamonds as a gemologist for the Gemological Institute of America. Recently we spoke with Snellenburg about the impact of culture and technology on the evolution of timepieces, as well as the opportunities for novice and seasoned collectors alike.

I grew up outside of Philadelphia. I didn’t have any particular interest in clocks or watches as a kid; that came after I started working at …

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By Dave Margulius

I got a great surprise in the mail last week – a DVD called “Wisconsin Hometown Stories – Manitowoc/Two Rivers” (watch the full video online). It had a note from the producer, David Hestad of Wisconsin Public Television, thanking me for allowing them to use some images from a circa 1905 catalog I own (Hamilton Manufacturing Company, see this page to access the full PDF).

Nice surprise. First of all, people don’t always follow through on their word 6 months after they’ve promised …

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By Dave Margulius

The following is my own opinion, and I know people will disagree. There’s a comment box at the bottom of this article – please use it!

This year, 2009, has seen dramatic change. Longstanding institutions have fallen after years of speculation that they were “unsustainable.” Car companies have declared bankruptcy. Major daily newspapers are on the brink.

I worry collector clubs may be headed in the same direction if we don’t take bold action. I’m a member of two great clubs, TCI and ATCA, and in touch with many …

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Our new page on Vintage Collectible Science Fiction Books got me thinking about the science fiction short stories and novels that captured my imagination when I was a kid. Like a lot of young people, I couldn’t put down Frank Herbert’s Dune, Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land, Larry Niven’s Ringworld, and just about anything by Philip K. Dick (I particularly liked Martian Time-Slip).

But the book that made the biggest impression on my young brain, and I’m sure I’m not alone in this, was Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. It …

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Got an email the other day from a visitor who wanted us to build a page for left handed vintage guitars… and I thought, sure! How many left handed vintage guitar players could there be?

Alot, as it turns out, starting with famous ones like Paul McCartney, Clapton, Knopfler… not to mention historical left handed legends like Jimi Hendrix and Albert King.

So our left handed guitars page is now live. It also features great interviews with vintage guitar experts George Gruhn and …

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