Collectors Weekly

Scopitone: ’60s Music Videos You’ve Never Seen

Before MTV, and long before we could stream music videos on our cell phones, mid-1960s American hepcats gathered around 500-pound, 7-foot-high contraptions to watch 16-millimeter Technicolor films of B-list pop stars gyrating to their latest hits. The contraption in question was usually a Scopitone, one of several audio-visual jukeboxes found primarily in bars. Their reign, if you can even call it that, was … (continue reading)

For Collectors, Clear Is the New Black

The blogs are buzzing this morning with news that a 1939 Plexiglass body Pontiac made by General Motors for the New York World’s Fair, sold at auction for $308,000. In fact, a lot of manufacturers of traditionally opaque goods made see-through versions of their products. Here are a few of our favorite clear things.

The Ghost Car. This 1939 … (continue reading)

This 1959 Goggomobil Is Insanely Cute and Gets 55 MPG. Why Can’t Detroit Do That?

The last time we spoke to Justin Pinchot, he took us on a guided tour of his collection of toy robots. Recently, Justin sent us photos and a video (see below) of his latest toy, a 1959 Goggomobil TS 250 Coupe. According to Justin, less than 67,000 of these German microcars (it’s just 10 feet long) were manufactured between 1957 and 1969. Like other Goggomobil … (continue reading)

Too Lazy To Work Out? Machines That Exercise for You, From Victorian Era to Now

Time was, humans didn’t have to worry much about getting exercise. When we had to kill, gather, grow, or herd our own food, working out happened naturally. Of course, as soon as we figured out how to avoid those laborious chores, we did. Not long after, we had to come up with new ways of staying in shape; hence, exercise.
“Kellogg had some unorthodox ideas about health.”
Exercising is an … (continue reading)

The Blues Rocker’s New Secret Weapon? An Electric Cigar Box Guitar

Johnny Lowe of Memphis, Tennessee, makes guitars out of cigar boxes, furniture, and other recycled objects. These humble-looking instruments, known as Lowebows, have taken the stage with Kid Rock, Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi All Stars, and Timbuk 3′s Pat MacDonald, who named his latest band, Purgatory Hill, after a Lowe cigar box guitar called the Purgatory Hill Harp.

“Slide guitar evolved from the … (continue reading)

Steve McQueen, Mike Wolfe, and the Husky 400

When some people think “motorcycles,” the first name that comes to many minds is Mike Wolfe, the co-host of “American Pickers” who’s made no secret of his love of just about anything on two wheels. But even Mike would probably agree that the name that’s even more closely associated with motorcycles is Steve McQueen.

On May 14, 2011, Bonhams will offer one of McQueen’s bikes … (continue reading)

Vintage Snowmobiles: From Model T to Mod

Today’s guest blogger, Mike Anderson is the owner of Wolfegang’s Collectibles, who makes a living buying, selling, and conserving antique sewing machines. He and his son also collect vintage snowmobiles.

While many sources state the first snowmobile was made by Joseph Armond Bombardier or Edgar Hetten of Arctic Cat, that is not the case. It was actually a converted Ford Model T, made by Virgil D. White of … (continue reading)

The Sewing Machine of His Dreams

Today’s guest blogger  is Mike Anderson, the owner of Wolfegang’s Collectibles, who makes a living buying, selling and conserving antique sewing machines.

Every now and then, a collector gets lucky and finds that once-in-a-lifetime item. We all scour the planet for the things we love—the rare, the unusual, the pristine. The story of this 1860 Williams & Orvis treadle sewing machine is, however, not one of a lucky find, … (continue reading)

Beautiful Machine: 1881 Hammond Typewriter

Today’s guest blogger is Martin Howard, whose amazing collection of late-19th-century typewriters can be seen at antiquetypewriters.com.

James Hammond, one of the great typewriter pioneers, began work on this remarkable machine in the late 1870s. It was patented in 1880 and first manufactured in 1881.

The Hammond typewriter has a truly brilliant … (continue reading)

American Picker Dream, Part II: Mike Wolfe On Enduros and Land Rockets

As co-host of History Channel’s “American Pickers” and the operator of Antique Archaeology, Mike Wolfe is known to millions of TV viewers as the guy who digs treasures out of barns, sheds, and basements. Although he began his pickin’ career buying, fixing-up, and selling vintage bicycles, he quickly graduated to machine-powered two-wheelers. In the second of several interviews (read our first one here), we spoke with Mike about his love of motorcycles, especially … (continue reading)

Cool Cameras: The Univex Mercury

Today’s guest blogger is camera collector John Kratz, whose Flickr page is a thing of beauty. John has posted a number of his cameras on Show & Tell, too.

The Universal Camera Corporation found great success in the early/mid-1930s by selling very inexpensive cameras and film. By the late ’30s, however, the camera-buying public was increasingly interested in high-end imports such as the Leica and Contax … (continue reading)

What Is It? Mystery Scooter with Pedals

Since we first launched Show & Tell in June of 2010, thousands of people have posted photographs and short stories about things in their collections. When someone has a question about an item, they label it as an Unsolved Mystery. Here’s one of our favorites.

It looks like a Vespa, but…
Mork is a recent visitor to Show & Tell, and this visitor’s first contribution reads as follows: … (continue reading)

Beautiful Machine: 1886 Crandall Typewriter

Today’s guest blogger is Martin Howard, whose amazing collection of late-19th-century typewriters can be seen at antiquetypewriters.com.

Lucien S. Crandall, the man behind the Crandall – New Model, was born in Broome County, New York, in 1844. He would become one of the great early typewriter pioneers of the 1860s and 1870s. Crandall patented perhaps 10 typewriters, about six of which were manufactured. All of his designs were very intriguing … (continue reading)

American Picker Dream, Part I: Mike Wolfe On His Love Affair With Bikes

As co-host of History Channel’s “American Pickers” and the operator of Antique Archaeology, Mike Wolfe is known to millions of TV viewers as the guy who digs crazy treasures out of barns, sheds, and basements. But he’s always been a vintage bicycle guy at heart—that’s what got him started ‘picking’ at age six. In this first of several interviews (read our second installment here), we spoke with Mike about his bike racing days, his … (continue reading)

What Music Looked Like, Circa 1940s

A few months ago, our very own potrero posted a few Fada Catalin Bullet radios (the model 1000) on Show & Tell. Gotta love their shape (rounded on one end, squared off at the other), while their colors (rich burgundy, marbleized blue, butterscotch yellow) are equally glorious.

The other day, a Collectors Weekly visitor named decophobia posted a different Catalin radio on Show … (continue reading)