Best of the Web

Instruments for Science

Instruments for Science

This Smithsonian exhibit lets you view or download PDFs of entire manufacturers catalogs for early scientific instruments. Browse by company or type of instrument. Includes Bausch and Lomb microscopes, Carl... Read More or Visit Site

Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia

Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia

Founded by David Pilgrim, a former sociology professor at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan, the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia boasts some 4,000 objects designed to demean, insult, and... Read More or Visit Site

Cover Browser

Cover Browser

Philipp Lenssen's incredible archive of over 94,000 comic book covers - Wow! Wham! Yikes! Browse by title from the home page, or by keyword from the site's tag cloud. If you're adventurous, visit Cover Browser... Read More or Visit Site

Museum of Childhood

Museum of Childhood

Embrace your inner child on this website from the Victoria and Albert Museum, filled with high-quality images and information about childhood toys through the ages. Features sections on dolls, doll houses,... Read More or Visit Site

LACMA Luxury Textiles

LACMA Luxury Textiles

Textile collectors shouldn't miss this microsite from the LA County Museum of Art, a great reference on European and Asian threads. Browsable by function (ceremony and celebration, dress and identity, opulent... Read More or Visit Site

The Royal Collection

The Royal Collection

We pretty much had to include the royals in the hall of fame. They've been collecting for more than 500 years! It's the tip of the iceberg of a much larger collection, but check out the highlights in the... Read More or Visit Site

Old Soviet Christmas Cards

Old Soviet Christmas Cards

This site showcases over 1000 old Soviet Christmas and New Years cards from 1950 to 1990. Browse through page after page of fun, high resolution images of cards featuring Russian Santa Claus, The Snow Girl,... Read More or Visit Site

Plateshack.com

Plateshack.com

This massive site (14,000-plus plates) is a great starting point for seeing a wide range of license plates from many states, countries and decades. Start at the master index, which is divided geographically... Read More or Visit Site

Teainfusers.info

Teainfusers.info

Start some tea brewing, get your finger sandwiches ready and sit down to this exquisite reference by Elizabeth Willan and Connie Crozier on turn of the century silver tea infusers (tea balls). The site... Read More or Visit Site

New York Public Library

New York Public Library

The New York Public Library's impressive Digital Gallery offers free access to over 500,000 historical images including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints and photographs,... Read More or Visit Site

Patrick's Blood and Gore

Patrick

This encyclopedic and occasionally irreverent site is the be-all and end-all for collectors of Stanley planes. Patrick Leach begins with the Bailey planes, whose patent Stanley acquired in 1869 to kick-start... Read More or Visit Site

Antique Bottle Collector's Haven

Antique Bottle Collector

There's a ton of information here, but as with bottles, you have to dig to find the best stuff. Start with the famous bottles page, with its photo galleries of rare and unusual bottles. Then read up on tops,... Read More or Visit Site