Dorflinger Glass Was Brilliant

 

QUESTION: My mother liked to collect antique glassware. Her favorite was cut crystal. She often purchased items from a particular dealer in town. One of these objects was a tall vase with a concaved shape that was cut with a variety of intricate designs. I now have her collection and would like to begin identifying the pieces. She collected what she liked and didn’t really care to know what the pieces were. To begin, I’d like to know which factory made this magnificent vase. And also how to identify other pieces in this collection.

ANSWER: Based on the cut designs in the vase, it seems that it may have been made or at least cut by artisans at the Dorflinger Glass Company in White Hills, Pennsylvania.

The Victorians learned a lot about people’s manners and status from their tableware. The type and pattern of crystal indicated a person of a higher economic status. In the United States, this type of crystal became known as American Brilliant, an art form that with intricate designs and patterns and an unmatched quality. One of the leading producers of American Brilliant was the Dorflinger Glass Company which developed a weightier glass in the 1880s. 

Born in Rosteig in Alsace, France, in 1828, Dorflinger began an eight-year apprenticeship with an uncle at the Cristalleries de Saint-Louis in Lorraine to learn the glassmaking craft. In 1846, after completing his apprenticeship, Dorflinger persuaded his recently-widowed mother to emigrate from France to America in search of better opportunities. Dorflinger, along with his mother, brother Edward, and sisters Catharine, Madeline, Josephine, and Marie, arrived in New York aboard the Shakespeare on September 26, 1846. The family went west for a time where Charlotte and her daughters settled with friends in Oldenberg, Indiana. Christian and his brother Edward returned east to find work in the glass industry.

Dorflinger and his brother found employment at the Excelsior Flint Glass Company in Camden, New Jersey. Excelsior produced pharmacy glassware and also advertised “Rich Cut Glass.” During visits to New York City, Dorflinger became acquainted with Captain Aaron Flower, a former North River pilot and the proprietor of the Pacific Hotel. When Captain Flower and a group of associates formed the Long Island Flint Glass Works to make lamp chimney and lamps for burning coal oil or kerosene in 1852, they asked Dorflinger to head up the new firm. That same year, he married Elizabeth Hagen. 

By 1856, Dorflinger had added a cutting shop with 35 cutting frames and had begun producing rich cut glass tableware in addition to the company’s commercial products, making the Long Island Flint Glass Works a leading manufacturer of cut glass tableware in New York.

In 1860, Dorflinger built a larger glass factory, the Greenpoint Flint Glass Works, on Commercial Street at Newtown Creek on the northern edge of Brooklyn. Dorflinger, in partnership with Nathaniel Bailey, a vice president at the Greenpoint Savings Bank, formed C. Dorflinger & Co. to own and operate the new glass works. The Greenpoint works included a blowing shop to produce blanks for cutting, a cutting shop, wharf facilities, and housing for the factory’s workers. In less than a decade, Dorflinger had become the premier manufacture of cut glass in New York, operating the newest and most advanced glass factories in the city.

By 1861, the Greenpoint Flint Glass Works had received an order for a set of rich cut and engraved glassware from the Lincoln White House. The pattern, character of English and Trish glass during that period, was very light and intense, with no deep cutting. The Great Seal of 'the United States was on each of the 600 pieces. The eagle was facing away from the arrows because there was no war threatening in 1860, when the order had been placed. The state glass service went on to be used for the next 30 years. 

The following year, Dorflinger began experiencing health problems and decided to take a leave of absence and move to the country. In September 1862, Dorflinger purchased a 600-acre farm in Wayne County, Pennsylvania  from his friend Captain Flower. Dorflinger also purchased an additional 350 acres in White Mills, which later became the location of his Wayne County Glass Works. 

In 1863, Dorflinger moved to Wayne County. He sold the Long Island Flint Glass Works, but retained his ownership interest in the Greenpoint Flint Glass Works. White Mills offered all of the elements needed to build and operate a large, modern glass factory. The adjacent Delaware & Hudson Canal delivered coal from nearby Carbondale, Pennsylvania, to fuel the factory’s furnaces, brought in the raw materials needed to make the fine lead crystal glass, and delivered Dorflinger’s finished goods to market.

Dorflinger’s newest glass factory included a five-pot furnace close to the Lackawaxen River in White Mills. He also constructed a cutting shop and seven cottages for the skilled glassblowers he brought over from France. By 1869, the firm employed 182 workers. That same year, Dorflinger opened the St. Charles Hotel to house his visiting business associates, tradespeople, and friends, as well as a company store. In 1875, he added a decorating shop, and in 1883, a new cutting shop and a glassblowing shop.

The Dorflinger Glass Company exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, and received a certificate of award for its glass table wares. The heavily cut glassware exhibited at the Centennial Exposition began what is now known as the “Brilliant Period” of cut glassmaking in America, which continued until about 1917.

In 1891, Dorflinger produced a new state table service for President Benjamin Harrison, replacing the Lincoln state service with a more modern design cut in the Russian pattern with the U.S. Coat of Arms engraved on a shield.

 two sons, Charles and Louis, joined the business, and the firm's name changed to C. Dorflinger and Sons, based in Wayne County, Pennsylvania.

Blowing, cutting and engraving were part of the manufacturing process fur more than 60 years. The recipe for glassmaking materials included pure Berkshire sand, imported German potash, lead oxide and cutlet.

Every morning, workers skimmed the glass mixture for impurities. Dorflinger produced pure crystal and colored glass with a high lead content, giving it brilliance and making it easier to cut.

The Dorflinger factory also supplied blanks in hundreds of shapes to a number of cutting shops  for almost 70 years. One such shop was Thomas Gibbons Hawkes, based in Corning, N.Y. During President Grover Cleveland's administration in 1885, Hawkes was asked to supply the White House with 336 pieces of tableware cut in the Russian pattern. Hawkes received 28 dozen blanks manufactured at White Mills, ready for cutting and engraving.

 incorporated several basic motifs into many heavy cut brilliant glass items. Among these were Renaissance, Buzz Star, aka pinwheel, 48-point flash star, a stone engraved rose design, Old Colony, Hobstar (diamond) and a Russian design.

A catastrophic fire of suspicious origin in 1892 heavily damaged some buildings and destroyed others. Dorflinger immediately rebuilt the factory. Five years later, he introduced new lines of tableware that were graceful and light, refined in style and cut in a new intaglio pattern. Buyers could order glass with various degrees of cutting. In 1910, the firm began producing a line of etched glass-ware and lightly cut tableware that was less expensive.    

In 1897, Dorflinger hired an Englishman, Walter Graham, to head the engraving department. Graham introduced stone engraving from his native country to the White Mills factory, creating the modern lighter floral designs known as “Rock Crystal.” In 1901, Dorflinger added a new subsidiary named the Honesdale Decorating Company managed by Austrian Carl F. Prosch. Honesdale Decorating produced a line of gold decorated table ware and a new line of cameo glass in the Art Nouveau style. This new art glass style used color cased glass and acid cutting with gold decoration. 

 introduced a second art glass line in 1907. The Kalana art glass line used acid etching to etch intricate floral designs on colorless glass. Some pieces were also cut and/or engraved. World War I interrupted Dorflinger’s supply of German potash, an essential ingredient used to make the company’s fine lead crystal glass. 

In response, in 1914, Dorflinger developed a third art glass line known as “Reproductions Venetian.” Made in solid pastel colors, this blown glass without decoration hid the imperfections resulting from the lack of potash. Finally, from 1919 to 1921, Dorflinger produced an art glass line known as “Opal Glass” for its opaque, opalescent appearance. These new glassware lines were attempts by the company to appeal to changing tastes as the demand for heavy cut glass began to decline.

Building on his success, he added a third blowing shop in 1902, and a coal gasification plant to produce natural gas for the newest furnace in 1905. At the peak of its operations in the early 20th century, the Dorflinger Glass Factory employed 650 people and was one of the largest enterprises of its kind in the country. The factory employed women as well as men. Women worked in the factory office and in the washing and packing department, but there were also some women cutters.

Christian Dorflinger died in 1915. His sons, Charles and Louis, continued to operate the firm. By the end of World War I, the heavy cut glass of the American Brilliant Period which had been the mainstay of the firm’s output had gone out of favor. The interruption in the supply of German potash during the war years had limited the company’s ability to produce fine lead crystal table ware, and Prohibition further reduced demand for the company’s table and bar ware. Faced with these challenges, the family decided to close the factory in 1921.

 glass is noted for the consistent clarity and brilliance of its lead crystal, the elegance of its designs, and its excellent cutting and engraving. Color cased pieces, in which workers laid colored glass over clear glass, then artisans cut the pattern through the color layer to the clear glass underneath, are among the most prized examples of the company’s work. Collectors also highly value pieces with silver ornamentation, known as silver mounts.

To identify Dorilinger glass, it’s necessary to compare a piece with others in pattern books. The company marked its glass with a small, round paper label depicting three items—a wine goblet, a cordial glass, and a bottom-heavy wine decanter----over which the name DORFLINGER was printed.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "The Sporting Life" in the 2025 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Wristwatches Worth Collecting

 

QUESTION: My dad loved old watches and over time he collected over four dozen. Most of them are wristwatches, from classic ones to special, novelty examples. He has since died, and his watch collection came to me. I’m not exactly sure what to do with it. Part of me wants to continue my father’s collection, but another part has no idea how to do that since I don’t have the passion for watches that he did. Can help?

ANSWER: Before you do anything with your dad’s watch collection, it’s important to learn what you have. Make a list of all the watches and systemically research each one to learn more them. Once you do that, you’ll be in a better position to deal with your collection.

The wristwatch has been around for nearly 150 years. For much of that time, they’ve represented some of the world’s most accurate timepieces. Today, the function of the wristwatch has been taken over by smartphones and fitness bands, but the beauty of those old watches remains and in many cases they’ve kept on ticking.

The wristwatch originated in 1868, when Patek & Philippe of Switzerland modified a tiny pocket watch for the Hungarian Countess Koscowicz. However, it took several years for Philippe, or any other watchmaker, to make anything other than the popular pocket watch—plus several more before any of them produced a wristwatch that could be priced reasonably enough for people to buy.

As the 19th century progressed, women's miniature pocket watches were often attached to a decorative bracelet or leather strap, to be worn on the wrist as a fashion accessory. In a 1891, Audemars Piguet of Switzerland created an 18mm minute repeater movement, one of the smallest of its kind.

By the 20th century, several other manufacturers introduced wristwatches, and while ladies bought them, men didn’t because they considered them to be effeminate.

But World War I changed all that. During the first decade of the 20th century, Robert Ingersoll designed a line of ladies pocket watches for the Waterbury Company. The “Midget” was both tiny and inexpensive, and the U.S. Armed Forces ordered thousands for use by their troops, requesting that the winding crown be moved from the 12 o'clock to the 3 o'clock position. After soldering a pair of wire loops at 12 and 6 o'clock, they attached the Midget to a band, creating the world's first inexpensive wristwatch.

Now Ingersoll also invented a luminous paint called Radiolite, a radium compound, which when applied to the watch's hands and numerals, allowed them to glow in the dark. Not only could soldiers now tell time in the dark, they also began to appreciate the convenience of a wristwatch over the traditional pocket watch. By the end of the war, the modified Midget had changed men’s perception of the wristwatch.

In 1920, only 25 percent of the watches exported by Switzerland were wristwatches; by 1934, the figure had risen to 65 percent.

Fashion and technology were also rapidly changing. Between 1915 and 1940, watch companies introduced thousands of unique styles for both men and women, each vying for their share of a burgeoning market. By the late 1920s, automatic self-winding and water-resistant models were in production, and by the late 1930s,shock-resistant movements were in the works.

The 1930s would also introduce the character watch. In 1933, the Ingersoll-Waterbury Company, under exclusive license from Walt Disney, produced character watches and clocks featuring Mickey Mouse. The watches retailed for $2.98. Macy’s Department Store in New York sold over 11,000 on the first day of their release. Not only was Ingersoll-Waterbury saved from the financial ruin of the Depression, after eight weeks of production, they added 2,700 employees to their 300-person work force. By 1935, more than 2.5 million Mickey Mouse watches had been sold.

The success of Ingersoll-Waterbury encouraged other watch companies to begin producing collectible character watches in the 1930s. Examples include Dick Tracy, Little Orphan Annie, Donald Duck and the Lone Ranger. Ironically, while World War I brought wristwatches to public favor, it would be World War II that would all but curb production, as watch factories reorganized for the war effort.

After World War II, people had a renewed interest in character watches, a trend which has continued to the present. Unlike watches made in the 19th century, character watches are relatively inexpensive, so more people can buy them, especially online. For example, a 1978 Registered Edition Bradley 50th Birthday Mickey Mouse watch can still be found for $75.The same holds true for many watches from the 1950s. A 1950s U.S. Time Zorro watch will cost around $125, and a 1951 Ingraham Dale Evans sells for about $75. There are exceptions, but even these aren’t completely out of reach. An example would be a Roy Rogers, mint in box, which sells for about $400.

While character watches may be fun to collect, there are some who prefer to collect premium vintage watches. Gruen watches are especially popular. What separates true antique watches is that all of them are mechanical—that means they need to be wound each day. It’s because they’re mechanical that many people shy away from them. Today, people live in a battery-operated world and they don’t want to have to remember to wind their watch.

What separates one vintage watch from another is the brand. Younger collectors tend to favor stainless steel watches over gold or two-tone and look for names like Omega, Breitling and Tag Heuer. The older crowd gravitates toward the traditional elegance and style of Rolex, Patek Phillippe, and Vacheron Constantin.

Unfortunately, the luxury wristwatch market has been overrun by fakers. While the Internet has opened the selection of watches to people all over the world, it has also opened the floodgates for every crook and con artist. Because these wa

tches cost so much, most buyers are looking for bargains. If the price seems too good to be true, then the watch is probably a fake. Like luxury cars, luxury watches hold their value. Being an antique just adds to it. 

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "The Roaring Twenties" in the 2025 Spring Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Brooching the Subject

 

QUESTION: While antiquing on a recent weekend, I came across a shop with a display case full of antique brooches. And while I’ve seen old brooches before, I never saw this many together. That got me to wonder how the brooch came to be. What can you tell me about the origin and history of the brooch?

ANSWER: Brooches have a long history dating back to the Bronze Age, originally serving as  fasteners for clothing before evolving into decorative jewelry. Over the centuries, they have been made from various materials and have reflected changing fashions and social status. Brooches became especially popular during Victorian times.

Brooches have  usually been made of silver or gold, decorated with enamel or with gemstones and may have been solely ornamental or serve as a clothes fastener. As fashions in brooches changed quickly, they became historical indicators.  

Before the Middle Ages, brooches were called fibula. With a lack of buttons, they were necessary as clothes fasteners, but also acted as markers of social status for both men and women. During the Iron Age in Europe, metalworking technology advanced dramatically, including casting, metal bar-twisting and wire making. As early as 400 BCE,  Celtic craftsmen in Europe created fibulae decorated in red enamel and coral inlay.

Brooches first appeared in Britain in 600 BCE, lasting until 150 BCE. The most common brooch forms during this time were the bow, the plate, and the penannular brooch. Most of these were cast in one piece, with most from copper alloy or iron. The brooches of this era show Roman jewelry techniques, including repoussé, filigree, granulation, enameling, openwork and inlay. Color was the primary feature of brooches of this period. The precious stone most often used was the almandine, a burgundy variety of garnet, found in Europe and India. Designers would cover the entire surface of an object with the tiny geometric shapes of precious stones or enamel which artisans then polished flat until they were flush with the cloisonné settings, giving the appearance of a tiny stained glass window.

Artisans used many variations in their brooch designs---geometric decoration, intricate patterns, abstract designs from nature, bird motifs and running scrolls. Intertwined beasts were often a signature feature of these intricately decorated brooches. Bow shaped, S-shaped, radiate-headed and decorated disc brooches were the most common styles from the 5th through the 7th centuries. 

Circular brooches first appeared in England in the middle of the 5th century. And by the end of the 6th century, the circular form had become the preferred brooch shape.

Celtic brooches represent a tradition of elaborately decorated penannular and pseudo-penannular types developed in early medieval Ireland and Scotland. However, certain characteristics of Celtic jewelry, such as inlaid millefiori glass and curvilinear styles, have more in common with ancient brooches than contemporary Anglo-Saxon jewelry. 

Scandinavian brooches, generally made of silver and copper alloy, embraced the Germanic animal style of decoration in the Middle Ages. This decorative style originated in Denmark in the late 5th century as a response to late Roman metalwork. 

Viking craftsmen decorated their brooches in one or more of the Viking styles---Oseberg, Borre, Jellinge, Mammen, Ringerike and Urnes. Viking brooches came in seven different forms---circular, bird-shaped, oval, equal-armed, trefoil, lozenge-shaped, and domed disc. Designs featured a variety of decoration, including interlaced gripping beasts, single animal motifs, ribbon-shaped animals, knot and ring-chain patterns, tendrils, and leaf, beast and bird motifs.

Both men and women wore brooches during the late medieval period from 1300 to 1500. Brooches were star-shaped, pentagonal, lobed, wheel, heart-shaped, and ring.  Smaller than other brooches, ring brooches often fastened clothing at the neck. Brooch decoration usually consisted of a simple inscription or gems applied to a gold or silver base. Inscriptions of love, friendship and faith were a typical of ring brooches of this time. Heart-shaped brooches were a popular gift between lovers or friends.

The Renaissance, lasting from 1300 to 1600, was a time of wealth and opulence in the Mediterranean region. Elaborate brooches covered in emeralds, diamonds, rubies, amethyst and topaz or pearls were in fashion, especially with the upper classes.  Brooches with religious motifs and enameled miniature portraits were also popular.

By the beginning of the 18th century ornate brooches made of gold and silver with complex designs were fashionable. By the mid- to late 1700s, simpler forms and designs were more common, with simpler themes of nature, bows, miniature portraits and animals.  

Brooches made during the Neoclassical Period, between 1760 and 1830, featured  classical themes of ancient Greece and Rome. The main difference between Renaissance brooches and Neoclassical jones were that artisans created Renaissance brooches primarily for the upper class and Neoclassical ones for the general public. 

English pottery manufacturer Josiah Wedgwood produced cameo brooches in black basalt and jasper. Cameos and brooches with classical scenes were fashionable during this period.

Cameos, locket brooches, flowers, nature, animal and hearts were popular in the early Victorian era. When Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, died in 1861, brooch design changed to reflect the queen in mourning. Styles turned heavier and more somber, using materials like black enamel, jet, and black onyx.

It was fashionable during this period to incorporate hair and portraiture into a brooch. The practice began as an expression of mourning, then expanded to keepsakes of loved ones who were living. Artisans encased human hair encased within a brooch or braided and wove it into a band to which they attached clasps.

By the early 20th century, brooches appeared with diamonds, typically with platinum or white gold, and colored gemstones or pearls. Popular brooch forms included bows, ribbons, swags, and garlands, all in the delicate new style.

The Art Deco style found a place in modern brooch design. Common decoration included geometric shapes, abstract designs, designs from Cubism, Fauvism, and art motifs from Egypt and India. Artisans used black onyx, coral, quartz, lapis and carnelian along with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. 

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Return to Toyland" in the 2024 Holiday Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Sweet Tooth Santas

 

QUESTION: I found this old-world German Santa candy container in an antique shop a couple of months ago. He’s made of papier mache  and stands about 6 inches tall. He’s wearing a cone-shaped hat and carries a small Christmas tree. A faint stamp on the bottom says “Made in Germany.” This little Santa comes apart in the middle to reveal a lined interior. Can you tell me more about this little gem?

ANSWER: You have indeed discovered a little Christmas gem. What you have is a Santa candy container made in Germany around the turn-of-the-20th-century. Called a Springhead, this little novelty features a Santa wearing a red-flocked coat and a cone-shaped hat. He also carries a small Christmas tree decorated with colored beads.

Of all the holiday decorations produced since the mid-19th century, few remain as cherished as early German Santa Claus candy containers. These handmade characterizations of Father Christmas remain a popular collectible.                           

The manufacture of Santa candy containers began in the 1880s. Makers sold them to an eager American market. By the end of the decade, U.S. retailers offered their customers German-made Santas in a variety of sizes and styles.   

Selling for a mere five cents, these Santas represented old Kris Kringle in snow-covered garb. Sometimes makers added gold tinsel to represent sparkling snow. Santa containers came in a variety of sizes, from five to seven-and-a-half inches tall. Santa, himself, had a finely painted red face and white beard and wore a heavy coat. Other Santas wore felt robes trimmed with lamb's wool or felt. Purple crepe paper sometimes lined the inside of the outfit. Some of the Santas carry a tiny wicker basket at their waist or on their back.

The Germans couldn't make them fast enough. The making of these early candy containers involved eight to ten families, each responsible for different areas of production. One family might fashion the boots, another would create Santa's clothing, while another would add Santa's rabbit-fur beard. But the most important step involved painting the face.

Over the years the details of Santa’s face changed. One of the biggest influences was the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” that portrayed Santa as a jolly old elf with a thick, flowing white beard and a white fur-trimmed suit. The public's impression of Father Christmas as a stern, thin old man changed dramatically in the late 19th century when Thomas Nast began illustrating St. Nick as a fat, jolly elf-like character for Harper's Weekly.

People originally saw St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, as a gift-giving old man who rode a white horse and gave goodies to children. Father Christmas took the initial image of St. Nicholas and gave it a twist, making him an old bearded man who doled out punishments as well as rewards.

Residents of certain parts of Germany saw Christkindchen, the German Christ child, as a gift giver. The English butchered the pronunciation of the name, so that today he’s popularly known as Kris Kringle. This figure traditionally wore a white robe and a white jeweled crown, traveling the countryside on a mule. He was said to have been accompanied by Pelze Nicol, a boy with a blackened face. Yet even Pelze Nicol developed into his own personality, becoming Belsnickle, a sinister-looking Santa who punished bad children.

Important scientific discoveries have also been incorporated into these Christmas figures, the most notable being the invention of the light bulb. Between1907 and 1910, the Germans made Santa candy containers featuring an electric lantern strapped to Santa's chest. The figure also held a feather tree decorated with three electric bulbs. A battery operated all four lights.

Likewise, Santa's means of transportation hasn't remained static over the years. Some candy containers show Santa on a sheep, donkey or mule, while others had him riding a sleigh made of moss. The Germans crafted log sleighs with the bed of the sleigh large enough to hold both candy and small wooden toys known as Ergebirge.

Where makers placed the candy and dried fruit and how they made them accessible varied from one container to another. Santas also carried different types of baskets. Some simply had a cloth or felt bag for goodies. Some candy containers came in two pieces, having removable heads or a cardboard tube that separated when Santa's legs and torso, enabling them to be pulled apart. Other examples, such as those showing Santa on a chimney, had a plug on the bottom or a paper seal.

Regardless of the type, people gave Santa candy containers mostly as gifts. After the receiver ate the  candy, they used the container as a holiday decoration. Even though people brought out these Santas for the holidays each year, they could be easily damaged not only by overzealous children allowed to play with the Santas, but also by prolonged exposure to sunlight. While children might physically destroy the candy container, the sun did consider-able harm by fading bright-red coats to a light-brown or turning the interior of the garment from purple to blue.

What destroyed the great artistry of German candy containers, however, was competition from foreign countries. By the 1920s the public was more willing to accept plainer-looking Santas, and the Japanese provided them. Although the Japanese based their candy containers on German examples, the fine details soon became too expensive to produce. The public accepted cheaper imitations, trading savings for a loss in quality.

It's that loss of true artistry over the years that makes vintage German-made Santa candy containers so collectible today. Prices begin at about $375 but rarer ones often sell for several thousand dollars.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Return to Toyland" in the 2024 Holiday Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.