I was walking among the furniture pieces at auction this week, turned a corner and stopped in my tracks. There they were, ghosts from my bedroom past. Those chunky faux-wood bedroom sets with the carved designs. I…
Faux wood furniture
Posted in Home
Category: Home
I came across the name Stangl at an auction a couple years ago when I bought a lovely hand-colored pottery bird. The name was unfamiliar to me, but I’ve learned a lot about the company…
I love pecans, so much so that every year in August I order a five-pound bag from a company in Albany, GA. I’ve been doing it for at least 15 years or more. I haven’t found…
Thanksgiving then (and now)
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Home
This week, I decided to check a few of the old magazines I had picked up at auction to see if any were published around the Thanksgiving holidays. I wanted to see what articles, photos…
A woman’s work …
Posted in Home
As a child, I remember my grandmother boiling her clothes clean in a large black round pot, with a blazing fire of wood underneath. I’m not sure what sudsy soap she used, but her whites would sparkle…
Alden House and the 1955 auction
Posted in Home
A couple months ago, I was about to leave an exhibit of Massachusetts furniture at Winterthur Museum when I came across a copy of a 1955 article from the Boston Herald. It was hanging on a wall,…
Blacks, broom-making and Berea College
Posted in Home
The auctioneer was holding up a straw broom, describing to us auction-goers its history and other qualities. My mind was wandering until he said it was made by students at Berea College. A black college…