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New Books for Collectors
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December 2006
Price Guide
to Christmas and Other Holiday Collectibles
by Dawn Reno Langley
Reviewed by Robert Reed
(Antique & Collectible News Service)
 |
The Official Price Guide to Christmas and Other Holiday Collectibles arrives just in time for the Yuletide season. And it is a stuffed stocking of goodness.
Seasoned writer Dawn Reno Langley does a remarkable job of presenting Christmas treasures, but those of more than 40 other holidays as well. All the categories are easy to locate and the text of historical background is an added bonus.
“Christmas items are always hot,” confides Langley, adding that such things are one of the top-selling categories year round on eBay. “Ornaments, Santa, and angels are consistently at the top of the list,” notes the author. “Through the years Kris Kringle has been a staple in the holiday collectibles field, and I expect Christmas stuff will always be at the top of the list.”
The book covers all of the obvious holidays including Christmas, New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Fourth of July, and Halloween. But also included in the book are Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Mardi Gras, Arbor Day, Confederate Memorial Day, Flag Day, Veteran’s Day, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa.
Other holidays aside however, the book delivers a wealth of information and listings for Christmas collectibles. Advertisements, banks, beads, bells, books, greeting cards and postcards are among them. Then, too, there are cookie cutters, dolls, folk art, ornaments, Nativity sets, games, a wonderland of Santa types, and lots more.
Experienced and expert in the field, Langley has written books on advertising collectibles, Native American art, black collectibles, and American country collectibles. In this volume the author maintains that the major holidays will remain strong among collectibles but much of the better items remain in short supply.
Langley, not surprisingly, suggests looking at some lesser-known holiday keepsakes, for example: “Mardi Gras necklaces, masks, and party-related stuff is gaining in popularity. They can still be had for pocket change, but the items that are dated, like party invitations, are worth more. It’s a fun holiday, but unfortunately, the items tend to be mass-produced and cheaply made. The collector to wants to find the truly unique or one-of-a-kind item will need to pay the price.”
The Official Price Guide to Christmas and Other Holiday Collectibles, hundreds of illustrations, soft cover, 292 pages, is $21.95 from House of Collectibles.
Collecting Costume
Jewelry 202, The Basics of Dating Jewelry 1935-1980
by Julia C. Carroll
Reviewed by Robert Reed
(Antique & Collectible News Service)
 |
Collecting Costume Jewelry 202 is an awesome presentation on the basics of collecting and dating pieces from the 1930s through the 1980s. Billed as the sequel to Collecting Costume Jewelry 101, the newly released volume’s coverage is impressive. Included are more than 650 color photographs, 550 patent illustrations, and a jolting 4,000 patent design numbers.
Additionally the substantial reference provides vintage advertisements or other illustrations from 125 makers. It includes 40 makers not presented in an earlier volume.
Basically the author offers up six methods for answering that eternal question about the date of a particular piece of costume jewelry. These methods include the maker’s signature, patent information, vintage advertisements, style or design, use of books and the internet, and finally dating jewelry by provenance (grandpa gave it to grandma.) The hundreds of photographs of vintage jewelry contained within the book are exceptional.
“These photographs exquisitely illustrate the ideas presented in the book about dating jewelry,” says author Julia Carroll, “while illuminating the beauty of these vintage treasures.”
Thousands of patent numbers are included for the curious in the book’s generous use of charts. Carroll notes that each chart records the design patent number, date issued, designer’s name, maker, jewelry type, plus a brief description of the piece. Further the nicely detailed captions also provide the reader with current 2007 values based on like or similar pieces on eBay.
Julia Carroll is a seasoned jewelry collector of 15 years, and is also the author of Collecting Costume Jewelry 101 from Collector Books.
Collecting Costume Jewelry 202, The Basics of Dating Jewelry 1935-1980 by Julia Carroll, soft cover, fully illustrated, 496 pages, is $24.95 plus shipping from Collector Books, 1-800-626-5420.
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