Collecting Hawaiin Kitsch

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Collectibles and Memorabilia.

Hawaiina or collecting all things hawaiin are sought after collectors for years or even decades.

For hawainna collectors owning a piece of tangible artifacts brings back a time when you are in a tropical paradise, away from all the cares of the reality of the world.

It brought a taste of the tropics that promise fun and excitement.

Hawaii being one of the top tourist destinations of the world provided visitors a lot of gifts and keepsakes from their exotic island travels, thus the souvenir industry in Hawaii today, is big business.

Little odd and ends, like hula girl lamps, hula doll nodders or popularly known as dashboard hula dolls, surfboards, aloha shirts, ukuleles, hawainn vintage posters, and tikis are among the things collectors would like to own.

Hawaiina’s heyday were in the fifties until seventies. They even dubbed it as Polynesian Pop and America just naturally embraced it. James Michener’s best selling novel The Tales of the South Pacific and the broadway musical hit South Pacific were all proofs that hawaiin influence were marked in the American cultural landscape.

Although Polynesian Pop waned in the seventies, it made a huge comeback brought on by scenesters in their twenties and a generation younger than baby boomers .

And from the rate I’ts going Hawaiina or Polynesian Pop or whatever you would call it, is here to stay.

So let this introduction be the first of its series on hawaiin kitsch collecting.
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Collecting Art Noveau

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Towards the end of the nineteenth century many of the more progressive artists grew tired of the heavy, ornate architecture, decoration and design of the time, which still contained the obvious influence of Classical, Baroque, Renaissance, Rococo and other styles.

Then there was a reaction called a revolt. It took the form of a return to simplicity, craftsmanship and a flowing line. The result was Art Noveau.

Today, Art Noveau pieces are quite expensive and from an investment point of view they would seem to be oversubscribed just like the stock market. This is because of two major points: first, the period of this style was relatively short(around twenty years) and secondly , much of it was hand –made.

Combine those two facts together its fairly obvious that the quantity of Art Noveau are limited. The law of supply and demand is driving prices up and the same law should ensure that those prices rise even higher.

Although Art Noveau is now sought after and the prices are generally beyond most pockets bear in mind that this style penetrated all aspects of life and many household articles can be found that won’t make a large hole in your pocket.

Ceramic tiles are one example. Thousands of fireplaces , bathrooms surrounds and hallways in old houses are decorated with Art Noveau tiles and firms demolishing such houses are usually careful when removing them.

If you decide to collect tiles, your investment will increase at a greater rate if you collect in sets. That would be sufficient to cover a small coffee table or what have you.

Like most things, Art Noveau furniture often reaches a stage of deterioration where it is either thrown away or sold cheaply. If you have the opportunity obtain such pieces, scrutinize them carefully because it might have furniture fittings that are distinctive and collectable.

If you have an interest in books, keep an eye for illustrated books of this period. A title that a bookseller might consider unimportant because of the lack of popularity of the author might well be worth buying for the illustrations or the design on the cover.

Finally, don’t forget the everyday objects that are easily overlooked. Examples that spring to mind are picture frames and cheese dishes.

Such items can still be picked up relatively cheaply and compiling a collection of either would constitute an excellent investment.

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Collecting Banknotes/ Paper Money

This came into common usage in Europe in the latter part of the seventeenth century, in the form of bills, drafts and promissory notes used by bankers and merchants.

But the history of paper money goes back beyond that time, and is genrally accepted as having originated in china around a.d.700.

It took the form of paper drafts and developed into paper money redeemable in coin around a.d. 1000

It is interesting to note that these early banknotes were issued in great number with little or no regard for the economy.

The result was raging inflation and the downfall of the government in this case a dynasty. Nearly two thousand years later we still have the same trouble. Will we never learn?

Apart from the traditional old paper money there is a great potential in the banknotes of new or emerging countries.

Quite often a coup will overturn a government and the new leader immediately orders the elimination or withdrawal of that country’s currency so that he can get his own portrait on the new issue. This sort of situation could well lead to a shortage of a particular note.

One collector of banknotes framed his collection in a glass with a black velvet cloth as a background. His collection has also increased substantially in value and as decorative scheme , the effect is absolutely stunning.

Art Deco

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Art Deco refers to all decorative designs between world war one and two. The investing collector have a wide array of items to choose from because Art Deco extends to a long period of time.

Art Deco connotes to a period rather than a style. this is the era of the flapper, the charleston and the wallstreet crash. It penetrated all aspects of life from clothing to buildings, from egg cups to office furniture. the collector has a vast field from which to select.

Ceramic vases,porcelain figures,bone china,porcelain tea and coffee sets of the art deco era are rapidly rising in prices.

Since the opening of tutankhamen's tomb in 1923 egyptian designs and motiffs started to appear in everything like clocks were designed with scarab wing sides and dining chairs with stepped pyramid like backs.

Art Deco hold the most promise for the enthusiatic who wishes to consider his collection as an investment.

Collecting Vintage Watches

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One of the achievements of early man is the invention of time. back in the olden days we measured the day through sun's daily motion and and placement of the moon of a certain amount of cycle. That's how we enabled to keep the time.

We decided that the year is composed of 365 days and the day is composed of 24 hours. Since then we were able to keep appointments to be at a given place and at a given time.

Early man used sundial to waterclock and much later years to spring driven clock which eventually led to the miniaturization to the pocket watch then ultimately to the wrist watch.

Now how do we know that a certain vintage watch is valuable? well factor in availabilty, craftmanship, history and desirability. If certain timepieces were made in a batch of millions compared to only 300 pieces made. Then the latter fetch a more hefty price.

Condition is more important than the brand. Check out the movement and the inside of the casing . iIf there's discoloration, dings, scratches, blotches, flecks of rust be wary of all of these signs for it meant abusive wear and tear and watch parts swapping.

If a watch is part of a major turning point in history of mankind then consider the watch prestigious. The Longines hour angle watch worn by Charles Lindbergh when he made his solo flight the first ever over the Atlantic.

The explorer by rolex which is known for its triangle on the 12 on the dial both for roman and arabic numbers worn both by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay when they summited Nt. Everest for the first time in history and of course lastly but certainly not the least the omega speedmaster worn by Neil Armstrong when he first landed on the moon. The slogan still lives on" Omega Speedmaster the first watch on the moon".

Collecting vintage watches while fun can be easily become an obsession. It's easy to be addicted to acquiring these timeless time keeping artifacts. depending on your personal taste and budget you might want to collect pocketwatches, wristwatches-chronographs, led and lcd watches etc.

Back in the early nineties swatch company made collecting watches more affordable with all these psychedelic colorful designs on plastic.

Which by the way i have a sizable colection. now i'm hoping to get my hands on some led watches where in you just push a little button and light would emit displaying what time it is.

I think it's vogue to sport these watches because not too many people are wearing it nowadays. and also it brings back a lot of memories especially the disco dancing, mirrorball, white suit and john travolta of the 70's.

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Collecting Sewing Machines

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If you want to collect sewing machines you have to have a lot of space in your house because it would really be futile to collect these machines if you live in a cramped situation. one catalogue of singer sewing machines and its accessories alone would weigh 12 pounds.

Sewing machines are considered an industrial archeaology the old ones that is. In fact Mahatma gGndhi said that "sewing machines are one of the few useful things ever invented."

Numerous men claimed to have invented the sewing machines but in the early years it was destroyed because seamstresses are threatened of their livelihood. It wasn't until Isaac Merrit Singer an American built his first machine in boston in 1850. He was granted patents and started to mass produced his machines.

Sewing machines like in the picture above were elegant in shape, black decorated with gold. many of these machines are still in working condition even after fifty years of use.

If you want to collect sewing machines you have to look out for companies that produced fewer machines than singer or maybe imported ones. Portable machines fetch better prices in account of rarity and economy of storage space.

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collecting sewing machines
singer sewing machines"

Railway Bric A Brac

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People obviously have this obsessional interest in railways. Why? because it all lies in the bric a brac that railways accumulated. there are signs, buttons, uniforms, equipment and much more. In short, railways have more collectibles.

Of course such popularity means that prices will be bouyant, but that's good if you can locate a reasonable source of supply to build up a comprehensive collection.

And as usual to make more impact invesment wise you should collect thematically. station name signs are a popular theme. Uniform badges, buttons or even complete uniforms are also collected- badges in particular because they not only provide information but can be stored easily.

Train nameplates are the cream of the railyway bric a brac, along with the ornate company crests.then there are tickets, handbills, posters, guard's whistles,lamps ,transport tokens, ticket dispensers, waiting room clock and so on. The range of collectable themes in railway bric a brac is bewildering thus its fascinating.

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Railway Bric a Brac
Collection
Collectibles

Trade Tokens

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Trade tokens come in different forms such as pressed tin, in round, oval and square shapes. the other are lightweight brass coloured metal.

Trade tokens are the predecessor of the trading stamp.sometimes governments have been unwilling or unable to provide the population with sufficient small change, and the shopkeepers and traders have made good the shortage with token coins. Sometimes they have been produced illegally, but most have been accepted by the community out of necessity.

And even when there were no coin shortages, it was often in practice, in the past for traders and private banks to issue such coinage. In fact, the procedure was only suppressed early in the nineteenth century.

Strangely, the practice did not survive. Some firms manufactured tokens specially for collectors and other tokens were struck by collectors for their fellow collectors. These were made in very small quantities and are consequently rather scarce.

Another fascinating aspect of trade tokens is the variety of false tokens. there are counterfeits which are imitations or forgeries of genuine trade tokens; special tokens which have an original design but which copy a commercial one in order to deceive collectors: and mules-tokens in which the obverse of one token is combined with the reverse of another, in order to make a third.

You need to know a lot or do a lot of research if you consider investing and collecting trade tokens.they have been collected for so many years and that there's plenty of opportunity for someone who really knows what he's doing.

There are plenty of variety of tokens in the first half of the 20th century but then trade tokens of the current century could prove to be a sound investment.


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Trade Tokens

Nauticals

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Nauticals or maritime objects are hardly a single subject more like a dozen or so. take bosuns' pipes for example.

these were especially designed high pitch whistle that could be heard above the roar of a raging sea. they were developed somewhere around 1650 and were usually made of brass, copper varnished or painted to prevent salt-water corrosion.

some later ones were fashioned in pure silver. bosuns' pipes are not particularly cheap, but you can build up a collection at reasonable prices if you go for 1900-1920 electro plated models.

crested crockery- is another worthwhile collectable. most shipping lines and large liners had and still have crested crockery and this is enthusiastically collected.

If you haven't have the space or inclination for complete sets of crockery, you can still build up a worthwhile collection of plates or mugs.

You might prefer maritime ephemera. This is a fascinating branch of nauticals which includes travel tickets, bills of lading, menus, posters etc.

Collectibles with a particular nautical flavor are navigation instruments. these include sextants, parallel rulers ,compasses etc.

iIdon't think you'll find many bargain basement sextants because they are not only coveted by collectors many people with money to burn buy the brass variety as decorative items. I remember in high school i used to hang out at my classmates's house, her father was captain of a local shipping liner, there hung on the wall a very prominent ship's navigating wheel serve as the focal point of decoration in their living room.

And i used to marvel at the idea that the decoration of their living room had something to do with the owner's occupation.

If you want to build up such a collection at a reasonable price go for the basic chartwork navigation instruments. This include roller parallel, extending leg rulers, dividers, station pointers, chart magnifiers and navigational set squares. these "tools of the trade" are often overlooked among more exotic goods, but the very essence of navigation will be more sought after in the near future.

One of the most fascinating nautical collectibles is scrimshaw also known as scrimshouting, scrimshandy or just plain scrim- the sailor's art. basically, it consists of engraved or carved materials such as whalebone, walrus, tusk, shell etc. fashioned by sailors with the point of a knife, nail or other sharp instrument.

Finally there are the real prize pieces for collectors-the ship's helm and bell. you certainly won't find any bargains in this direction for they are wildly sought after.

However if divers find a wreck, they keep an eye out for the helm and bell. after a long submersion the helm is normally pretty grotty because the wood has rotted, but the bell usually made from marine brass can often be brought back to as new condition.

The hydrographic department of the admiralty has lists of something like 60,000 wrecks that have sunk around britain alone the last century. i don't suppose divers have visited more than one per cent of those wrecks just think about how many helms and bells that are awaiting collection.

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tags:
helm and bell , antique sextants, antique compass

Camera Lenses

Pictures show different types of early camera lenses .

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The earliest camera lenses are particularly attractive with highly polished brass mounts and impressive waterhouse stops or rotating diaphragms.They are also extremely practical because with the aid of bellows attachment or extension tubes, they can be used on almost any modern single lens reflex camera.

Camera enthusiasts are of course always on the lookout for such goodies which can still be found under a pile of bric-a-brac in many junk shops.

Sometimes you will come across an old camera that has been damaged beyond repair. don't ignore it- the lens might be in perfect condition. If you ever come across such a specimen and find the lens easily detachable, whatever you do don't throw the camera away, no matter how damaged because the body can tell the historian much about the lens, period etc.

Very early lenses comprised a single meniscus lens, such as the one developed by W.H. Woolaston around 1812. However this was just before the invention of photography and was used in examples of the camera obscura.

One of the pioneers of phtography was daguerre and the first photographs he took used a doublet lens made by c.l. chavalier in 1830.This particualr design was improved by thomas grubb.

The first lens to be calculated by a mathematician was a portrait lens designed by j.petzval in 1840. this was improved upon by h.zincke in 1870.the petzval portrait lens is worth looking out for, because it was frequently set in large, cumbersome mount and for this reason is often overlooked.

The next major development was the rectilinear lens. but none of this lenses could be improved very much because of the constrictions imposed by the limitations of the glass of the day.

However in the latter part of the nineteenth century new types of glass were devloped and this led to P. Rudolph to design the fisrt anastigmat.these were called protars. the anastigmat can fairly be called the fisrt photographic lens of the modern type.

Apart from those i mentioned above, lenses woth looking out for are Steinheil's Periscope , H.W.Lee's optic merte's biotar and there are many more.

A basic lens will invariably have an aperture. This may be fixed as in the earliest lenses; waterhouse stops; arotating diaphragm( perforated discs); or the now universal iris diaphragm. You could specialize in lenses with specific apertures.

On the other hand, there's a lot of investment mileage in lens shutters. at one time there were literally dozens of types of shutter, ranging from simple spring and leaf to complicated pneumatic tubes and plungers. all of them are increasing interest to collectors.

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tag:
camera lenses

Cameras

pictures show a bellow camera model and an old eastman kodak model.

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Old cameras are some of the most attractive scientific instruments, fashioned from mahogany and other exotic woods, with detailed joints and exquisite brass fittings. Some people just get a sheer joy of waxing and polishing the brasswork.

Early camers used glass plates for negatives and these plates required plate holders. If you get the chance to buy an old plate camera, ask about the plate holders. A plate camera with plate holder is much more valuable than the camera on its own.

The earliest camera were large and cumbersome and were without bellows. they usually consisted of two wooden boxes one sliding into the other. Dating from before 1840 such specimens could cost you you a years' salary today, if in good condition.


Bellow cameras came later but these are still expensive. Although early bellow camers were made in several sizes, negative or plate format, the smaller camera fetch pproportionately better prices but this is only relative virtually all early cameras are now quite expensive.

You need lines of research although there are books on the subject of old cameras they are rarely comprehensive. By far the best source of information is old photgraphic magazines - a case of advertising documenting history.

You might fancy collecting eastman kodak cameras from the earliest models right up to today's.

Between the wars cameras offer plenty of scope.

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Model car

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One type of model that has definitely attained more collectable status in recent years is the model car.

Not the large scale hand crafted models although there is a market for them but the mass produced variety which is the equivalent of the lead soldier.

I'm not talking about the rc (radio controlled) model car either.Although we'll delve into that area in future posts.

Several manufacturers around the world produce such cars, but we can get a better idea of the procedure if we study just one of those firms-in this case the matchbox model cars manufactured by Lesney products of england.

Lesney produced several series including superfast adventure 2000 and models of yesteryear and it is the latter that is most highly sought after by collectors.

These matchbox models come in their own little boxes hence the name. There is a matchbox only diecast club which needless to say is focused on the diecast model car and an official model car magazine that describes various models provides a means of communication and includes advertisements. And such is the enthusiasm of collectors that good money is offered even for old catalogues.

Collecting diecast model cars only may seem fairly simple procedure, but if youre going to do it properly(which is where the investment potential is) then you need to know all about your product.

If you know what you are looking for you might find that missing modified version for your set of whitlock winkum, dumpers, jeeps, lagondas or model T fords. And the demand of old models exceeds supply as can be seen by the classified ads of the matchbox magazine.

And it is much considered that your item is collectible and in mint condition especially if it still comes in their original boxes like this one in the picture. It is advisable that you have a decent model car display case for your collections.

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tags:
model car, diecast model car, model car magazines ,rc model car, model car display case,Matchbox

Model Soldiers

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There's a wide scope of collectibles in this field like the artilleries, battle ships and tanks, the whole diorama. But let's stick with model soldiers for this post.

When it comes to model toy soldiers there are lot of categories to choose from like medieval knights, ancient romans, the samurais, highlanders, the celts and the gauls, civil war and the two world wars. The picture shows a model soldier from the Napoleonic war.

One advantage of collecting model soldiers is that although an individual soldier might have a rather limited value, sets of soldiers, in dress uniforms or particular military settings command high prices.

So it's possible to build up collections that become more and more valuable with each addition. Famous sets such as the Royal Engineer's baloon and Winchwagon or the household cavalry at the trooping of the colour are now greatly sought after by avid collectors.

Britain has in the past been a major manufacturer of model soldiers, and now ranks as the world's largest producer. This means that there is a greater likelihood of finding early examples in Britain than anywhere else in the world.

The earliest model soldiers produced in the 16th century were two dimensional flats made from pure tin and mounted on small stands. The 30mm Nuremberg scale was not adopted until 1848.

In the late 1890's William britain of london developed the process of casting hollow three-dimensional figures. This led to marked changes in the manufacture of model soldiers. Britain's soldiers were not only more realistic and detailed than the German ones, but their hollow structure meant that they required far less metal and were consequently cheaper as a result.

The early British model soldiers can be distinguished by their round bases; square bases came in later. Plastic took the place of lead alloy in 1966.

The fact that lead soldiers are no longer being made, coupled with the world wide demand from collectors and the continued enthusiasm for war games, means that there is an increasing scarcity. So if you gradually build up good sets of soldiers you will probably get a very favourable roi.

Fyi, the publishing icon Malcolm Forbes also collected model toy soldiers.

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Radios

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I can still vividly recall when i was just about 5 years old ,i used to listen music and local soap opera to our big wooden boxed radio. I had many good times with that radio.

I can still remember when i took off the back covering of the radio, there were protruding glass tubes.Yes those were the years when the microchip wasn't invented yet and nano-technology was just a figment of someone's imagination.

Now there's that nagging question as whatever happened to my beloved radio? It would really seem nice just to have one of those antique radios around the house. Antiques radios are great conversation pieces and the nostalgia that it would have brought will be greatly welcome.

Unlike modern transistor radios, old radios were designed not only to receive radio waves, but also to be attractive pieces of furniture.

In Britain broadcasting began around 1920 so there were commercial models before this time. But of course the principles have been practised since the turn of a century ago. It was the invention of the radio valve by fleming in 1904 that paved the way to broadcasting.

The earliest models were little more than plain wooden boxes but in no time the radio housing became the focal point for designers and cabinetmakers who produced furnitures which while dated, is still a marvel of workmanship in mahogany, teak,lacquer and other finishes.

In addition this was the era of early plastics, including bakelite which is a collecting subject in its own right.

if we take as a guideline the assumption that antique radios are only of those of the valve era then our collecting period ends just after 1948 when the transistor was invented.

Most mechanical collectibles like typewriters, sewing machines, clocks and radios are better investment collection if they are still working.

So it is much better preferred that you have the knowhow to fix your own "machine". And if you have any interest in the repair and construction side of radios there are other areas that could open up for you.

I can only predict that there will be an increasing demand for radios as collectibles, but a demand for people who can service them as well.

In conjunction with the collecting of radios, keep an eye for literature on the subject. Pre war books in particular are available if you are creative and resourceful enough to find them.

Find the ones with circuit diagrams, for the price will swiftly rise as old radios become more popular.

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Pipes

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It may well be true that smoking can damage your health, but if you collect pipes instead your health and your wallet could prosper.

The smoking pipe has, of course been with us for centuries. the american indians used it first and early forms of such pipes, carved from various stones that can be found in museums.

The principle and basic design of the pipe is so simple that it hardly seems possible for any wide variation, but in fact the pipe collector is well advised to specialize, because of the diversity available.

Meerschaum pipe smoking and Briar pipe smoking are among of the many variations of antique pipe smoking types. The clay smoking pipe and the intricately designed procelain German made smoking pipe are also among the popular ones.

Early smokers were discouraged by high taxes so the clay pipe bowl were smaller no more than 9.5mm less than half an inch in diameter. It is also angled forward more than the modern pipes, but over the years ,the bowl was made more upright until it was set at the right angle to the stem.

The very cheapest clay pipes were plain but most of the collectables are those with bowls made into shapes such as faces of humans or animals.

If you get to see a collection of clay pipes, you may notice that it consists of a bowl only. it is because the stems were brittle and break easily. Most clay pipes were dug or excavated so the remaining components are the bowls only. Stemless clay smoking pipe that is.

Ever since the pipes were first used they have been plagued with so many faults like wet bowls, in which the bottom part of the tobacco become soaked and the smoker gurgles when he takes a drag. Overdry bowls, when the dry smoke is so hot it burns the tongue or the wind causing the tobacco to burn much too quickly.

In an effort to eliminate these"faults" a whole army of inventores applied their expertise to produced literally hundreds of smoking pipes that were designed to take special filters, said to eliminate soggy bottom and a variety of "storm" guards to allow the tobacco to burn evenly.

You may be interested to know that innovations claiming to cure these faults are still being produced, leaving more examples for future collectors.

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Tin Boxes

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Although at first it may seem strange that packaging items should become collectibles. The whole idea becomes more understandable when you consider that packaging is invariably designed to attract to have mass appeal.

The earliest tins that are available are hand made dating from the middle of the 19th century. They had intricately decorated papaer covers and were hardly ever found in good condition, yet they still fetch good prices.

The real price for the tin box collector is a genuine "Huntley and Palmer' this company is best known for its biscuits, but it was Thomas Huntley who really started the ball rolling. The west country stagecoach used to pass his reading shop, and he conceived the bright idea of selling his biscuits in air-tight tins made by his brother joseph. Gradually the designs become more and more elaborated.

The prices of tin boxes are continually rising. beacuse prices are high, it's obviously not a good idea to purchase from shops or stalls. There must simply millions of such boxes lying around in homes and old junk shops. Sometimes they surface at jumble sales or flea markets.

The first shaped tins were produced towards the end of the 19th century. While the really intricate shapes do not date back much further than 1600. But the real heyday of the tin box, for my money, is the period between the wars, when the most unusual shapes were develop.

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Barometers

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Weather forecasting has always held a certain fascination, and collecting forecasting instruments such as weather vanes or barometers is an international pursuit.

The barometer is scientific instrument in which the basic principle has remained virtually unaltered through centuries. Its packaging has undergone changes over the years. These alterations in style quite often reflect develpoments in cabinet making and the popularity of certain period designs.

The barometer works on the principle of measuring atmospheric pressure by a column of mercury or a metal drum. it was invented by the italian Evangelista Torricelli(1698-1747) who was a pupil of Galileo.

Early models were called stick barometers. These are long columns or strips of wood housing the mercury tube, with a graduated card behind the tube. several kinds of wood were popular for making stick barometers, but the earliest examples were in walnut.

There's the wheel barometer who was invented by Robert Hooke(1635-1703). Then there's the modern aneroid barometer and several variations came after that.

Barometers that were made from the periods of art nouveau and art deco are recommended. Also collectibles with an advertising motiff or legend on the dial.

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Medals

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When a dubious salesman is trying to sell you a well worn out medal. I'll bet he's going to say that there are two collectible types of medals. One that is in mint condition and one that has frayed ribbon and such.

It is advisable that if you collect medals, it should be in pristine condition.

Medals were issued first to certain officers for distinguished services during the civil war, but the first general issue of medals to British forces was the 1816 Waterloo medals.

Because medal collecting is quite popular, it is also riddled with fake copies. like for instance a medal with many bars, which on the aesthetic point of view is desirable but you have to know , do the bars belong to that particular decoration?

The name or the number of the recipient might be substituted. so it is really essential that you go buy and read a book about medal collecting, subscribe to medal collecting magazine, join an organization and get yourself acquainted to military history, before you start collecting.

Most of the British war and campaign medals, up to the second world war, bear the name, number, rank and the regiment or unit of the receiver.With the assistance of the public record office, regimental units and museums you can build up a dossier of the holder of a particular medal .

This way you can make a medal appreciate in value. If you are all bent in such research you can beaver away on several medals at the same time, creating individual files for each.

The depth of your research depends on you. It could be anything from a record of the action in which the medal was won to a comprehensive life story of the holder.

Experienced medal collectors advocate on specializing on a particular period, specific regiment or medal type and concentrate on these.

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Decanter

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Decanters have their own problems and this often provide you with a bargain.there's a decanter with an odd glass stopper, or no stopper at all.

Stoppers are prone to get lost or broken and it's quite possible to obtain spare ones. You might have to browse around before you can fine a decent match. But an odd or missing stopper enables you to beat the seller down to a bargain price.

Another potential bargain is the antique decanter whose stopper is stuck. cracked and chipped decanters should be avoided but if you find one that's heavily stained buy it if its dirt cheap. This one can be usually alleviated with an acid treatment.

Jim Beam collectible decanters have been around a long time. They have been the most popular ones for the quality of design and workmanship.

Decanters are sometimes made of fine china, glass , crystal and porcelain.The value of secanters are determined by age, scarcity and subject.

Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, Ezra Brooks, Wild Turkey, Lionstone, Kontinental,Mc cormick, Michter's ,Mount hope, Old commonwealth and Ski country are the distilliries that makes the biggest supply of decorative collectible decanters.

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Gramophones (The Record Player)

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This type of collectibles are for people with deep pockets because gramophones ( british ) or phonographs( american ) don't come cheap.

It is generally accepted that thomas edison was first when he patented his first phonograph using a tinfoil later a wax cylinder in 1877. In 1887, emile berliner patented a gramophone that used disc shaped records.

In the early 1900 to 1930's superb models of gramophones were american made, next british and then the rest continental europe specifically France, Germany and Italy.

Other people collect the "hornless" version of the gramophone. It wasn't really hornless, for the horn was inverted and placed inside the body. When closed down, it made a compact portable case.

There are even models that were housed in wooden cabinets. If you happen to come across any with jazzy art deco designs don't let it slip by , snap it up. Any gramophone whether humongous in size as long as it is mechanically sound and really have a nice woodwork will surely be a collector's item.

Remember for all your collecting ideas drop by Rare Antiques Collectibles and Memorabilia.