In their effort to market automobile-related goods and services, gasoline companies generated millions of advertising and packaging items. Today these often colorful objects are much sought after as collectibles and this book is a tribute to the gasoline stations. Included are gasoline pump globes, advertising signs and thermometers, uniforms, caps, children's toys and puzzles, giveaways, oil containers, dispensers and pumps. All are illustrated in over 500 full color photographs, with helpful descriptions and a guide to current values. This is a book to be cherished all whose memories whirl...

Bebop back a little, to post-war America, crinoline, and big flowers with one of the most widely published authors on vintage fashions. Predicting doubling values, she's advising that collectors get a jump-start now, snatching up those snug-bodiced, full-skirted dresses, sheath gowns, clear plastic evening shoes, peddle pushers, Capri pants, fun flowered and feathered hats, Grace Kelly-style formals, flattering bathing suits, and even paper dresses. To help with the hunt, there's an up-to-date value guide for couture designers, along with a forecast of what fashions from the 1970s forward...

Whether you're a beginning or advanced collector, a nostalgia buff, or simply moved by Raggedy Ann and Andy smiles, you'll love this book. It is a peek into private collections from across the country, with dozens of collectors sharing their special "babies." More than 700 color photographs depict previously unpublished dolls and related items. For the first time, creative "concept Raggedys"-those outfitted in ethnic or occupational garb-are covered in depth, and Raggedys dressed for the holidays also make their appearance. Volland, Georgene, Knickerbocker, and Applause collectors will...

The complex blend of comedy and threat in the mounts on early American carousels still fascinates children and adults. For those who want to create that antique animal charm, Dale Power provides direct instructions and 267 color photographs illustrating all the steps necessary to transform a simple basswood blank into an impressive carousel goat like those that might have adorned carousels built between 1860 and 1930. Dale uses a variety of hand and power tools to complete his projects. Once the carving is complete, wood burning, painting, and mounting techniques are discussed which will...

Paul F. Bolinger, one of America's preeminent woodcarvers, shows you how to create some of the most collectible Santas in the United States. Using a combination of over 185 color photographs and easily followed instructions, Paul carefully guides the reader through rough and detail carving techniques while his wife, Camille J. Bolinger, demonstrates how to paint the carved Santas. Paul further explains how to develop original designs of your own and how to breathe life into them with positioning and a visual "hook." Also included are patterns for five other Santas, a chapter covering best...

Children's printed handkerchiefs have a rich two hundred year history going all the way back to America's beginnings. Along with delighting generations of children with their colorful designs, these highly collectible items have also served a social and educational role. The earliest reflected Puritan influences, tending to be instructional, religious, and moralistic in nature. As industrial growth and prosperity changed, the very nature of childhood, sports and games, nursery rhymes, and fairy tales became more common subject matter. By the early twentieth century, storybook and comic strip...

"A picture is worth a thousand words." There is no better description for what the art of the cigar box label did for sales of cigars from the mid 1800s through the 1930s. Busty women, heroes, impish children, sports icons, composers, all these and more found their way into the advertiser's art. The makers would change labels at the drop of the hat if they thought it would help sales. This new book shows hundreds of the finest examples from the world's largest private collection of cigar box label art, revealing the imagination and creativity of the printers and lithographers of the period....

This comprehensive guide features over 850 color photographs and references to literally thousands of gas pump globes made for all the major oil companies from A-to-M (Amoco through Mobil) and their affiliates. Affiliated oil companies are listed under the major companies to which they are tied. A useful alphabetical cross reference of affiliated companies is provided, helping readers locate the smaller firms. Additionally, the text also guides the reader to an understanding of the different gas pump globe types produced, lists reproduction globes that have been manufactured over the years,...

This pictorial survey is arranged visually with a focus on design, particularly color and pattern. The fabric is contemporary, most made of cotton primarily in Africa commercially, and many designs are printed adaptations of traditional African woven textiles. The designs can serve as a reference and inspiration to artists and designers of fabric and fashion. There are complex and abstract patterns, florals, pictorials, animal and figural themes.

Bottle spirits swirl around in bottles of all kinds. Sometimes they glimmer in the glass. You can always hear them if a breeze or your breath passes over the top of the bottle. But it's not too often that they show their faces. So how do you know at first glance what's really inside a bottle? Once you decide what kind of spirits are living in your bottles, Tom Wolfe will set you to work carving charming faces to match. Using small pieces of scrap wood, basic carving tools and paint, and not much time, Tom guides the reader through the carving of a rebel soldier, a viking, and a laughing imp....