Kristy Bowen

Depression glass, which emerged in the economic free fall of the stock market crash in 1929, has a long and storied history. You will know it by its delightful, colorful range of shades and beautiful patterning which have been cropping up in kitchens and dining rooms since the 1930s. You can often spot them in estate sales, thrifts, and flea markets, in individual or sets, in a range of colors from pale pinks and greens to intense reds and cobalt blues. While not all varieties of colorful gla...

HGTV's Mina Starsiak Hawk is known for her design acumen and signature style, which often involves mixing old and new for glorious results. While Hawk offers a plethora of advice on things to keep in mind during remodeling projects, including one element you may not be thinking about. According to the "Good Bones" host, antique or vintage millwork, which includes decorative accents, trim, and molding, can go a long way toward giving your interiors a sense of timeless style not often replicabl...

Vintage bakeware is all too often overlooked for other uses in the home outside the kitchen. This is particularly true with vintage pans, which usually possess a well-worn and rustic charm that can't be replicated by other sorts of newer containers. A great opportunity for using some of those old pans is turning them into modern-day planters long after their usefulness in the kitchen has passed. Loaf pans, usually reserved for bread and meatloaf are particularly useful for use as planters due...

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Knowing how to decorate with mirrors can serve you well when designing a space. For example, a well-placed mirror can brighten up a room and manipulate the perception of the space with its décor style or size. Gold and gilt mirrors, in particular, can instantly add a feeling of age and grandeur to any room. HGTV's Nate Berkus recently showed Instagram followers his appreciation for a corner gilded mirror in the home he shares with fell...

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Vintage dishes aren't only beautiful additions to our kitchens and dining rooms; they also often offer insight into history, as well as serve as a great sustainable option for secondhand dinnerware. Milk glass, for example, is one of the most beautiful and collectible varieties of vintage glassware. If you happen to own milk glass in your home or are looking to start a collection, you likely have researched how best to care for the (primarily) white pieces, including how to wash the...

Antiques are a beautiful way to fill your home with a sense of history and style. While the thrill of the hunt is sometimes the point, identifying whether or not your antique is the real thing, by definition at least 100 years or older, can be challenging. While many beautiful and well-crafted reproductions exist, including high-end/high-quality pieces, they can sometimes be difficult to identify from the antique originals on which they're based, leading to confusion among both buyers and dea...

In the late 19th century, cigarette manufacturers began including slender cards in packs of their products featuring a wealth of subjects like animals, plants, comics, military uniforms, and entertainment figures. Cards were issued in numbered editions, with each pack containing one or several cards that would eventually form a complete set. Manufacturers of other products soon issued trade cards advertising their goods as well.
In the 1920s, several candy manufacturers like Goudey and Gum, I...

By the middle of the 20th century, television sets and programming were slowly creeping into most homes in America. Even for families that could not afford a set, the characters and performers in popular shows like The Lone Ranger and The Little Rascals were well known and captured the public imagination.
In the 1920s, before the dawn of television, several gum manufacturers like Donruss, Fleer, and Gum began producing numbered trading cards to sell alongside sticks of gum. These cards featur...

Vintage dishware is a great way to give any kitchen a sense of fun, retro energy, and a rich sense of the past. Vintage or antique dishes are beautiful for everyday use and displaying in your home, with offerings ranging from stacks of inexpensive pieces at flea markets and thrift stores to highly coveted and collectible items. While some styles were unique to certain manufacturers, others were offered by several companies, making finding your favorites easy, particularly if you are a collect...

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, numerous companies issued advertising cards featuring military subject matter devoted to famous battles. These cards were used to sell everything from shoe polish to men’s clothing. In the 1920s, several gum manufacturers like Donruss and Gum, Inc. began producing numbered trading cards to sell alongside sticks of gum. Cards featured popular film and entertainment stars, musical performers, sports figures, and historical subjects such as the American West an...

The earliest trading cards devoted to vehicles and the transportation industry began to appear in the first two decades of the 20th century. Ships, trains, and the earliest incarnations of air travel and automobiles began to be featured on advertising-oriented cards for manufacturers, retailers, and other transportation industry businesses. These cards typically featured an image of the vehicle and an identifying label on the front side, with larger blocks of information on the industry or ma...

During the late 1900’s, cards featuring musical performers were often used as advertising material for music-related businesses like instrument and sheet music retailers. In the 1920s, several gum manufacturers like Donruss and Gum, Inc. began producing numbered trading cards to sell alongside sticks of gum. These cards feature popular film and entertainment stars, musical performers, sports figures, and historical subjects such as military history and the American West.
While these manufactu...

The first comics trading cards were issued in the 19th century as promotional items accompanying products like candy, gum, coffee, cigarettes, and other merchandise. Cards vary in size depending on the product they were sold with, including small slender cards that were often included in packs of cigarettes. The comic cards usually feature hand-drawn illustrations of characters like brand mascots or promotional figures in storylines that developed over several cards in the series. Candy and g...

Fleer was founded in 1885 by Frank H. Fleer as a confectionary company. Fleer was the first manufacturer to produce bubble gum successfully and established its trademark pink color. In 1923, Fleer issued its first sports-related card series devoted to baseball with its famous Dubble Bubble chewing gum brand. The company released other sports-focused cards dedicated to football and basketball in the 1960s and 1970s.

Conflicts with the sports card company Topps, who sat atop a monopoly of sport...

Before the 19th century, most children’s books were a mix of stories, fairytales, songs, rhymes, and fables intended to entertain or teach important moral messages. They were meant for young readers to enjoy on their own but were also designed for adults to read these volumes to children. In the 19th century, a number of popular children’s authors came to the forefront, piquing the interest of young readers. These included Lewis Carrol and his famed Alice in Wonderland series, Robert Louis St...