DENVER, Pa. – Once found at saloons, hotel lobbies and oceanfront boardwalks all across America, antique coin-op machines are quaint reminders of an era when radio, television and video games were still mysteries of the future. For mere pocket change, turn-of-the-century fun-seekers could enjoy an entire afternoon of entertainment. By simply dropping a penny, nickel or quarter into the slot of a coin-operated machine, they could have their fortunes told, watch primitive motion pictures, listen to rhapsodic tunes from a mechanical band, or try their luck at any number of gambling devices or games of chance.
Signed Galle glass lures bidders to Woody Auction, Oct. 29
DOUGLASS, Kan. – Part 1 of the Ron Blessing estate collection – featuring quality Victorian antiques, French cameo art glass and period American furniture – will come up for bid on Saturday, October 29, beginning at 9:30 am Central time, at Woody Auction. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
Wild about Harry Houdini? Potter & Potter’s Oct. 29 sale delivers
CHICAGO – On Saturday, October 29, starting at 10 am Central time, Potter & Potter Auctions will present Salon De Magie -The Klosterman Collection Part III, a 370-lot sale of historically significant magic apparatus, archives, collections and literature. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
Two days of delights planned for Clarke Auction Gallery, Oct. 29-30
LARCHMONT, N.Y. — Clarke Auction Gallery leaps into the fall season with a two-day auction on Saturday, October 29 and Sunday, October 30, with bidding sessions starting daily at noon Eastern time. On offer is a highly curated selection of A-list art, jewelry, silver and decorative objects. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
Colonial Williamsburg acquires its earliest piece of American silver
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – A 17th-century caudle cup that belonged to the Puritan congregation of the First Church of Christ in Farmington, Connecticut, and was used there as a vessel for sacramental wine, was recently acquired by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, making it the earliest piece of American silver in its famed collection. The cup, wrought around 1670 in Boston, Massachusetts, was fashioned by the first silversmiths making goods in what is now the United States.
Vermeer’s Maps book offers new perspective on Dutch master
NEW YORK – With stunning reproductions and incisive text, Vermeer’s Maps (Delmonico Books / The Frick Collection, $39.95), a 128-page hardcover released on October 11, is the most comprehensive study of the artist’s depiction of wall maps to date. Drawing on rare surviving examples of the maps and other primary sources, author Rozemarijn Landsman examines this intriguing aspect of Vermeer’s work, greatly enriching and expanding our understanding of the art and life of the man dubbed the “Sphinx of Delft.”
The radiant, humble beauty of glass fruit jars
NEW YORK — In 1858, New Jersey tinsmith John Landis Mason revolutionized the home kitchen when he invented and patented a glass jar with a lid that used a screw thread. His invention became known as the Mason jar, and it has since been manufactured in endless quantities. Today, many home pantries contain at least one Mason jar, if not an entire case set aside for canning fruits and vegetables.