Blog Archives

All About :The Barcode

7/29/2014

Remember our post on using your five senses to identify if something is truly vintage or an antique?

Well, here's another way to use your eyes:

Symbology -
"A way of identifying the age of some items when antiquing and flea marketing"

One symbol I like to use to tell the age of items is...

the BARCODE.

The barcode is a series of lines in distinct patterns accompanied by binary numbers (two numerals to represent all real numbers) below the lines. The barcode is generally in a rectangular shape.

The barcode began in commercial use on June 26, 1974. The first product scanned was a packet of Wrigley’s “Juicy Fruit” gum bought by Clyde Dawson and scanned by Sharon Buchanan at 8:01 a.m. (A display of this moment of time is on display at Smithsonian Institute).

http://barcodingblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/first-upc-barcode.png

http://angelikaschneider.com/graphic_design.html

Knowing a little bit about the barcode and when it began is a good way to identify the age of an item. Items such as; books, VHS’s, magazines, cards, boxes used for products like coffee or butter, old tins, signs, band aids tins, or patterns, will have a bar code. If these items do not have a bar code they were made prior to 1974 or from another country.

So, what do you know about barcodes?

Leave us a comment and tell us about it! :)

-The GA Gang

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What does "ihs" stand for?

7/22/2014

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Recently, we purchased a tray that caught my interest. It is glass with a cross and the letters “IHS” etched on the bottom. I asked the person selling the item what the letters stood for, they said that it stands for “In His Service”.

My findings are that this is a tray used to hold cruets-one with water and one with wine. It is from the 1950’s. It is used in the Roman Catholic Mass Sacraments. It is called the “Holy Eucharist” or “The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass”.

Eucharist means “Thanksgiving” in Latin.

This lovely plate needs to be reunited with some cruets that have glass cross stoppers.

Image borrowed from the Internet

Come check it out at Grandma’s Attic!

-The GA Gang

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All About :The Hitchcock Chair

7/16/2014

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When I hear the name Hitchcock I generally think of Alfred Hitchcock, writer and producer of scary movies. So it was easy for me to believe that Alfred Hitchcock could have been the maker of an electric chair, but "Hitchcock chairs" were actually made by Lambert Hitchcock,

not Alfred.

On a side note, did you know Alfred Hitchcock was scared of his own movies?

Alfred

Lambert

Alfred Hitchcock, the author and director, known as the Master of Suspense, arrived on the scene August 13, 1899. As a child, Hitchcock was sent to the local police station with a letter from his father. The desk sergeant read the letter and immediately locked the boy up for ten minutes. After that, the sergeant let young Alfred go, explaining, "This is what happens to people who do bad things." Hitchcock had a morbid fear of police from that day on. He also cited this phobia as the reason he never learned to drive (as a person who doesn't drive can never be pulled over and given a ticket). It was also cited as the reason for the recurring "wrong man" themes in his films. Mr. Alfred Hitchcock left us on April 29, 1980. Do you think Mr. Alfred Hitchcock may have sat in a chair made by Mr. Lambert Hitchcock? I guess we'll never know!

Now, back to the chair! :)

The Hitchcock chair was an early example of mass production. The frames are generally of birch, oak, or maple. The backs have a curved top with a broad gentle curved back-slat, then a broad slat that usually has a design such as; leaves, flowers, baskets of fruit or cornucopias. Below this, is a narrow crosspiece, connected to the sides, that is a continuation of the leg. The front legs and the stretcher between are nicely turned in spools, rings, or vase shapes. The seats are wider at the front and graduate back with straight sides and rolled or rounded edges in front. The front legs of some of the chairs have a ball on the bottom.

There are several types of back slats; “turtle-back,” “cut-out back slat,” - a curved back with spindles, “the pillow back”, eagles, cornucopias, plain, button back, and a crested back. The rarest of the back slats are the eagles, cornucopias, and the scrolls. About 1845, the “vase back” chair or “Urn chair” chair became popular. The wide vertical middle slat was shaped like an urn or vase. It was sometimes called “Fiddleback.” The top slats are called crest rails which are referred to as; “crown top,” “crest top,” or “pillow top.”

In the beginning the chairs resembled rosewood, because the first coat of red paint, applied by children, showed through the black, also used were the colors white and green. Later a lemon-yellow color and brown were used as a background colors. Seats were first made of rush, then cane, and then plank. They were usually painted black, brownish-black or dark green. They have yellow ochre pin striping with gold half-rings on the front legs. The stencils were painted with metallic colors like red, gold, blue and white. The designs can be found on the back and sides of the chairs.

They were marked on the back with stencil “L. Hitchcock, Hitchcocksville, Connecticut, Warranted” all in one line. Hitchcocksville would have been used when the furniture was manufactured in Boston, Massachusetts. Hitchcock chose his woods with care and allowed none to be used with knots or other imperfections. Later marks were “Hitchcock, Alford & Co. Hitchcocks-ville Conn. Warranted,” and “L. Hitchcock, Unionville. Conn. Warranted.”

The height of the Hitchcock chair sales was in the 1920’s and 30’s. The earliest signature is dated from 1820 to 1832. From 1832 to 1843 the signature read “HITCHCOCK, ALFORD& Cl HITCHCOCKSVILLE, CONN WARRANTED” and from 1843 to 1852 the signature read “L.HITCHCOCK.UNIONVILLE,CONN. WARRANTED.” In the second variation of the stencils, many of the chairs have two backwards “N’s” in the word “CONN.” This is thought to have occurred because many of the laborers who worked on the chairs were illiterate. If the “N” is written backwards, your Hitchcock chair is not an original but a replica made after 1946.

These chairs are identified as “New Hampshire Hitchcock,” or “Sheraton Hitchcock” chairs. Hitchcock is best known for their “Boston Rocker.”

The Hitchcock chair was began in 1818 by Mr. Lambert Hitchcock of Barkhamsted, Connecticut. He established a cabinet and chair factory. He began by making parts that could be assembled later for the chair industry of Charleston, South Carolina. In 1825 he began making complete chairs. Mr. Hitchcock was born in Chesshire, Connecticut on June 28, 1795 and was the son of Revolutionary soldier John Lee Hitchcock. He came to rest in 1852.

We received a call one day from a gentleman wanting to sell us a chair. We asked to see the chair before we purchased it, so he brought it to us and while it was in the store a vendor came in and said, “Oh, you have a Hitchcock chair!” After some research and dickering, the chair now resides at Grandma’s Attic. Come and check it out and let us know if you believe it is a real Hitchcock chair.

-The GA Gang

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All About : Aprons

7/9/2014

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We saw this little story on Facebook the other day, and thought it was really neat, so we decided to add pictures and share it with you!

Hope you enjoy! :)

The History of Aprons

"I don't think our kids know what an apron is. The principle use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few. It was also because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons used less material. But along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids...

And when the weather was cold, Grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men folk knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

Send this to those who would know (and love) the story about Grandma's aprons.

REMEMBER:

Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.

They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.

I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron - but love..."

-Author Unknown

-The GA Gang

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All About :The Chairs of the 1930's

7/2/2014

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Chairs designed in the 1930’s

·       1930        Palmio Chair by Alvar Aalto

·       1930        Barcelona Chair by Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe

·       1933       Cantilevered Chair No. 31 by Alvar Aalto

·       1934      Zig Zag chair by Gerrit Rietveld

·       1934       Standard chair by Jeane Prouve’

·       1935      Crate chair by Gerrit Rietveld

·       1935       Vilpuri chair by Alvar Aalto

·       1935      Chaise Lounge chair by Marcel Breuer

·       1936     Serving Cart by Alvar Aalto

·       1937      Wing spread Barrel chair by Frank Lloyd Wright

·       1938     Landior Spartana chair by Hans Coray

·       1938      Sling chair by Jorge Ferrari Hardoy