Antiques Collectibles Books

This book is chuck full of antigues with prices and pictures, I highly recommend it!!!

The 2007 Edition of Antique Trader Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide is superb. Filled with gorgeous color photography and to the point descriptions, this modern guide has become a leader in the field. I highly recommend that you add this guide to your library without delay!

The weighty yet portable Antique Trader guide Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide 2007 may not fit in a jacket pocket but it will easily be a take-along to any garage sale or flea market for avid collectors. Public libraries strong in collectibles price guides and private collectors alike will find this annual reference follows the market, offering up the latest prices and some 5,000 new color photos and upgrades to this latest edition.

As always a useful reference for the collector. My wife and I buy and sell glassware as well as other small collectibles and antiques and find this to be one of the more useful general guides for pricing and identifying a range of items.

This book works well to get a general idea of the value of items, but it has some bare spots. They cover some items in great detail and others in very general terms.

I would have liked it better if there was more discussion about what causes the variation in prices of certain categories.

I grew up thinking that Barbies were evil dolls that were part of the Establishment's plan to keep women in their place. I never had a Barbie and I only gave one to a child who specifically requested it. After reading this book I realized that I had been too hard on Barbies. They were part and parcel of our culture, not part of a plot. Just recently I read a "Best Toys for Children" review that still recommended dolls for girls and toy trucks for boys.

The author covers a tremendous range of Barbie-related material, and the book seems to have been well-researched, with many good references.

I began to wonder what it would have been like to have had a Barbie (instead of a working toy cannon), so after finishing the book I went to Toys R Us to see the current Barbies. Then I went to a thrift store.

There were dozens of Barbies at the thrift store, most of them hanging feet-up, naked in plastic sacks. I bought one of the few of them that was dressed and took it(her?) home. She (I haven't named her) has been sitting on the edge of the sofa all week. I am trying to get a feeling of what it is to own a Barbie doll. I look at her, but she just stares into the distance. I could not tell you if she is dreamy or disdainful. I get absolutely no "velveteen rabbit" emanations.

All I can think of is a poem I read long ago - Keat's "Ode On a Grecian Urn"*.
"She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
Forever will thou love, and she be fair!"

She is, I guess, what you make of her, and still reflects our culture.

*I looked it up.

I know you think I am a little young for this book but trust me it's great! It's so good! I never looked at a Barbie the same way again! This is a must-have for Barbie fans! I like how she talked about how Barbie made African-Americans and American-Asians feel undermined what with not a lot of ethnic Barbies being sold now. I loved loved hearing about the collector things and the weird people who think Barbie is the most fabulous thing ever. She also covers feminism, society's messages towards women, anorexic stars, and rituals that seem to be incorporated into Barbie play. And she gives some neat background dirt on Mattel. He, he!
I did not like how she said the pregnant Midge doll was "icky". This book is cool with lots of photos and stories of interesting people and disturbing artists as well as the acessories made to make up for Ken's groin loss (lol) and the secret messages implanted in Barbie's accessories. I will never see Barbie as a cheap piece of skinny plastic anymore. Now, she is society in doll form. Believe it!
Wamina!

This is not a "pro-Barbie" book, or an "anti-Barbie" book. It is an exploration of all aspects of Barbie the author finds significant. Topics include:

The history of Barbie's creation, her marketing and engineering by Mattel.

The differences between male and female executives in handling of the Barbie line.

Ruth Handler, Barbie's creator, and other prominent women in Barbie's life such as Charlotte Johnson, who designed her clothes in the early years, Judy Shackelford, Mattel's first female vice president, and Jill Barad, the marketing director & later Mattel COO, who pioneered the "We Girls Can Do Anything" advertising campaign in 1984.

A history of Barbie and ethnic identity (unfortunately someone had clipped pages out of this chapter in the library copy I read, so I can't say too much about it.)

Explorations of symbolic, sexual, & psychological meanings of the doll.

I found this book fascinating. A very enjoyable read. While it explores both the positive and negative views women have had of Barbie, I especially enjoyed the positive, including Barbie's history as a single independent career woman, the powerful career women involved in her creation, manufacture, & marketing over the years, and the somewhat fanciful but enjoyable discussion of her as a mythical archetype of the feminine.

I like when this book ventures into realms of the bizarre, like the exploration of Barbie's image in the context of fetishism and pornography. I suppose some people might be disturbed or offended by this, however.

I was frustrated by the lack of a list of illustrations, since photographs appear throughout the text, & are often mentioned later in the book. It's hard to go back and find the picture she's talking about.

I was confused by the author `s seeming lack of awareness that people might read the book 6 or more years after its publication. For instance, she refers to women of the Barbie generation as "women under 40." I had to think to realize this included me, since I'm not under 40 now, but I was when the book was published in 1994. The confusion will increase as years go by.

This is too bad, since the book is a unique treatment of Barbie in cultural context, and should be read well into the future by students of popular culture as well as individuals who like to ponder such things. Unfortunately, it's out of print. This makes it unlikely that a 2nd edition will ever appear, which is also too bad, since I would love to know what the author has to say about innovations subsequent to its publication, such as Barbie's new more lifelike proportions, and the introduction of her belly-button.

Some people might find this book too intellectual, or possibly over their heads. Probably many people who like to ponder the meanings of popular culture are anti-Barbie, and might be turned off by the book's positive spin on the doll. Barbie enthusiasts might be put off by the negative spin, as well as the stranger explorations. I love the book, but I have to admit it's not for everybody. Maybe that's why it's out of print. But if you are open to both sides of the Barbie controversy, and like to wax philosophical and think about things, this book is definitely for you.

This book isn't the next _war and peace_ nor was meant to be. Just like that dude J. Alfred Prufrock, it's good for swelling a crowd, and giving you something less-embarassing than watch television to do when you want to just relax. Analyzing pop culture, learning obscure facts about something I am vaguely ashamed of myself for being interested in in the first place . . . mmmmmmmm, pass the oreo ice cream, please. The author definitely shares my sheepish fascination with Barbie. His/her(?) text explores many aspects of our relationship with Barbie - as children, parents, adult women, queers, artists, etc., as well as a lot of very interesting background info on how she was created, the company who has promoted her over the years, and the toy industry in general. Holding my interest *without* getting so serious that I wished the book had come with a discussion section that met once a week, _Forever Barbie_ was like a long, interesting cultural-analysis chat with an amusing girlfriend. I would read it again in a few years or recommend it to friends . . .

On the one hand, this is an impressively researched book written with humor and intelligence. I'd love to see a new edition tracking some of the more recent developments in Barbie's empire. But some of Ms. Lord's arguments drift unpersuasively far into psycho-sexual realms. When she used an obscure 43 minute 1987 documentary as her three-page focus for the conflicting causes of eating disorders, she completely lost me.

The book covers the process of creating mokume-gane from start to finish in a clear, informative manner. Having never used this technique before, I used this book as a guide and was very successful the first time. In addition to information on fusion/diffusion, forging, patterning and patination, the photographs of finished pieces and samples are helpful in displaying the effects of various materials, patterns and finishing techniques (some quite surprising). Details about different material combinations and their working properties are also included. I have no experience with other books on this topic to compare to, but for now this book seems to be the only one I will need to continue using this technique. My only criticism is that the chapter order could have a better arrangement.

Covers a number of topics that are only briefly alluded to in Midgett's book. Dr Ferguson also uses a different process than the ones covered in Midgett's book. He includes a detailed schematic of the kiln and press apparatus. Using this process, he is able to combine a number of materials not readily available to people just using the common processes.

Short and concise, for the most part. The section of pagination is worth the cost of the book itself. Covers a lot of material that is usually not all available in one place. The color plates in the appendices really show the range and variation possible.

If you love to learn about historical clothing than this is the book for you.

This is a good history of both mens and womens undergarments. It is solidly written, with more focus on fact and logical history. Not a lot of wit and humor, more writing than pictures or sketches. But a wealth of knowledge spanning medieval times to the 1920's. The author does a good job of illustrating what the purpose of various undergarments were in their time. What effect they were meant to achieve, and the illustrations and photos are plentiful enough to visually support the written material. Though none of it is in color. This would be a good book for research purposes.

In agreement with some other posters, I found this book disappointing. One obvious omission is covering the Middle Ages to 1939 and not mentioning "codpiece". It would have been more useful as well separated by men's/women's over each time period.

I am a costume designer and have had this book for over 10 years.
I recently purchased a copy for one of my student workers who is now
studying costume design at Evansville, IN. I have found it to be
a wonderful source for accurate information on period undergarments.
It has consise information including many photos and illustrations.

I think this book could have been more in-depth and would have benefitted from more illustrations, but it's a good startng source for reenactors, fashion historians, and people writing about various historical periods. Amazing and interesting overview of what's under there and down there through the ages.

The book arrived quickly, and in good shape. The book has a lot of good information, with clear diagrams.

A very concise and detailed book, with many simple graphics but no photographs and certainly not of use to the novice who just wants to clean up and maintain a collection of old clocks.

Excellent book!! Very detailed. It will require study, but is easily understood. And it's ALL in there- ftom nubie to expert. I've purchased 5 books, and this is the last one. I'll never need another.

Very difficult book to comprehend. Just about useless as an aid to repairing clocks. I think a lot of it has to do with the language gap between American English and what the people in Britain speak. I am sorry I wasted my money on this book.

This book was a total waste of money for me. The UK English is nearly impossible to decipher at times. It is very difficult reading. This mihgt be a good book for experts but is worthless to the beginner. The author describes repair in detail, but assumes the reader knows all the technical terms being used without explaining them. The drawings are difficult to decipher. Photos would have been better. If you are a beginner looking for a good book to get started in clock repair, this isn't it!

I bought this book with the idea that it would be a valuable resource for me when I sell some of my collectibles. While I did find most of my items and the current market value is there for me to sell or get insurance, the one thing I needed most was the issue price. I have no clue as to what I paid 25 years ago. No one thought to keep receipts back then. Since these items are considered collectible, IRS regulations require that it be reported on Schedule D and you pay tax on the gain. If you have no idea as to the cost, you end up paying tax on 100% of the sale price! Who wants to do that!!! If this book contained the issue price, that could be used as a cost basis.

The subject book is very well illustrated with actual photographs. The descriptions of each item are not consistent throughout. In some places dimensions are entered in fractions while in other places they are entered as decimals. We purchased the book to satisfy an insurance claim. Dimensions was one of the insurance requirements; however, none of the items in the book have their original cost which was also another requirement of the insurance forms.

I love this book. Now I can have an idea what to pay for these items.

This book is wonderful! It has beautiful photographs and price estimates for each piece! I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in collecting the 1876 Cape Cod Collection!

If you love vintage Christmas ornaments you will love this book! This is the best book I've seen on the topic. It definitively covers Dresden ornaments, and ornaments made of glass, paper, fabrice, metal, wax, and more. It contains thousands of photographs of mostly pre-war ornaments, a wealth of information and a price guide to help value your collection. Even if you are not an ornament collector, you'll find this book contains collections that will absolutely amaze you. This book will remain in my library forever.

If you love vintage Christmas ornaments you will love this book! This is the best book I've seen on the topic. It definitively covers Dresden ornaments, and ornaments made of glass, paper, fabrice, metal, wax, and more. It contains thousands of photographs of mostly pre-war ornaments, a wealth of information and a price guide to help value your collection. Even if you are not an ornament collector, you'll find this book contains collections that will absolutely amaze you. This book will remain in my library forever.

I gave this book to my husband, the Roseville collector of the family, for Christmas. He spent several happy hours looking through it. The pictures are great, but there are not enough of them. This is not the be all, end all book for Roseville, but so far it's the best one I have seen.

I was very satisfied with the book I received. I received it in a few days as promised and I really liked that.

Book was very helpful in finding out about Roseville pottery, I would recommend, pictures are very good also. Gives lots of info.

July 5th 2007. Another "overview" book from Warman's. It states updated prices, but there are only prices for what is shown. I'm not sure how useful updated prices would be when you need a price on a piece not included in the book. There are some Roseville lines that are not included.

On the other hand, the photography is the best. The colors and details are amazing, which would make it a great coffee table book or gift.

For collectors; The Bomm book (2004), Mollring's 11th edition book (2006)(B&W pics only), Bassett's Prices book, Bassett's Introducing book and Bassett's Understanding book are the most comprehensive.

Design, according to Adrian Forty, encompasses not just how things look, but how they are made and marketed as well. In a very readable and well-illustrated book, Forty shows how design reflects and changes culture. His fascinating historical accounts show how modern consumer society developed. Victorian pocket knives, for instance, mirrored and reinforced that era's strict social structure. In another example, Forty reaches back to the 1750s to show how Wedgewood china introduced revolutionary changes in industrial manufacturing, design, and marketing that made the industrial revolution possible. Objects of Desire should appear on the reading lists of every design department and business school

What is design? Is it what we make it to be, how we want it to be, or is it just designed and accepted by society? Adrian Forty writes the book in an unusual way by setting up each chapter as its own entity, yet the concepts in all the chapters somehow relate. The author enjoys jumping from topic to topic at high speed which makes the read interesting with the overwhelming examples there are in products- in one chapter it went from pocketknives to watches to childhood furniture to textiles to soap to architecture within a span of a couple pages. Ridiculous as it may be, it somehow kept my attention. Filled with pictures of antique and modern design, Forty proves that design has progressed though time according to the needs or perceived needs of society. It makes you see things more as designs than products, and inspires you to wonder why something was designed the way it was. This book was assigned to be read in one of my college classes, and I decided to keep it instead of selling it back after the semester ended.

I rediscovered this book after college since I was probably too young to truly appreciate it the first time around. I use it now as the textbook for my Culture of Design seminar because it is one of the rare design history books that can ground design in its social context with real depth or clarity. (And boy, have I looked!)

While it can seem long winded to some, the ideas contained within are so novel and well explained that it can make someone allergic to 18th and 19th Century Design (like myself) truly appreciate the radical innovations of that period. For example, the Industrial Revolution was not just due to the steam engine's invention but more specifically to division of labor such as implemented in Wedgewood's factory in the mid 18th century.

The chapter on "Differentiation by Design" is a gem, showing how design reinforces class, age and gender roles. In the chapter on labor saving devices, women didn't really save any labor since cleanliness standards simply rose to meet product opportunities...

It's true that the book's layout, infographics and quality of the images do not do it justice... Hopefully the next reprint will address that.

This is more for the reader who wants to read an economic and cultural treatise on the development of design and how it has affected culture.

If it wasn't so long-winded I would have actually enjoyed it a lot more. Forty has looked at some of the assumptions we have made about design and culture and realised that they are not quite as they seem. A classic example he uses is that the invention and high use of sewing machines coincided with the impossibly ruffled gowns and dresses of the 1860's - the assumption has always been that the sewing machine made this type of style possible. Forty points out that these dresses did indeed use up to 100yds of fabric, and the use of the sewing machine only made them possible by making them more affordable. Sweatshops paid machine sewers far less than they paid hand sewers - therefore more complex dresses made by machine could be made for cheaper cost. My only problem with Forty is that he takes nearly 2 pages to say this.

I have some other problems with this work, I don't think it is well illustrated - all illustrations are small and in black and white - a bit hard to take in things that he calls 'richly glazed' and so on when you can't even see the colours. It also means he has catalogues and so on in here printed in impossibly small form so you can barely make out the designs.

On another petty note, I was surprised to see the picture of a cauliflower tea pot - fully functional from Wedgewood on one page, and then several pages later a picture of the mould was shown - both from 1760. What suprised me was that there was no reference in the text or near either illustration alluding to the fact that these were both in here. I thought something like this would at least have a small footnote directing to the other page.

I realise that with printing you have to make compromises but I didn't feel that these essentially editing and printing details did the book and its subject full justice. This really is a great book - divided into 11 chapters from the first industrial designers, to design in the home, labour-saving in the home and design and corporate identity. It just doesn't really quite make it.