We loved with a love that was more than love.   From that great wordsmith Edgar Allan Poe Come live in my heart and pay no rent. So says Samuel Lover    What the world really needs is more love and less paper work.   Wise words from the immortal Pearl Bailey Love is metaphysical gravity.   According to Scientist/ Inventor extraordinaire R. Buckminster Fuller   BUT Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love. Rebuts the Uber-Gravitational Scientist Albert Einstein Valentines and love, hearts and flowers, cupid's darts and hugs & kisses ... Valentine's Day brings out the sentimental side of all of us. What ever you do, say it from your heart, mean it from your soul and live it forever. We have a lot of hearts, valentines, special gifts and cards to help you say "I Love You ... will you be my Valentine?" at Vintages. We will wrap your gift and Susan can customize a special solder pendant for you as well. Come into the shop, or che...

What do all of these products have in common? Well, they are all US made items. Some are antique and some are contemporary. Many are hand made, but all are made by skilled American workers, craftsmen and craftswomen who take pride in their work. Starting in February, we will be featuring strictly "Made in the USA" products on our other blog - Made in America at Vintages . We find excellent products made all over the world and will continue to carry global products in our shop and online. But over the past couple of years, as we have increased the number of American-made products that we carry, we have seen an increased interest in items "Made in the USA". So we thought it was a good time to highlight American products on one of our blogs. We will continue posting about everything else we love on this blog.

With Valentine's Day almost here, Susan has made these heart tags with a variety of romantic greetings. The hearts are wooden with paper, glitter and other elemental add-ons. They are wonderful as gift tags, frame them to give a lasting memory, or just pass it on with all your love! These are well priced from $1.29 to $4.95 each.

We just found this cache of old books -- classical fiction and plays from the 19th century.  I have not yet placed them for sale online, but they are available in the shop or via email. The books have excellent full or partial leather covers, wonderful old world type and some have fancy paper inside the covers. All are written in French, some published in Paris, others in Brussels. Titles include: Don Quixote (V5) by Cervantes 1802; Oeuvres (V1, 2 & 5) by Jean Racine 1803; Les Saintes Voies de la Croix by Boudon 1752; and eight volumes of plays, both comedies and dramas, published in 1827-8. All are smallish books about 3.5 x 5 inches in size. These are mostly priced at $40 each (Don Quixote V5 is $75). We have other antiquarian and collectible books on our online antique site . These will be added as time permits.

We just got back from Atlanta's Americasmart Gift & Home Design Show. WOW! Great show ... and we are bringing in some wonderful new lines for you. This show has over 4000 exhibitors showcased in four tall multistory buildings. I would guess that we traveled through about 50 floors of displays in five days. We bring back a lot of new ideas and a whole lot of new products reaching us over the next three months or so. More on these as they arrive. We discovered several trends that were reflected in the market: "Made in America" is strong; bright colors, especially tangerine/orange are in; designing with antiques is going mainstream; and industrial chic has crept into just about everything from accessories to furniture to jewelry. Made in America Over the years we have been bringing in more American made product and this show gave us the opportunity to bring in even more. There was a whole section devoted to products from the USA. Most of the product , but not all, is ...

We just got in these wonderful rolls of crushed decorative paper garlands. Each roll is 18" wide and 5 yards long ... and they come in a half-dozen yummy colors. Be the first to get these and start incorporating them into your projects. Just $8.49 per roll and only available in the shop at this time, but email us if you would like to get some rolls for yourself.

With Valentine's Day only a month away, I thought I would get you into the mood. We have started on our Valentine themed windows at the shop. Here is a preview. More Valentine gifts and inspiration to come ...

We will be attending two trade shows during the month and will be closed Jan 12th through 18th (re-open on Jan 19th) and Jan 27th through 31st (re-open Feb 1st). Watch for posts about new trends and new products that we will be introducing at Vintages this year. Otherwise we are back to normal hours at Vintages during January: * Open Tuesdays through Saturdays 10am - 6pm * Open Sundays "by chance" (11am - 5pm when open) * Closed on Mondays

Each year the Canadian Corkscrew Collectors Club solicits and publishes the Best 6 Corkscrews of the year from each of its members. This year I chose to feature figural corkscrews that are hidden in keys. With one of these you could have the key to the cellar and an opener for the bottles in the cellar! Here's my selection. The while many of the key corkscrews around are fairly ordinary, the three in the lower photograph are a bit more unusual. The top one is a large, heavy brass corkscrew made by the famous Viennese designer Carl Aubock . This one is from about 1920. The center one is made of nicely turned hard wood and is probably French. The bottom sterling silver corkscrew is made by the American silversmith J. F. Fradley & Co., New York. Fradley made sterling holloware, vanity items and novelties from 1873 to 1936. You might note that most of these have caplifters in the handles (the Aubock one has the caplifter in the key). Back when these were made you needed a tool t...