I am a history buff. Really! Even in high school, I liked to study history. Learning from events and ideas from bygone days is critical to avoiding future mistakes and understanding trends. At least that is how I see it! A couple of years ago I started taking this interest in history a step further. I wanted to meet my ancestors, learn what they did and why they did it. I knew that they came from the old countries 130 years ago ... but why? With a little help from cousins and a nephew, I began to create our family tree ... loaded it with facts and photos ... but that was not enough. I started writing a family history. Two years later, it is a living document and it is taking shape. I have learned so much about family as far back as 180 years ago. Pretty cool. In searching out ephemera ... photos, old documents, antiquarian books ... I have started to dig into the people behind these pieces of paper. In a few cases I have been able to re-connect families with some of their lo...

Recently Suze Weinberg dropped into Vintages with local friend Wendy Aikin. It is always a treat when such gifted artists visit us at Vintages. Suze, who has been  a creative force in the craft industry for many years, gave Vintages a wonderful write-up on her SuzeBlogz site. THANKS! If you have not visited her blog, you should. She rambles through so many shops, studios and museums with just gobs of inspiration ... and her enthusiasm and eye for the unique in so many things is contagious! Wendy Aikin is one of the most creative mixed media artists I have met. Her assemblages are imaginative and yet highly structured. Take a look .

Tara Cronin of Kent Avenue Photography shot this gorgeous photograph of one of our silver dessert forks. Her photography studio is near us in Campbell. Tara's Facebook page sums up her approach: Lifestyle portraiture with a fine art approach to capturing natural light, layered color and pure emotion! Currently based in the Bay Area and seasonally in beautiful New England. Couldn't agree more. Eat Cake for Breakfast ... why not? Wild Rose Pattern by International Silver She borrowed the fork from a beautiful set of sterling silver with a lovely rose pattern. The pattern is Wild Rose and was introduced in 1948 by International Silver. It is as fresh and elegant today as it was over sixty years ago. Thank you Tara for making our elegant antique silver service look absolutely yummy!

We seem to be drawn to New England ... Maine in particular. We just got back and thought I would share some of the places we enjoyed. It was a bit early for fall colors, but it wasn't cold either! In fact, the temps were in the 70s and 80s for the whole trip. We started at Brimfield , where we spent a few days at the Brimfield antique market . This is a BIG market ... or actually a grouping of a dozen or so markets. The booths this year seemed to be dominated by Americana, architectural salvage and primitives ... things we could not bring back with us on the plane. But we found our share of treasures. The n ext stop was a weekend in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. It was our first visit and we found it delightful. The towns are really small villages, with no more than a few streets. The area is known for its farm to table cuisine and numerous good, small restaurants. We stayed at the Inn at Stockbridge , which is a wonderful inn with comfortable acc...

We just got back from a buying trip to New England where we found some interesting items for antique collectors and crafters both. Our best finds were an assortment of ephemera. Wonderful miniature books and chapbooks, old schmaltzy valentines, an old penmanship book and handwriting workbook, some interesting WW2 envelopes and an collection of 1940s holiday telegram blanks. Antiquarian Books Victorian Chapbooks Miniature Books WW2 Envelopes -- some with censorship stamps Fantastic Telegram Forms for a Variety of Holidays Penmanship Book and a Handwriting Workbook Old Valentines -- including unused and postcards too In addition to the ephemera, we found a number of other treasures. This is a pair of Grapevine Molds Porcelain Paint Powders in Vials Early 1900s Ribbon Medals -- mostly double sided with celluloid images A Couple of Beautiful Italian Religious Triptychs This old rubber stamp set is very complete and large. It includes...