★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
April 9, 2014

★~ Today’s Quote: “Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.” Winston Churchill

★~ Cherish an Antique Day:

Do you have any family heirlooms hidden away in your closets? In 1979, the first episode of Antiques Roadshow aired in the United Kingdom. Local residents presented their family heirlooms and collectibles for appraisal, and learned their true value. The show was an instant success. On the American version of the show, the most valuable find to date was a set of carved rhinoceros horn cups, which were appraised at $1-$1.5 million!  Celebrate today by dusting off those antiques and reminiscing about their history.

★~ Chinese Almond Cookie Day:

Cookbook author Yuan-Shan Chi declared these cookies “as Chinese as blueberry pie.” Authentic or not, they are tasty at the end of a meal. . Whip up a batch of the cookies or  just order takie outie from your favorite Chinese restaurant.

Chinese Almond Cookies

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1865 – The civil war ended when Confederate commander Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Virginia.

♥~ 1953- Warner Brothers, the first of the major Hollywood studios to introduce 3-D motion pictures, chose this day to premiere “The House of Wax” at the Paramount Theatre in New York City. The stage show preceding the movie was headed by singer Eddie Fisher. The film’s stars, Vincent Price, Phyllis Kirk and Frank Lovejoy attended the premiere. 23 3-D films were released in 1953, The House of Wax being the first.

♥~ 1956 – Grace Kelly graced the cover of LIFE magazine. The caption read, “Education of a princess; for a movie and for real.”

♥~ 1963- Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was named an honorary United States citizen by President Kennedy. Churchill was the British Prime Minister during World War II, and he worked extensively with Roosevelt to achieve victory. He was the second person ever to receive the honorary US citizenship (Marquis de LaFayette was the first, and since then only 6 other world figures have joined the club). So let’s all put on our trench coats, light a cigar, and pay tribute to Churchill and his legacy

♥~ 1965 – TIME magazine featured a cover with the entire Peanuts gang. It was a good day for Charlie Brown.

♥~ 1977 – The Swedish pop group Abba made its debut at number one on the American pop charts, as Dancing Queenbecame the most popular record in the U.S.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1926 – Hugh Hefner publisher: Playboy magazine

♥~ 1939 – Michael Learned Emmy Award-winning actress: The Waltons [1972-73, 1973-74, 1975-76; Nurse [1981-82]; Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, All My Sons, Deadly Business, A Christmas Without Snow

♥~ 1954 – Dennis Quaid actor: Dragonheart, Wyatt Earp, Postcards from the Edge, Everybody’s All-American, The Right Stuff, Jaws 3, The Long Riders, Breaking Away, September 30, 1955, Switchback, Frequency, Traffic; songwriter, actor: The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, Tough Enough, The Big Easy; brother of actor Randy Quaid

♥~ 1979 – Keshia Knight Pulliam actress: The Cosby Show

♥~ 1986 – Leighton Meester Actress (“Gossip Girl”)

♥~ 1990 – Kristen Stewart Actress  (“Twilight” movies)

★~ Good to Know: Antique or Vintage? 

The rule of thumb:  Most antique dealers is that anything about 100 years or older is an antique. Items that are old, but not quite that old, are called vintage. In 1930, the U.S. government put a tax law into effect stating that an item was to be considered antique if made before 1830, about the time the Era of Mass Production began. According to this law, antiques are “works of art (except rugs and carpets made after the year 1700), collections in illustration of the progress of the arts, works in bronze, marble, terra cotta, parian, pottery or porcelain, artistic antiquities and objects of ornamental character or educational value which shall have been produced prior to the year 1830.” Antique items are not taxed, so in 1966, the 100-year standard was adopted to keep people from claiming things as antiques that actually weren’t.

In 1996, the tax law was revised to read that “if the essential character is changed, or more than 50 percent of the item has been repaired or restored, the item is no longer considered an antique and is subject to duty.” An exception to this rule is cars and other items that are subject to frequent wear—they can be called antique when they are over 25 years old.

Not all dealers use this 100-year rule. Some will call an antique anything between 80 and 100 years old, and others still use the 1830 guideline. There are also some who, for the sake of simplicity, don’t use the term antique at all and refer to everything as either vintage or collectable.

Age isn’t Everything:  Most people think that the age of an object increases its value. Age is not an automatic value indicator. Just because an object is old, that does not mean it is automatically a valuable item. Sometimes it is just older junk.

A fine Spine:  When it comes to reselling old books, there are some basic rules of thumb. First, if you can smell it, you can’t sell it. If a book has an odor—typically the result of storage in a moldy or mildewed environment–it is more difficult to sell that book on the secondary market. Old books should be stored in areas with good ventilation and should not be stored upright. Rather, lay old books on their back cover to take undue pressure off of the book’s spine. The spine must be in good shape to command high values with no missing pages or damaging marks.

Conservation or Restoration:  There is a difference between conservation and restoration. Conservation may be defined as “any action taken to preserve or prolong the life of museum artifacts.” This means that the conservator works to prevent artifact deterioration due to structure, people, or the environment. Restoration, on the other hand, may be defined as “any action taken to return an artifact to its original state.” This includes removing signs of wear and replacing missing parts.

To clean or not to clean:  When it comes to fragile antiques and aging treasures, do not over clean them. Introducing commercial cleaners, water and moisture, or abrasion from rubbing to your antiques could cause irreversible damage.

Paintings need air: Do not place a piece of glass over your oil on canvas painting. It is best to frame the painting to insure the painting’s stretcher (see picture) is protected but leave the surface of the painting free from glass or other covering. If you cover your painting with glass, the pigment will dry out over time and start to flake away from the canvas.

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My Kitchen Aid Mixer has been healed and is ready to pick up.  Oddly enough, for someone who mostly does not cook, I’ve missed it. I hope it does not resent the fact that I have an EZ Doh for bread making. I’ll introduce them slowly. The Kitchen Aid repair shop is one of those “old time places” (quoting Cole) with lots of binders, filing cabinets and a cash register with buttons.  The women who takes care of the front counter wears a cardigan with big buttons and writes everything out by hand. The shop is only open from 7-10am most of the week but on Wednesday they stay open until 12n. Which is the “Ohio way*” of sharing that I’m out of  here, my mixer awaits me.

Wishing you a Wonderful Wednesday!

Odd Loves Company!

 

* People from Ohio tend to tell you the whole store before getting to the point. Try it: the next time  you ask someone a simple question and the answer is long, and detailed—ask them…”Are you from Ohio?” My friends from Ohio easily admit this and take pride is giving full answers.