Collecting Halloween

Vintage Halloween has gained popularity over the years - while still not as popular as Christmas collecting, it is probably the 2nd most popular holiday for collectors. Quality classic Halloween can sometimes be difficult to find and fairly pricey at times - and beware of the reproduction goblins!! The best defense, other than a silver bullet, sharp stake or necklace of garlic, is a good Halloween collectible book which should give you tips on what items are real and how to spot a fake.

If you are new to vintage Halloween, you might want to start with something small, like postcards - they are easy to tuck away for the season and fun to display each year. The areas of Halloween collecting are as varied as the many costumes we enjoyed as children: die-cuts, composition candy containers, noisemakers, cake picks, games, plastic pumpkins, hard plastic toys, papier mache, lanterns and candy pails. With any area you choose, in no time at all you'll have gathered together a collection to die for!!

Railroadiana

Many people are facinated by old railroads - they were part of the fabric of our lives, connecting our communities in a by-gone era. Collecting railroadiana is one way to remember the romance and glory of the great age of railroads.

Rare Rock Island Railroad Bouillon Cup

Old railroad china is only one small aspect of railroadiana. Sturdy but beautiful, it was commercial grade quality in order to withstand lots of heavy use and to stay in place on rocking dining car tables. Patterns and colors vary by railroad line - many experimented with several patterns and not all were exclusive to a specific company. Some railroads used stock patterns while others had exclusive patterns developed for use in their dining cars alone. Some patterns and pieces are quite difficult to locate which makes them somewhat pricey.

Scarce C & O Railroad Water Can

Tinware is yet another type of railroad collectible, encompassing the many containers and other metal objects used by the railroad companies. Albeit, not all made of tin, these items tended to be rather battered by years of hard use. Because of this, these pieces are typically not as pricey as some railroad collectibles unless a rare item is located or a hard to find logo is found.

Wherever your interest leads you, you can most likely find something of interest since the collectibles range for railroadiana is quite large - paper, lanterns, uniforms, buttons, keys, locks, bells, badges, photos, spittoons, postcards - the list goes on and on. For sure there is something here for everyone and would at the very least make a good His and Hers collectible hobby!

Welcome Friends

I'm happy to announce the grand opening of my own dot com - Muddy Creek Antiques - and am excited to take my antique business to the next level by offering an online professional shopping experience. You can visit me online at http://www.muddycreekantiques.com/ where I specialize in vintage glass such as Blenko, Fenton, Hamon and Kanawha, as well as American Art Pottery and a little of this and that. I live for the thrill of the hunt so please email me if there is some vintage treasure you want me to find for you.

My brick and mortar location can be found in The Old Timey Shop on Main Street in Milton, WV, where I have about 1000 square feet of booth space packed to the brim with primitives, cottage, furniture, great glass, pottery, etc. - something for everyone. Stop by and visit during shop hours of 10-5 Monday thru Saturday and 12-5 on Sundays.