2 comments about Matchbox Labels: Over 2,000 Elegant Examples from All Over the World.

1. I bought this as I'm interested in popular graphics and the two thousand samples included certainly capture the flavor of this tiny corner of the printed ephemera market.
   
   The book is very well designed and printed but ultimately I was rather disappointed with the contents. There is a sameness about so many of these labels. The huge number from the old Soviet Union and the Eastern Block certainly look similar, only to be expected I guess but other nations output also seem bland and unimaginative. Perhaps the reason is that most of the labels included are brands rather than advertising labels that are so common today. Strangely none of the labels are dated but I would guess that most of them were produced several decades ago and the cheapness of liquid lighters now has reduced match output.
   
   As another reviewer has commented the absence of North American product maybe also explains the lack of pizzazz and color. The matchbook was the flame of choice for Americans and there are no examples of these included.
   
   This will probably be the standard book about matchbox labels because it is so comprehensive. The American matchbook is another story; their colorful design and huge output over the years will still produce occasional new titles. The one I like best is:Close Cover Before Striking: The Golden Age of Matchcover Art (Recollectibles) with several hundred matchbook covers in an attractively designed book.
   
   ***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.



2. Well designed and printed on quality paper, this well-stocked archive is a decent production for collectors, fans, and graphic designers. It's organization is clear and the color labels easily identified.
   
   However, the most obvious shortcoming, and one that I found frustrating, was the amazing lack of North American selections. Nearly the entire 2,000 examples showcased are from former Soviet Union satellites and Asia. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - as you get a very good sense of Soviet-era constructivism and wonderful Asian simplicity & beauty. But the lack of labels from the United States, Canada and Mexico is sorely missed.
   
   Although unbalanced - I would recommend this to devotees of the genre - if only to expose them to labels that aren't often seen. However, for graphic designers and fans of Americana, I would recommend focusing on selections by Chronicle Books.

1 comments about Collectible Playing Cards (Collectibles).

1. I'm a prop master for a local college here and this book is wonderful at helping me to re-create proper period playing cards for any and all stage and film productions.

3 comments about Old-Fashioned Santa Claus Cards: 24 Cards.

1. Nice Clipart...some good old classic generic clipart.
   I scan it in...wish it was already scanned in.
   
   Great price...
   You should be happy.



2. This is a very beautiful way to share Christmas with others. The old fashioned pictures in a high gloss finish are so bright and cheerful and very Christmasy. Everyone who received one of these cards really appreciated them.



3. I was under the impression that these cards were regular Christmas cards and not postcards. Hence the 3 stars, otherwise I like them alot.

3 comments about Antique Trader Vintage Magazines Price Guide.

1. I've been interested in old magazines for a few years now, and have been looking for a helpful price guide. I just bought this, and I highly recommend it. There's a lot of information, not just about the magazines most of us are familiar with, but also about many lesser knonwn older magazines that have great value due to authors who published their early work in them--e.g. Edgar Allen Poe. It's not just helpful information as a price guide, it's very interesting reading! Lots of great color photos also. I looked through another magazine price guide in a bookstore, and this one is much, much better.



2. I picked up this book to learn more about vintage ads and magazines I was interested in. I was pleasantly surprised that not only was the book a complete guide to magazines but had great analgoies and stories the "editors" wrote within.
   Great information on a subject that seems to be little explored.



3. When we moved into our 1920's home,we found boxes left in the attic filled with old fashion magazines. My husband was ready to trash the lot, but being of the pack rat variety I found a home for them in my office.
   
   With the help of The Antique Trader Vintage Magazines Price Guide the door was opened for me to the world of old magazines. The beautiful color photos helped me to easily identify my boxes of "trash" and give them a value.
   
   Most important, the love affair the authors have for magazines comes across in their historical entries. The unique way they organize collectible magazine people into Sleepers like OZ artist W.W. Denslow or Stars like F.Scott Fitzgerald makes me want to haunt local yard sales. My major problem with the book was that I became so fascinated that I wanted more. The book could easily have been double in size and information and kept my interest as both a reader and for use as a desk reference. With what I've learned, our next home will hopefully be an 1890's Victorian with a basement full of Godey's Lady's Book magazines.

5 comments about Vintage Postcards for the Holidays: Identification & Value Guide.

1. I guess being more a fan than a collector of postcards I have a different opinion than some of the reviewers who rated this book so low. Regarding prices, the fact is that on any collectible prices vary widely depending on your location and method of selling. As a long-time collector of toys and comic books, I can attest to that. Thus the criticism about pricing is completely invalid as this is merely a "guide" as any pricing guide is. I also would dispute the claim that many of the cards are in poor condition. Some are but the vast majority are not. We are talking about items that are in the neighborhood of one hundred years old so they are not all going to be in mint condition. I think the editors did a fantastic job of giving readers a very broad cross-section of types and styles of cards, regardless of condition.
   
   Anyway, the book is organized by Holiday beginning with New Years Day. Each section has an introduction and history of cards for that particular holiday which I found to be very informative. For example we learn that Valentine's Day cards were actually the first holiday cards to be widely distributed beginning in the 17th century. And we also learn that the Easter Bunny dates back to 1700's Germany. The book cruises the calendar year hitting every holiday including Arbor Day, April Fool's Day, Memorial Day, etc...
   
   The highlight for most collectors will be the Halloween and Christmas portions. Halloween cards are easily the most valuable and sought after for collectors and I do agree that the Halloween section is way too skimpy at twelve pages (not eight as another reviewer mentioned). Still even twelve pages is slight compared to Thanksgiving which gets some 40 pages. The Christmas section is broken up into Santa and non-Santa parts and again most collectors will be interested in the Santa cards as they bring far more value than the others.
   
   While Postcards for the Holidays isn't a perfect book, it does it's job very well. The photography and post card reproductions are very clear and colorful and the book is produced on heavy, coated stock paper.
   
   Reviewed by Tim Janson



2. Robert and Claudette Reed's Postcards For The Holidays, 2nd Edition arrived too late for more timely Christmas mention, but since holiday collecting is really a year-round occupation, it's not too late to mention the ongoing reference value of Postcards For The Holidays Identification & Value Guide, which appears in its 2nd updated edition. Pages come packed with color photos of seasonal cards organized by holiday along with current prices. The chapters each introduce with a history of manufacturers and approaches to further the educational teachings.



3. I am really disapointed in the second edition because it is basically a repeat of the first edition. Although there are more pages in the second edition, this books shows the same postcards as the first edition. Also, the text is the same. It's like buying the same book only there are a few new postcards added. The authors did remove pictures of beat up postcards and replaced them with new cards they must have added to their collection, but they never changed the prices of what the cards are worth. Granted, the first book was published in 2002, and the second edition has a copyright of 2006, but every postcard collector wants to see their collection has increased in value-especially the Halloween cards. The values were not even increased by a dollar!The Easter section and Santa Claus sections are lengthier and the cover is attractive, but this is not my idea of what a second edition should be. The publishers and editors should have been more critical. There is not one Winsch or Schmucker card shown in any of the holidays and any collector knows, these are the cream of the crop, especially with Halloween cards. As much as I like the format and appreciate the book being in color, I was really upset not to see more new postcards and a change in postcard values. This shows lack of research and I feel like the book was hastily thrown together. Don't buy it if you own the first edition and hesitate about the second edition. I didn't think it was worth the price being charged.



4. 
   I first came across this book for sale at an Antique Show where a dealer was selling reference books and price guides. I was appalled at the condition of the postcards pictured in the book! I would not recommend this book to anyone with an interest in learning about postcards other than "don't collect cards in the condition they are pictured in the book" as you would be throwing your money away. I would agree with the other reviews here - the cover is great but the inside is a joke.



5. I could not agree more with the 2 "negative" reviews I saw. I would not have 90% of these cards in my album if I had gotten them for FREE! "Personal taste" aside, to show cards in such poor condition is mind-blowing, especially in a book whose cover promises much more. I'm a very recent collector of Holiday postcards, so I've been buying every reference book I could find. "POSTMARKED YESTERYEAR" by Pamela Apkarian-Russell is a wonderful book. Joe Hohmann, Madia, PA

No comments about Tea Art: A Modern Look at Vintage Tea Graphics.

5 comments about Sexcats.

1. 
   There really aren't many books that contain just a bunch of GREAT nudie picks from the fifties and sixties. Most of them out there are too small, and too sparse, with maybe one or two good pics, and pages and pages of nonsense. This book got it right. 350+ pages of HAWT fotos from the ghost of Kittens Past. I dig.
   I dig even more than my copy of Playboys Redhead book... and that book is pretty hot.



2. Christopher Mealie has put together a book of photos for those of us ( aging baby boomers ) who remember when lingerie, and / or bare breasts were as hot as it got. There's something about what you DON'T see that makes it all the more sexy. That these women are rather normal-looking, and would, most likely, never grace the pages of Playboy, makes them more realistic, and, attainable.For those of you who don't, necessarily, want the girl next door, and like a wide variety of breasts, this collection is for you.



3. I think the images are stunning, the girls evoke a classic beauty that doesn't exist anymore EXCEPT between the covers of this excellent book. People today don't appreciate fine erotica. . . Maxim has ruined it for this generation. Thankfully, this brilliant book captures the seduction of another era. . . one that is missed but not forgotten. Get a copy of this book if you want to see what a truly sexy woman looks like. . . you won't find her in playboy or maxim, but you will find her in this book.



4. Its a great collection of vintage erotic photographs........ Unlike anything available now days. Buy this book if not for the nude ladies....then for the photography art!!!



5. Christopher's collection of photographs is a wonderful nostalgic view of the way things used to be. It gives us a fond look back at the times when these photos were quietly passed around in secret, and when we got to sneak a peek at our dad's (or grandfather's) private stash.
   
   Well done!

2 comments about Time for Halloween Decorations (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. Time For Halloween Decorations, is atrocious. Lavin's first book added modestly to the canon of vintage Halloween memorabilia knowledge, but the same cannot be said for this pitiable effort. This book is almost wholly without merit and except for completists is not worth owning. I am troubled by "authors" wanting to push such undercooked products on the marketplace when the number of publishing slots for our fun hobby is necessarily limited. When these forgettable efforts sell poorly, it makes it that much harder for those of us with something truly worthwhile to add to have our expertise heard in the marketplace. So, why am I so down on this book? There are many reasons. The cover imagery is not representative of the contents. The 1923 Beistle fairy clock would lead one to think the thrust of the book would be Beistle products from the same era. In fact, the vast majority of the book consists of items made long after this golden age of imagery. Lavin dilutes the integrity and cohesiveness of the book by arbitrarily throwing in 17 pages of items made by other manufacturers - all but one of which have been shown in other references and therefore add essentially nothing to the base of existing knowledge. Another significant defect of this book is the photography. Too many of the photos are underexposed. For instance, photos on pages 10,13,16,18-19,20-21,26,28-30, 32,35,52,62-65,68,119,120,124-125,142 and145 are often so dark one cannot make out important detail. Another significant defect is the hurried nature of the book. Two key examples of this rush to publication are images shown with the negatives reversed. On page 93 Lavin shows the same Halloween elf (upper right) that she showed on page 60 of her 2004 book. If you look carefully you'll see that she used precisely the same image but carelessly flipped the negative for the second book. (The image shown in her 2004 book is correct.) Another example is the lantern shown on page 141. If you look carefully at both the lantern and the needless photo of the insert on this page, both negatives have been flipped. (Compare them to the way the lantern actually looks as shown on page 144 of Lavin's 2004 effort. Look at the teeth and the detail of the witches' hats and the running JOL creatures' top stems.) My main objection to Lavin's second book is the number of items duplicated from her 2004 book. There seems to be more fillers and extenders in this new book than there are in any hotdog. For instance, pages 79 through 81 are essentially a rehash of pages 72 and 73 from 2004. Page 93 is a rehash of page 90 from 2004. Page 140 is a rehash of page 87 from 2004. Pages 130 through 134 are a rehash of page 141 from 2004. Page 141 is a rehash of page 144 from 2004. The lower half of 2007's page 152 is nearly identical to page 160 of this same book. Even aside from these duplications, Lavin didn't seem to have enough material to truly justify having this book published. She shows mind-numbing iterations of the same thing on too-many pages, (see pages 23-25, 35, 37, 53, 67,70,77,132-133,138-139,150 and 151for examples) or too often simply allows one item to fill an entire page. Unfortunately, Lavin devotes many of the 160 pages of this book to items that have only the remotest connection to Halloween. The "South Pacific Mask Hats" shown on pages 122-123 are puzzlers, as are the masks show on pages 105 through 111. Another downfall is the space Lavin devotes to showing items that have been shown in other works ad nauseum ad infinitum. Pages 45 through 47, 79 through 81 and 99 through 103 are a particular waste. Lastly, I have no confidence in the valuation she places on most of the items shown in this sad effort. The valuations seem arbitrary. They are certainly significantly inconsistent with the prices realized at on-line auctions, general shows and antiques malls. In summary, this book falls well below what an informed consumer and collector should expect from a collecting reference. Those who wish so avidly to see their name in print should put the requisite effort into their product so as to make it actually useful and desirable.



2. I'm no hoity-toity Ivy League professor of Halloween literature or professional 'New York Times' book reviewer with a bloody Halloween ax to grind, but I am confident when I state that "Time for Halloween Decorations" would make an excellent addition to the Halloween shelf of anyone's holiday bookcase. No room on that bulging shelf? Throw out some of those dusty volumes of Satanic ritual and inky black magic. Don't have a holiday bookcase? Shame on you! IKEA has many inexpensive bookcases and shelving units that would suffice. Do yourself a favor and start your holiday bookcase today! You won't regret it. Ever. I give you my solemn oath.

2 comments about Six Old-Time Valentine Cards.

1. I have a shoebox of my great grandmother's keepsakes and these cards almost belong in there with the old time treasures. These cards are in fact postcards, exactly what one would desire if you want to recreate the flavor of our past.



2. These are postcards, not cards. They are cute and would be nice if you are looking for Valentine postcards.

2 comments about Collecting Printed Ephemera.

1. I just purchased this book and it is what I was looking for. Service from Elagebooks was great- received it within 4 days. The book was in excellent condition. Hats off and may cheers to Elagebooks.



2. This is a fabulous book! For those of us who revel in collecting ephemera (printed paper of all sorts), this book provides a feast of information and visual overviews. The author covers the following subjects (among others): collecting ephemera; sources and values; conservation and display; the various printing processes; various categories (such as tradecards, letterheads, handbills, poster stamps, playing card stationery, book labels, valentines, and rewards of merit); a variety of themes (such as travel, funeralia, crime and punishment, rural life, cigar packaging, education, and entertainment); and includes a wonderful glossary, reference of papers and watermarks, and a good bibliography.

   All in all a must-have for the serious collector of ephemera (you know who you are!), and well worth the price to special order. Don't hestitate, buy it!