No comments about Spanish Decorative Ironwork (Dover Pictorial Archive Series).

5 comments about Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins: 1795 - 1933, Circulating, Proof, Commemorative, and Pattern Issues.

1. Every now and then a real masterpiece of Numismatic research is created and made available to the public and the Encyclopedia of US Gold Coins: 1795-1933 is one of those masterpieces. As a professional coin dealer who specializes in better and rare dated gold coins I strongly suggest tha aquisition of this book as it will help the collector as well as investor of rare gold coins become more knowledgeable in the various series of US gold coins and there can never be too much information when researching this large and diverse area of coin collecting.



2. This excellent,large coffee table type book lists every American Gold coin,proof,and pattern ever struck.Gives Population figures, mintages,beautiful pictures and the latest auction records and availability of all gold coins. No serious numismatist should be without this awesome reference book!!!!



3. Any coin collector enchanted by TRULY rare classic U.S. coins (i.e., coins where mere DOZENS of examples still exist!) would do himself a huge favor by acquiring this volume. Here is one book that more than replaces the groundbreaking multi-volume U.S. gold work of David Akers.
   
   Believe it or not, there ARE still many bargains to be had in U.S. numismatics... and they reside in the U.S. gold series. Fact: Many U.S. gold coins dwarf in rarity the "keys" in any other U.S. series by 10X or even 100X.
   
   Amazingly, today's prices (even with gold bullion way up) simply don't begin to reflect this incredible rarity.
   
   Interested? Here's just the volume to guide you along the path to discovering all these hidden treasures.
   
   Does it really get any better than GOLD? I don't think so. It (and silver) are the only metals historically and universally recognized as REAL money. But gold stands alone as the one metal not subject to hideously damaging long-term environmental contamination.
   
   In its day and time, one gold coin might have represented an average working man's weekly or monthly wages. Accordingly, U.S. gold coins have historically been collected only by the super rich. But clearly this no longer need be the case. The rich collected ONLY the very top-grade examples available. These coins continue to be very expensive. Largely neglected, however, have been gold coins of lower grade (coins which would be perfectly acceptable specimens in any other U.S. series.) Bonus: In some cases, the gold content alone accounts for 30-50% of one's purchase price. So the value of your collection is meaningfully backed by gold itself.
   
   We are fortunate to live in a day and time where these lower grade examples of incredibly rare U.S. gold coins are still available (albeit with considerable searching) at true bargain basement pricing -- a combination of rarity and pricing guaranteed to quicken a coin collector's pulse.
   
   This all becomes clear in one glorious volume of amazing scope and breadth.
   
   The price of this volume is likewise bargain-priced. Hundreds of beautiful full color photos on hundreds of pages -- all on glossy heavy paper stock. Paradoxically, the bargain nature of this book about classic Americana is likely due to its having been printed in CHINA. But I have to give credit where credit is due: There is absolutely nothing second-rate about this book's cosmetics or content.
   
   My advice? Buy it as fast as your fingers can click on the order button!



4. If there was a book that was over hyped, this would be it. This book gives you nothing more than production amounts and supposed current values. There is nothing in this book that can't be found elsewhere. I was expecting an abundance of information on things to look for in a coin, similar in nature to Walter Breens works, die markings, die pairings. What I have gotten is a book that has some nice pictures....and thats it. Do yourself a favor and skip this book.



5. If what one is expecting is a well illustrated overview of all gold issues, together with superb documentation of each and every piece of information presented, this is an epitomy of outstanding presentation and scholarship.
   
   On the other hand, if one would desire to know detailed facts about each particular date and mint issue, the die varieties and the like, there are alternatives in multiple volumes, from authors such as Doug Winter for the Southern Mints or Carson City, that certainly detail much more information about those aspects than a one volume book could hope to cover.
   
   I suppose much has to do with one's expectations. This book met my expectations much in the way that my volume of Breen does. Often it is a starting point. The information provided by Breen is not that deeply detailed compared with the immense amount of literature that has been published since his leaving the scene, and the varieties he identified often are not wholly complete. Yet, I have never found that to detract in the least from my enjoyment of Breen as light reading or my ability to use that volume as a first stop when viewing a coin in a series in which I have a limited knowledge.

No comments about Warman's Hummel Field Guide: Values and Identification (Warman's Field Guides).

1 comments about Warman's Tools Field Guide: Values and Identification (Warman's Field Guides).

1. I bought this book because I have several dozen woodworking planes that I have bought over the last twenty years. I bought them for my own use, not as a collector. Many of them are scarce and reasonably hard to find but I would not consider them rare. I bought this guide so I could get some idea of their worth before putting them up for sale. I found this guide of no use. For the most part, it lists very rare planes in extraordinary condition. It is organized by general types of planes (e.g. smoothing planes) rather than manufactures or something that I might find useful. The net result is that it might have information about some of my planes but I do not wish to read the book cover to cover on the off chance that I can find it. It is not the guide book for me.

3 comments about Women's Fashions of the Early 1900s: An Unabridged Republication of "New York Fashions, 1909" (Women's Fashions of the Early 1900s).

1. This is reprint of a 1909 catalog. Catalogs are a great reference for looking at clothes because they are always shown clearly, from head to toe, and in all the important details are pointed out for you. This book is an excellent resource for inspiration for suit jackets, skirts, lace blouses, inimate apparel, and heirloom clothing for children.



2. This book has great pictures of 1909, they are wonderful to study. It only covers 1909 and not the rest of the early 1900's during which there were lots of fashion changes. Right after this time period there were further changes so it's a good stopping point. Dover is great for those of us who are looking at vintage fashion!



3. This is a wonderful carbon copy of the original catalog. It does not have any modern insight or text on the period. Only the original catalog pages and descriptions. There are not any photographs either. The engravings and descriptions are detailed and precise. It covers various styles for different age groups, accessories, shoes, hats, undergarments, et cetera. The original descriptions are helpful as well. A moderate knowledge of early twentieth century fashion/fabric terminology helps. Just imagine thumbing through a modern Sears catalog....it's pretty close to the same experience.

5 comments about Halloween Merrymaking: An Illustrated Celebration Of Fun, Food, And Frolics From Halloweens Past.

1. Diane C. Arkins' Halloween Merrymaking: An Illustrated Celebration of Fun, Food, and Frolics from Halloweens Past (2004) offers a poignant but hopeful glimpse back into American high culture and the "Golden Age of American Halloween," which the author locates between 1870 and the early 1930s. Today, many deny that such a high culture ever existed in this country, or, if willing to make such an admission, will tar that culture as "elitist" and "oppressive."
   Yet, at present, Americans everywhere crave a richer, more substantial, and refined existence than the mediocre model that the current popular culture promotes and sustains. Halloween Merrymaking looks back on a time when neighborhood and community, good manners and retail integrity, decorum and propriety, dress and composure, breeding and ingenuity, were all essential and unavoidable aspects of daily American life. Such cultural elements certainly represented strictures in some cases, but the rewards for such discipline was enormous: a thriving, evolving, positivistic, and multi - tiered society that strove to refine and improve itself in any number of ways.
   
   Stressing above all that Halloween in the Golden Age was "hardly a monster's ball by any stretch of the imagination," Arkins focuses on the holiday as it was celebrated in magazines and periodicals of the era, which subtly dictated the civilized manner in which this most anarchic of American holidays was enjoyed by parents and children alike, whether at family gatherings, church socials, classroom frolics, bridge parties, or comparatively chic adult soirees. While children's party treats include the expected cakes, donuts, and candies brightly wrapped in autumn colors, a typical adult menu unselfconsciously suggests Oyster Canapes, Lobster Bisque, Waldorf Salad, and Broiled Squab.
   
   Though the preface states that Halloween Merrymaking is not a "how - to manual" in the traditional sense, the book has sections lovingly devoted to "old fashioned" invitations, interior and exterior decoration, party favors, preparation of the party table, menus, costuming, appropriate music, and suitable games such as apple bobbing, nutshell auguries, tea leaf divination, and other forms of fun and fortune telling that have long roots in British history and folklore.
   
   Though the finest commercial Halloween decorations, party favors, and costumes of the period are featured and emphasized, there are also numerous suggestions for making comparable items from orange, black, and white crepe paper and cardboard, standard kitchen vegetables, and other readily available materials. Ingenuity, enthusiasm, and a happy "can do" attitude are underscored throughout. America was largely an agricultural society at this time, a fact the book reflects in a number of meaningful and practical ways.
   
   Halloween Merrymaking includes period photographs of parties and costumed partygoers, magazine covers and entire magazine articles (such as 1906's "A Jolly Forest Halloween" and 1909's "Under The Pumpkin Vine At Halloween"), and a wide variety of imaginatively depicted period reproductions of witches, jack o' lanterns, black cats, ghosts, harvest moons, owls, and fairies.
   
   Highly recommended to those seeking inspiration and a cure for cynicism, apathy, and the present third - rate norm.



2. I awaited the release of this book with keen anticipation, and overall, find it a delightful retrospective of Halloween celebrations of days gone by. The excerpts from vintage magazines and party guides are charming. My chief complaint lies with the design and treatment of the visuals in the book - they are painfully small. At such a reduced size, they don't allow the reader to fully appreciate the charm of the vintage advertisements, postcards, invitations and photos of costumed revelers.



3. A most thoroughly enjoyable book about Halloween. Wonderfully written and beautifully illustrated it takes you back to a bygone era of Halloween celebratons. A must have book for anyone who is interested in vintage Halloween.



4. Halloween Merrymaking: An Illustrated Celebration Of Fun, Food, And Frolics From Halloweens Past
   by Diane Arkins is a very fine year-round family or community library acquisition illustrating the Halloween celebration of fun, food and holiday partying. This is no repeat history: material from a range of the vintage party guides and magazines that guided hostesses in their party-giving endeavors is presented and showcased in a lively survey of festivities and small color photos.



5. We Americans tend to be somewhat near-sighted in our view of Halloween in thinking that our celebration of the day is relatively a modern fascination. And, in truth, Halloween has boomed in the past twenty years to become second only to Christmas in decorating and celebrating the season. As Diane C. Arkins shows in this wonderful book, however, Halloween has been widely celebrated for well over one hundred years and this book concentrates on what Arkins calls Halloween's golden age from the 1870's to the 1930's. The book is filled with hundreds of vintage photographs, illustrations, and magazine reprints from the period.
   
   Halloween was not the ghoulish, gory holiday that it is today, but rather a day of revelry when people would hold parties for adults as well as children. Throughout the book writers of the times dispense advice, squarely aimed at women, on how to throw a successful Halloween party. We begin with invitations with some classic examples of period artwork depicting pumpkins, witches or black cats. Showing far more thought, as well as sophistication, magazines even gave advice on what to write, often favoring catchy little rhymes.
   
   Halloween decorations became widely available during the 1910's and Halloween Merrymaking presents hundreds of photographs depicting these vintage decorations. Illustrations and photos show various themes of the times. Interestingly, many of these decorations are being recaptured these days by modern crafters. The fantastic crepe` paper and paper Mache decorations are a collectors dream!
   
   Party favors presented to children or adults were staples of Halloween get-togethers in the golden age. A popular idea of the 20's and 30's was "Jack Horner Pies" in which a centerpiece stood in the middle of the table with ribbons pulled to the end of the table, separating it into wedges, one for each guest. Within each wedge the hostess places small gifts or party favors such as fortunes, written in milk on paper so they would be invisible until held under a light, The fortune would hen be placed inside a walnut shell.
   
   The magazines of the era also offered advice on what to serve for your party and included such forgotten delicacies as Little Goblin Stuffed Eggs and Moon Sandwiches. The book even provides sample menus for different types of parties such as formal, informal, or children's. Next up is the entertainment with suggestions on music and dances and games, as well as advice on costumes. During the 20's and 30's occultism was extremely popular and the book offers numerous fortune-telling and divination games that people could play at their parties.
   
   Finally Arkins reprints several full, vintage articles on Halloween from magazines such as Woman's Home Companion, Woman's World, and Ladies Home Journal. You really get a sense after reading the book just how much Halloween was enjoyed back then without the rampant commercialism of today. This is a nostalgic walk back in time to an era of simplicity and fun. It's fun and educational to see how our grandparents and great-grandparents may have celebrated Halloween decades ago. Highly recommended!

1 comments about It's Happy Bunny Love and Revenge Voodoo Kit (It's Happy Bunny).

1. i got this for my two girls; ages 9 and 11. the 11 yr old thought it was hysterical. (it's a little stuffed bunny with pins to stick in it and a small "instruction" book). i'm not sure if my 9 yr old actually thought it would work, but also thought it was funny...(she's somewhat literal-minded)
   i think it would make a good gift for someone with a sense of humor and definitly not for anyone younger then 7 as it comes with it's own pins.

1 comments about A Collector of Treasures (AWS African Writers Series).

1. On the level of moral philosophy, Bessie Head's tales examine the development of a civilization and the ethical views established throughout their expansion. Her accounts institute lessons about love and romance, rituals, new religion, law, and material wealth. Bessie brilliantly sets the foundation of her collection with an extraordinary account of the origin of the Botswana village. The advancement of Christianity within the rural community sets the stage for divided beliefs and practices. Wealth and materialism create stratification and the villagers strive to reach and maintain the status quo.
   
   Ethical relativism and the problems associated with the majority rule theory come into play throughout the progression of this civilization. With the group's morality being determined by the majority male population, the women are left to decide for themselves, whether the morals are merely professed values established to accommodate and maintain the dominant male role or actual ethical values instituted for the good of all the inhabitants of the village. There are many heroines throughout Head's sagas that determine that the rules are unjust. These female protagonists bravely stand their ground refusing to be mistreated and abused any longer.

No comments about Jewels of Passion.

No comments about Collectible Fishing Reels (Schiffer Book for Collectors).