HoweEnterprise.com
August 24, 2020
Learn about your antiques and collectibles with Georgia Caraway
Georgia Caraway
CONTINUING WITH THE IDEA OF MATCHING DAYS IN AMERICAN HISTORY WITH ANTIQUESAND
COLLECTIBLES: AUGUST 24 1913. CONGRESS AUTHORIZES THE PARCEL POST SYSTEM WHICH CHANGES THE WAY PEOPLE SHOP—GIVING AN ENORMOUS BOOST TO MAIL ORDER COMPANIES SUCH AS MONTGOMERY WARD AND SEARS ROEBUCK. Montgomery Ward was founded by Aaron Montgomery Ward in 1872. Aaron had conceived of the idea of a dry goods mail-order business in Chicago, Illinois, after several years of working as a traveling salesman among rural customers. The first Sears catalog was issued in 1888 by Richard Sears featuring watches and jewelry. The company evolved in 1889 with catalogs issued for the Warren Company and the AC Roebuck Company. The first Sears, Roebuck and Company catalog appeared in 1893, advertising everything from underwear to entire house kits. Around the holidays, families across the country would circle items in its legendary “Wish Book.” AUGUST 25 1932. AMELIA EARHART COMPLETED HER 19-HOUR NONSTOP, TRANSCONTINENTAL FLIGHT. Airline memorabilia has long been collected especially by those associated with the industry. Silverware, mugs, napkins, magazines, postcards, stationery, drink stirrers, tickets, and even barf bags from popular airlines such as United, Delta, American, US Air, and TWA are sought particularly from the earliest days of their existence. AUGUST 26 1859. An unemployed railroad worker, Edwin L. Drake struck oil in Titusville, PA. Collectors of gas and oilfield memorabilia seek out old oil cans (all sizes, full or empty), globes, gasoline pumps, tanks with brand names, signs, all manner of advertising, photographs, post cards with oil scenes, folding road maps (put out by major oil companies of the day), paper memorabilia, books, even complete gasoline stations, oilfield engines, old drilling rigs, drilling and producing equipment (especially those huge wrenches), tank trucks to drive, and just about anything else having to do with petroleum and its products. AUGUST 27 1908. Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th President of the United States, was born in
central Texas, not far from Johnson City. Johnson political badges (especially those called “flashers” which depict two different pictures or slogans of Johnson), books about LBJ, postcards of his ranch in Stonewall and scenes from Johnson City, souvenir plates, Post and Life magazines featuring the president and Lady Bird, and an LBJ bobblehead are all sought by collectors. AUGUST 28 1963. More than 200,000 people gathered in Washington DC to rally for passage of a civil rights law. A highlight of that rally was the “I Have a Dream” speech given by Rev, Martin Luther King. In the 1980s and 90s, black memorabilia was a popular collectible: postcards, statues, dolls, Mammy kitchen collectibles, Aunt Jemima bottles, Rastus ads for Cream o’ Wheat, black jockey figurines, tickets for Josephine Baker performances to signed photographs of Muhammad Ali, original Duke Ellington records, and Jackie Robinson baseball cards. However, in today’s environment, this field of collecting is much more clandestinely conducted. AUGUST 29. 1893. Whitcomb L. Judson invented the zipper. Up until his creative closure, straight and safety pins and buttons were used to close men’s and women’s clothing. Pins were found to be difficult to manage, poked the skin, and tore delicate fabric. Buttons, especially down the back of women’s apparel required a maid or some other help to fasten. Some of these garments had dozens of tiny covered buttons as closures. With the advent of Judson’s invention, zipping up apparel became so much easier. AUGUST 30 1785. The Empress of China arrives with a precious cargo of silk and tea in Boston and Philadelphia causing American merchants to plan their own expeditions to China for wares. Products imported from China increased over the next 150 hundred years, as manufactured goods could be produced by cheaper labor and sold for far less in the U.S. Many of these items are collectibles today, esp. toys and other plastic objects such as, Barbie, Thomas the Tank Engine, wind-up dolls and dogs, and Hot Wheels to name just a few. Come see us at Howe Mercantile, located in beautiful downtown Howe, Texas. We have two great restaurants right across the street, Abby’s and Gabrielas’, famous for homecooked meals. And the newest addition to our eating establishments, a Chinese restaurant, Hana’s Café and Market, located right behind them. Make a day of it, eating and shopping. Let Us Show You Howe.
The Howe Ex-Students Association met on Saturday morning to discuss the upcoming Howe All-School Reunion which takes place every five years. Due to the pandemic and the uncertainty of availability of school property use, the group decided to cancel the event and move it to homecoming 2021.
9
