Enjoy Vintage Halloween Collectibles!

Enjoy Vintage Halloween Collectibles!

Although Halloween is an American tradition and holiday, we must credit the Scottish for bringing it to the United States.  The earliest Halloween decorations appeared around the turn of the 20^th century.  Halloween parties became popular in the United States during the Victorian times. Homes were decorated with pumpkins, cornstalks, vegetables etc.  Many early decorations were imported from Germany.

Paper-Mache jack-o’ lanterns

Today Halloween collectibles are 2^nd in demand only to Christmas collectibles.  Remembering the excitement one felt as a child dressing up in costume, going trick or treating, caving pumpkins, and bobbing for apples. The colors of Orange and black trigger nostalgia of our youth for many of us.  The variety of Halloween collectibles in vast.  Whether it be noisemakers, jack o’ lanterns, candy containers, paper of plastic goods, candy molds or costumes.  Collecting Holiday Collectibles can become a fun hobby; shop your local antique shops or flea markets to find a treasure to be displayed and cherished.

This blog features 2 Paper-Mache jack-o’ lanterns. Both of these items are for sale at Brick House Antique Center, Palmyra, NY and are featured for sale at www.brickhouseantiques.com. They range from $135.00-$200.00. 

Have a fun and safe Halloween……That’s all for today from the Brick House Blogger.

Coffee makes me happy!

Coffee, the universal beloved beverage can warm you up and it can also wake you up! So why not decorate you favorite room with the rich color of your favorite blend?

Brickhouserugcenter.com offers several rugs that fall into the rich, dark brown color way. Just like your favorite Café serving up several different varieties,  we offer area rugs in different colors and styles that are fit for any coffee-lovers caffeinated soul.

Filigree Espresso

For the straight up or double shot coffee lovers we suggest our Filigree Rug in Espresso, it is bold and rich, making it the perfect blend of classy and functional.  A color like this can go with anything. Try paring it with accents of fun Pinks and blues.

If you take a little cream in your coffee, check out our Chateau Floral Lace Rug in Coffee.  The Cream detail in this rug makes it the perfect touch of elegance while holding a neutral color palate.

For you Mocha lovers, we have a braid rug in our Hammock Rug line called Mocha!  This Capel anywhere area rug in perfect for your patio or sun porch and it is MADE IN THE USA!!

We are very proud of the rugs we offer at www.brickhouserugcenter.com. Take a minute with your next cup of coffee and check us out.

Until Next time…….The Brick House Blogger

Remember Big Little Books?

The Whitman Publishing Company stated publishing Big LittleBooks in 1932. The books look much like a four-inch block sawed off the end of a two-by-four. The outstanding feature of the books was the captioned picture opposite each page of text. The books originally sold for 10 cents. Readers had the pleasure of a big story in a little compact book.  The first Big little book, the adventures of Dick Tracy, came off the presses just before Christmas in 1932. Big Little Books have enjoyed three major periods of publication.

The Golden Age 1932-mid 1938. The books published during this time frame were the most interesting, influential and memborable books produced.

The Silver age mid 1938-1949 less innovative sets of books were produced during the Silver age.  Their production was influenced by the growing comic book market and paper shortage during WWII.

The Modern Age 1950 to the present is characterized by more than 40 years of sporadic and short-lived attempts to revive the books in different forms and with different content.

We have a number of Big Little Books for sale at the BrickHouse Antique Center. You can stop by the store at 247 East Main St. in Palmyra, NY,  or shop on line at www.brickhouseantiques.com.

Collecting American Stoneware

North American stoneware often referred to as pottery was made in the 19^th century and used daily in colonial households. Stoneware was used for anything we might use glass jars or Tupperware for today.  It held everything from water, soda, and beer to meat, grain, jelly and picked vegetables. American salt glazed stoneware was valued as not only durable, decorative housewares but as a safer alternative to lead-glazed earthenware, commonly referred to today as American Redware.

American Stoneware

Americans began producing salt glazed stoneware circa 1720.  The process began by making the item from clay, it was fired at a very high temperature, and the pottery would essentially become stone. Salt-glazed pottery is a type of pottery produced by adding salt to a kiln to create a glass-like coating on the pottery.  The sodium in the salt bonds with the silica in the clay, creating sodium silicate, or glass.

  A very commonly employed technique seen on American Stoneware is the use of cobalt decorations, where a dark gray mixture of clay, water and expensive mineral cobalt oxide is painted onto the unfired pottery.  In the firing process, the cobalt reacts to produce a vibrant blue decorations. 

Pottery with cobalt blue markings are highly collectible and can be very expensive. In the last half of the 19^th century potters in New England and New York State began producing stoneware with elaborate designs such as deer, dogs, birds, houses, people or historical scenes. These pieces are rare and a real treasure.

My husband loves to collect decorated stoneware, and we have many quality pieces for sale at our store, The Brick House Antique Center, Palmyra, NY. You can also shop through the pages of our website: www.brickhouseantiques.com to see what we have to offer.

That is all for today, from the Brick House Blogger!

American History inspires design

If you love history, you must plan to visit Williamsburg Virginia. Williamsburg is the place where George Washington and Thomas Jefferson established ideals of liberty and freedom for our country to enjoy.  Williamsburg’s legacy, as well as its extensive collection of period wallpapers and home textiles, inspired the Capel rug design team to create a line of high-quality rugs that celebrates classic American design traditions while meeting the needs and tastes of the modern consumer.  

Basketweave
Cinnabar Honey

Brickhouserugcenter.com is proud to offer this beautiful collection of area rugs.  One of the favorites of the Brick House blogger is the Basketweave collection. This collection will enhance the style of any room. The Basketweave cotton chenille braids were inspired by the traditional design in The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Collection, and best of all, these rugs are made in the USA!   Another, very traditional pattern is called Filigree, it is a plush hand tufted 100% wool rug, made in India.

Looking for the perfect in-door/ out-door rug to add beauty to your sun room or front porch, check out the Garden Maze collection, also inspired by Colonial Williamsburg.

Brick House Antique Center
Palmyra, NY

Any of these rugs will add decorative beauty to your home along with primitive antique furniture and household items.  Brick House Antique Center, located in Palmyra, NY has 2 floors of quality antiques. If you are trying to design a room full of classic furnishings full of history, please stop in or shop online at: www.brickhouseantiques.com

Lazy hammock day inspires rug design



Hammock rug offered by brickhousergcenter.com

Decorating inspired by the thought of relaxing in a hammock on a beautiful autumn day. This thought was the inspiration used by the designers when they created the new rug collection called Hammock by Capel rugs.

The Hammock Rug is made by using a unique combination of construction techniques, which add texture and visual interest to enhance each rug. Hammock is reversible, won’t shrink, is colorfast and resists water, mold and mildew.  The Hammock rug is perfect for in-door or out-doors patio settings.  And best of all these rugs are made in the USA!!

Hammock Rugs are available in five different color way, there’s sure to be one to compliment any area in your home. We love Spa if you’re more partial to blues or Camel if you would like a more neutral tone.  Outdoor living rooms are a big trend this year, and Hammock is the perfect addition to any outdoor space. So stretch out in your own hammock and relax—we’ve got you covered.

We are excited to offer such a versatile rug to add decorative harmony to your living area. When thinking of decorating that relaxing or casual space in your home, take a minute to shop through the pages at www.brickhouserugcenter.com or visit our retail store Brick House Antique Center in Palmyra, NY to look at the area rugs we offer in our rug center.

Decorating with Antiques

Tip #1.) Put thought into how you group antiques together.  Group antiques in odd numbers. It may seem funny, but odd numbers are more appealing to the eye! Marketers know this and that’s why they price things at $3.99 instead of an even $4.00. Landscapers also know this and often group trees, bushes and other shrubbery into groups of 5, 7, 9 etc. It is simply more appealing to the eyes.

Fiesta ware

Tip#2.)  Don’t scatter antiques and don’t crowd them together.  Don’t crowd too many antiques together and don’t scatter miscellaneous antiques throughout a room. Make a smooth flow of antiques from left to right. Crowding similar items together will make your room look cluttered.

Tip#3.)  Group similar objects together.  If you have Fiesta ware displayed on the shelves, don’t have one shelf full of antique dolls, then another full of Fiesta, then another full of something else. Don’t split shelves up with unrelated items.

Tip #4.)  Stick with the theme of the room. Don’t have one portion of the room be dedicated to Victorian pieces, and the other portion with primitive furniture. It would disrupt the flow and feeling of your room.

I hope these tips are helpful to you when you are decorating and looking for items to add to your collection.  When looking for new pieces stop in at The Brick House Antique Center in Palmyra, NY or shop online: www.brickhouseantiques.com.