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New Books for Collectors
—
September 2007
Quilts
of the Oregon Trail
by Mary Bywater Cross
Reviewed by Robert Reed
(Antique & Collectible News Service)
 |
One of the great migrations of modern times occurred when a quarter of a million Americans crossed the country to reach Oregon and California between 1840 and 1870.
Quilts of the Oregon Trail documents that grand journey through the grand craft of quilts and the people who quilted them.
As the author notes, the book “presents quilts as documents of history, similar to diaries, in order to learn about the lives of the women who made the migration.” To be considered valid documents of history, according to textile historian Rachel Maines, quilts must meet several necessary requirements: They must have a continuous and traceable history; they must reflect the experience of the main stream of society at the time they were made; and they must be honest in representing the free expression of the maker.
This volume is a new and revised one of the 1963 edition. One expanded section deals with quilts made by those who waited either for a loved one to return, or to join a loved one in the West after they were established.
More over the author has changed “the order of the quilts; presentation from the date they were made to the migration date of the maker/owner. References to a specific maker or family are identified by their assigned number.”
Included in this quality book are 56 quilts made before, during and after the journey west, as well as new information about the role of women in their communities. Each quilt is shown in full color, along with vintage photos of the makers plus information describing the quilt and the maker’s family.
Further information for the reader includes tail conditions, letters, narrations of travel, and available resource locations. In addition the book includes a glossary, index and maps.
Quilts of the Oregon Trail by Mary Bywater Cross, softcover, 184 pages, is $29.95 plus shipping from Schiffer Publishing, 4880 Lower Valley Rd., Atglen, PA 19310.
Modern Fishing
Lure Collectibles, Vol. 5
Identification & Value Guide
by Russell E. Lewis
Reviewed by Robert Reed
(Antique & Collectible News Service)
 |
Just released from Collector Books is the fifth volume Modern Fishing Lure Collectibles. It is also the final book of that very excellent series by Russell E. Lewis.
Volume 5 covers mainly items made in the United States since 1940. Additionally, it offers information on the changing nature of the fishing tackle industry, and the consequential closing of most companies in the early 1980s.
Lewis introduces this final volume of the series by noting that the current market place mostly involves post-1940s lures.
“It should be noted that most tackle for sale at shows, at flea markets and on the Internet is really of more recent vintage than the prewar vintage tackle era,” according to the author. Lewis adds, “I would estimate that between 70 percent and 90 per cent of all lures, rods and reels for sale in most markets were made after 1940. It may not be that high at some of the more exclusive tackle shows, but it certainly is that high online and at local flea markets and garage sales.”
Excellent color photographs, some 1,500 of them, plus thousands of related illustrations and even color charts make this book a valuable book for the collector.
Additionally, there is new and expanded information on lure manufacturing companies and selected sections on this industry during the 1970s and 1980s. There is an entire chapter on the dramatic changes at Heddon during those two decades. Also included is an illustrated chapter on ice fishing decoys.
This hardcover book with values and index contains 368 pages. The price is $29.95 plus shipping from Collector Books, 1-800-626-5420.
Real Photo
Postcard Guide, The People’s Photography
by Robert Bogdan and Todd Weseloh
Reviewed by Robert Reed
(Antique & Collectible News Service)
 |
Anyone with an interest in real photo postcards is bound to also have an interest in Real Photo Postcard Guide, The People’s Photography, written by the team of Robert Bogdan and Todd Weseloh. Included are more than 350 exceptional examples of real photos postcards along with a highly detailed text on all aspects of the subject.
Bogdan is a professor emeritus at Syracuse University and author of several books including Exposing the Wilderness: Early 20th Century Adirondack Postcard Photographers. Weseloh is a librarian and archivist at the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse, NY.
“This book is a celebration of real photo postcards,” stated the two authors in a joint release. “Most books about postcards are filled with images but contain very little text. Some pictures do speak directly to us, but we believe that photo postcards are best understood when words put them in the context in which they were produced.”
The book deals with the creating and marketing of early photo postcards, the quality of such cards and the extensive nature of collecting categories for real photo postcards. The authors also provide a working directory of postcard photographers.
Real Photo Postcard Guide, The People’s Photography by Robert Bogdan and Todd Weseloh, hardcover, index, 274 pages, is $39.95 from Syracuse University Press.
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