I live in a house with two small boys, two large dogs, and one boisterous husband. Silence is truly golden. I find myself cherishing the kind of peace and solitude that in my youth would have left me with a bad case of cabin fever. Time and maturity have taught me to embrace silence. In […]
Catherine Riedel
Yankee
Antiques: Chelsea Clocks
To hear my punctual mother tell it, I was born two weeks early and that was the last time I was early for anything. A skillful procrastinator, I seem powerless to change. I hear the tick of the clock and I rage against that machine. But even as I curse the swing of the pendulum, […]
Yankee
Antiques: Sleds
Edith Wharton got it all wrong in Ethan Frome. That tortured farmer from Starkfield, Massachusetts, took a suicidal sled run down an icy slope and, tragically, lived to regret it. Perhaps most tragic was that Frome’s thinking on sledding was flawed from the start. He looked at it as a way to end his days. […]
Yankee
Antiques: Dolls
When I was 8 years old, my grandmother gave me a cloth doll for Christmas. Neither pretty nor fancy, she was plainly dressed in gingham, with yarn hair, button eyes, and a painted-on smile. She wasn’t exactly fun or exciting, and I didn’t play with her much. But long after my other childhood toys had […]
“Art is born of the observation and investigation of nature”: Cicero said it, and Bradford Washburn lived it. A pioneering mountain climber, pilot, mapmaker, geologist, and founder of Boston’s Museum of Science–Washburn was all of these. This New England-born explorer was also a prolific artist behind the lens of a camera, capturing some of the […]
Living
Antiques: Hatboxes
While growing up, I shared a room with my very neat and organized sister. I was the bane of her existence. Artsy and disheveled, I provided the perfect foil to her tirade of tidiness. “A place for everything, and everything all over the place” was my motto. I favored pretty; she liked practical. I liked […]
Great art requires talent and tenacity, but also time and space: time to learn and perfect, and to pass on knowledge; space to bloom and grow, think and rethink. At the turn of the 20th century, a talented and well-trained silversmith named Arthur J. Stone opened a workshop in South Gardner, Massachusetts. Nestled among rolling […]
Magazine
PHOTOS: Early Red Sox and Fenway
Red Sox collectibles can demand a premium price, especially in the New England market. In April 2007, Skinner sold a 1955 Ted Williams game-worn jersey for more than $30,000. Even with paper items, prices can soar when rarity, historic moments, or star players are involved. Read more about baseball collectibles Click to view vintage Red […]
Magazine
PHOTOS: Vintage Baseball Cards
As early as the late 1800s, baseball collectibles were the brainchild of savvy marketers who gave away baseball cards and other goodies as premiums with product purchases. The best example is tobacco baseball cards. Read more about baseball collectibles. View photos of early Red Sox players and Fenway.Get Our FREE Yankee Food Award Gift Guide! […]
Once upon a time, “take me out to the ball game” seemed like such an innocent request. The song’s refrain asked for nothing but a carefree afternoon at the park, eating Cracker Jack and delighting in the sheer joy of a baseball game. I don’t recall any verse about luxury seats, or paying $25 to […]
Yankee
Antiques | Mochaware Pottery
Mochaware pottery pieces are centuries old, yet they look as modern as today’s contemporary art pottery. Learn more about this rare American collectible.
To stoic Yankee stock, I’m that most unnatural of New Englanders: a person who wears her heart on her sleeve. I exude enthusiasm and fail to mask disdain. A feeler and a talker, I understand, and at times, over-share. It’s no wonder I’ve never been much of a card player. A close-to-the-vest stance seems to […]