Research on Antiques & Collectibles

Rare book collecting, once the privilege of the squire with a baronial library and the staff to tidy it, is becoming the province of the literate Everyman. The signs are persistent. Attendance at auctions is rising, the number of book dealers increasing. Membership in the Antiquarian Booksellers Association continues to grow. A few years ago, there was only one book collectors' fair in the United States; today there are tens of major ones and many more smaller ones. If a bellwether of the widened and deepened interest were needed, one could find it in the appearance of three...    Read Full Story

A pair of shiny chrome and emerald-green Bakelite bookends flank half a dozen volumes with Art Deco bindings and such evocative titles as The Savoy Cocktail Book, The Metropolis of Tomorrow, The New York Book of Smart Interiors. What better way to show off a small collection of old books than between supports of the same period? How dull today's flat metal supports - a clear victory of function over aesthetics - seem in comparison with the Art Nouveau women, tresses aswiri, in brass and pewter; the Arts and Crafts hammered-copper designs; the ceramic figures by American...    Read Full Story

A trademark is a word/ letter, device, or symbol used by one company to distinguish its product from that of another company. Trademarks are also symbols of good will and have value as such. A firm obtains exclusive rights to a trademark by using it to identify its product(s) before another company does. Trademarks can also be registered with the U.S. Patent Office, but only approximately 10 percent of the trademarks in the United States are. A registered trademark can be lost if not used for two years or if used by the public habitually as a general term for all similar products. "Coca-Cola," "Coke," and the basic shape or the standard contoured ...    Read Full Story