With Ruth Handler as the catalyst, Mattel's first Barbie doll debuted at the American Toy Fair in New York City in 1959. The 11-1/2-inch, curvaceous, fresh-faced doll with a ponytail and a black-and-white striped swimsuit was unlike anything ever seen before. Handler's first attempt at doll making launched one of the most amazing success stories in the history...
Ruth Handler was confident and determined on the eve of the 1959 American International Toy Fair in New York.As president of Mattel, a company founded by her husband Elliot – along with Harold “Matt” Matson, a friend of Elliot’s – in 1945, Handler was a dogged businessperson who trusted her instincts. Despite the naysayers in her own...
What do you think of when you hear the name Monet in reference to jewelry? As a fan of vintage accessories, for the longest time I thought most of the company’s jewelry was, in a word, boring. That changed when I discovered pieces from the late 1960s and early ’70s at an estate sale a couple of...
Many collectors are enchanted by miniature objects, and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is no different.To keep the art form alive, the Queen has been purchasing miniatures of considerable significance during her reign, including a portrait of the architect Hugh May by Samuel Cooper and a portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria by John Hoskins, once in the collection...
DALLAS – Illustrator Robert Peak is so often cited as “The Father of the Modern Movie Poster” that when you Google the latter, you inevitably get the former.The ad man and maker of Time magazine covers painted more than 130 film posters in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, and was feted time and again “for injecting vitality...
In a place where vice is normally prohibited, felons serving time at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City once operated a casino known as the “Bullpen,” which offered every game of chance, including blackjack, craps, poker, gin rummy and sports betting.The casino, which operated from 1932 to 1967 in a converted stone building, had every gaming...
Clara Driscoll, the nearly invisible design force behind many of Tiffany Studio's finest stained-glass lamps, overcame staggering obstacles to illuminate the artistic talents of women hidden in the shadows of early 20th-century America.The irony of Clara Driscoll's life is not unnoticedChances are, you don’t know Driscoll. That’s understandable. Even at the height of her inventive and artistic...
Since NFTs (Non-fungible Tokens) burst into the mainstream last March with the $69 million sale of Everydays – The First 5000 Days by the artist Beeple, there isn’t a day that has passed that I have pondered: What exactly is an NFT? How could an NFT be worth so many millions of dollars, and who on earth...
VINELAND, N.J. – Led by a mechanical bank that sold for a record amount for its form, Part II of the Aaron and Abby Schroeder Collection of prized banks and toys recently raked in $2.6 million at Bertoia Auctions.Combined with the results from Part I sold in March of $3.1 million, the Schroeders' lifetime collection has grossed...
It was a typical Chicago February morning: gray skies, cold, with a light dusting of snow powdering the city’s sidewalks. But in a dreary garage at 2122 North Clark Street, in a quiet residential neighborhood on the city’s North Side, this Valentine’s Day in 1929 would be anything but ordinary.The garage, rented by the George “Bugs” Moran...
The track debuted alongside a pop punk-inspired music video conjuring up memories of Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl" Bruno Mars...
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About US
Welcome to our stimulating blog and journal!
Hello! Let me introduce my wife and myself. I am Stephane and I was really lucky to meet my wife, Mariolis, 14 years ago in the beautiful Caribbean island of Cuba. For some time now we have dreamed to create an on-line ‘dairy’ and blog to share aspire our life’s passions
Read my full story.
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