An ice cream sundae for everyone!

There are many different stories about the history of ice cream sundaes, it all depends on where you are in the country.

One of the stories that I have heard was about the city of Evanston, Illinois.  In 1890, Evanston was one of the first cities to pass a blue law that outlawed selling ice cream sodas on Sunday.

How did drug store operators get around this?  They served the syrup on top of the ice cream, and they omitted the soda (and the sundaes were born).

There are also different towns that claim to be the birthplace of sundaes as well.  Two Rivers, Wisconsin; Plainfield Illinois; and even New York City claim the dessert.

Glass manufacturers eventually made a special glass for these sweet treats, and they are as popular as the treat itself.

There are two great listings for sundae glasses that I have on eBay, one of them here and the other here.

What kinds of history of the ice cream sundae have you heard?

Fun facts of United States history from 1866

When I am trying to find some information on an item that I recently purchased, I run across some fun facts about the United States history.  Here’s some from the year 1866:

February 13 – The first daylight bank robbery happened on this date.  It was the first one during peacetime, and it happened in Liberty, Missouri.  People consider it to be the first robbery by Jesse James and his gang (although James's role is disputed on this one).

May 16 – The U.S. Congress approved the production of a 5-cent coin (which is made from nickel). The minting of this coin eliminated its predecessor, the half dime.

July 24 – During the American Reconstruction, the state of Tennessee becomes the first state to be readmitted to the Union following the American Civil War.

It’s always fun for me to see these fun facts, I never know what I will run across.  What have you run across?

Great vocabulary words to remember for the antiques lover

It doesn’t take very long for you to hear some interesting words when you deal with antiques.  They could apply to just about anything, here’s some of them that I have run across.

Lavabo—this is a French word that means "wash bowl."

Nesting tables—this is a group of tables (there’s usually three, every once in a while there’s more) that is constructed so that one fits under the other.

Tin glaze—it’s an opaque white glaze that contains tin oxide.  It has been used on faience, delftwares and even majolica pottery.

This is only a small portion of the words that I have heard over the years.  What kinds of words have you come across?

HAEGAR Pottery Cylinder Vase Brown Drip Glaze Mold #03917

Haegar pottery got their start as a Dundee, Illinois brickyard in 1852.  They got their clay from the riverbank of the Fox River.

When the 1920’s rolled around, they were making teaware, luncheonware, crystal and glassware.

 

The 1960’s saw the production of the vase pictured above.  Haegar pottery produced this wonderful cylinder vase with a brown drip glaze, and it’s mold #03917.  This style of vase can be found in a wide variety of colors including (but not limited to) green, blue and even grey.

What's great about this vase is the fact that the top of it is wide enough to where it doesn't do any damage to your flowers.

You can see this terrific vase in my eBay shop here.  What kinds of Haegar pottery have you run across?