With a demonstration by noted garden designer, Scott Zimmer, lead landscape designer for Zimmer Gardens, located in the Hudson Valley.

…and, Sharon Swarby of Petalos Floral Design in Kingston will demonstrate the craft of making a hand tied arrangement.

In his studio, he designed a wide range of products, from cocktail shakers to commemorative medallions to industrial furniture. His designs extended to futuristic concepts: a teardrop-shaped automobile, an Art Deco House of Tomorrow and many more. In 1929, he designed “Airliner Number 4,” a 9-deck amphibian airliner that included areas for deck-games, an orchestra, a gymnasium, a solarium, and two airplane hangars.

Bel Geddes wrote his first design book in 1932, Horizons, which had a significant impact. It was widely accepted that through Horizons, Bel Geddes made the design style of the thirties possible by popularizing the concept of streamlining design to make it beautiful, sophisticated AND functional.

Bel Geddes received commission to design the General Motors Pavilion, known as Futurama, for the 1939 New York World’s Fair. It was a hugely successful and influential installation; this set the groundwork for Norman Bel Geddes to be honored as the Father of Industrial Modernism.

On June 29, 2011 The United States Postal Service celebrated the First-Day-Of-Issue for a commemorative U.S. postage stamp honoring Bel Geddes as the “Pioneer Of American Industrial Design” at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in NYC.

The Museum of the City of New York currently has a wonderful exhibit commemorating Bel Geddes and exhibiting some of his most influential works.

We also just repainted our store! Come see all the new colors for yourself! We’re so looking forward to seeing you March 30 or before!! Rebekah & Seamus.

Although these beautiful instruments are rarely still used on buildings, weathervanes have been around for thousands of years. The earliest one known to our historians was created and used in Greece during the first century, BC. Weathervanes were even used on Viking ships.

On the whole, the curating of antique weathervanes has risen in popularity over the years, especially in the United States. This is mostly due to the intriguing nature of how American weathervanes evolved from their European origins, and how their existence and craftsmanship can now tell the story of our nation from its earliest days.

European weathervanes and American weathervanes are very different from each other, both in their appearance and in their uses. The Europeans traditionally used weathervanes as banners, frequently bearing the crest of the nobleman who owned them. A cast iron French weathervane I once had in my possession, for instance, was in the shape of a flag decorated with the Fleur-de-lis.

American weathervanes, on the other hand, were typically made by folk artists and were considered art pieces instead of banners. They varied from the banners of their European origins and varied in form and material. Instead of bearing family crests, weathervanes in America frequently were used to display the occupation, trade, or simply the passion of the person living in the house on which they were perched.

While on a trip in Maine, I once curated a weathervane in the form of a ship. The ship was once gilded and still bore a good deal of gold exterior, despite it’s age. When viewing such unique artifacts, it is easy to imagine and invent the backstory of person they may have belonged to. For me, the ship conjured imagery of a sea captain’s family going outside during a storm, looking up to their roof and seeing this weathervane turning in the wind, and knowing that the direction it pointed could mean the safety or the peril of their loved one.

Another unique American discovery I made was an antique wooden weathervane in the shape of a fish from the 19th century. Very few wooden weathervanes have survived the test of time for one obvious reason: If you have a wooden weathervane on top of a building and the wind is buffeting it, eventually the instrument will break. Needless to say, they are quite rare, so it was wonderful to have found one.

The other interesting thing about this particular wooden vane, however, was the symbolism characteristically associated with fish. While they were placed on fishermen and captain’s houses, fish weathervanes often had a religious connotation. Loaves and fish, obviously, were linked to Christianity in the old world, and that concept carried over to the New World, as this weathervane demonstrated.

One of the most beautiful and valuable finds I ever made in my search for American weathervanes was a full-bodied cow that was created in 1860 and was once used on a dairy farm in New England. The folk quality was very evident in the color, the verdigris, and the amazing detail of this figure. To find a weathervane in the shape of a full-bodied cow is quite rare, but the craftsmanship that was put into this vane was hardly surprising, given the era this piece was made. The last quarter of the 19th century and the middle of the 19th century, right after the Civil War, was really the heyday of weathervanes in America, and it showed in the work put into that beautiful cow.

As I’m sure you have guessed, I am a profound admirer of the folk quality evident in these instruments. One of the things I have come to love about curating antique weathervanes is discovering that no American weathervane is going to be like another. Each piece is a unique work of art. They all convey different stories, and each story is very much a part of our history.

Though it is true that antique weathervanes cost much more than they used to, I must stress my deeply held opinion that there is more than a monetary value associated with curating weathervanes. Collecting weathervanes, particularly American weathervanes, is wonderful because you may go to any of the fine museums in our country and view great examples of historical weathervanes. I think it’s very exciting to own a link to our country’s history.

The Industrial Revolution was the transition to the new manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. This transition included going from hand production methods to machines, new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes and the development of machine tools. It also included the change from wood and other bio-fuels to coal. It began in Great Britain and within a few decades had spread to Western Europe and the United States.

The Industrial Revolution marked a major turning point in history; almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way. In particular, average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth. For the first time, large groups of people that were not born into wealth were able to amass wealth through hard work. The First Industrial Revolution evolved into the Second Industrial Revolution between 1840 and 1870. Towards the end of the 19th C, we began large scale manufacturing of machine tools in steam-powered factories.

To be able to manufacture these tools on a large scale, strong, heavily used machines needed to be manufactured to make the tools on. These were made by the men that would work on them day in and day out for decades. They took great pride of ownership in these machines and crafted them to not only be strong and functional, but also beautiful and elegant. Look at the leg of this old papermill machine base. See the beautiful curve of the leg. This could be your dining table, the one your family will lovingly beat up for generations, This is a piece of American history recycled and reimagined for your home. Continue its history by putting your coffee , your magazines, even your feet on a piece that symbolizes the American Dream. Make it your dream reimagined as Americans have been doing since the first Industrial Revolution. Come see our vast collection of these great historic pieces of furniture in Kingston to add to your home decor.

Come swing by our Hudson Valley antiques store for some complimentary catered platters of scrumptious morsels, hot cider and pumpkin soup, as well as FREE “Cookie Decorating” for all of the little “elves.”

So come by to Milne’s At Home Antiques and see how the holidays felt back in the 1800’s with your Host Sinterklaas’s Wife and the Milne Family. Our family looks forward to sharing the holiday’s with your family.

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Also on Saturday Nov, 30th is Small Business Saturday, a day dedicated to supporting small businesses across the country. Founded by American Express in 2010, this day is celebrated every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This year, Small Business Saturday is on November 30th.

SMALL BUSINESSES ARE THE HEARTBEAT OF OUR COMMUNITIES
They’re the corner stores that create jobs. The hardware stores that help build our economy. And the mom and pop shops whose very presence makes a neighborhood, your neighborhood.

Here at Milne’s At Home Antiques, we have a few tricks and treats prepared for Kingston’s Night Market Event on October 18th, from 6 – 10 PM. Our Kingston antiques store will have a ‘haunting’ twist, enter if you dare. Bring your imagination, sense of humor and children to enjoy a curated vintage collection of Halloween antiques and artifacts, as rare as they are haunting.

Our store is located at 81 Broadway in Kingston, NY 12401. For more information, give us a call at (845) 331-3902, send us an email at MilneAntiques@gmail.com or visit our store. We hope to see you there!

19th Century Hartford Fire Sign

19th Century Trade Sign

Trade signs are very sought after because they are a graphic representation of our countries past through commerce.  Trade signs are each unique to the past user as they depicted and identified his or her trade.  For instance,  a hand carved boot hanging outside a shop would let passersby know that a shoemaker or cobbler was inside the shop ready to do business.  Sometimes the shoemaker’s name would be on the boot or shoe but many times just the hand carved shoe would suffice.  There are very specific 19th century trade signs such as the Hartford Insurance Company sign that was their advertising sign.  Rare as it is interesting.  What a great sign for an office.

Rare 19th Century Billiards Sign

Rare 19th Century Trade Sign

There is the 19th century bank trade sign that simply says… Bank so one is able to imagine what commerce was conducted there or Billiards that would be very at home in a family room.  What fun to imagine the past while living in the present.  How about HOMEMADE for your kitchen?  Or a beautiful 18th century door in old salmon paint  that was reconstituted to hang in a food shop and simply says Delicatessen. As manufactured replaces man made and sameness replaces individuality these reflections of our past become ever more valuable and wonderful to live with.

Rare 19th Century Trade Sign

Browse through our collection of 19th century trade signs here at Milne’s At Home Antiques in Kingston, NY.

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John’s pictures are influenced by 19th century imagery, as seen in his dream-like portraits or in his ordered still-lives. From image to presentation the artist’s hand is apparent. He began to use an antique large format camera that makes an 8 x 10 inch negative, which can be contact-printed onto hand coated photosensitive paper, to make a finished image. He initially learned to make cyanotype prints, a rustic straight-forward process, which uses iron salts and the light of the sun to produce an ethereal blue image; this was the first permanent medium in photography’s early history.

Here is a Q&A with John to give you a better understanding of his background and what brought him to displaying his work here at Milne At Home Antiques and Gallery.

1. When did you realize you wanted to be a photographer?
When I was given my first toy camera in 1971 when I was eleven.

2. Have you always wanted to be a photographer?
No, I wanted to be a painter, but considering that i couldn’t even draw my own name, painting seemed out of the question. I was in my joy when I rediscovered photography in the 11th grade.

3. What inspires you most to take photos?
After the change in my sight, classic prose such as Walt Whitman, Dickinson, Emerson, Jane Austin, Thoreau, The Bronte Sisters, among others became the most important form of inspiration for me, as well as Bach, which I love. Greek myths were illustrated as well as biblical parables. My other very important source of inspiration is an acute visual memory bank. Thank goodness I traveled to see the great works of art in the world before my sight change. They are all permanently etched into my mind. I call on them often.

4. What is the main objective that you would like to accomplish through your artwork?
To translate pain into beauty.

5. What type of photo is your favorite to take?
The most successful photographs for me are deeply personal and self-referential. I much prefer to photographs the people who are close to me in my life, if they are not close when I meet them, I like to wait until we are.

6. What was your biggest hurdle as a photographer to reach the point you are at now?
The truth, I don’t believe I’ve had any serious hurdles, even including my sight change.

7.What would you say is the theme of your photos to be displayed within Milne at Home Antiques?
The ever-present luminescent light that is particular to the Mid-Hudson Valley, the experience of living on my farm in quietude, and my love for the ephemeral from the eighteenth and nineteenth century.

We hope to see you here during Kingston’s First Saturday where you can meet John Dugdale. He will be bringing 25 signed copies of his favorite book, Life’s Evening Hour, that was published in 2000, which he would be happy to personalize for you.