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****PRE-ORDERS RECOMMENDED
The Inspiring Story of the Takahashi Bird Pins, described below, is now available for pre-order from the Collector Books website www.collectorbooks.com or from Amazon.
After Pearl Harbor, Japanese-Americans Yoneguma and Kiyoka Takahashi, and their three young sons, were unjustly incarcerated at the Poston III internment camp for 3 ˝ years. While there, the Takahashis participated in a bird carving class where they learned the art of carving and painting bird pins using meager materials scrounged from scraps – left-over wood – that was used to build the camp.
From the beginning the couple excelled at the craft. Upon their release, and unable to find work due to the continuing xenophobia attitudes against those of Japanese ancestry, the Takahashis started a home-based business making and selling hand-crafted bird pins. The Takahashis did not complain about the injustices heaped upon them. Instead, year after year – for forty years, the Takahashis perfected their craft. Immediately popular, the couple sold every bird pin they made earning enough income to not only purchase their own home, pay for their healthcare, and save for a comfortable retirement; but also to send all of their children to college.
This book is a celebration of their lives, their legacy, their art. Lushly illustrated with four hundred color photographs of rare bird pins; the pages of this book recount in detail the inspiring story of the Takahashi family. For collectors who appreciate the artistic value of the birds, specifics of the bird pins are carefully catalogued including size, signature, date, species, and value. For historians, rare family papers and photographs document the Takahashi’s experiences at the internment camp. For artists, details of the carving and painting techniques are explained. For Americans, this book illustrates that honor, hard work, education, and the pursuit of excellence possess the power to conquer injustice and oppression.
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**GOOD NEWS! The second edition of Collecting Costume Jewelry 202 is now available. The designers at Collector Books did an outstanding job of redesigning this book. If you are interested in a copy of this book, I recommend you order it now. There will only be one printing and more than half of that quantity is already sold. Second Edition Collecting Costume Jewelry 202: the basics of Dating Jewelry 1935 - 1980
The Second Edition of Collecting Costume Jewelry 202: the basics of dating jewelry 1935 – 1980 will not disappoint. More than just a fresh new cover, this updated edition is bursting with material not seen before. The charts listing the design patent numbers have been replaced by over 2300 selected design patent drawings organized in easy-to-reference groups. Over 200 new and updated photographs have been added, including expanded sections on Boucher and Adele Simpson jewelry. Some of the mystery about Regency Jewels is revealed through an interesting and informative interview with the nephew of Raymond Albertieri who managed every aspect of Regency Jewels from the late 1940’s through 1972. Already packed with 160 vintage advertisements, this new edition includes a dozen additional ads for makers like Ciner, Boucher, Simpson, Haskell, Bogoff, Trifari, Mazer, Castlecliff, Whiting and Davis, and Judy Lee. Every value in the book has been reviewed and updated. The Second Edition of Collecting Costume Jewelry 202 is significantly different from the first, so much so, collectors will want to keep both versions in their reference libraries. |
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***Collecting Costume Jewelry 303 is almost sold out. There are currently still copies available, but unless Collector Books decides to reprint this title, it will sell out before September. As far as I know, when the quantities are gone, there will be no more.
Have you ever wondered why collectors flip-over a piece of costume jewelry to examine the back? “Collecting Costume Jewelry 303: the flip side” answers this question. Included in this volume are over 1200 photographs of collectible costume jewelry designs for 97 companies. Detailed, close-view photographs of hardware traits, construction elements, interesting stones, and signatures are provided for each piece. An entire chapter is dedicated to stones providing the reader with basic information on stone shapes, nomenclature, and composition followed by an informative stone glossary. Interesting illustrations from a vintage hardware catalog help collectors learn the industry names for jewelry findings. Plump with information, this volume also includes amazing interviews with the families of Sandor Goldberger, and Yoneguma & Kiyoka Takahashi accompanied by rare examples of jewelry from their private collections. Finally, for fun, this captivating book explores the subject of craft jewelry in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Then, like today, jewelry making was a hot hobby. Amazingly these craft pieces find their way into antique stores across the country. Colorful examples of craft jewelry, coupled with illustrations from hobby magazines, help collectors to distinguish these recreational pieces from higher-quality collectible costume jewelry designs. More than a picture book, “Collecting Costume Jewelry 303: the flip side” is perfect for collectors interested in sharpening and expanding their knowledge about collectible costume jewelry.
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Collecting
Costume Jewelry 303: The Flip Side, Exploring Costume Jewelry from
the Back*THIS BOOK IS SOLD OUT AND WILL NOT BE REPRINTED although COPIES MAY STILL BE AVAILABLE FROM BOOKSELLERS.
Second Edition
Collecting
Costume Jewelry 101: The Basics of Starting, Building &
Upgrading
While maintaining the easy-to-use format as the popular first edition, this second edition (sporting a hot new cover) is fully updated. This new edition is much the same book, providing beginning collectors with friendly advice on how to begin a collection and how to recognize good quality costume jewelry. Background information for almost 130 different makers, including my recommendations on which pieces from each designer are the most collectible, are provided. In addition, this new edition is enhanced with the following updates:
- Over 200 new full-color photos have been added to this edition, bringing the total to around 900.
- The background information for all 130 makers is updated.
- A new section on miscellaneous makers is featured.
- Additional, up-to-date information about selling jewelry on eBay is provided.
- The popular Marked by Style chapter features unmarked pieces that can be attributed to a maker due to the design or style of the piece. This chapter has been revised including additional examples of DeLizza and Elster (Juliana) jewelry. DeLizza and Elster style jewelry is a HOT, HOT, HOT on the collectible market right now.
The Carrolls, always happy to be together. |
NOTE/DISCLAIMER: Permission is required to use any of the information or photographs from this site. Accuracy is my goal; however, mistakes do happen. My recommendations are just that, my personal opinions. I can take no responsibility for losses incurred by collectors following my advice. Copyright 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010.