arustocracy

We recently picked up this cool 1950s Olympia SM2 typewriter with an Arabic keyboard. A typical manual typewriter is already a complex device, but for someone from the west, this machine adds another level of interest. In the English-speaking world, we call the standard keyboard layout a “Qwerty,” (rhymes with “thirty”) for the first six letters left to right on the keyboard. I’ve seen many “Qwertz” (rhymes with “hurts”) keyboards, the standard in much of Central Europe, including Germany and Switzerland, where so many great typewriters were made. On the other hand, this Olympia SM2 has a completely different character...

We recently acquired a number of really cool international police uniform caps. One group from the estate of a collector who was a retired police officer includes hats from Spain, Peru, Italy, Denmark and more. We also have some French police and military kepis and paratroopers berets coming from Europe. Be looking for those on our site soon.

You might associate the word "junk" with discarded items, a wrecking yard, or scrap metal. But there's a kind of junk that is a very hot collectible right now: space junk. NASA Space Shuttle CDF Manifold Exploding Bridgewire (EBW) Solid Rocket Booster Detonator There is no sign that our fascination with space travel is fading. Owning a piece of the quest for space can provide a tangible, emotional connection with the incredible men and women (and animals) that made space travel possible and went along for the ride. At the high end, the personal property of astronauts, like notebooks and space suits, and...

We are proud to offer this incredible 1962 industrial themed Precisionist oil on canvas. This piece came out of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the heart of the United States steel industry. It's uncertain whether the forms represent some actual machinery as seen by the artist or whether they are metaphorical. It is interesting that the mechanism as depicted seems to serve no useful purpose, with the various pipes and tubes exiting the image and seeming to connect to nothing. The current growing interest in machine- and industrial-inspired works is evidenced by an exhibition Cult of the Machine, held March 24, 2018 through August 12, 2018 at San...

Often people ask us what antiques they can collect on a small budget. There are dozens of classes of antiques that aren’t very expensive to collect, but the most important thing is to collect the items you love. Here are a few ideas: Ephemera (paper items): Old advertising, envelopes, souvenir programs, train schedules, brochures, event programs, checks, bills, deeds, indentures Political collectibles, such as buttons, pins and flyers Diecast miniature cars Vintage jewelry, accessories Stamps, coins and paper money, particularly non-U.S. Fast food giveaways like McDonald’s Happy Meal toys (free with food, and many become valuable) Record albums (45 rpm and...