Children’s literature possesses a special place in the intrigue hearts and exceptional minds of many people whose parents began them on the journey to story reading. Through the magical world of storytelling, a young mind benefits in growth through the influences reading – either to or by – place upon a child. When a child listens to a story at a young age, understanding begins to grow within them about the world around them, as well as about themselves. Promoting independent reading at an early age helps to spark curiosity in young people.

Parents of even newborns are attracted to providing children’s books. The very first exposure to books is usually in the form of non-destructible picture books that stimulate young vision through use of color and shapes. This category of childrens books targets ages 0-5 and through these years help stimulate powers of identification. Some children’s books at this stage also incorporate sound associated with the images presented in the book so the youngster begins to internalize the identification process

If you enjoy or delight in drinking wine you would know you need more than just the right vintage. Wine goblets are important because they are an integral part of wine enjoyment. Wine glasses are basically shaped like tulips — with a base, stem and body. Traditionally drinking goblets are held by the stem to prevent the temperature of the hands from influencing the temperature of the wine. Most of these wine vessels are crafted from thin glass or crystal because if glass is too thick experts believe it has an effect on the taste of the wine. The entire purpose of the goblet, besides holding liquid, is to enhance enjoyment of various types of wine.

Antique Knives

My fascination with antique knives started when I was just a little kid. I used to love going to look at the medieval armor in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My parents took us the Metropolitan Art Museum nearly every weekend, and we would spend hours there. I would usually spend most of my time looking at the big suits of armor. I loved swords, knives, daggers, axes, and all other manner of weapons.

My favorite of all were the antique knives. There were some pretty decorative ceremonial daggers there. Of course they had the daggers used in sword fighting, but they also had knives from other parts of the world. They have antique Bowie knives from frontier times, strangely curved scimitars from the Far East and wickedly undulating Indonesian daggers.

I actually started my antique knife collection when I was 13, although I didn’t know it yet. They were selling some old knives at the flea market I want to with my dad. He thought it was about time for me to own my own pocket knife, so when I asked for one he acquiesced. I didn’t really know they were antique knives. They looked like old, somewhat weathered blades with ornamental hilts. The one I bought had scrimshaw on it. It was only years later that I realized that it was made out of whalebone.

Since then, I have collected many different antique knives. I love anything that is old, and so my antiques collection is pretty extensive. I have antique armor, old records, a phonograph machine from the 20s, and many other pieces of curio. Nowadays I’m not as obsessed with weapons as I used to be as a kid. I still like them, but I have spread out to try collecting other things.

Still, there is a certain childish joy I get when I look at my antique knife cabinet. I have a genuine Bowie knife from way back in the day, stone knives found at an archaeological site, and a World War II GI knife. I could go on, but you get the idea. Unless you’re a nerd for collecting old weapons like me, you probably won’t appreciate it that much. For me, however, there’s something beautiful about antique craftsmanship. Looking at hand made and individually decorated antique knives never ceases to be a source of joy for me. I know it will never get old no matter how long I live for.

Action Figure Toys

Action figure toys are basically dolls for boys, and like dolls they will never go completely out of style. I first became an action figure collector as a kid I suppose, but all kids are collectors. I basically bought the toys from movies and shows that appealed to me. I liked wrestling action figures, toy soldiers, and characters from my favorite cartoon. I think I had practically the whole collection of he-man action figure toys at one point, but I lost a few of them.

When I was a kid, I used to like to have wars between my action figure toys and my matchbox cars. I don’t know why this occurred to me as the best way to do things, but it was sort of my obsession for a few years. Every action figure would have a different special power. Usually, it would depend on how he looked. Someone with piercing eyes might be able to shoot lasers out of them. Someone with exceptionally bulky arms would be able to have some sort of smash attack. Meanwhile, the cars would shoot beams of their headlights which they could use to counterattack. Sometimes the action figure toys and cars would even team up against a few of my bigger action figures that looked powerful enough to take all of them on.

Since then, my action figure toy collection has grown and grown. Nowadays, I am a much more discerning collector, but I still try to get at least a couple action figure toys a month. My favorite things to get now are anime action figures – principally giant mechanized robots. I watched so many animated movies that I always have a lot of different things to choose from. A lot of them come as model kits instead of fully assembled figures, which is fun for me. I love getting a chance to put them together from individual pieces Instead of just having them come fully assembled. It is so much more satisfying to have the toy when you are finally done making it.

I think some of my favorite action figure toys of all times are still the ones I had as a kid. I really liked the he-man and wrestling action figures because those childhood shows and movies meant so much to me. I even used to have some original Star Wars dolls, but I don’t think I have them anymore. They are such valuable collectors items that I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to track down some that are within my price range, but it doesn’t really matter much. I enjoy the action figure toys that I have so much that I’ll be happy with out a few more classics.

Action Figure Collectibles

The funny thing about becoming an action figure collector was that I wasn’t particularly into action figures as a kid. The types of toys that played with were not very typical for a boy of my time. I wasn’t really into toy soldiers, transformable robots, or even matchbox cars. I never really liked to play in miniature worlds. Instead, I like to dress up in costumes and pretend that I was one of the people represented by the collectable action figures. I would have a sword and shield for when I wanted to play knight, a cape for playing Superman, and a variety of other costumes to play make believe in.

I suppose that I got into action figure collectibles when I started to get nostalgic for my childhood. My first action figure collectible was actually something that I got as a present. I used to love to watch wrestling as a kid, so one of my friends gave me a wrestling action figure that he found at the local Goodwill store. It really brought my child back to me, and I thought that I should get a few more wrestling figures. What started out as a whim soon became an obsession. Before long, I had a whole bin of action figure collectibles, and I was still looking for more.

I started branching out in my collectible action figures. I bought a few things from other shows that I’ve been into. I got a few he-man action figures, but actually had trouble finding them in my price range. Apparently, they have gotten quite valuable, and I wasn’t a serious enough collector to get more than a few. When it came to the original Star Wars collectibles, however, I was such a big fan that I didn’t care. I now have three action figure collectibles from the original series, and I’m looking for a few more. I also have bought some new Star Wars action figures. I figured that, since I’m not primarily concerned with authenticity or value, it would make more sense to buy some more modern toys. After all, my budget won’t go very far if I have to spend over a hundred dollars for each of the action figure collectibles I get!

Sometimes, I do value rarity in action figure collectibles. When I was able to find a first edition Voltron, I was overjoyed. It was one of my favorite shows, and being able to get the collectible action figure that goes with it really brought back some of my childhood for me. I had a friend who had a Voltron action figure collectible when we were both kids, and I used to love coming over and looking at it.

Collectible Presidential Autographs

My father’s birthday is just around the corner, and unfortunately for those of us doing the shopping, he’s sort of the man who has everything. He lives at the beach, drives a fabulous car, and is fairly comfortable buying the things he needs for himself without worrying about prices. While I’m thrilled for him and glad he’s enjoying retirement, it makes gift giving a bit of a challenge. Forgive the cliche, but really, what do you get for the man who has everything?

Fortunately, the fact that my father is a complete American history fanatic has given me a bit of inspiration this year, and I’m planning on making this next birthday gift the best ever. My brothers and I are going to pitch in together and buy him a real piece of history — an authentic signature from one of the Presidents of the United States! But looking for authentic presidential autographs is serious business, and of course, it’s fallen to me to do all the legwork.

As is often the case, the Internet is a fabulous place to start when you’re looking for information on finding and purchasing genuine presidential autographs. There are a great variety of web dealers who specialize in buying, selling, and authenticating the signatures of some of history’s most beloved sons and daughters. The array of presidential autographs is astounding, on items ranging from personal letters to official government documents, from books to photographs. And it’s not just presidential autographs that are for sale — some sites include original letters and memorabilia from Civil War heroes, twentieth-century military leaders, astronauts, Supreme Court Justices, and leaders from the Civil Rights Movement.

If you’re like me, the only downside of looking to make a gift of one of the many presidential autographs available is choosing which president! I’m glad that my dad’s own unique areas of interest narrowed my search a bit. The fact that he’s a volunteer tour guide at an old Civil War fort on the coast of North Carolina certainly narrows my list of leaders (can you say ‘Abraham Lincoln?’), but even with four siblings pitching in, I don’t think we can swing the $44,000 price tag for Honest Abe’s signature!

So while we may not have Lincoln’s John Hancock (pardon the pun), we still were able to purchase, albeit with significant whining and credit card debt incurred, an authentic autograph from General Ambrose E. Burnside, most certainly a winning name amongst the Civil War set. And if we get serious about saving our money, we might be able to buy presidential autographs from a more recent Commander in Chief. Either way, I’m glad we bought the Burnside piece because I know dad is going to love it!

Starting With Postage Stamps Collecting

There are many that enjoy collecting. I know my mother enjoys collecting just about anything, and the upstairs of her home proves just that. Most have a much narrower focus however, and they choose just one or two things to form collections. What each person does depends on what they like, or they may find something that is interesting, and may even be worth a bunch of money one day. Those are the type that generally like to start with postage stamps collecting. This hobby can be a lot of fun.

Before you begin, you should learn all you can about postage stamps. There are many that are worth a lot of money, but as you would suspect, those are the hardest to find. Instead, start to find out what some of the most common are worth, and find out how hard they are to find. Some like to start by getting each and every new stamp that comes out when they start postage stamps collecting. They might not be worth anything more than their current price today, but they could become a valuable part of any collection of postage stamps in the future.

Much like baseball cards and comic books, you want stamps that are in very good condition. Some call this ‘mint’ but that is hard to find. You do want the best you can find when doing postage stamps collecting however, so don’t go for the first of any stamp you find unless you know it is extremely rare. Another good thing to know about postage stamps collecting is that the ones that have not been cancelled out by the post office (ones that have not yet been used to send mail) have the most value.

Perhaps the most important part of postage stamps collecting is to know how to care for your stamps. You can get the rarest stamps in the world but they are not going to hold much value if you don’t know how to care for them and make them last. You can find the proper ways to care for your stamps by looking around online for advice, or by getting books published to help those in postage stamps collecting to make the most of their stamps and their (hopefully) rising value. As with most paper products, air, dust, and humidity might cause damage, so keep those all in mind when displaying or storing your collection.

Collectible Magazines

There are many things that can gain value as the years go on, but few think about things like collectible magazines. These are not always something that go up in value, but like some newspapers, those with big events included can be worth a lot as the years go along. Not only can you find old magazines of interest, you can come up with your own collection that may be of some value in the years to come. You just have to be smart about which to collect and how you take care of these.

When someone is super famous, like Elvis Presley, for example, any old magazines with him inside are going to be worth something. It depends on the story and how well the magazine was preserved. Because he died at a relatively young age, and his legend grew as the years went on, collectible magazines with his interviews can be worth quite a bit to the right person. The same goes for many celebrities that have left us early, and also for stories about major natural or political disasters. There will always be people who are interested in such collectible magazines.

When you choose magazines to save, you do have to be picky. The average copy of each magazine is not going to be something to save. You have to try to guess what would be of interest in the way of collectible magazines in the future. Think about the biggest stars out there as of right now, and fine some magazines that have rather good and in-depth interviews. Though they will not all come out being worth money in the end, some of them may. You never know what will happen in the future.

When you put together your own version of what you will hope will be collectible magazines, or when you have gotten some from the past that you have an interest in, you have to know how to care for them. The best thing you can do would be to have them in acid free wrap. You can find magazine sized folders made of clear plastic that can do the trick. You want to keep acid and oil from your fingers from the pages, so use gloves when handling. Keep them in a low humidity area for the best results, and keep them up so they are unaffected in the event of basement flooding. The basement is probably not the best place to keep collectible magazines anyway.

Collecting Antique Dishes

Many collections are fun, but there are some that are both fun and functional. Those that collect antique dishes will love to display what they find, and some will use some of their favorite sets or pieces when they have company over for a special occasion. The first step in putting together  a great collection of old dishes is to know a little about what you are looking for and what you think would give you the most pleasure. You can always go with what catches your eye, but many have a certain type that they search high and low to find.

Corningware is one very popular type of antique dishes that many collect. Corning has been around for a long time, and some of their pieces are worth a lot of money. These collections can be found all over the world, as they have been traded over and over again. These antique dishes come in different sets and different makes, and if you don’t like one set, there are many more from which to choose. There are even slight variations within production years that people try to find.

Corning is not the only source of great antique dishes. Others like to find things that are almost impossible to find, and that there may only be a few of in the world. These are hard to find, and might make for the smallest collection of antique dishes. Some like to find old dishes that are from a certain time period, or that might come from one specific place in the world. If you know where your ancestors came from, a fun collection of old dishes might be the ones you can find from that area of the world within the time frame of when you family may have lived there.

Your collection of antique dishes may just start when someone in your family gives you some of theirs. You can then go from there. You may just find something that you like in an secondhand or antique store, and that might be all you need to get you motivated. Once you know what you want to collect, you can still look locally, but you may also want to expand your search to the Internet. There are probably pieces out there for sale that you can find by using your computer that would never show up in your local antique stores.