Owl & Twig

The Field Guide

How to identify, date, and value the things you find. Written from what passes through our hands, one estate sale at a time.

Latest The 1952 Sears Christmas Book: the year Marx went plastic Sears gave six pages of its 1952 Christmas Book to electric trains. Read against the Lionel pages that precede them, the Marx pages document a manufacturer swapping steel for plastic and holding the price... August 30, 2026
The Wish Book: how Sears taught America to circle things For sixty years it arrived in late summer and was read more carefully than anything else in the... Aug 29, 2026 Hewlett-Packard HP-01 calculator watch from 1977 with a red LED display and 28-key keypad on a steel bracelet. The calculator watch went from $3,950 to $20 without changing its design It was the most expensive watch in America, then the cheapest gift under the tree, then a punchline,... Aug 29, 2026 A Mechanical Martin wind-up Martian with its original tall, narrow box, from the author's collection The Mechanical Martin: the misspelled Martian that terrified 1950s children The box says Martin. The toy is a Martian. A wind-up tin invader from 1950s Japan, why so... Aug 28, 2026 Lawn Darts: The Toy America Banned Like a Weapon (And What a Set Is Worth Now) Lawn Darts: The Toy America Banned Like a Weapon (And What a Set Is Worth Now) Sold in the toy aisle, banned like a weapon, worth up to $200 to collectors today. Case File... Aug 27, 2026 M.C. Escher: what a real print looks like, and what he carried home from Amsterdam He failed his secondary school exams, never took a mathematics course past eighteen, and spent the last thirty... Aug 21, 2026 The reverse of a 1982 Masters of the Universe He-Man blister card, showing cross-sell artwork for all eight wave one figures ToysBy the Power of Grayskull: the origins, lore and collector's guide to the original 8 He-Man figures Mattel's answer to losing Star Wars was a barbarian with a spring in his waist. Eight figures shipped... Aug 15, 2026 Rookwood stalking panther paperweight, shape 2563, dated 1946, in a glossy green glaze Pottery & PorcelainThe Rookwood panther, and how to date one Two panthers, consecutive shape numbers, and a mold that outlived everyone who touched it. Shape 2563 scanned in... Aug 15, 2026 Seller's DeskMost Broken Vintage Was Broken at the Packing Table A milk glass owl can survive sixty years of estate sales and then die in the back of... Aug 15, 2026 Pottery & PorcelainMing Dragon Blood: how to tell a Brad Keeler lobster from everyone else's The birds get the attention. But the red glaze on a lobster dish was the hardest thing Brad... Aug 14, 2026 GlassFour Things to Look at Before You Pick Up a Mug Nobody flips over three hundred mugs. Four visual cues — color, shape, words, and technology — do almost... Aug 14, 2026 Every Brad Keeler Figurine We Can Account For: A Working Catalog Pottery & PorcelainEvery Brad Keeler Figurine We Can Account For: A Working Catalog Keeler numbered almost everything he made, then died before anyone wrote the numbers down. Sixty pieces across nine... Aug 13, 2026 The glimmer in the eye: how to spot a real Brad Keeler flamingo Pottery & PorcelainThe glimmer in the eye: how to spot a real Brad Keeler flamingo Seven years of looking for Brad Keeler flamingos taught me what to check, what to forgive, and why... Aug 13, 2026 Two owls, a 1921 woodcut by Julie de Graag. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Art & PaperThe Dutch woodcut artist whose owls are yours to keep Julie de Graag died in 1924. A century on, her owls, cats and mushrooms belong to everyone —... Aug 13, 2026 Lefton Devil Figurines: A Collector's Guide to Mid-Century Kitsch's Favorite Troublemaker Pottery & PorcelainLefton Devil Figurines: A Collector's Guide to Mid-Century Kitsch's Favorite Troublemaker Little red horns, rosy cheeks, and a whole lot of mischief. Here's how to identify a real 1950s... Aug 9, 2026 Seasonal & HomeThe Halloween Artist on Your Shelf: A Johanna Parker Collector's Guide She may be the most widely sold Halloween designer in American retail and one of the least recognised... Aug 9, 2026 Why Vintage Halloween Collectibles Hold Their Value Seasonal & HomeWhy Vintage Halloween Collectibles Hold Their Value Halloween decorations were built to be thrown away, which is exactly why the survivors are worth what they... Aug 9, 2026 Whose Owl Is It: Dating the Glass Owl on the Nest GlassWhose Owl Is It: Dating the Glass Owl on the Nest The hen on a nest sold by the thousand. The owl did not. What survives came from a... Aug 9, 2026 A vintage Kix Atomic Bomb Ring, showing the gold-toned band and aluminum warhead with its removable red plastic tailfin. ToysThe Toy at the Bottom of the Box: A Field Guide to Vintage Cereal Premiums Cereal companies spent seventy years perfecting the art of selling breakfast to children who only wanted the prize.... Aug 9, 2026 Art & PaperCrewel Is the Thread, Not the Style — and Other Things Sellers Get Wrong Wool on linen, four hundred years old, and the thing your grandmother stitched from a kit in 1972.... Aug 3, 2026 Paint by Number Was Invented in Detroit. Here's How to Collect It. Art & PaperPaint by Number Was Invented in Detroit. Here's How to Collect It. A Detroit package designer, a boss who hated his first attempt, and a hobby that put an oil... Aug 3, 2026 Seller's DeskFacebook Just Gave Marketplace Sellers Their Own App. Here's How to Use It. Meta launched Seller, a standalone Facebook Marketplace app, in July 2026 — plus a free Facebook Verified badge.... Aug 3, 2026 LightingVintage Lava Lamps: Why a Cloudy Bottle Is the Whole Appraisal Bases get repainted and caps get swapped, but a cloudy bottle is often permanent — which makes fluid... Aug 2, 2026 Art & PaperFirst Edition or Fifth Printing? How to Read a Copyright Page Almost every question about a book's edition is answered by one page and one row of numbers. How... Aug 2, 2026 Green glazed vintage ceramic Christmas tree with multicolor plastic peg lights and a yellow star topper, on a wooden side table Seasonal & HomeVintage Ceramic Christmas Trees: Why the Date on the Base Lies to You The famous Atlantic Mold A-64 ceramic Christmas tree design was copyrighted in 1958 and cast for roughly forty... Jul 29, 2026 3D printed Castle Grayskull inspired desk organizer with dramatic sunset background ToysCastle Grayskull: The Full History, the Materials, and Why We 3D Printed Our Own The real history behind Castle Grayskull, what the original 1982 toy was made of, how vintage pieces are... Jul 26, 2026 Illustration of a two-headed hen on nest design, two hens facing each other on a woven nest lid GlassFive Hen on Nest Rarities Actually Worth Chasing Most hen on nest dishes sell for $20-60. These five real categories — a one-of-one Greentown mold that... Jul 25, 2026 Vintage sparkling clear crystal art glass snail figurine GlassSteuben Glass: The One Fact That Dates Almost Any Piece Steuben's hundred-plus-year run splits cleanly into two eras that collectors treat as almost different companies. Color or clear... Jul 25, 2026 Vintage porcelain owl figurine by M. Requena, Valencia, Spain Pottery & PorcelainBoehm Porcelain Birds: Why the Model Number Lies to You Edward Marshall Boehm turned porcelain birds into museum objects, but the same subject can carry three different reference... Jul 25, 2026 Vintage yellow Lucite owl trivet and spoon rest, mid-century modern cast acrylic Mid-Century DesignLucite: The Hot Water Test, and Why It Is Not Just Plastic Lucite is a DuPont trade name for a specific acrylic, not a generic word for clear plastic. Here... Jul 24, 2026 Mid-Century DesignDansk Is Not Danish, and the Mark Tells You the Decade The company was founded on Long Island. The designer was Danish. And the stamp on the underside of... Jul 24, 2026 Set of L.E. Smith Moon and Stars amber pressed glass tumblers GlassMoon and Star: The Signature Tells You Everything One pattern, four makers, a hundred and thirty years. The current producer signs every piece specifically so the... Jul 24, 2026 Blenko yellow crackle glass vase, design 6424 by Joel Myers, mid-century hand-blown art glass GlassBlenko: No Mould Seams, and a Scar on the Bottom Blenko is blown into a wooden mould and then spun, which erases the seams. That, plus the pontil... Jul 24, 2026 Palatnik: The Op Art Animals Hiding in Thrift Store Glass Cases Mid-Century DesignPalatnik: The Op Art Animals Hiding in Thrift Store Glass Cases Abraham Palatnik was a pioneer of kinetic art in Latin America. He also made cast acrylic animals that... Jul 24, 2026 Seller's DeskProwl: I Got Tired of Opening Nineteen Tabs, So I Built This Prowl is a free sourcing dashboard for vintage hunters. One search box, nineteen marketplaces, live prices next to... Jul 24, 2026 ToysTwo Toys, Two Tiny Details, Two Completely Different Prices A doll's hand and the pattern on a cardboard box. Neither is obvious, both decide what the thing... Jul 24, 2026 GlassFairy Lamps: A Candle Salesman Invented an Entire Collecting Category Samuel Clarke did not set out to make collectibles. He wanted to sell more candles. Here is how... Jul 24, 2026 Art & PaperDuck Decoys: Why Worn Original Paint Beats a Clean Repaint The most important commercial decoy maker in America was in Detroit. Here is how to read a decoy's... Jul 24, 2026 Vintage solid brass unicorn figurine with aged patina Mid-Century DesignBrass: The Magnet Test Is Not Enough A magnet catches brass-plated steel. It sails straight past brass-plated zinc. Here is the full test sequence a... Jul 24, 2026 Pottery & PorcelainLenox Spice Village: Read This Before You Pay Four Figures Lenox brought the 1989 spice houses back at roughly the original price. That changes the maths on every... Jul 24, 2026 GlassViking Glass Never Signed Its Work. Here Is How to Date It Anyway No moulded mark, ever. Just a paper label that fell off decades ago. Colour, form and one very... Jul 24, 2026 LightingTV Lamps: The Strangest Thing the 1950s Sold You America briefly believed watching television in the dark would ruin your eyes. An entire industry appeared to fix... Jul 24, 2026 Pottery & PorcelainRoyal Haeger: Reading the Base, and the Panther Everyone Copied Three small stilt marks, an R-number and a glazed underside. Here is how to identify Haeger, why the... Jul 24, 2026 L.E. Smith diamond point crystal swung glass vase, 21 inches tall GlassSwung Vases: The Seam Test That Settles It in Five Seconds Every mid-century swung vase carries a mould seam that fades as it climbs. If the seam runs all... Jul 24, 2026 GlassThe Tiara Honey Bee Box, and Why Collectors Chase It A Victorian pattern, revived in the 1970s and sold at kitchen-table parties. Here is how to date one,... Jul 24, 2026 Jadeite green milk glass hen on nest covered dish, 5 inch GlassHen on Nest: How to Tell a Real One From a Reissue Covered hen dishes have been made for a hundred and forty years by dozens of companies, and most... Jul 24, 2026 Vintage living room with an antique console table, distressed mirror, warm lighting, and neutral decor accents Seasonal & HomeVintage Home Decor: Style Tips for Any Room Updated on: July 17, 2026 Vintage home decor adds character, warmth, and a sense of history to modern... Jul 16, 2026 Brass retro table lamp casting warm amber light in a cozy vintage living room LightingRetro Lighting: Modern Rooms With Timeless Charm Updated on: 2026-07-17 Retro lighting blends nostalgia with modern comfort. It uses warm, inviting color temperatures and distinctive... Jul 16, 2026 Assorted vintage terracotta and ceramic planters with small leafy plants on a wooden table in soft daylight Seasonal & HomeVintage Planters: Styling Tips for Effortless Charm Updated on: 2026-07-17 Vintage planters bring character to indoor and outdoor spaces through distinct shapes, materials, and patina.... Jul 16, 2026 Vintage Finder - an Application that auto searches your favorites Seller's DeskVintage Finder - an Application that auto searches your favorites Prowl — Search 17 vintage marketplaces from one screen. Free. No account needed. Built for resellers who want to... Jul 11, 2026