Antiques Freaks

Beating the booby. Blowing the grampus. Broth of a boy. Bum-boat. All these terms and more defined in our dive into 19th-century nautical vocabulary.

The precursor to Barbie, Polly Pocket, Jem and the Holograms, and American Girl dolls. From French aristocratic mockery to Depression-era penny toys to queer mid-century icons, we've got the history of antique and vintage paper dolls. Plus a compelling argument for you to surrender your vintage bookshop stock to Ken.

Able-whackets. Anti-guggler. Awkward squad. All these nautical terms and more are defined at last in this 19th century navy dictionary.

Goats stealing fruit from a boy's basket. Frogs in little jackets skewering each other with teensy swords. A jolly party of Ice Age mammals skating across a frozen pond. What do these images have in common? CHRISTMAS! At least, according to those wacky Victorians and their sickening whimsy. Blame Charles Dickens. (Content warning for discussions of child abuse and child death.)

Angels. Demons. Vampires. Werewolves. Fairies. Dragons. Seven (eight?) deadly sins. Wingfic. This antiques-themed gay romance novel has everything - except antiques. Let's get into it.

Chris and Paris from the Terrible Book Club podcast join us to read yet another story from Carnacki the Ghost-Finder! A chilling tale of spooky Edwardian haunting by William Hope Hodgson. It's like if Sherlock Holmes pointed at ghosts instead of solving mysteries. And Watson was divided into four characters, none of whom are permitted to speak or do anything.

CONTENT WARNING for graphic animal death (dog).

It's a tale as old as time. Venerated antique furniture expert suspected of fraud. Scrappy young antiques-dealing upstart with a shop on the wrong side of the tracks attempts to expose a bad deal. The reputation of the Palace of Versailles hangs in the balance. And it all comes down to licking a chair. Dee's taste-based antiques identification methods are vindicated in this, the sordid story of the Chair Daddy.

Exquisite. Precarious. Whimsical. Join us as we explore the history of epergnes, from Georgian and Regency dining to Victorian flower-arranging and mid-century modern Fenton mistakes.

Mid-century modern kitsch returns! It's more horror than horror.

Add some four-foot-tall veracity to your next Jazz Age theme party with budoir dolls! These stylish composition-doll companions come in a wide variety of flavors, including street urchin, butch lesbian, wacky cabbage, Rudolph Valentino, and many more. Rouge your knees and impress your friends with the ultimate dance partner and home decoration all in one!