How long is an Opera Necklace? The following necklace terms and descriptions are helpful especially when you are looking for a necklace that must be a specific length to accessorize that special dress neckline. Sometimes the description of a necklace may not include the length but instead will use, for example, a term such as “opera” length. Please remember the following measurements are only guide lines and measurements can always vary a bit.

Think you know Hall China? Or maybe you're just starting to learn about the company's products. Whether it serves as a brief review or introduction to something totally new, you should find this list of facts to be interesting, if not downright enlightening.

- Hall China Company began production in 1903 in East Liverpool, Ohio.

While Opal is the most widely recognized birthstone for the month of October, it is not your only choice. Tourmaline, a complex mineral, comes in as many shades of color as are displayed in fine Opals, and the pink variety is widely accepted as an alternate birthstone for the month.

Even the most apathetic among the American populace usually stop to ponder who they'd like to see, or not see, as our country's next president at some point during a campaign. It's an American tradition.

For some folks, however, the red, white and blue memorabilia accompanying an election year provides more entertainment than a fleeting campaign ever could.

The Lure of Presidential Memorabilia

Many moons ago, and as a novice collector of 'porcelain', I thought that the phrase “Chinese Export Porcelain” meant to include all items imported from China and primarily copies or imitations of European and American pottery.

During a recent appraisal, a client asked me to value her objects based on what I thought she would realize if she sold them. After providing a value for a stamped brass sheet-covered wood box, she exclaimed, "That is less than I paid for it." If I heard this once, I have heard it a thousand times. What a person pays for an object is not a factor, except to that person, when selling it. The only value that matters is the price at which the object sells at a given moment in time.

I purchased a lighting fixture this weekend at an estate sale and I’m sure it’s an outdoor fixture. I believe it’s an Arts and Crafts design and made of iron and glass. It’s in perfect condition, minus one glass panel that was replaced with a clear glass panel vs. the textured. There are no stamps/names/numbers anywhere on it, but it’s definitely old.

The dimensions are:

Base: 8 x 8 inches

The addition of the Porcelain and Pottery lanes on Ruby Lane has caused some of us shop owners to scratch our heads on how to categorize our ceramic or clay based items. We want to follow the guidelines given us, but we also do not want to lose sales from items that are lost in a search. For instance, flow blue china may be porcelain, semi-porcelain, or stoneware and it is especially difficult to differentiate soft-paste porcelain from pottery.

In 1962, I was a student at the University of Mainz at Gonsenheim., West Germany. I studied Western civilization. The German philosophers, American history (from a perspective not available here in the U.S.) and a business course called “Money.”

The course on money was, by far, he most interesting. The information I acquired has been financially rewarding. The course looked at the social, emotional and psychological aspects of spending money.

Notes from the Lane received an email from a reader, Patricia Lynch of Chicago, IL, asking for assistance in helping her locate several antique items that were stolen from her establishment.  If you have any information please contact Patricia directly. Her contact information is listed below. Editors - Notes from the Lane