Stand the heat without air conditioning I mean. In my lifetime air conditioning has become a household standard, however before the 1960's it was rare. My younger years were spent without air but my clothing was adjusted for the weather, less was best.

Going back to a time around the 1860s and in the deep South where it gets really hot and stays that way over half of the year, how did our foremothers do it given the amount of clothing it was mandatory they wear?

As with most antique specialties, there are questions that customers repeatedly ask. I deal in antique lighting fixtures primarily wall sconces and chandeliers many from before the turn of the century. Some questions I often hear are: What is the correct chandelier for the period of my house? What should the shade look like on my chandelier? How do I determine the quality of a glass shade? How big should my dining room chandelier be? I will answer all these questions in a series of articles on the Ruby Lane blog.

What should the shade look like on my chandelier?

Artists motivated and properly equipped to paint outside, often referred to as “en plein air” or “alla prima” enjoy the challenge of capturing a local scene when the atmosphere is purest and that is at the beginning of the day. Being in position at sunrise, offers artists so much more drama whether foggy or bright than working in the studio.

"What causes the cracking in oil paints that is often seen in antique paintings?" is one of the most common questions that I am asked.

This phenomena of small cracks within the oil paint is known as crazing and is usually caused by drying times and the environmental conditions that the art has been subjected to.

As with most antique specialties, there are questions that customers repeatedly ask.  I deal in antique lighting fixtures primarily wall sconces and chandeliers many from before the turn of the century.  Some questions I often hear are: What is the correct chandelier for the period of my house?  What should the shade look like on my chandelier?  How do I determine the quality of a glass shade?  How big should my dining room chandelier be?  I will answer all these questions in a series of articles in the Ruby Lane blog.
 

Last year, my husband told me that the 94-year-old mother of one of his close friends was moving from her large apartment to a tiny senior's residence. He asked if I would be interested in an oil painting she had offered to give him since she no longer had a place to hang it.

When it started, the Brimfield Antique Show and Flea Market was a relatively modest affair. The late auctioneer Gordon Reid Sr. turned a field behind his home into a market for 67 vendors in September 1959. It didn’t take long for others to turn nearby fields into markets three times per year. This year for the first show of the year, May 11-15, the fields were full with nearly 2000 vendors from around the country and Cowboy Rick and I were anxious to experience what promised to be a fabulous day.

While most railroad memorabilia collectors think of trains, a few are on the hunt for tiny artifacts that date from the middle 19th century: horsecar bells. Made of brass, and only 3 to 4 inches tall, these small bells were hung from the harnesses of the horses and mules that pulled streetcars - a very rare relic of one of America's earliest forms of public transit.

A cigar-shaped green velvet case, worn with years and thread bare at the edges, sat closed amidst a group of old dusty bottles, a lusterless arrangement from days gone by. My initial response was a quizzical frown, fearing that the morning’s trip may have been a wasted one. But, conditioned by the antique trader’s creed of leaving no box unopened, I reached for the case and gently pressed the front lever as I carefully lifted the lid.

Sometimes we find in France very nice spun glass accessories, mainly lighting accessories, that are presented as Venetian. And it is true they have common characteristics with glass pieces manufactured in the North of Italy. But listen now to this story...