By Robert Reed  Starting with George Washington and later with Abraham Lincoln, the memorabilia of presidents has provided a significant source of collecting. It doesn’t hurt either that President’s Day honoring them all is an annual holiday.  For the traditionalists it should be noted that the federal Office of Personnel Management still calls the third Monday in February simply Washington’s […]

By Robert Reed  One of the major ironies of the 19th century is how the lowly soda cracker came to be housed in the lovely and varied cracker jar.  Eventually cracker jars appeared in pottery, porcelain, wood, metal and the finest of art glass. Many bore elaborately decorated handles and bails, sometimes engraved and silver plated.  Distinguished cracker jars, of […]