Marjorie McLaren of Anchorage, Alaska, tells us, “June’s What Is It? shows two micro mosaic hat pins likely made in Italy in the mid 19th to early 20th century.  Around that time wealthy people would take a Grand Tour of Europe  – especially Italy  – and would bring back colorful mementos such as these hat pins, made with tiny colorful […]

We had one correct guess. Terry Cook of Fort Morgan, Colorado tells us May’s What Is It is Mattel’s Barbie 50th Anniversary of NASCAR Collector edition. Nib Hot Wheels doll added another profession to Barbie’s ever-growing list of titles: NASCAR driver. The box features NASCAR 50th Anniversary artwork. Barbie’s lipstick is carefully picked for this set; Mattel dubbed the color […]

 These beads are called Roman face beads. There is amazing detail in these tiny beads, shown here much larger than actual size. The eyes, mouth and other features were made by fusing rods of differently colored glass with heat, then slicing the fused rods and embedding the slices in glass beads. Invented by Syrians and Egyptians during Roman time, the […]

 We had no correct answers for our March’s What Is It. It is kind of hard to make out, isn’t it?  The item is a purse! This tiny party bag is of the 1920s era. It is made of silk covered with tinted ostrich feathers. Pretty fancy. The purse could hold little more than a compact.  In 1978, at an […]

 Now we’re cookin’! We had several correct guesses for our February What Is It. We think many people have fond memories of Princess Grace of Monaco.  Bill Evans of Elizabeth, Colorado, tells us “The February What Is It is a 3 franc Air Post stamp issued in 1966 by Monaco to commemorate the birth of Princess Stephanie of Monaco on […]