We had several correct guesses to our April’s What Is It. The medal pictured is the Victoria Cross. It is a British decoration awarded for conspicuous bravery and begun by Queen Victoria in 1856. (Photo courtesy of the British Royal Mint.) What makes this “military medal” so valuable? To answer that question, we must look at the story behind the […]

We had several correct guesses for our March What Is It. Jack Chang, M.D. of Englewood, Colorado; Patty Echelmeyer of Denver, Colorado; Dottie Unruh of Lakewood, Colorado; Ronald Moreschini, D.D.S. of Pueblo, Colorado and Fred Clark of Colorado Springs, Colorado all correctly identified the object as a Japanese netsuke. Here is the story of this netsuke. It is carved by […]

We had quite a few correct guesses for our February’s What Is It! We think everyone is already dreaming of getting on the links. Yes, they are old golf balls! These golf balls tell the history of golf. A pre-1850 leather-covered featherie is at left, a guttie, used between 1845 and 1900 is at right. And a rubber ball (bottom) […]

We had several correct answers to our January’s What Is It contest. Yes, the item is a toast holder or rack. This one is silver-plated from Cunard’s second Caronia, launched in 1947. It was bought in 1974 for five dollars at a shipboard sale after the vessel’s retirement. Congratulations to Cheryl Miller of Ft. Collins,  Colorado; Dottie Unruh of Lakewood, […]

We had one correct answer for our  December’s What Is It. Norman Thompson of Louisville, Colorado correctly identified the object as an apple peeler or parer. The object to the left is an apple parer. This particular one is a painted Pennsylvania Dutch decorated 2-foot-long apple parer. It is meant to be straddled. It includes the name of Samuel Skann, […]