No comments about Miller's: Buying Affordable Art (Mitchell Beazley Antiques & Collectables).

No comments about Comprehensive Catalog of Confederate Paper Money.

5 comments about Crissy Doll and Her Friends: Guide for Collectors.

1. This book is great. Provides a lot of information on crissy and her family. Includes info and pictures of clothing also great helpful hints on restoration. Restoration tips can be used on other dolls as well.



2. Beth Gunther knows her Crissy family! She has filled her book with well-researched facts and beautiful photos. Her guide to this family of dolls is very complete and makes a good companion when doll shopping. Additionally, she includes a section on styling Crissy's hair. I didn't realize it was possible to work with synthetic hair and make it look good again. I think her techniques would also work on other "modern" dolls. I wrote to Ms. Gunther shortly before the book was released, and she was kind enough to reply. I'm sure she is a doll "reporter" who will be around for a long time. If you love Crissy, you can't go wrong with this book by Beth Gunther. It's a keeper. I look forward to seeing more of Ms. Gunther's work in publication; perhaps a book of sewing patterns for the Crissy family.



3. This book is a must-have for any Crissy collector! Beth Gunther has done an incredible job of detailing each Crissy family doll as well as the outfits, accessories, and related toys. The book is organized well, with a comprehensive price guide and collector's checklist at the end. Included are many rarities and catalog outfits. Even if you are not a die-hard collector, Gunther's photos of groovy 70's outfits take the reader on a fun-filled trip down memory lane! Yeah, baby!!



4. This book is well written, thorough, and a must-have guide for collectors. It is better than the other book currently available ! I have learned a lot from Ms. Gunther and have been able to build my collection while also identifying dolls I already owned. I have found her research into the clothing made for the dolls the most helpful. Now I know what to look for on eBay ! Thank you, thank you for writing this book. I recommend it to all collectors



5. this book brings back many happy memories of playing with my crissy dolls, and finding out how many outfits and accessories i didn't know about!! she also gives you in depth help on helping the dolls look brand new again. that area alone is good for any doll collector!!! don't miss out!!

1 comments about Ohio Is My Dwelling Place: Schoolgirl Embroideries, 1800-1850.

1. Better than I expected, the coloration and samplers pictured are truly remarkable. A lot of good basic Ohio history, with maps by county and description of how the state was divided. It is one of my favorite things, and I never get tired of picking it up and reading more about their simple lives.

No comments about Treasure of Victoria Peak.

No comments about Lighthouses of the Mid-Atlantic Coast (Pictorial Discovery Guide).

1 comments about Warman's Americana & Collectibles: Identification and Price Guide (Warman's Americana and Collectibles).

1. IN MY OPINOIN', THIS BOOK IS QUITE VAGUE' AS TO A COLLECTOR AS MYSELF LOOKING FOR ITEM'S ON THE GENERAL MARKET SUCH AS'' COMICS, KNIVES, RACING ITEM'S AND PRICING POCKET WATCHES'ETC ETC;;;;, IN THE CASE OF THOSE TYPE ITEM'S THIS BOOK FAIL' BIG TIME, ;HOWEVER' FOR THE OLD VET. IN THE COLLECTING FIELD, GLASSWARE,FURN,OLD OLD ITEM'S THAT IS BARELY EVER SEEN''OK''

5 comments about Letters From a Self-Made Merchant to His Son.

1. I read the editorial review from "Publisher's Weekely" and had to respond to their narrow minded critique. I found this to be a very informative and entertaining book, and I found the advice as relative today as it was over 100 years ago. Just because more than a century has passed since the publication of this book, it doesn't mean that principles of right and wrong have changed as well. The examples are obviously dated, but the principles surely are not. I will pass this book on for my son to read in the next few years in the hopes he may learn from it.



2. The PW reviewer got it wrong. This is a little-known gem, in its way as valuable as that never-outdated masterpiece, Edwin Lefevre's "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator". There are many people who've gone broke working for themselves or having given credit to others because they felt they had to, or who spent the fortune that they hadn't earned yet and never would, who could have used the advice in "Letters from...". It is very much not "the advice that young men always hear", especially now when Daddy can again buy them into the best schools, term papers are bought, credit is something to get as much of as possible and sloughing debt and emerging clean and bright in a new venture is just business. There is an attitude here that is quite foreign to the modern business-school-educated mind (but not to many successful in business), and a form of telling that has its own charm. If only for the swearing done then, and the realistic activities of the son who the letters are addressed to in the story that unfolds as it goes along, it's a fun read. But because the homilies are thickly spread throughout, it's the kind of read to not hog out on in one sitting.



3. I have been reading this book (an OLD copy!) once a year since I was a senior in high school, at the behest of my father who was one of the wisest persons I've ever known. The old man exhibits a rare understanding of human nature, and is able to pack more common sense into every square inch than too many of us gain in a lifetime. I have found it to be a great gift for high school or college graduates, for young people trying to find themselves, for some older folks still grappling with some basic issues. A great book for your personal library, and to share!



4. This book is good for the High School Graduate because the simple metaphors and stories make this book clear in a world full of obscur rules and references. I liked this book because it did speak in straight forward terms. An older audience may see this as a dribble of old advice, but to a younger man this is new wisdom.



5. My grandfather gave me a 1905 printing of this book and told me that, in his opinion, this was the second best collection of wisdom he'd ever read, next to the Bible. After a reluctant reading, I agree wholeheartedly.

4 comments about Classic Railroad Advertising: Riding the Rails Again.

1. What a beautiful book! Hardcover and full of the most deliciuous information. Mr. Burness has compiled, from his own collection of original railroad advertising a real time travel to explain us in the words of the railroads themselves (and some related industries-even Lionel), the evolution, successes and problems of American rail industry. The ads are sorted in alphabetical order by company name. From the 20's and 30's going through that heroic period of WW II and the postwar years and coming to Amtrak, you will witness the introduction of dome cars, the new trains like the California Zephyr, new technical achivements and so on. Reading this book you will feel the fallen flags so alive that is difficult to realize that most of them disappeared 30 or 40 years ago.

   And it is not only the trains. Reading these ads you will be back in time in the United States of yesterday. The problems, the people and their fashions, etc. You will really enjoy this book.




2. An interesting book of over two hundred passenger train ads that appeared in mass-market magazines. Each one fills a page with an informative caption. None of them would have won any design awards, mostly they follow the predictable format of illustration, headline, text and small pictures and as these are train ads, the little route map.

   However, within this predictable (and sucessful) format you will see some great artwork, page 17 shows a 1945 American Locomotives ad with a stunning painting of a railroad yard with five streamliners, pages 52-53 has two Leslie Ragan paintings for the Budd Company. The Shell ad on page 186 looks like it was straight out of something painted by Bruce McCall (it wasn't) and there are thirteen pages of great New York Central ads that all feature cut-away illustrations.

   As well as great art don't forget the copy. I'm pleased to see included the New Haven RR's 'The Kid In Upper 4' one of the most famous ads of the war years, read it and appreciate copywriting at its creative best. I never knew what the term 'highball' meant until I read the copy in the Pennsylvania RR ad on page 169-169.

   I would have given this book five stars but like so many pictorial books the publishers have not taken the presentation seriously enough. Here the none of the ads have a definable edge, they just float in the white space on each page, easily solved by running a very thin black line round the ads original size or better still use a grey vignette drop shadow behind them. The typography of the title, contents, index pages etc is very bland and unimaginative. There are five ads that run across spreads but they don't, each has a thick white margin either side of the middle of the book, doing this is as bad as not correcting typos.

   If you like railroad advertisments have a look at 'All-American Ads 40's' by Jim Heimann, a massive 764 page book that has (in color) thirty five of them in the chapter on travel.




3. This is a brand new, 2001 hardback 224 page library volume that will please every railroad and advertising fan. It features 224 pages with 212 outstanding color photos of train ads of every description. The photos look as good or better than the originals. This covers the period of 1920s through the 1950s. There is an emphasis on how the passengers in the postwar period enjoyed the delight of train travel. Plenlty of interesting text is provided. A delightful work.



4. This is a fascinating book for those interested in the transition era of railroading and the advertising that was created in this era. The book is a collection of nearly 200 classic print advertisment that appeared in magazines during the 1940's, 50's and 60's. The ads range from railroad specific ads, with extensive coverage of the Union Pacific, Pennsylvania, New York Central and Great Northern railroads. Most other major railroads are represented with some pages in the book. In addition to railraod specific ads, this book has lots of ads from the manaufacturers of railroad equipmemt, including EMD and Pullman, along with others.
   If you are interested in railroad art, or are interested in the transition era of the railroads, this is a book for you. This book is a quality publication and the reproduction effort is quite good. This book is a welcome part of my library and covers a neglected area of railroad history.

1 comments about Minnesota Yesterday & Today.

1. This is a wonderful book. I bought it for my husband who loves history and photography. The only issue that we have with it is that it focuses on the Twin Cities a little too much. There is much more to Minnesota that just the cities.