Vintage Gifts Perfect This Year! 

Dear Lee,

It is the time of year to consider what we want to get for friends and families as gifts for the holidays. But this year, it might be more challenging to buy items big and small. I have a friend who decided in the spring to update her living room furniture. She got two recliners right away. The couch and chairs didn’t arrive until mid-October. What do I see as the solution? Antiques stores, flea markets and auctions are filled with wonderful, stylish items that are available instantly or with a few weeks shipping time. This is making people discover something collectors knew already: Vintage and antique furniture, décor, jewelry and even clothes are often high-quality and unique, making them perfect gifts!

These gifts are more thoughtful because they can be bought with the loved one’s personality in mind. Does a dear aunt love costume jewelry? Look for vintage pins, necklaces and rings. Some popular vintage brands are Trifari, Hattie Carnegie, Coco Chanel, Eisenberg, Hobé, Miriam Haskell and Schiaparelli. Look at condition, materials, brand, design and rarity when shopping. Go to Kovels.com to see how to identify real pieces from fakes.

Do any of the children in your life love like cartoons? How about looking for toys from the 1960s and 1970s related to the popular cartoons of that era. Some popular cartoons that would stir nostalgia for adults are Scooby Doo Where Are You?, Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Donald Duck, and, of course, Mickey Mouse or Superman. These toys and games are durable and usually don’t need batteries or assembly—a gift itself during a holiday exchange.

One hot collectible this year makes a perfect gift—vinyl records. Select them for the artist or for the artwork on the album cover. Make sure they are in good, playable condition. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Mamas & Papas, Allman Brothers and Peter Noone are all popular. Old gaming systems, especially Nintendo sets, are great gifts, but watch out! They might be pricey because they are so hot right now. Does the system work and include gaming cartridges?

And of course, you can’t get a better gift for the collector in your family (or yourself!) than our newest book, Kovels’ Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide 2022. The 2022 guide has a record 3,000 color pictures of items sold this year, more than 500 marks to help make dating and identification easier, and 12,500 expert reviewed prices of items sold during the past year. We also write about market trends and include new, hot collectible topics like baseball cards, robots, 1950s to 2000 Scandinavian furniture and early examples of photography. To order: $29.99 plus $4.95 shipping and handling, call 800-303-1996, or go to Kovels.com and select the “Shop Kovels” tab. What a great gift!

As we wind down another year at Kovels, we want to thank all our faithful readers and fellow collectors. Have a wonderful holiday season and here’s to an exciting and fun 2022!