Checking Predictions

It’s easy to make predictions—because no one seems to check their accuracy in 10 or 20 years. In 2001, a decorating magazine that’s no longer around published this list of the 10 top collectibles that would make good investments: pet photos, folk art frames, clear blown glass (like beakers), mortars and pestles, Windsor chairs (both originals and copies), 19th-century paper-covered boxes, ticking (the fabric often used for pillow covers), clock faces, hometown memorabilia and shell art. Mortars and pestles and clear blown glass are slow sellers. The others are popular among country collectors, but only clock faces and folk art frames have gone up in price.