Kovels On Antiques & Collectibles newsletter is available as a print subscription, or as a digital version that is included in the Kovels Knowledge and Kovels All Access memberships. Start your Kovels Knowledge Free Trial now or login.

The Kovels are celebrating the Fourth of July with a special Americana issue of Kovels On Antiques & Collectibles newsletter. Presidential election years always mean increased interest in political collectibles and many were auctioned recently in Ohio. A sale report in Kovels’ July 2020 newsletter focuses on those related to U.S. presidents. Items include campaign and memorial textiles such as a silk needlework remembrance commemorating the death of Ulysses S. Grant, a bandanna promoting the 1912 candidacy of Theodore Roosevelt, and other historical collectibles along with their prices.

For almost 100 years, Madame Alexander dolls have been charming children and many popular vintage examples sold at auction in Maryland. Find a ballerina, a bride, an American Indian boy and other dolls that depicted book and fairy tale characters and everyday play friends in Kovels’ July newsletter.

Unique and inventive folk art pieces captivate collectors as did the folk art textiles, advertising and toys that auctioned in Connecticut. Folk art encompasses artistic items made by untrained individuals. One of the top prices, just over $1,300, was paid for a signed and dated quilt with birds, trees and vines. Find it in Kovels’ latest issue along with a folk art painting, rug, ironing board cover and hand-carved wooden figures. Stoneware crocks and jugs are also desirable as folk art, and pieces sold at a Maryland auction brought very high prices. An extraordinary $480,000 was paid for a stoneware water cooler with impressed and incised street scenes of Broadway in New York City. This and other jugs, jars and pots from the sale are pictured in Kovels’ July issue.

And buyers are finding fantasy studio furniture pieces whimsical and fun. Kovels’ found examples of a bookcase with frog feet, a bench depicting a stylized dog, a fish form wood and glass table and others, all by American makers, at a few recent auctions and online. See pictures and prices in the latest newsletter.

Kovels’ July Americana issue includes a market report about vintage jigsaw puzzles. The popular illustrated Collector’s Gallery answers readers’ questions about a vintage swimsuit, a figural corkscrew, an old parlor stove and an unusual meat platter. American patriotic symbols found in vintage advertising are listed in July’s Dictionary of Marks. And more than 70 antiques and collectibles are listed in the July Buyer’s Price Guide.