Antiques Freaks

065 Dime Novels

Delve into the daring adventures of Deadwood Dick - amongst others! Yes, it's time to read up on America's answer to the penny dreadful.

064 Model Trains

From the earliest piddler to the lion known as Lionel, come learn about model trains! With a slight detour into Gillette Castle.

063 Valuing Vintage and Antique Sewing Machines

What's that old Singer treadle cabinet in the attic worth? Absolutely nothing? Probably! But let us explore further and see if we might find some gold-plated dolphins in the rough.

062 Appraisals

What is this antique, and how much is it worth? We're no Antiques Roadshow, but we'll give it a shot, and show you how to do it, too!

061 Regretsy

From the mysterious origins of Helen Killer to the swift and sudden demise at the peak of popularity, we chronicle the one blog who dared to take on the crappy crafts and vulgar vintage offerings of the Etsy marketplace: Regretsy.

060 Diamonds

Diamonds are a girl's best friend? Nope. Diamonds are forever? Not even close. Like diamonds, we are cut with our own dust? Sure! Join us on a nightmare spiral of lies as we discover how diamonds tie into the antiques industry.

059 Buttonhooks

In a dark age before the dawn of zippers, we had buttons. So many buttons. Too many buttons. Solution? BUTTONHOOKS! Warning for terrible things happening to brains and eyes.

058 Razors

It's a hatchet for your face! This week we discuss razors, from their ancient origins to their stage musical and silver screen fame, all the way up to their hipster resurgence. With a pit stop in King Camp Gillette's bizarre utopian metropolis.

057 Decorative Electricity with a Chapter on Fire Risks (1891)

Meet the electric Victorian version of Martha Stewart! Mrs. J. E. H. Gordon, aka Alice, is here to tell us all how to best decorate our London townhouses. With electricity! You won't believe what she does to her Chippendale. It will rejoice the heart of your butler.

056 Cloisonne

It's not just a rockin' good They Might Be Giants tune. It's also an incredibly difficult and intricate decoration technique that may have contributed to the collapse of the Byzantine Empire.

055 Steampunk

Get your goggles, cogs, and corsets ready! It's time to delve into the wild wild world of steampunk. Pour one out for all the antique clocks destroyed along the way.

054 Pin-Up Girls

From Gibson to Vargas, the Antiques Freaks discuss the history behind saucy illustrations of ladies.

053 Antiques Fraud! Keane Big-Eye Paintings

It's kitsch gone wrong! Will the true artist behind these weepy-eyed waifs please stand up?

...Because we have to congratulate them on getting an Antiques Roadshow appraiser to say the word "anime" out loud.

052 Antiques Fraud! Dr. Beringer's Lying Stones

Fraudulent fossils abound in 18th century Germany! Tune in to hear a tale of academic pranking gone horribly awry.

051 Postcards, Deltiology, and the Berner's Street Hoax

Postcards! It all started with legendary Regency prankster Thomas Hook and only got weirder from there.

050 Lights, Ornaments, and the Legend of the Christmas Spider

Happy Boxing Day! In the second half of our holiday special, we cover lights from candles to bubbles to NOMA and beyond; tinsel, pavuchky, and the Legend of the Christmas Spider; the Yankee Candle Flagship Store Bavarian Christmas Village; Thomas Kinkade; Czech beaded ornaments; festive hospital fires; Dragostea din tei; Repo! The Genetic Opera; "spontaneous" human combustion; the Spider Queen; Goliath bird-eaters; and our future careers as Hallmark Holiday movie writers. Plus spiders. A lot of spiders. Probably too many spiders. Enjoy!

049 Shiny Brite Ornaments and Kugel Balls

It's the first half of our two-part Christmas special, featuring Shiny Brite vintage ornaments and Kugel balls! Other talking points include Charles Dickens, witches, vampire lore, and Martin Luther. Happy Holidays!

048 The Pope Chest

What do the Salem Witch Trials and Benjamin Franklin have in common? A cool $2.4 million at Christie's. With special guest appearance by the Witch Bureau. Eat your heart out, Sabrina Spellman.

047 Pearls

Antiques Freaks drops some pearls of wisdom just for you. About pearls! You have to bite them. (Don't bite them.)

046 Danger! Lead Poisoning

Yet another occupational hazard of the antiques industry dating back to the age of antiquity! Join us as we explore which antiques contain lead and which glassware you should absolutely stop using for your nightcap. See also: Caravaggio, Beethoven, Ancient Rome, the most unlikely and least-safe artificial sweetener of all time, and Queen Elizabeth I. Apologies to Flea Market Flip. Begrudgingly.