Authors

Arthur Boutiette

In these past thirty years Arthur has watched the world of antique leather bindings come into its own, possibly because of the increased building of larger homes with libraries or because of the never-ending stream of decorating shows that encourage a more "expensive" look. Regardless, in the years between then and now, fine leather-bound books have, like many other collectibles, become very popular.

Neila & Tom Bredehoft

Tom Bredehoft is well known in the glass collecting world. He and his wife, Neila, have written several books together, including Collector’s Encyclopedia of Heisey Glass, 1925 – 1938, Heisey Glass, 1896 – 1957, and Glass Toothpick Holders. Tom is also the author of Glass Tumblers, 1860s to 1920s.

Suzanne L DeMillar, Dennis J Brevik

Suzanne DeMillar was born in Providence, Rhode Island, one of four girls, and grew up in the little village of Pawtuxet Cove on Narragansett Bay. Suzanne’s early life was filled with sailing and other water-based activities, in addition to art, music, and dance. Suzanne’s interest in dolls came early in life. At Christmastime, her mother and grandmother made doll clothes for every one of the four girls’ dolls; Suzanne continued this tradition with her own daughters. Her mother was an artist and jewelry designer who taught at colleges in Vermont, Ohio, and Rhode Island. Her father was a consulting engineer; in the late 1930s, he designed the machine for a wire fabricating firm to make the knitted wire tubes which the Ideal Doll Company used for the arms and legs of its Flexy dolls. Suzanne’s collection today includes the Flexy dolls, Sunny Sue and Sunny Sam.

A graduate of Connecticut State College, Suzanne sought artistic expression in several fields: music (she studied the harp at the Boston Conservatory), landscape painting, poetry (published in several volumes), and specialty clothing design, in addition to doll clothes design and doll collecting. Her concentration on dolls began in the mid-1980s when she learned professional doll repair and became a dealer in addition to enlarging her personal collection. Early in 1991, she met and married Dennis (Dan) Brevik. Together, they have been publishing an international mail order catalog for almost ten years, have their own web site (designed by Dan), and auction dolls frequently on internet auctions. Dennis J. Brevik, “Dan,” is a retired engineer. He has a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Detroit and became a rocket engineer more or less by accident. While working for Rocketdyne he conducted over a hundred static engine tests and was one of the design engineers of the F-1 thrust chamber, used on the Saturn V. He became enamored of computer software and switched fields, where he became known for his pioneering work on operating systems, database management systems, and programming languages. His interest in dolls developed as a by-product of his marriage to Ms. DeMillar. It was a case of sink or swim. He clearly remembers the first doll show he attended, where (he swears) there were a thousand dolls all beckoning him to come over and visit. Thus began his interest in dolls, particularly their design, production, and distribution. He also claims to have an eye for a pretty face, a quality which naturally drew him to Arranbee dolls.

Marcia Brown

Marcia Brown is an antique and vintage jewelry author, historian, lecturer, and collector. Her books include Unsigned Beauties of Costume Jewelry and Signed Beauties of Costume Jewelry. She is the host and co-writer of seven videos in the Hidden Treasures series that has received many national awards. The West Coast Peddler (a California publication) has named her one of the best authors for 2002.

For the past three years, she has been the jewelry appraiser for the Palmer-Wirf Shows, the Calendar Shows, and the Medford Southern Antiques and Collectibles Shows. She serves as the costume jewelry advisor for the annual Schroeder's Antiques Price Guide and the Garage Sale & Flea Market Annual. She has served as a board member of the Southern Oregon Antiques and Collectibles Club for the past ten years. An active member of the international Vintage Fashion and Costume Jewelry Club for eight years, she has contributed many articles to their publication. In the past she has also written articles for The Daze paper. She spent 12 years developing this skill as a free-lance news reporter for the southern Oregon area.

The West Coast Peddler journal just completed printing a three-part mini-series written by Ms. Brown.

Geoffrey T Carlton

The lessons in life and of collecting can often be found expressed in Star Wars terms for Geoffrey Carlton.

After seeing the original movie for the third time at age 10 in 1977, Geoffrey discovered a Star Wars comic book at the local drugstore. Eager to relive the space fantasy he rushed home and started reading, and was utterly disappointed. The comic book started in the Death Star detention corridor, and ended in its magnetically shielded docking bay. Disgruntled, he complained to his older sister about how the storyline had been manhandled to make it fit into the comic. With great glee at being able to point out his obvious failings, she explained what the number "4" on the front cover indicated.

Fortunately, Geoffrey wasn't discouraged. He could soon count by 15s (to figure out how many movie card packs he could buy with any given amount of money), and calulate how many quarters there were in a price, since Michigan sales tax was only 4% then.

He missed the $1.00 poster in the movie lobby, but he redeemed himself with a complete set of Burger Chef Coca-Cola glasses and two of each character poster.

Today Geoffrey Carlton's collection is formidable. Although all of his Star Wars goods from his youth were sold in a family garage sale in 1985, he has recollected almost all of the pieces needed to rebuild his original collection, and since 1995 has been keeping up with many types of Star Wars memorabilia, collectible or not.

After 26 years, he has even finally forgiven himself for ripping open and trading away two Jawa figures with those cheap plastic capes for just one Jawa with a really nice cloth cape.

Geoffrey lives in Arlington, Texas, with his wife and teenagers. Both he and his wife are active members of the Fighting 501st's Star Garrison, and the local FanForce chapter. His family enjoys leading him through searches at stores, antique shops, and conventions to locate not-yet-documented Star Wars colllectibles. This book couldn't exist without their love and support.

Julia C. Carroll

I have been collecting costume jewelry for over twelve years. My collection includes examples of beautiful jewelry from many different designers. It is a constantly growing and changing entity. For many years, I taught computer science to students ranging in age from pre-kindergarten to 8th grade. I regularly wore pieces from my collection to school, which never failed to attract the attention of my students. They loved to touch the jewelry and ask me to tell them when it was made, and why it was special.

At the time, there were very few published materials available to help teach computer science to young children, so I frequently wrote my own lessons. My philosophy of education was that students learn in stages, so I wrote easy-to-follow step-by-step lessons. I also believed that students learn best in an environment where they are not afraid to try and possibly make a mistake. I have applied this same philosophy to the writing of this book. Included in this book is the information I believe a beginning collector must have to begin building a collection. I have also included tips on how to avoid mistakes and how to trade up lesser-valued pieces to obtain higher quality jewelry.

My husband of 27 years understands my passion for collecting costume jewelry. He carefully searches for interesting antique stores on the east coast, and then he plans trips to these stores. He even volunteered to help me take the photographs for this book. We have two grown, much-loved children who live near our home in Delaware.

Arlan Carter

Arlan Carter and his wife Loretta live in Fall Creek, Wisconsin, and operate the Northland Fishing Museum and Wildlife Art Gallery in Osseo, Wisconsin. He has been an active member of the National Fishing Lure Collector Club for the last 20 years. He and his wife host an annual NFLCC club sanctioned meeting at Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.

Mike Carwile

Mike Carwile is a noted expert on pressed, carnival, and opalescent glass, and has been authoring books with Bill Edwards since 1996. Together, their knowledge is unsurpassed in the glass world. He has co-authored books on Carnival Glass, Millersburg Glass, Opalescent glass, and Pressed Glass.

Jack Chipman

Jack Chipman has been collecting California ceramics for over 25 years. After amassing a large collection of the pottery of his native state, he became curious about the origins of these objects. This led to extensive research into a somewhat enigmatic subject. By the 1980s, Chipman was considered an authority on California pottery and particularly Bauer pottery.

In 1982, his first book, The Complete Collectors Guide to Bauer Pottery, which was co-authored with Judy Stangler, was published. This book was so popular that a second printing was put out by Jo-D Books. Research continued and culminated in the publication of his first book for Collector Books, Collector’s Encyclopedia of California Pottery in 1992.

For several years after the publication of this book, Chipman was able to devote more time to his “other life.” Few people in the world of collectible ceramics realize that Jack is also a fine artist. A graduate of Chouinard/California Institute of the Arts, his work is in the collections of several museums as well as private collections. Vestiges of his years of involvement with pottery come through in the textures and coloration of his abstract paintings. His assemblages are witty and sardonic mixed-media works aimed at topical issues of American culture.

As Chipman focused on his art, the need for a more comprehensive Bauer book arose. So in 1997, Collector’s Encyclopedia of Bauer Pottery was published by Collector Books. In 1999, an expanded and updated Second Edition of Collector’s Encyclopedia of California Pottery was released. In 2003, he self-published Barbara Willis: Classic California Modernism. California Pottery Scrapbook, which introduced many unfamiliar California producers to collectors, was published by Collector Books in 2005.

Cindy Chipps

Cindy Chipps, a long-time collector of Christmas lighting, lives in Kentucky and specializes in figural lights. She contributes much to the field of electric Christmas lighting and devotes a vast amount of her time and resources to this endeavor.