Antiques Freaks

Able-whackets. Anti-guggler. Awkward squad. All these nautical terms and more are defined at last in this 19th century navy dictionary.

Goats stealing fruit from a boy's basket. Frogs in little jackets skewering each other with teensy swords. A jolly party of Ice Age mammals skating across a frozen pond. What do these images have in common? CHRISTMAS! At least, according to those wacky Victorians and their sickening whimsy. Blame Charles Dickens. (Content warning for discussions of child abuse and child death.)

Angels. Demons. Vampires. Werewolves. Fairies. Dragons. Seven (eight?) deadly sins. Wingfic. This antiques-themed gay romance novel has everything - except antiques. Let's get into it.

Chris and Paris from the Terrible Book Club podcast join us to read yet another story from Carnacki the Ghost-Finder! A chilling tale of spooky Edwardian haunting by William Hope Hodgson. It's like if Sherlock Holmes pointed at ghosts instead of solving mysteries. And Watson was divided into four characters, none of whom are permitted to speak or do anything. CONTENT WARNING for graphic animal death (dog).

It's a tale as old as time. Venerated antique furniture expert suspected of fraud. Scrappy young antiques-dealing upstart with a shop on the wrong side of the tracks attempts to expose a bad deal. The reputation of the Palace of Versailles hangs in the balance. And it all comes down to licking a chair. Dee's taste-based antiques identification methods are vindicated in this, the sordid story of the Chair Daddy.

Exquisite. Precarious. Whimsical. Join us as we explore the history of epergnes, from Georgian and Regency dining to Victorian flower-arranging and mid-century modern Fenton mistakes.

Mid-century modern kitsch returns! It's more horror than horror.

Add some four-foot-tall veracity to your next Jazz Age theme party with budoir dolls! These stylish composition-doll companions come in a wide variety of flavors, including street urchin, butch lesbian, wacky cabbage, Rudolph Valentino, and many more. Rouge your knees and impress your friends with the ultimate dance partner and home decoration all in one!

Join us for a spooky exploration of 19th century spiritualists and magicians, wherein we REALLY earn that Explicit tag! Things get weird as we explain the antiques connection to A Haunting in Connecticut and how Victorian mediums channeled the dead through cheesecloth. Enjoy!

Or; How (Not) to Sell a Haunted Doll on Etsy!

Special guest Anthony Moss (Joint Chairman of The Antique Walking Cane Society, member of The International Society of Cane Collectors, and a regular speaker at Canemania) is here to tell us all about the history and collecting and canes! From glass canes to sword canes to squirting canes and everything in between and beyond, join us on our epic Cane Quest. For more cool canes, check out Anthony's book, A Visual History of Walking Sticks and Canes, available now wherever fine tomes are found!

Special guest, brilliant author O. F. Cieri, joins the podcast to talk about antiquities, the looting of antiquities, and how Hobby Lobby came to represent the moral and legal crime of trading in looted antiquities! Plus, how museums work, the importance of antiquity repatriation, and MORE!

Creepypasta - spooky stories from strangers on the internet. Do they contain antiques? Yes! Are they any good? Remains to be seen! Thrill at the chilling tales of demonic kaleidoscopes, haunted dolls, and the forbidden episode of Antiques Roadshow!

Friend of the podcast Paris from Terrible Book Club is BACK AGAIN to help Dee explore the wonderful, wacky, and tragical story of Faberge Eggs! Learn how the experts identify the Faberge, learn how the not-experts spend too much money on the Fauxberge, and remember how dang cute Bartok from the animated Anastasia movie was.

A nautical history mystery where 19th-century whaling meets Dinotopia. Featuring cameos by the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror!

Friend of the podcast Paris from Terrible Book Club joins Dee for this episode on the ultimate glow-up - Uranium Glass! Learn to finally tell the difference between green glasses and whether or not the FDA thinks you should be grinding up and eating glass. (Spoiler Warning: Don't)

Tobacco is whacko if you're a teen - but tobacco silks are for everyone! As are satins, cottons, flannels, and felts. Masonic tobacco silk quilt, anyone? (Apologies for our neglect of the vaping community.)

Our friends Chris and Paris from the Terrible Book Club podcast join us once again for another thrilling adventure! Carnacki the Ghost-Finder, an Edwardian supernatural Sherlock Holmes, investigates a haunted ship in his most sensual escapade yet. Frankly, this episode isn't appropriate for anyone. Except, perhaps, the sea. Check out Chris's editing services for all your audio needs at oselkaaudio.com! (Or email him directly: Chris.Ramusiewicz@gmail.com)

So many delightfully tiny cups! So many wee saucers! And so many elegant pots! But which are for tea, which are for coffee, and which are for drinking chocolate? And while we're here, what the heck is a demitasse cup? The answers to all this and more on this week's episode of Antiques Freaks!

Shimmering, sparkling, and superior to diamonds in every regard, it's time to explore vintage and antique costume jewelery with rhinestones!