The other day, I was watching the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s because it’s a favorite. The scene where Holly and Paul are shopping at the jewelry counter talks about an item not many people would use today, but (likely due to the movie) remains an iconic collectible.
In the scene, the salesman shows them a sterling silver telephone dialer for $6.75, including tax. In 1961, when the movie was released, most homes had landline telephones, and ladies especially would use the small bar, with its bulb-shaped end, to dial a rotary phone, sparing their nails from being damaged or requiring a woman to remove her gloves when using a public telephone.
In today’s modern world, rotary phones are rare, and pay phones, when available, have push-button keypads. Collectors of movie memorabilia and fans of the mid-century modern look still seek the dialers out at auctions, so despite not having a real use in everyday life, they remain popular.
When technology advancements come along, the old gear we are used to falls by the wayside for some. In 2008, about 80% of American homes had a working landline phone. In 2022, that number was down to 28.7% of homes, meaning that over 70% of households had only a cell phone for communication.
While it’s easy to see why a phone dialer and other telephone gear aren’t used much anymore, we
all probably have a bunch of items in boxes and drawers that were once necessary and are now cluttering the space. The other day I found an odd clip, with a screw back, and had to
Google it to find out what it was. It was designed to clip ladies’ gloves to her handbag.
Clearly, something not used much anymore. Here are some other items that collectors are still
interested in—check those basements and hidey holes, you never know what you might come
across.
HAVE A SEAT
Anything related to wired phones can be a popular collectible. The phones make a nice addition to a room with vintage furniture and décor, but accessories are also popular. A “telephone bench,” also known as a “Gossip bench,” was in most homes early in the 20th century. A combination of a small table with a chair attached meant someone could sit down, have a conversation, and still have a writing surface to take a message. They were smaller and didn’t take up the room a full-size desk would, and in most homes, the hallway telephone was the only one in the house.
FINDING YOUR WAY
During the post-World War II period, Americans celebrated their victory in the war and the newfound prosperity of jobs, housing options, and the ability to travel the country for vacation. Roadside gas stations and restaurants had paper maps for travelers who lost their way, and Americana and roadside ephemera collectors were always looking for these promotional maps.
They were geared to families traveling on vacation. They included ads that featured happy families gliding along in big cars, stopping for gas or food, and encountering the famous “men from Texaco, who work from Maine to Mexico.” Every gas station, diner, and motel along the roads competed for the business of traveling families, and the maps piled up in glove compartments. Today, some collectors frame them for wall art or use them in a travel-themed aesthetic, sometimes with vintage suitcases and postcards.
THE BOOK OF ALL KNOWLEDGE
There is no such thing as a book that can teach you every bit of knowledge, but encyclopedias were pretty close. Sold in sets that covered topics alphabetically, they were popular in homes with school-aged children. Salesmen and television ads promoted books as something every “good parent” should provide to save time getting to a library and possibly not finding the information needed for young minds to grow.
Everything is digital now, and the information in the heavy volumes is available at the touch of a button, but collectors and bibliophiles still like to keep some around. Most companies included a “yearbook” of the present year at purchase and the chance to buy each subsequent year’s book, so your collection was always up to date. Sets of yearbooks sell pretty well to collectors as a way to preserve a condensed but convenient collection of a year’s events.
THE ART OF THE BOX
Another collectible that vintage fans look at is VHS tapes. Much like music cassettes and eight tracks, movies and shows are now either digital, on streaming platforms, or modern DVDs. There are hardcore fans of specific genres, though, who, much like record collectors who prefer vinyl LPs, still buy VHS tapes. Many classics are available in thrift stores and garage sales since many viewers have gone online for their favorites. It’s not always about the movie or the show, however. Some collectors sell the boxes from their favorites, especially if they’re comic book characters or anime/manga content.
The artwork on the boxes, especially the more niche genres, and tapes from other countries, is a thing on some online marketplaces and at collector shows. The “box art” is often more sought after than the movies and shows since many of the same artists who worked on the film and comics also created the box art.
THE VINTAGE OFFICE
Today, offices might become a vintage scene, but the equipment in the average office fifty years ago would include items like typewriters, adding machines, and hand-crank pencil sharpeners. Most collectors will display a typewriter with some of these items for the retro look they bring to an office or a study. The average executive would have many of these items in an office, right down to the early “delete” feature, which was a weird-shaped eraser with a brush attached. Items like calculators with crank handles and file boxes with a spinning roster of contact information, organized alphabetically, were part of early networking and financial record keeping. Today, we keep contact info on a cell phone, but a well-curated Rolodex was invaluable.
When my father was closing his business, he got rid of his file cabinets, desk set, and other equipment. Still, he kept the flat, flip-top index gadget that had a slider down one side and could pop open to any letter of the alphabet for pages of contact information. It wasn’t just a matter of preserving the data, but there were memories in some of the entries, and I’ve kept it so I can look back at the notes about business associates and friends to get a glimpse into his social and business pursuits.
The fact that collectors still look for these items, and others that the modern world has deemed “obsolete,” proves that it’s not always about the latest and greatest technology. Even the most mundane vintage item takes on a retro-chic look in the right setting. They can evoke a memory of inky fingers trying to manage a ribbon change on an old Smith Corona or the concentration required to push a few dozen buttons and pull a handle to get an itemized total of expenses. The best part of any vintage item is not always its usefulness or value, but how it keeps the past with us, even in our ultra-modern times.
Brenda Kelley Kim lives in the Boston area. She is the author of Sink or Swim: Tales From the Deep End of Everywhere and writes a weekly syndicated column for The Marblehead Weekly News/Essex Media Group. When not writing or walking her snorty pug, Penny, she enjoys yard sales, flea markets, and badminton.
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