I feel like 'Guess where I spent my summer vacation', only it's 'Guess where I spent my Thanksgiving 4-day holiday'. Ideefixe, Thank you SO VERY MUCH for the web sites and information about books with engravings, illustrations etc....so much appreciated!!!! Darlene, I didn't know about www.antiqnet another one to add to my list...Thank you so very much! I got interested after seeing the Staff cup and saucer. I remembered an elderly neighbor who used to tell me if there was ever a fire in her house, rescue her Staff collection first. That's what gave me the idea it was something either precious or of monetary value. And no kidding it's a pain. When BIL asked me to help, I had nooooo idea... I figured, wrap stuff in old towels, put in box, mark box with wide felt tip pen. Done. Nope! lol Hi Betty, Oh, I understand that store owners of any kind have to keep their doors open by making a profit. And the bigger the profit, more power to em!! *smile* My family have all been in the catering business and I understand about overhead and insurance, etc. I guess I was looking for more of a "homey-let's help each other" approach, you know, kinda like here at the board. *smile* I wouldn't have minded so much had someone been up front, honest with the value of some of the things I showed them instead of hemming and hawing. I would have rather had someone say "I'll give you X dollars for that right now and I can probably sell it for XX because the average going price is XX." Heck, at that point, being tired and all, I would have handed it to him and said "Sold!!". After spending almost 4 hours yesterday at the library, this collectors research stuff is hard work and my eyes are still burning. lol Lazygardens, You are so right!! Besides being cross-eyed from reading so many research type books, and having a red nose from all the wiping because of all the sneezing because of all the dust, the only real problem I'm having is BIL. I will start to pack something and he'll say "Wait, can you research that for me because I'm not sure if I want to sell that or keep it for one of the -nieces, nephews, grandkids-." So, out of the box it comes and into another box that goes home with me and I stay busy researching until the next time I go to the house, with more dust, more nose blowing, more...... well, you get the idea. *smile* MarieND, You too have some items? Neat! I am not too far from SC and we do go Mission Hopping several times a year so now I have even another option....Thank you so much! Lydia, Thank you so very much about the Ebay Antiques board!!! Wow, it's an active board, that's for sure! And about selling the stuff myself on Ebay.....ssshhhhhh! Don't let BIL hear you say that!!! LOL But dimes to noduts I bet that's where you'll find me in 6 months...Ebay. *smile* Cecilia, I hadn't thought about checking the bottom of the jar when I was there over the 4-day holiday. The Corn cookie jar is on a counter that hasn't been cleaned in what looks like years and there is old, dried coffee stuck to the back of the jar and then the jar looks like it is stuck in the dried coffee, right to the counter. Wow, thank you for the links and information! Although, I don't think a sticker would have survived on the cookie jar on the counter. *smile* Linda, After seeing Cecilia's link, you betcha I'm going to be checking the bottom of that dern cookie jar! LOL I've added three more pictures to the album....A chair top, a chair bottom and a rocking chair top. Sorry, it was either as close as I could get without tripping on stuff or I was too tired to move any more stuff to get a better picture. This researching is gosh-dern hard, tedious work and my hats off to all of you that do it regularly!! Here is a link that might be useful: Dining Chair and Rocker

I have all old furniture in my 1870's house, with one exception -- my office. I couldn't find anything that would work there, so I chose some very well-made, solid cherry home office furniture by Harden that will hold up and become antique some day. So far, it's worked out very well, although I wish the wheels on the lateral file cabinets had locks -- my floors aren't level. I bought most of my antique furniture at auctions, and although I made a few minor mistakes, overall, I spent far less than I'd have had to spend for new furniture. I was lucky to find a double bed from the 1890's that takes a standard full mattress (although it's a tight fit). I'm also lucky to have parents who are very skilled in fixing and refinishing furniture. Now I need to replace my Victorian couch, which is beyond repair. I expect that I'll have to buy something new. Here is a link that might be useful: Harden Home Office Collection

No local dealer can compete with the online dealers' hands on instructions either. And actually I haven't seen a web site selling softeners that doesn't have toll free telephone support for any problems their customer has with the products they have sold them. Some offer it 9-12 hours a day and 6 days a week. No local dealer does that. That provides a DIYer service at his convenience in his spare time with no cost and he knows it was done right because he does it himself. And he saves substantial service charge and 15 minute billing costs. He also gets online parts prices which are usually substantially less than the local dealer sells them for. And he gets service in a shorter length of time, or the same length of time, it takes a local dealer to get out to his house. Unless of course the local dealer is sitting around waiting for his phone to be rung by someone that is dependent rather than self sufficient and independent. Also, In many cases, the equipment sold online is identical to the local dealers' equipment unless it is proprietary. In that case the customer is then locked into that local franchised or exclusive territory dealer and has no other choice.

Presuming the OP and his/her family will be the only occupants of the home, it is their choice and their responsibility whether or not they overload circuits and put 30A fuses in 15A holes. I think we could be spending time and energy a lot more wisely by recommending that they not, rather than trying to scare them by describing what SOMEONE ELSE might do. I agree with brickeyee's assessment except for the slight possibility of insulation damage leading to arc'ing where a k&t conductor passes through a device box. The arc current may be low enough to not blow a fuse, while still generating enough heat to start a fire. My current home is a mix of almost every wiring method ever used. My lights and one livingroom outlet are k&t, the kitchen is partially modern NM, partially cloth. Most of the remaining receptacles are cloth, but a few are BX. I know what's what, what goes where from where. The wiring to the major appliances, fridge not included, has been updated - the rest is old. This is BETTER condition than my last few homes. Not one of them has torched itself yet. I am IT for a local call center. I have my own test system set up here with three rather-serious servers in a rack in the livingroom closet and six PCs set up around the house. A prior hobby was DJing so I also have quite high-power amplification. My TV is a Sony trinitron cube monitor which isn't exactly light in its power consumption either. I also have two window ACs (the larger of the two being 12.5K BTU)... The point? Your average family, at least in my region, uses a crapload less power than I do, and provided they're not stupid about it (over-fusing circuits), probably doesn't need to be freaked out over some wiring not being the latest and "greatest".