Every Tuesday morning someone will ask me about Monday nights episode of American Pickers. Many questions come from people who have never really been around antiques. My initial concern with the program was that the "stars" would come across as con artist taking advantage of people, but this is not the case. People under the age of 30 contact me almost daily wanting to know how to get started in the business because of this show. So in that respect I feel the show has done great things to bring a new demographic to the antique business.  

Finding model cars from the late 1950's through the 1970's is getting difficult these days. What makes these years of production so special? When the 1961 Plymouth Fury ( for example ) was a new car, JOHAN Models made a replica kit in 1/25 scale for the kids and adults who were interested and fascinated in scale modeling. Since the car would have been *new* in 1961, it was a hot subject! Back in them days, nearly every American and foreign make was replicated in a scale plastic kit the year it was introduced. The "assembly" type kits I am talking about, came after the craze of Promotionals given away at dealerships. These were a nice way to promote automobiles to kids as well as give the potential buyer a good idea of what they would get. The majority of 1960's promo's had a detailed list of options on the undercarriage and some had paperwork on top of the dealer catalogs. NOTE: Many assembly kits came in "promo style" with molded shut hoods with no engine.

Back to "assembly" kits.

The name “Blakely” was a family-owned business with gas stations across Arizona, in Blythe, California, and I was told, in western New Mexico. The company started back in the late 1940s and was in existence until the late 1960s. Today, Blakely glasses and dinnerware are treasured by many collectors of vintage Arizona memorabilia.