HAPPY SUMMER!
The Tanners Antiques Retro and Crafts show is coming right up-
JULY 22,23
The Truckee Antique Show is the week after Tanners - July 28,29,30 at the Truckee High School. This is a high end antique show with something for everyone!
Both shows have a few Vendor spots available.
If you need a place to stay The Aiden Hotel just down from the Convention Center has nice rooms available. We have a block of rooms reserved until this Friday for only $95 a night.
Please sign up right away if you need a room.
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Tanners 2023 Schedule
Feb 18,19
May 20,21
July 22,23
Truckee Antique show in Truckee
July 28,29,30 - Registration Open
Sept 16,17
Nov 18,19
The Events Center has almost doubled my rent for the building for 2024. They are stepping up the increase, so for 2023 it's only a modest increase. I've only had to increase each booth about $20
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Click the link below to go to the website for more information.
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BIG NEWS!
The Truckee Antique Show is Happening!
Carole Berry the promoter of many shows in California, including the big Truckee Antique show, is retiring. She has asked us to take over and keep the show going.
Starting this July, the Truckee Antique Show will become a Tanner's event!
This is a juried antique show no crafts or new items will be allowed. Repurposed vintage is allowed.
Click the postcard image for more info
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We look forward to seeing everyone at the shows!
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Radioactive Uranium in YOUR HOME! |
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Many of us are familiar with Vaseline glass. That Yellow-Green glass we see illuminated with black lights, glowing at antique malls. But that is not everything radioactive you may find in your home. Many things through the years were made with uranium in one form of another. Everything is radioactive. The question is "how radioactive is it?" |
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Vaseline glass is made using uranium oxide as the coloring agent. While use of uranium as a coloring agent has been in practice for hundreds of years, (the earliest known form is a pane of vaseline glass in an ancient Roman window) it wasn’t until the mid 1800s that it became common in glass-making, and only in the 1880s that it gained massive popularity. The color spectrum is very close to kerosene lamps so the glass was beautiful in oil lamp light. From there, uranium oxide was a commonplace component (creating the standard yellow, Vaseline-colored glass), with the addition of iron oxide (rust) added later to make each piece more green, i.e. green depression glass. This practice continued until World War II when stringent laws were made, making uranium a heavily regulated substance. Deregulation occurred in 1958, but Uranium/Vaseline glass produced after that wasn’t the same as before, due to the depleted uranium that was used instead of the more radioactive strain from before.
Below: Fluted Scrolls Pattern glass by Northwood c.1880's
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The Information below is courtesy of the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity. The museum exists to chronicle the scientific and commercial history of radioactivity and radiation. While it is used for training and research purposes and not intended for public access, the museum's website has developed a much larger audience due to the online descriptions and informative stories regarding an item's history.
There have been many products sold to the public that definitely wouldn't be allowed today!
It's a very interesting site, This is just a sampling of what you will find there.
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Cloisonné Jewelry (ca. 1980) |
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The first step in the production of cloisonné is to form an outline of the desired image with a gold wire or ribbon. An enamel paste, which consists of a fine glass powder mixed with water, is poured into the spaces (cells) formed by the wire. The glass is then melted by heating it at temperatures up to 850 degrees C. When it cools, a hard glass enamel results.
The various colors are due to the metallic oxides that have been added to the enamel. In the past, some manufacturers in Taiwan employed uranium oxide to produce an ivory, yellow or gold color.
In January of 1983, the New York State Department of Health issued a press release warning that some pieces of yellow-orange and off-white (beige) cloisonné jewelry were radioactive. This was an accidental discovery made during a statewide search for radioactive gold jewelry that was contaminated with the long-lived decay products of radon. For more information about the radioactive gold, click here.
While it did not consider the cloisonné jewelry a hazard, the state recommended that the public discard it or return it to the place of purchase. After the press release was reported in the January 25, 1983 issue of the New York Times, the matter was taken under consideration by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. One early course of action taken by the NRC was to contact officials in Taiwan and request that the Taiwanese exporters cease the distribution of cloisonné. According to one report (Courier-Post, February 7, 1983), the radioactive enamel was obtained from Great Britain because it was cheaper than the higher quality material from Japan.
https://orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/consumer/ceramics/cloisonne-jewelry.html
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The accompanying photo shows two pieces of Fiestaware produced by the Homer Laughlin Company of West Virginia: a Fiesta red saucer and an ivory bowl. In each case, uranium was used to provide the color of the glaze. Although the radioactivity of both is easily detectable, that of the Fiesta red is head and shoulders above the ivory.
It is usually said that Fiestaware came in five colors when it was introduced in 1936: red, blue, green ivory and yellow. While this might be true, the oldest newspaper account that I could find, from June of that year, only identified four: "old ivory, Chinese red, blue or green." The earliest mention of yellow that I have found was in a newspaper advertisement from January of 1937. Apparently red was the first color that the company selected when designing the product, and blue was the second (these were the colors of the Fiestaware that Andy Warhol collected). Since the idea was to mix and match, the various colors had to be compatible.
Fiesta red has always been the most popular color even though it was the most expensive. The higher price was due to the cost of the raw materials and the fact that the production of the red required a greater level of control during the firing process.
The red color was achieved by adding uranium oxide in the glaze—measurements have indicated that by weight, up to 14% of the glaze might be uranium. How much glaze was employed per plate is unclear but it has been estimated that a single plate contains 4.5 grams of uranium (Buckley et al). Piesch et al estimated the glaze thickness at 0.2 mm.
Since this uranium could be used in the production of an atomic bomb, Fiesta red became a victim of World War II when the US government confiscated the company’s stocks of uranium. Fiesta red disappeared until 1959 when production resumed, this time using depleted uranium (DU) rather than the original natural uranium. The Fiesta red plate in the above photo was made from depleted uranium while the ivory plate was made from natural uranium.
In 1969 the entire Fiestaware line was discontinued, and in its place the company produced what was known as Fiesta Ironstone. The latter, which was only manufactured in Fiesta red (aka Mango Red), didn’t last long. It was discontinued in 1973. This was the end of Fiesta red. Years later, in 1986, a new line of Fiestaware was introduced but without the red color.
- 1936-1943 – Fiesta red was produced using natural uranium
- 1959-1969 – Fiesta red Fiestaware was produced using depleted uranium
- 1969-1973 – Fiesta red Fiesta Ironstone was produced using depleted uranium
It is worth noting that the use of uranium to produce a red ceramic glaze was not limited to Fiestaware. Almost any antique ceramic with a deep orange/red color is likely to be radioactive, e.g., Caliente, Early California, Franciscanware, Harlequin, Poppytrail, Edwin M. Knowles, and Vistosa. In addition, various manufacturers, including the Homer Laughlin Company, have used uranium to give their ceramics other colors, e.g., yellow, green, brown. Buckley et al estimated that two million pieces of dinnerware between 1959 and 1969 that employed uranium containing glaze.
https://orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/consumer/ceramics/fiestaware.html
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Radioactive Tiles (ca. 1930s) |
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This particular piece of green tile (ca. 2" across) came from the bathroom of the president of Georgia State University.
Sometime in the 1980s, Bob Boyd, the Radiation Safety Officer at Georgia State University, was making radon measurements at the residence of the University's President. The residence was undergoing renovations at the time—to the tune of over $500,000 if I remember correctly. During the course of his work, Bob had to go to the bathroom. For the normal reasons, not to measure radon. In any event, he took his GM survey meter along with him and he had it turned on. After all, a meter that is turned off is nothing but dead weight. Just when he was getting comfortable, he noted that the GM's reading was unusually high. I believe he told me that it was something like 0.1 mR/hr, roughly ten times background. The source of the readings turned out to be uranium-containing tiles on the bathroom walls.
I don't know if the original intention was for the bathroom to be redone as part of the renovations, nevertheless, that's the way it turned out. The tiles were replaced and this is one of them.
Although it has that Avocado Green color that was so popular during the 1960s, I am guessing that the tile dates from the 1930s. An analysis of the tile indicates that the glaze contains natural uranium. This means that it almost certainly was produced before 1943.
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Uranium Containing Dentures (ca. 1960s, 1970s) |
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Modern dentures are typically made from acrylic plastic, but at least until the 1980s, porcelain was also very commonly used.
In the 1940s, manufacturers began adding uranium to the porcelain powder used to make dentures. The idea was that the fluorescence of the uranium would help mimic the look of real teeth under a variety of natural and artificial light conditions. Uranium had the advantage over some of the alternative materials because its fluorescence is unaffected by the high temperatures (800 – 1400 degrees centigrade) used to bake the porcelain. According to NCRP 95, it seems that manufacturers had stopped adding uranium to porcelain dentures by 1986 or so.
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Jewelry Made from Radium Dial Watches (ca. 1985-1988) |
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As a result of an investigation in early 1988 by the Los Angeles County Health Department, various state radiation control programs in the U.S. issued warnings concerning the manufacture and use of jewelry made from old watch parts. These parts often included radioluminescent watch faces and hands. The jewelry, which included, broaches, bracelets, earrings, etc. had become quite popular and because it was easy to produce, the typical manufacturer was a small business operating out of someone’s home or apartment. Production is known to have occurred in California, Oregon, Texas and Pennsylvania. The radiation control programs in Tennessee, Texas and possibly some other states invited the public to bring suspect jewelry to their offices to be monitored for radioactivity.
The usual mode of manufacture was to dismantle old watches, clean the parts with some sort of abrasive, polish the pieces, assemble the jewelry, and possibly coat it with an acrylic spray. It seems that there was no awareness on the part of the manufacturers of the potential hazards.
Even though some of the jewelry was worn in direct contact with the skin, and a number of premises were found to be contaminated (e.g., up to 50,000 cpm), there were no reports of injuries to individuals who wore or manufactured the jewelry. Nevertheless, one individual, who had been making such jewelry for six years, was found to have “1/30 of a body burden of radium-226.”
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JOKE TIME
1. What do you get when you combine an elephant with a fish?
Swimming trunks!
2. Do fish go on vacation?
No, because they’re always in school!
3. What kind of fish is the most valuable?
A Goldfish!
4. Why does ice cream always get invited to the party?
It’s cool.
5. Why did the dolphin cross the beach?
To get to the other tide!
6. What animal is always at a baseball game?
A bat
7. Why don’t oysters share their pearls?
Because they’re shellfish!
8. And where do sharks go on vacation?
Finland!
9. What do mermaids sleep on?
Water beds!
10. What did the reporter say to the ice cream?
“What’s the scoop?”
11. Where do math teachers like to go on vacation?
Times Square
12. Why did the elephants get kicked out of the pool?
They kept dropping their trunks.
13. What kind of tree fits in your hand?
A palm tree!
14. Where do sheep go on vacation?
To the baa-hamas!
15. What do you call a pig on a leash?
pulled pork!
16. What should a toddler wear to go swimming?
Pool-ups.
17. What did the kid say when the instructor told him he’d missed summer school?
“No, sir. I didn’t miss it at all.”
18. What do frogs eat in the summer?
Hopsicles!
19. Why didn’t the sun go to college?
He already had a million degrees.
20. What do you call a cantaloupe in a kiddie pool?
A watermelon.
21. What has ears but can’t hear?
A cornfield.
22. How does a cucumber become a pickle?
It goes through a jarring experience.
23. What did one strawberry say to the other strawberry?
If you weren't so fresh, we wouldn't be in this jam.
24. What did the pig say on a hot summer day?
I’m bacon!
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You can also get your antiques fix at one of our fun local antique stores and The Nevada Marketplace in Reno Town Mall. |
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1313 S. Virginia
775-323-1515
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960 S. Virginia St.
775-322-5865
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Reno Town Mall
775-384-3153
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Midtown Antiques is Open
Midtown Antiques is open 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily
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