art deco bronze double sided picture frame and stand

Rare and Unusual Antique, Vintage and Retro Signs 35 Beautiful Vintage and Retro Photoshop Tutorials.Celebration of Vintage and Retro Design.Often vintage signs are stamped with the date they were manufactured, while other times research and knowledge about antique signs may be required to discern a real antique from a knockoff. There is a huge market for vintage signs and collectors must be wary of distressed reproductions. After WWII, “enamel” signs were simply enamel paint on a metal, usually tin, base. More of these types of signs remain, but they are often rusted, scratched and distressed. Signs were later made of tin and other materials and painted with enamel paint. After the war, the signs were too expensive to manufacture, so we are left with only the dazzling pieces that remain from the era. Many of the signs were vandalized, discarded due to etching or crazing in the finish or melted down for the metal during World War II. Collectors pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for each addition to their collections. Now it is difficult to find antique porcelain enamel signs in excellent condition. Later, when porcelain enamel became too costly, tin bases were used instead of steel. Early designs were stenciled, but American designers switched to silkscreens and started using a steel base instead of iron.

Around 1900, designers experimented with bold colors and graphics on the signs and they were used to advertise everything from cigarettes and beer to farm equipment and tires. They quickly became a staple of outdoor advertising across the country. Porcelain enamel signs originated in Germany and were imported into the U.S. Signs made this way were known as porcelain enamel signs or simply enamel signs. This process made them durable and weather-resistant. In the U.S., most outdoor signs made between 1890 and and 1950 were constructed of a base of heavy rolled iron, which was die cut into the desired shape, then coated with layers of colored powdered glass and fired in a kiln.

Art deco bronze double sided picture frame and stand