Blending Old and New

What do you do when you can't find the right home to display the antiques you've been collecting since you were ten years old? You build a new log cabin that looks 200 years old like Vernon Reeves did. Take a peek inside and see his collection of Americana in our October issue.

See issue contents.

Meet the Artist: Tony Kubalak

To help you get to know some of the best artisans in America, we want to take a moment to introduce one of those selected for the 2007 Directory of Traditional American Crafts, Tony Kubalak, selected for exemplary work in the category "Furniture, Formal Or Painted."

Tony Kubalak has been building high style period furniture since 1999. He specializes in building accurate museum quality reproductions of antique originals. His favorite pieces are from the Philadelphia Queen Anne and Chippendale styles. These are characterized by bold, elaborate carvings and classic 18th century lines. He also has an interest in a few Newport pieces, most notably the blockfront furniture.

Read more about Kubalak.

Find out about the Directory.

Reader Letter: Kitchen Voyeurs

Sue Brinkley writes: Thank you, thank you, thank you for finally allowing your cameras into the inner sanctum of the kitchen's (April & August 2008) in your ancestral homes. We have seen everything from attic's to privy's, but have only been allowed a glimpse of kitchens in these lovingly restored homes in the past. The homes of yesteryear did not have kitchens as we know them today, but I always knew the restorers/ new owners had to have a place to eat other than McDonald's.

Send a reply to the editor.

Post & Beam, Powderpost Beetles

Robert LeHay sent this note to our Readers' Exchange:
We recently disassembled a late 1700?s post and beam home in Freeman, Maine that had been in my wife?s family. The building was in a rather sad state of repair and needed to be moved. Much of the original wood work and finishes were still in place (grain painting and all). The purpose of my posting is to see if anyone has had any experience with ?powder post beetles? and what can be used to stop them as well as the best finish to use once they?ve been treated to prevent re-infestation. [Read more.]

Visit the Readers’ Exchange.

Letter from the Editor: To Restore or Recycle?

In our current issue Early American Life executive editor Jeanmarie Andrews writes,
" When Bicentennial fervor still resonated in the late 1970s, I attended a graduate program in history at the University of South Carolina. Uncertain of what I wanted to be, I alternated between “straight” history and “applied” history. The first, with courses on Southern history, the American Revolution, etc., led to a PhD and a teaching position somewhere. The second included courses in practical applications such as transcribing period documents and archival work, meant for those pursuing a position at a museum or similar site."

Read the Editor's Letter.