China collectors and sellers like reading backstamps. Backstamps are the marks on the back or bottom of a piece of china that tells you who made it and sometimes where it was made. It can also tell you when a piece was made, but you have to do some sleuthing to find out, like Linda did to figure out that her chocolate cup and saucer, featured in this week’s fresh to market vintage, was made sometime between 1891-1921.

She knew that because she was able to research Nippon marks and how they changed over time. Many long time pottery makers used different marks in different eras. If you can find a guide that shows the marks and the years used, you can date your piece. There are some guides available online, compiled by collectors extraordinaire and collecting societies, who are kind enough not to put them behind a paywall. An excellent resource for English pottery from Stoke-on-Trent is The Potteries website.  There are also some helpful books out there, like Kovel’s New Dictionary of Marks: 1850 to the Present, with the present being the early 1990s.

Why do you need to know when something is from? To be accurate in writing your description, if you’re a seller. And to satisfy your curiosity, if you’re a collector. Sometimes it’s a need, sometimes it’s a want.

Another way to satisfy your curiosity is to take a look at all of this week’s fresh to market vintage.

Antique Hand Painted Chocolate Cup & Saucer, Marked Nippon

Offering an elegant chocolate cup and saucer hand painted in a lovely floral design. Elaborate raised gold enamel paint trim embellishes both pieces. The cup is marked “Hand painted” with a Nippon mark on the bottom dating it to the 1891-1921 timeframe. The plate is unmarked. Mismatched but purchased as a set in Japan in the 1950s.

Nippon Chocolate Cup and Saucer, $175

Linda, Selective Salvage

Red, White, and Blue Cocktail Ring

While here in the USA, we think of red, white, and blue as the colors of our flag, there are actually 30 countries around the world that also have these three colors exclusively in their flags. Not to mention several others that include these colors along with a few more. Red, white, and blue is the most popular choice of colors used in flags around the world. So while this ring may remind you of American patriotism, it could reflect much more than that.

All this aside, it’s a cool cocktail ring that’s adjustable and could be a fun addition to any party outfit. And while it’s way too early in the year to think about Independence Day, feel free to shop ahead so you will be ready to celebrate our country’s 250th birthday in style.

Red, White, and Blue Domed Cocktail Ring, $26.95

Pam, Vintage Renude

1990s Lazer Sport Fanny Pack

Why did we as a society stop wearing fanny packs on an everyday basis? Everything you need is in a secure zippered pouch attached to your waist. How much you can carry is controlled by the size of the bag, although I remember cramming mind blowing amounts of stuff in my jade green fanny pack. Two zipper compartments to keep your snacks separate from your money and cards.

I’ve seen the trendy new ones that are minimalist, made from fancier materials and worn across the chest. And we think that fanny packs evolving is fine. But as far as I’m concerned, vintage is best, it belongs around the waist and there better be some neon colors involved.

1990s Lazer Sport Two-Compartment Fanny Pack, $18.

Laurie, NextStage Vintage

1960s Abraham Lincoln American Credo Stamps

This collection of 10 stamps featuring a quote from Abraham Lincoln were part of the USPS American Credo stamp series issued in 1960-1961. Designed to look like early American money, this stamp series had six individual designs that were intended to call refreshed attention to American values. “Credo” is Latin for “I believe.” Other American notables featured were George Washington,  Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Francis Scott Key and Patrick Henry.

These brightly colored stamps would be excellent in a small frame as accent art.

See the entire series at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum site.

10 Unused 1960s American Credo Abraham Lincoln 4¢ Stamps, $2.25.

Available from this week’s guest Brooke, Postage Stamp Studio

The chocolate cup and saucer remind us of how much we love hot chocolate. And hot chocolate reminds us of how much we enjoy relaxing with a full cup topped with whipped cream (just say no to marshmallows), browsing vintage on social media and in online seller’s shops. We hope you feel the same way about browsing Vintage Unscripted. Never miss a post by subscribing to our email newsletter. You get one email a week with links to all our posts from the previous week. And rest assured, we would sooner tell the family where we hide our personal top secret stash of special hot chocolate mix than ever share your information.