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What common baking ingredient can conceal white rings on furniture? (Crushed pecans.) How do you detect a repair in a pottery vase you want to buy? (Look at it under a black light.) What’s the best way to remove water damage from your great-grandfather’s Bible? (Put it in your freezer.)

Answers to these questions and many more are included in this convenient handbook by long-time antiques expert Dr. Georgia Kemp Caraway. Organized alphabetically, Tips, Tools, and Techniques is easy to consult about the cleaning and maintenance of common antique and collectible objects, including metal advertising signs, glassware, clothing, and jewelry. Addenda provide information such as how to get a good deal at auction, the dates of Chinese dynasties, and U.S. patent numbers. An especially handy pronunciation guide helps the monolingual among us speak with confidence about the provenance of Gallé ware and Schlegelmilch porcelain.

Compact yet authoritative, this handbook will appeal to both dealers and buyers, as well as everyone with something from Grandma in the attic.

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Published in 1898, this trade catalog advertised tools, fertilizers, insecticides and other essentials for the turn-of-the-century garden, farm, greenhouse, lawn, orchard, poultry yard, stable and household. Abundantly illustrated, it included approximately 680 black-and-white images. Within the catalog’s pages, you’ll find butter printers, cast-iron field rollers, broadcast seeders, corn harvesters and huskers, root cutters, cider mills, veterinary remedies, and more.