ON THE COVER -
August Issue 2008 
Beautiful Bombe Style Furniture By: Robert Reed
They called it bombe from the French term to suggest a curving or out swelling built into the structure of fine furniture. It was in high fashion centuries ago. Surviving pieces are dearly treasured today. This bulging style of bombe (pronounced bawn-bay) began in the early decades of the 18th century with some of the more skilled French and Dutch cabinetmakers.

 Barkcloth - One Terrific Textile By: Carol J. Perry
Ahhhh! The 1950s! Poodle skirts and pony tails. TV dinners and onion soup dip. America looked at the world through rose colored glasses...and also through increasingly large "picture windows." (Never mind that the view from those giant expanses of glass was, more often than not, the picture window of the almost-identical house across the street.)

Figural and Funny Clocks By: Anne Gilbert
Some clock makers had a great sense of humor that spilled over not only to the designs on clock faces but the cases that contained them. While humorous carved figures decorated clocks as early as the 18th century, it was in the late 19th and early 20th century that anything from cartoon characters to windmills became clock subjects. .

The Incredible Hulk  By: Roy Nuhn
2008 is shaping up, like 2003, as the Year of the Hulk. Hitting the silver screen this summer, the "Incredible Hulk" will once again make green everyone's color of choice. The Hulk might also, as he did in 2003, inspire many novelties, toys, commercial tie-ins, and ephemera. If America once again becomes "Hulked Out" as Hulkmania grips everyone, it will be due to the release of yet another motion picture about the famous comic strip character.

Q. I purchased this wooden cigar store Indian in an upstate New York antiques shop 20 years ago. Can you advise me on the value and where to send it?

Pocket Watches Future Heirlooms By: Anne Gilbert
What better time than the new year to begin a family collecting tradition? Pocket watches, old and new are making a comeback as a fashion statement and heirloom collectibles. Old or new they can cost in the high thousands or under one hundred dollars, depending on age, novelty features number of jewels , size and the case metal. One of the inexpensive new pocket watches can start a collection for a young beginner.