Category Archives: What is it?

One of Circling the News most popular features What is it?  is an “antique roadshow” of items that Howard Yonet has collected over a lifetime. Yonet was born in Brooklyn in 1934 and attended Brooklyn College. He went to Baylor … Continue reading →

After the fire, one of the first questions one of CTN’s out-of-state readers asked was “What happened to the man with that interesting collection? Did it survive?” The reader was referring to Palisades resident Howard Yonet, who had one of … Continue reading →

  After the fire, one of the first questions one of CTN’s out-of-state readers asked was “What happened to the man with that interesting collection? Did it survive?” The reader was referring to Palisades resident Howard Yonet, who had one … Continue reading →

In 1986 these two bottles were filled with Raymond Baptiste’s (Daniele’s father) renowned Mirabelle liquor. The drink started with Raymond harvesting golden, round Mirabelle plums from his four hilltop trees in Domevre. Then, by hand, he removed the large pit … Continue reading →

This is a cast iron fireplace fire back. They were first produced in Europe in the 15th century. Fire backs are placed on the backwall of fireplaces. Their main purpose was to protect the backwall from overheating which would cause … Continue reading →

This is a Victorian Wheel Back armchair. Wheel Backs chairs were originally made in England starting around 1840 but after about 1860 most were made in the U.S. due to better availability of the necessary woods. The carefully bent back … Continue reading →

One cold November afternoon Daniele and I were traveling on a country road west of London when an old car with this piece of furniture on its roof passed us going in the opposite direction. On an impulse, I made … Continue reading →

These are called molas, and they were made by the Kuna natives in a region that includes northern Panama and adjacent islands. Originally, molas were highly decorative native female blouses but starting around 1930 the Kuna began to use their … Continue reading →

This is a French country cherry wood tilt-top table. It has been identified as a Wine Tasting Table that was made around 1880. My wife Daniele and I bought it in Dijon, the capital of Burgundy.  I believe this circular … Continue reading →

With a four-day pass from Landstuhl Army Hospital, where I was stationed, my wife Daniele and I drove about 150 miles to the Burgundy (Bourgogne) province of France in the late fall of 1968 to sightsee and to taste the … Continue reading →