Fall is almost here—let cozy season commence! While we can’t all retreat to a snug log cabin for the next three months, a few well-chosen vintage collectibles can bring that woodsy warmth to any home. From Adirondack-style frames to folksy instruments, these mountain-life mainstays will add rustic charm at any altitude.
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Adirondack Frames
Named for the grand “Great Camp” retreats built by Gilded Age elites in New York’s Adirondack Mountains during the late 1800s, the Adirondack aesthetic endures today because of its rustic yet refined sensibilities. Marked by crossed-stick corners and leaf-and-branch appliqués, carved wooden frames in this style are particularly prized by collectors of tramp art.
What It’s Worth: Early-20th-century examples typically sell for $30 to $150 based on size and condition, but rare multilayered designs can command $500 or more.
Pack Baskets
First used by members of the Algonquian nations of the Northeast as early as 900 B.C., potbellied pack baskets have served roaming hunters and fishermen for centuries. (French fur trappers later adopted the design, giving rise to the term “trapper basket.”) Lightweight yet sturdy, these woven backpacks feature flat bottoms, leather or canvas straps, and a top handle for hanging.
What It’s Worth:Examples from the 1920s through the 1960s are typically priced between $200 and $700. Value largely increases with size and age, and both lidded and painted baskets also command top dollar.
Baskets courtesy ofGenesee River Trading.
Bird Door Knockers
Long serving as symbols of woodland charm, birds have inspired cast-iron door knockers for decades.
What It’s Worth:Given their rhythmic pecking, woodpeckers are a natural fit for front doors, and midcentury versions can be picked up for $30 to $75. Briefly popular in the 1930s, smaller indoor knockers produced by Pennsylvania’s Hubley Manufacturing Co. were offered in at least five bird designs. Parrots are the most commonly found, but rarer owls and cardinals (top left and center right) can fetch $100 to $500.
Twig-and-Branch Side Tables
Construction began on Raquette Lake’s Pine Knot, the first of the Adirondacks’ Great Camps, in 1877. The camp’s designer and developer, William West Durant, helped popularize the handcrafted twig-and-branch furniture style that became a signature part of the Adirondack aesthetic.
What It’s Worth: Today, values for vintage side and smoking tables (right) in this style range from $200 to $2,000 based on age, condition, and complexity of design.
Rockingham Ware
First produced in 1745 by Yorkshire’s Swinton Pottery, Rockingham ware is known for its mottled brown glaze. (In the U.S. it’s sometimes generically referred to as Bennington pottery because that Vermont company made large quantities of items in the style in the mid-1800s, but it was produced nationwide well into the 1900s.) Many vintage pieces are unbranded, making them tricky to date but more affordable.
What It’s Worth:Unmarked bowls and platters typically run from $30 to $60, with larger pieces fetching up to $100.
Zithers
Laid flat and plucked, wooden zithers first rose in popularity in the U.S. around the turn of the 20th century as immigrants from Austria and Germany brought Alpine folk music stateside. Ideal for cozy parlor evenings, the zither saw a revival in the 1950s thanks to the zither-only soundtrack of the 1949 film The Third Man.
What It’s Worth: Today, vintage zithers from both periods range from $10 for small unmarked pieces to $400 for working models by manufacturers like C. F. Zimmermann Co. and Oscar Schmidt.
