Happy Antique & Vintage Father's Day Shopping

With Father's Day around the corner we thought it would be fun to find 10 interesting facts about this holiday celebrating the wonderful men in our lives! We've also found a few fun fact based gift ideas to inspire you in your Father's Day shopping.

1 - Father's Day is currently celebrated in over 50 countries around the World.  

For the Globe-trotter in your life you'll find a terrific selection of globes.

2 - Father's Day was Invented in 1910 by Sonora Dodd of Spokane Washington in honour of her father who raised his children as a single parent.  Dodd chose June 19th in honour of her father's birthday. 

Men's rings.

3 - Male sea horses carry the babies of their female counterparts.  

4 - The oldest first time father was Ramjit Raghar whose firstborn daughter was born after his 94th birthday.

If your 94 year old father figure is moving a little slower than Ramjit he might appreciate a handsome wooden cane for Father's Day.

5 - The necktie is the most popular Father's Day gift to date!

 A fashionable add on to this Father's Day classic is a handsome tie clip/tie bar.

6 - In a 2015 survey it was found that 1 in 10 stay at home parents were fathers.  As women become more active at work men are stepping up to the role of primary caregiver.

Wishing the Happiest of Father's Days to all the important men in our lives.

Click Here To Shop Our Father's Day Gift Guide.

Winston Churchill Recently Discovered

An active Winston Churchill enthusiast came to Toronto for a Chuchill association dinner and discovered Cynthia Findlay's Antiques.  He couldn't help but fall in love with a figure of Winston Churchill in Bulldog form by Royal Doulton.  The whimsical Royal Doulton bulldog figurine featured a top hat and Churchill's signature navy and white polka dot bow tie.  This tough character also held a cigar between his teeth to emulate the tenacious former British Prime Minister.

Churchill was considered a Bulldog and many of these desktop figurines were made in his image.  They became even more popular when they made their way into the James Bond film franchise as desktop ornaments on M's desk beginning in the 1940s.  The 007 version named 'Jack' sported variations of the Union Jack flag on his back and represented England.  A specialty version was recently created with extra 'damage' as a tongue in cheek joke after (spoiler alert) the MI6 headquarters were destroyed in 'Spectre'.

Although the top hat sporting bulldog has gone to a new home you can still find several versions of the Churchhill and Union Jack Bulldogs from Royal Doulton in store at 284 King St. W. by clicking here.

Victorian Acrostic Rings

Find out about Victorian Acrostic Rings here!

Codes, puzzles, secret messages, personalized jewellery... We've become obsessed with the idea of wearing and sending personalized messages, inside jokes and 'text speak'. What you may not know is that this idea of hidden messages in jewellery actually has a history dating back to the end of the Georgian and beginning of the Victorian period.  Jewellers used the first letter of gemstones to create words, commemorate important dates and share inside jokes between the giver and receiver of these rings.  These were called Victorian Acrostics. 

The unique combination of gemstones became so popular during the Victorian era that people began to recognize and attempt to read one another's ring messages.  The most popular rings spelled out 'adore', 'regard' and 'dearest'. The first ring in this style was created by Jean Baptiste Mellerio for Marie Antoinette whose ring spelt out j'adore. Another notable figure, Napolean Bonaparte, decked both himself and his wives in rings that used this system to commemorate import dates and events in his life. Versions of this code were created with stones on different rings for stacking, on bracelets so that longer words could be written and on brooches.

Come in to Cynthia Findlay's to see our collection of Victorian Dearest and Regard rings, or to see us about having your own message made into jewellery for someone special.  Don't you just Lapus - Opal - Variscite - Emerald that idea?