Author Archives: Robert D. Rentzer

Beton Indian Story: A collector’s tale of recovery and renewal

By: Robert D. Rentzer | December 27, 2012 | Comments 0

When I was 8 or 9 years old, my dad gave me a dime store package of the Beton Indian figures. Eventually they all met the same fate as the real Indians of the West (going to the Happy Hunting Grounds), with one exception: A one-armed Indian who was carefully laid...

Reader solves mystery hidden inside Acme Semaphore Traffic Signal

By: Robert D. Rentzer | September 22, 2011 | Comments 0

In the April 6, April 20 and May 4, 2011 editions Antique Trader honored me by breaking tradition and for the first time in their history ran an article over three editions. The article was titled, “One Collector’s Holy Grail” and was the complete (actually, almost complete) story of the rise...

The Holy Grail of Traffic Signals – One collector’s quest to find and restore an iconic 1924 Acme traffic signal

By: Robert D. Rentzer | April 14, 2011 | Comments 0

One collector's quest to find and restore the iconic 1924 Acme traffic signal takes a number of twists and turns. The tale takes us from a downtown Los Angeles street corner in 1924 all the way to 2010. In this three-part series (each in a free PDF format) you'll learn the...

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