The area I live in used to have a thriving Steel industry.  There was a lot of money in it and many people supported their families very well.  Sadly, the steel companies went away.  What was left behind, besides a lot of abandoned mills, were many beautiful homes built by and lived in by the top level executives from the companies. 


The interiors of many of these homes are stunningly beautiful.  People have gone in to them and removed intricately hand carved wooden railings and door frames.  Stained glass windows have been removed from houses that were sitting vacant.  Although I've never purchased any of these, they can often be found selling on eBay for many times what the sellers paid for them.  The lovely, but abandoned old homes have been picked over through the years and left to stand as a sad reminder of better times for the area.

The economy has not been kind to many in the area and every day more of these old estates are being demolished.  Through my estate sale contacts, I managed to meet a woman whose husband runs a demolition company.  She mentioned that she had boxes filled with antique crystal door knobs that her husband had rescued from the wrecking ball and asked me if I would be interested in purchasing them.  I bought them of course, because they are beautiful and very elegant. These old door knobs are also a much sought after item.  I still have some, and I list them from time to time, usually with good results.  My personal favorites are the ones that have a sort of lilac coloration to them.

It is a little ironic that in a town based on steel, crystal door knobs were so popular.  It can be tied directly to war time demands on metals of course when the entire country had to make adjustments to get needed supplies to the military.

The crystal glass knobs stayed popular until around the 1950s, when metal knobs took over again.  While they were previously in fashion, the multi-faceted knobs could sometimes be found in different colors and styles.  People like to add them to their homes now because these antiques still work great and can really class up the look of a house.  A lot of people go further than just using crystal door knobs, they often look for sets of crystal knobs for their cabinets and crystal drawer pulls for their furniture.  I occasionally find those as well, but not as often as the vintage door hardware.

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