Practical Collections: Label Holders | Family Economics

By Cathe

As a crafter and lover of antiques, I collect a lot of things. One collection is vintage brass label holders. These holders are found on the “fronts” of furniture such as file cabinets to hold a slip of paper or a card with the name of the drawer’s contents.

I began collecting vintage hardware pieces soon after I began collecting vintage cigar boxes. I had seen in a few magazines where some artists and crafters were attaching label holders to their cigar boxes for storing supplies. I adored the look and practicality of it and so my collection began. In fact, I keep my label holder collection inside one of those cigar boxes.

Vintage label holders can be found at flea markets and antique stores and are easily found online at places like eBay and Etsy. When searching, use keywords such as brass label holder, cardholder, brass label plate, i.d. plates, etc.

New label holders can be purchased at brick and mortar and online hardware stores. Several craft stores have them in their scrapbook section. I found a large number on eBay a year or so ago, still in their package from a store that went out of business. As with most of my collections, patience and diligence are a key component in finding what you want.

I use label holders on my cigar boxes to label studio cubbies and bins and to embellish items like antique scrapbook album covers that I glue to new photo or scrapbook albums.

Most label holders have screw holes in them. If yours don’t come with screws or nails, or your surface isn’t conducive to screwing or nailing hardware into (such as my album covers) you can easily fake the look with these simple steps:

1.    Using heavy duty wire cutters, snip the heads from small screws or nails.
2.    Adhere your label holder to the surface of your item.
3.    Using strong glue, adhere the nail or screw heads into the small holes, wiping clean any glue overflow or residue.
4.    Finally, tuck your handwritten or pre-printed label (cardstock usually works best) into the holder.

What practical collections do you have?