SubscribeNeedle cases: Hiding in plain sight (0)
3/18/10 •
Baseball has traditionally been seen as the national pastime, but for women that may be sewing. At least that’s what it feels like to me, based on the amount and types of vintage sewing items I find at auction.
Advertising needle packs. Needle cases. Needle threaders. Darning eggs. Tatting shuttles. Threads by the dozens. Sewing machines. [...]
Recent Posts
Tossing a loved one’s Bible (0)
3/17/10 •
I was going through some auction items of a black soldier last weekend with some friends, and we came across the man’s small Bible. It had been given to him by the U.S. Army when he was a private during World War II.
It was in remarkably good condition, its brown leather cover a little darkened [...]
Needlepoint samplers – a girl’s work (0)
3/16/10 •
Whenever I spot a sampler at auction, I always pause a minute to look it over. I wonder about the girl behind it – boys didn’t often stitch them – and what it says about her.
The sewing of the earliest samplers – not the ones I see on my auction tables – were a rite [...]
My love for Negro League baseball (0)
3/15/10 •
A couple years ago, I went to a black memorabilia show in a hotel in North Jersey. I wanted to see what was selling and for what price. That was before I discovered auctions.
The show had lots of vendors hawking Aunt Jemima items – vintage and new – black sheet music, magazine covers, black figurines. It [...]
A house for the birds (2)
3/12/10 •
I don’t usually go for much new stuff at auctions, but I kept passing by these cute little pastel birdhouses lined up neatly on one of the tables this week.
They were the colors of spring in their light blues and lilacs and pinks and yellows. They were either someone’s collectibles or they were handmade. They [...]
I started going to auctions to fuel my love for African American art – but at a bargain. I love the old masters: Lois Mailou Jones, Jacob Lawrence, Hughie Lee-Smith. I wanted to find their works and discover other veteran artists whose works may have been hiding in an attic or basement, and forgotten.
