Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do some preliminary research to get them started. So, these are market values based on prices I find on the web, not appraisal for insurance purposes that I suggest for items that have been determined to be of great value.
Today’s question is about an old Camac Baths banner.
Question:
I saw your blog. Unbelieveable! Camac Baths was owned by my wife’s family. Alexander Lucker was her grandfather. Arnold was her dad. Do you have any Camac items? Can you send me a copy of the picture of the sign? What auction house sold the sign? I am looking to buy old Camac items.
Answer:
The reader was referring to a blog post I wrote about a month ago about a Camac Baths banner that was sold at auction. It was a lovely advertising artifact, with the look of an oversized burlap bag. The banner was promoting a public bath house that was about to open in Philadelphia in 1929.
The bath house was owned by Alexander Lucker, and built primarily for Eastern European immigrants who were new to the country but still remembered the bath houses of their native lands. During the 1930s and 1940s, it was one of several bath houses that served as a gathering place to relax, mingle with friends, among other things. The bath house had steam rooms and massage tables, and women were served on one side and men on the other.
His son Arnold took over the place in 1950 when Lucker retired. The son modernized the bath house, adding a weight room, swimming pool and racquetball courts. In later years, the building became a community center and a gym for gays.
To answer the reader’s inquiries:
Question:
Do you have any Camac items?
Answer:
No, I don’t have any of the items. Another buyer at the auction bought the banner for more than $200. I don’t remember the precise price.
Question:
Can you send me a copy of the picture of the sign?
Answer:
Yes, I can certainly send you a copy of the photo or you can download it from my blog.
Question:
What auction house sold the sign?
Answer:
The banner was sold by Barry S. Slosberg Inc. Auctioneers/Appraisers in Philadelphia, which was contracted to sell the items in the shop, which itself had apparently been in business for years.
Question:
I am looking to buy old Camac items.
Answer:
That may not be so easy. I could find no Camac Baths memorabilia for sale on the web (except for some housing on Camac Street), including eBay, where you can usually find just about anything.
I suspect that most of the people who frequented the bath house those many decades ago are no longer around, and if they took souvenirs home, family members likely tossed them because they didn’t think those old relics were worth anything. You’d probably need to do some research to track down the buyer of the property after the son sold it in the 1980s to see what happened to any artifacts that were left in the building. Also, check with the current owners to see if they can offer some guidance.
Googling, I found very few artifacts for sale pertaining to bath houses. I found postcards for two of them in Seaside Heights, NJ, from the 1920s and 1930. I also found on eBay a 1903 swim program for a bath house called Sutro Baths in San Francisco, along with a 19th-century lithograph of the same bath house on a retail site. Both of these appear to have been tourist spots and not a neighborhood site like the Camac.
