The advertising art seemed to magically appear – again. Two weeks before, one of my favorite auction houses had propped stacks of the illustrations on racks against a wall. A white guy raising a glass…
Month: January 2011
A brooch à la Josephine Baker
Posted in jewelry
It’s not often that I scour the auction cases for jewelry. It’s not one of the things that capture my attention when I’m doing my walk-through at any auction house. But usually there’s plenty of…
Bazooka bubble gum comics
Posted in collectibles, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Games
The white envelope was pretty inconspicuous there on the auction table, because I had passed the table several times and had not noticed it. This time, though, I was just picking up stuff – two…
A treasured heirloom trunk
Posted in furniture, and Personal items
Nothing much was grabbing me on the auction tables this week so I moseyed to the back room to check out the furniture. I didn’t expect to find anything there to buy because I’m not in…
One thing I’ve learned at auction is that there’s a buyer for everything. Something I wouldn’t purchase in a million years could be snapped up by someone who’s been looking for that same piece since…
A secret love for model trains
Posted in collectibles, and Toys
I always imagined having a locomotive and its cars rumbling around the tracks in my basement. It didn’t matter that for much of my life I never had a basement for such a setup, but I’d…
A tale of Uncle Jim’s skin shoes
Posted in Clothing
Two weeks ago, I wrote about pairs and pairs of alligator, lizard and ostrich shoes that were up for sale at auction. The story and photos pricked the memory of one reader whose uncle’s wardrobe of…
I was on the hunt for a few small plates for meals. Not the dinner plates that I tend to pile high with food just to make sure I fill them to the rim. I…
An autobiography by a female slave?
Posted in Black history, Books, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and slavery
I was checking out the upcoming sale at one of my favorite auction houses when I came across a novel by a female slave. I was familiar with William Wells Brown’s novel “Clotel,” but one…
Classics Illustrated’s ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ comic book
Posted in Books, collectibles, and Comic books
I keep bumping into intriguing comic books at my favorite auction houses. Some seem to force themselves into my path, while others wait for me to stumble across them while I’m plying through papers and other…