Boy, did those seats look uncomfortable. There were six of those old cast-iron tractor seats, concaved with cutouts that pained me just by looking at them. They had been set up in the parking lot…
Antique tractor seats as bar stools
Posted in Home
Month: August 2011
Philly’s first black trolley operators 1944
Posted in Black history, and Photos
The row of African American men in the black and white photo were a stark contrast to the dollar-store prints sitting on a rack at the auction house. They had the faces of proud men…
The woman walked determinedly toward the wall of prints that ArtLady Sandra had hung on a metal rack. A gallery owner, Sandra was selling African American art from her inventory in a parking lot near her shop…
The suitcase looked to have belonged to a military man. It was a dull green canvas with four narrow wooden slats fitted around it like belts. It sat there unassumingly on the concrete floor near…
As soon as I saw the metal token on the auction house website, I recognized it. It held an image of a woman on one knee, her hands chained and raised heavenward, asking for a freedom that was…
A mother’s poems of a son’s life
Posted in Photos
I see so many discarded photos at auction that I mindlessly flip through them, not expecting to find anything new. I’ve seen the studio portrait shots, the family on vacation shots and the Christmas shots.…
Do you keep old household products?
Posted in collectibles, and Kitchen
Looking at the items on the tray at the auction house, I felt like I had stepped back 50 years. They were products we all use – many still in their boxes, well-preserved. Some were…
Don’t buy that photo, the man said jokingly over my shoulder. He was referring to a lovely and loving picture of three little African girls walking down a road towards us, all tight like best friends…
1864 engraving of President Lincoln
Posted in Art, and Ephemera/Paper/Documents
The engraving was an obvious mess. It had dark water stains in the upper left corner and at the bottom. The sides were nicked and a dark line cut right through the center. The paper…
Who buys globes anymore, I wondered as I stood near one, waiting for some items to come up for auction. This was a floor-model, with a wooden leg and 12-inch ball. With time on my…