As I routinely do at auction, I was flipping through a stack of Life magazines when I came across a face that stared pointedly out at me. It was a man whom I recognized for…
Month: January 2012
Somewhere an elephant or rhinoceros is missing a foot, a fox is missing a mate, a piranha is not terrorizing other fish, and a boar is not out scavenging for its supper. What was once alive…
A stack of paintings by Haitian artists
Posted in Art
The auction house was cold as usual as I walked through the door despite a heater blasting full force near the front. The auctioneer had threatened a few times to take his auction elsewhere to escape this freezer…
“I coulda been a contender,” the auctioneer joked, quoting the famous Marlon Brando line from the movie “On The Waterfront.” He was reaching behind himself on the glass counter for one of two pairs of old boxing…
A new look at ‘Porgy and Bess’
Posted in Broadway plays, Music, and Performers
The play “Porgy and Bess” has never been one to will me to see it. I’ve never been curious about this folk opera written, produced and performed during a time when black people were not seen as real but…
Giving your kitchen a country charm
Posted in Kitchen
I have a few vintage items in my kitchen, some canned food labels and vegetable seed packets that I had framed and are now hanging on my walls. Some are authentic, others are cardboard reproductions.…
The paper sign stood out like the proverbial sore thumb there on a middle rack at the auction house. Once, I’m sure, it was a hoot, but it felt like an anachronism now. Its calculations…
Plaque for Jersey Devil House Tour
Posted in Culture, Folklore, and Mystery Finds
The words “Jersey Devil” caught my eye as I passed by the plaque during my walk-through of the auction house. That, I thought, must have a very good story behind it. Tours of a place…
I’ve never met Anthony but I’ve listened to his music. Well, it’s not exactly his music, but the tunes emanating from one of the lovely early phonographs he fixes and collects as a hobby. It’s…
I was squeezing myself through some narrow aisles at an auction house over the weekend, searching for some unusual pieces of furniture to aim my focus. I wasn’t having much luck. Everything looked so ordinary…