I was visiting Vancouver, Canada, some years ago when I wandered into an interesting antiques shop. That was before I began haunting auctions, but even back then I had a hankering for the old. Browsing…
Month: February 2012
Looking for objects of love
Posted in Dolls, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, jewelry, Photos, and Sewing
Young people in every generation think they were the first to discover love and romance when they get that first-time-all-is-right-with-the-world feeling. As they mature, they realize that they weren’t the first. People have been loving and living…
I get a lot of requests from readers about the value of their matchbook covers. Please read my blog post about how to determine what you have and the market value. There was a…
As soon as I saw the tattered edges of the pages spilling from the old scrapbook, I knew instantly what it was. Not photos, but other mementos of someone’s life. We all have them –…
Brothel tokens – fake or real?
Posted in collectibles, and Tokens
I hadn’t seen Barbara’s tokens yet, but I loved the cute round linen pouch with the multicolored needlepoint rooster they’d come in. Inside were three tokens that she had bought from a female vendor, and…
A songbook of minstrel tunes
Posted in Music, and Performers
The face of the soft-cover book was tattered around the edges and stained with water. I was a bit put-off by it at first – not because of its dirty appearance but because of its title.…
An almost full-service hair salon
Posted in Beauty Products, furniture, and Style
At auction, I’ve stumbled across vintage hair dryers, straightening combs, curling irons, and even plastic curlers for a doll’s hair. Blow dryers, too, end up on the tables from time to time. But at auction over…
A crucifix with an ungodly aim
Posted in Personal items
The auctioneer was both surprised and delighted. He was selling a tray of crucifixes, talking them up so us auction-goers would bid up the price. He had taken one crucifix from the tray, eyed it closely and…
A standout set of silver chairs
Posted in Architecture/Buildings, and furniture
For me, silver is the color of a dime, a necklace, forks and spoons, and antique vessels. So imagine my delight when I was browsing the furniture offerings at an auction house recently and came…
The fetching appeal of Scottie dogs
Posted in Animals
The silhouette is unmistakable. The long head ending in a square jaw and a plum of a nose, an elongated body wrapped in a black shaggy coat and a quarter-moon tail extended in the air. It is…