Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of the items that they own. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but…
Month: November 2012
Romantic postcards of a life most women didn’t live
Posted in Culture, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Women
I saw the title of the drawings under frame on the auction table before I figured out exactly what they were. The title was pretty comical in this 21st-century era, but I found it intriguing enough…
Ticket office sign for Day Line to New York
Posted in Advertising, and travel
I approached the old sign in much the same way that I approached most of them: I was innately curious about what it was selling. As I got closer, I saw that it was not…
I was going through some dusty and dirty containers of old Edison cylinder records from the early 1900s when I saw a name I recognized. It surprised me because many of the tunes, singers and…
My friend Ella knows how she wants to be buried. She’s put to writing the songs to be sung, the funeral home to prepare her body and the place to bury it. She’s even written…
Cotton Club show & black female tap dancers
Posted in Black history, Broadway plays, dance, and Performers
The woman was moving as masterfully as the men, leaning forward and tapping backwards in steps that had long defined a tradition of dance for African American men. As I sat there watching her in the “Cotton Club…
The woman walked directly to the dolls I had displayed on a table near the back of my booth. She was looking for a black Patti Playpal doll like one she had as a child…
Each Friday, I answer readers’ questions about items they own, helping them with the research on the history and directing them to resources to determine value. This week I’m focusing on one question – about…