The royal blue color of the stove caught my eye immediately. As big and noble as it was, it was still partly hidden behind an oak table that obscured its full beauty. But the colors…
Month: December 2012
Fridays at Auction Finds are 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 I…
My buddy Kristin was very clear about why she had come to Longwood Gardens on this warm and crisp afternoon: To see the Christmas lights. Not room after room of beautiful fragrant flowers, plants and…
Christmas stocking stuffers buried in box lots
Posted in Beauty Products, bottles, Carvings, Christmas, collectibles, Dolls, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, Holidays, jewelry, and Personal items
The woman was as gleeful as a little girl with her boxes of Barbies and doll clothes. She couldn’t wait to get them home and go through them, she said. You never know what’s hidden…
A 45 record of Ethel Merman singing ZIP code song
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, Music, and Records
I distinctly remember the cartoonish ZIP code man with the stringy right-leaning body and bug eyes. I was still a young girl when he became the popular mascot of the Post Office’s then-new five-digit ZIP code. I…
Readers ask about Lane cedar chests
Posted in collectibles, furniture, Personal items, Reader questions, and Trinket box
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…
A porcelain teapot with a Noritake-style mark
Posted in China, collectibles, and pottery
It was a lovely porcelain teapot but not my type. It had likely been part of set with a creamer and sugar bowl years ago. But those other pieces had walked off with relatives or gotten…
The auctioneer could barely give away the mounted illustrated ads. I understood why, because I had tried to figure out where they had come from and how I could use them. None of the other…
“New Progress of a Race” book on black history
Posted in Black history, and Books
The book was partially hidden under other items on the auction table, but from the title, I instantly knew who – not what – it was about: “The New Progress of a Race.” It had…