As soon as I saw the name on the tin half-buried under other items on the auction table, an image formed in my head: A woman lying prostrate on the floor, her head slightly raised…
Month: July 2014
At auction, artwork is always the first draw for me. I immediately head over to the paintings to first see an image that transfixes me and then an artist’s name that I recognize. Finding new and old…
How one reader sold some Father Divine photos
Posted in Photos, and Reader questions
Recently, a reader emailed to ask if I wanted to buy four Father and Mother Divine photos that had been inherited. The reader had read a blog post I wrote three years ago about some…
I remember their brown faces and white uniforms. They stood at the door of the church, likely hot themselves, handing out paper fans to help cool us against the rising heat in the sanctuary. Adults…
The card was advertising free moonshine tastings somewhere in Tennessee. It showed a bright red Mason jar of whole cherries that looked more like canned fruit than illegal whiskey. I’d never heard of or seen…
Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do…
I couldn’t put the book down nor could I make up my mind to buy it. The book “Peter’s Chair” by Ezra Jack Keats and a plush doll figure of the little African American boy…
Way before the casinos took root and spread down the Boardwalk, the Million Dollar Pier and pony airplanes provided some of the early entertainment in Atlantic City. At least that’s what you’d surmise from a…
This is the third group of cover illustrations from the 1930s that someone clipped from magazines and stored away. Most of these are illustrations of various types of flowers. I came across these while looking…
Vintage illustrations clipped from magazines, Part 2
Posted in Animals, and Ephemera/Paper/Documents
This is the second group of cover and inside-page illustrations from the 1930s that someone clipped from magazines and stored away. Most of these are illustrations of dogs and other animals. I came across these while looking…