The two diaries had been in a box of other items I actually wanted at auction. I found them later while I was going through the box at home. One of the diaries was locked and the…
Month: October 2014
I stood slightly away from the table, trying to get a better look at two bulky and very dirty horse saddles lying on the floor, wondering how anyone could ever have heaved them on top of a…
Treasures in a little girl’s keepsake chest
Posted in Children, and collectibles
The mahogany box with the little treasure chest on top was closed, so naturally I had to see what was inside. That’s what you do at auctions, because you never know what’s hiding inside shuttered boxes. As…
Reader seeks identity of a black bride doll
Posted in Dolls, and Reader questions
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…
To be honest, I bought the first clock to sell. It’s a Welby anniversary clock, a brand I hadn’t heard of before, in brass and glass with a finial that resembles a spider. It’s sitting…
I paid little attention to the owner as he whispered in the ear of the auctioneer. The tall portly man had been moving around the auction house all afternoon, so it wasn’t strange that he would bend…
The table was covered with trays of beautifully illustrated color souvenir programs for Philadelphia Eagles games from the 1940s and 1950s. The fronts had white players in traditional gridiron poses along with mascot matchups. The back…
So I’m sitting in the audience at the auction, my hands and feet freezing because the owner has not fired up the furnace for the season, when I noticed that the auctioneer kept mentioning the…
Reader seeks black action figures by Olmec
Posted in Dolls, Reader questions, and Toys
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…
The trio was sitting high and playing loud. The auction house had placed the wooden female jazz singer, and her piano and trumpet players on a perch atop some furniture seemingly to give them prominence. They…