Uncovering Our History Through The Relics Left Behind
Posted in Animals, collectibles, and Figurines
I enjoyed the movie “Ratatouille” about the mouse (or maybe it was a rat) named Remy that was a Michelin-star chef, but if I see one of the little rodents in my house, I won’t invite…
I was cataloguing some old 78 rpm records, including too-many copies of Frank Sinatra’s “White Christmas/Jingle Bells,” when I came across a name and label I did not recognize. The singer was Ruth Wallis on…
I can’t remember the last time I went to an auction and didn’t see one of those small hand-colored landscapes of Wallace Nutting. The colors were usually muted and dull. Among the masses, Nutting was no-doubt…
Posted in Architecture/Buildings, travel, and Vehicles
To me, it was a no-name highway, a stretch of lonely road that I took each December to buy pecans from a market not far off I-75 south when I visited my family in Georgia.…
Posted in Black history, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and slavery
The bold title was very clear in its mission: “Public Sale of Negroes by Richard Clagett.” If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was the title of a book and its author. But this was…
Posted in Advertising, Architecture/Buildings, Businesses, Equipment, and history
The aged envelope bore a large heading above a drawing of the Palmer Hotel in Chicago. The pronouncement would mean nothing without knowing the hotel’s history. “Only Fire-Proof House in the United States,” it blared.…
Posted in Beauty Products, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, Personal items, Vehicles, and Women
The first image I saw was a small bottle of perfume, its top enveloped by a large printed bouquet of ribbons on a card. Beneath it, I read three words that were incongruous with the…
The tables with the glass tops and grotesque bases were the first to catch my eye. The bases were thick and twisted like some giant hands had ripped them into big chunks. They were a set…
