When I first saw the phonograph records, I was drawn to the illustrations. All were brightly colored and painted into the surface – unlike the black vinyl I was used to seeing with a circular…
Author: sherry
1920s photo posters of Armstrong, Smith & other jazz greats
Posted in Black history, Music, and Photos
A black and white photo of a man with his fingers on the keys of a grand piano lay atop a stack on a table filled with papers at the auction house. His skin was…
Freda DeKnight’s Ebony cookbook embraced black chefs, cooks & caterers
Posted in Black history, Books, Cooking, and food
Louis Armstrong loved ham hocks and red beans: “Have you ever tried ham hocks and red beans? Old man, season them well! Add the right spices at the right time, and man, you have a…
A few years ago, I picked up an Elizabeth Catlett lithograph of a Mexican girl with a stoic and determined stare. It was the first of Catlett’s images that I’d come across from her years…
Playbill for Bill “Bojangles” Robinson’s 1939 ‘Hot Mikado’ show
Posted in Broadway plays, Performers, Photos, and theater
The cover of the theater program was a little off-putting, but the photo tucked inside was adorable. The cover showed a caricature of a male dancer with red lips and black face mimicking the look…
1923 ‘Simms’ Blue Book’ of accomplished African Americans
Posted in Black history, Books, and Ephemera/Paper/Documents
The book was titled “Simms’ Blue Book,” but its color was a faded blue and its cover was pockmarked with stains. It looked perfect when I saw it on the auction-house website, and just looking…
Storied colonial home bears an African American legacy
Posted in Architecture/Buildings, Black history, and Home
Helene Huffer couldn’t stop tearing up. She was about to leave a home that had taken hold of her the moment she saw it in person. She dabbed repeatedly at her eyes with the paper…
The art of Walter Dodd Condit
Posted in Art
As I peered at the watercolor, I saw signs of the style of artist Walter Dodd Condit. In the mishmash of angles and colors were the familiar outlines of rowhouses typical of much of the…
Looked like a Disney store, but it was just one person’s collection
Posted in collectibles, and Toys
The man was wondering aloud what many of us longtime auction-goers stopped asking years ago. Where did he keep all of this stuff? “This stuff” was a collection of Disney characters – Mickey Mouse in…
As soon as I saw the woman in the painting, I recognized her. Her portrait had come up for auction some years before with another painting of a black soldier with attitude. I wasn’t able…