The woman’s history was laid out on the table like an open book: passport, CIA file, photos, bio, airline tickets, FBI file, political cartoons, thank-you letters from POW families. It reminded me of the time…
Author: sherry
Rattlesnake keychain, widemouth bass mailbox & more
Posted in Animals, Art, collectibles, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, furniture, Signs, and Unusual
The rattlesnake was showing its fang, but who could blame it. Someone had chopped off its head and made it into a keychain. The rattlesnake’s angry countenance was one of two on a shelf in…
Another box of photos had arrived at the auction house. Like the others, they were in a flat box that also contained documents pertaining to African Americans. The photo on top of the batch was a sepia studio…
I was walking to my car in the auction-house parking lot when I saw a mass of tall wooden posts jutting out of some containers. Perhaps they were trash waiting to be discarded, I thought. As I…
A well-preserved collection of vintage handkerchiefs
Posted in Christmas, collectibles, and Personal items
When I saw the five binders in the glass case at the auction house, I assumed they contained postage stamps. I wasn’t that interested in anyone’s postage stamp collection – which seem to be ubiquitous at…
It’s a memory that we all share. That first – and subsequent – 45 rpm that we couldn’t wait to buy and then listen to over and over again. Those were the days when buying…
For blacks, getting a home loan was tough in 1934 & still is
Posted in Black history, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, history, and Home
I read several articles last week on how African Americans and Latinos get turned down more often than whites for home-mortgage loans. The result is that many aren’t able to buy homes or lose the use…
George Washington Carver in 1947 comic book of greats
Posted in Black history, and Ephemera/Paper/Documents
When I saw the title and cover of the yellowed comic book, I didn’t expect it to be thorough. “Highlights From the Lives of 48 Famous Americans,” it blared. Along two sides with an illustration…