The note was written in a neat clear script. I couldn’t see the exact words from where I stood across the table at the auction house, but I was hoping it was a personal message.…
Author: sherry
Vintage radios in the form of lovely furniture
Posted in collectibles, Home, Music, and Radio
My auctioneer friend Rodney looked out over the sea of furniture and saw what I had already seen. “There are a lot of good ones out there,” he said. We were both admiring a collection…
Tuskegee Airmen 1943 “Buy War Bonds” poster
Posted in Black history, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, history, and Military
When the United States needed lots of cash to fund its role in World War II, it turned to its citizens to buy war bonds. Using propaganda posters, the country played on their patriotism, asking…
Cracker Jack prizes and childhood nostalgia
Posted in collectibles, Personal items, and Toys
The sign on the open flat box clearly identified the tiny metal items, but plenty of us auction-goers knew instantly what they were. “Vintage Cracker Jack Prizes,” the sign stated. Who among us Baby Boomers…
The wooden eagles had been placed almost in our paths, but to the right and up a step. The pair of massively oversized birds were certainly a show-stopper, even if one was missing the tip of its…
The red crosses on the poster were so fiery that I could almost feel the heat. The Red Cross emblems were emblazoned on waving flags with multicolored billowing clouds behind them. In the left corner, I saw the name…
One collector’s love affair with novelty cigarette lighters
Posted in collectibles, Military, and Personal items
It was a collection that bespoke of a different time when just about everyone lit up. This collector had pulled together novelty lighters in an abundance of shapes. I’ve been going to auctions for so long…
First, I saw the beautiful hutch with burgundy glass tile emblazoned with two emblems, and then its beige freckled marble top. Just around the corner was an oval table with a white marble top on…
As soon as I saw the title “Four and Twenty Blackbirds,” the little ditty started playing in my head: “Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye, Four and twenty blackbirds Baked in…