Three images of William Francis Sutton stared out from the FBI wanted poster, and some auction-goer had already left a bid on it. This criminal was better known as Willie Sutton – a notorious bank…
Author: sherry
Several years ago, on a whim, I bought a pair of screw-back earrings with butterscotch stones. The auctioneer was trying mightily to sell them – they’re sterling, he mentioned – and no one wanted to…
The craftsmanship of the two wooden cylinders caught my eye first. I wasn’t sure what they were, but they looked to be both hand-made and well-made. They’re duck calls, the auction-house staffer said, and I…
WWII women pilots on a deck of playing cards
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, history, Military, and Women
The women looked cool striding purposely to some unknown place in their leather bomber jackets, full-legged pants and thick boots. Their backdrop was a World War II plane with an imprinted name of which I…
Elvis & Lone Ranger on TV-shaped lapel pins
Posted in Advertising, Personal items, and TV
I’d seen cereal-box premiums that were the rage during the early years of TV advertising. These were aimed at children, enticing and coaxing them to get their mothers to buy cereal so the kid could…
Niagara Falls novelty moccasins you could send through mail
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, history, and Personal items
The tiny moccasins were both cute and crude, but I was drawn to them by the bright yellow tag hanging off them. The moccasins had been mailed unwrapped to a woman in Delaware, and I found…
The mottled and dirty metal box was shut when I approached it at the auction house, but I noticed the words “Fragile” and “Eggs” on the soiled lid. The top also held an address label and two…
Survival kits no remedy for headaches caused by ’64 Mississippi activists
Posted in Black history, civil rights movement, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Politics
At first, all I could see inside the box were packets with a black outline of a city’s skyline. So I was obviously curious about what was in them. I pulled one of the packets…
At some point, I’m sure, the little girl’s clothes had been neatly folded and lovingly placed in the suitcase. But by the time I came upon them at auction, too many hands had unfolded and…
The room was packed as tight as a group of defensive linemen laid out on top of a quarterback. It had taken the auction-house staff days to set up the seemingly endless tables of still-in-their-box…