As I sat in the theater, I tried to summon their excitement and anxiety. It wasn’t often that they could sit anywhere they wanted in a Broadway theater, much less watch black performers sing and…
Author: sherry
I love these types of antique items and tend to gravitate toward them at auction. I’m drawn to their construction and the etchings in their small glass windows. Most of these etchings – which always seem to be…
I was only a few feet away from my car in the parking lot of the auction house when Joe, another auction-goer, asked me over to look at some books he had bought at an…
Dainty hankies are reminiscent of a different woman
Posted in Clothing, collectibles, and Personal items
My Big Mama Annie Lee never went to church without white gloves and a white handkerchief. I especially remember her gloves folded over her left hand and on her right arm, the pocketbook where she kept her handkerchief. In…
I was first drawn to the polished wooden patina of the item on the auction table. It looked to be vintage with very little wear from age and use. I wasn’t sure what it was, though,…
I had seen the mural before as I drove down Parkside Avenue in Philadelphia, where one block held the once-stately old mansions of some of the city’s elite and middle class. I was driving down…
Panther Bobby Seale fires them up at black history showcase
Posted in Black history, and Ephemera/Paper/Documents
Bobby Seale looked at me stonily, wearily. He had spoken for an hour on the founding of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in 1966, and then had spent another 60 minutes signing his 1996…
Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them identify their items or determine their value. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can…
The four cardboard boxes were so small that they almost disappeared among the large items on the auction table. You had to squint to read the writing on them, but I knew what they were…
A boxy cash register to keep employees honest
Posted in Antiques, Businesses, and Equipment
The wooden box had seen better days. Someone had ruined its beautiful natural wood by painting it white, and now the aged paint was peeling in spots and the brass plate on top was tarnished.…