I was pulling three bucks out of my wallet to leave a tip for the waitress when I saw the $1 bill. Someone had stamped a message in red on the front of it. I was…
Author: sherry
Antique kitchen and household tools have a style to them. The tools I use today in my own kitchen are pretty simple and utilitarian, and no one would mistake their design for art. They were made…
Signed Robb Armstrong ‘JumpStart’ comic strip
Posted in Art, Black history, and Comic books
We all watched raptly and in awe as cartoonist Robb Armstrong drew the famous husband and wife duo and their children from his newspaper comic-strip “JumpStart.” This occurred about 12 years ago, when my organization…
A few weeks ago, I took a bus trip to New York to see James Earl Jones play a crotchety elderly man and Cicely Tyson an enduring woman in the Broadway production of “The Gin…
Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value – and sometimes the origin – of their items. Today’s question is about the…
Mr. Peanut costume leads to African American comic illustrator
Posted in Advertising, Art, Black history, and Comic books
I watched as the man picked up the stiff Mr. Peanut costume from a table in the back lot of the auction house and tried it on for his friends. It was one of those…
When rural mail was delivered by sleigh in snowy places
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Vehicles
I grew up in a rural area in Georgia, and each day the mailman would drive his car up close to the tin mail box on a wooden pole, lean across his seat, open the little door…
I’ve seen many of this type of household product at auction but in a much smaller version. Most had wooden boxes with a turn handle, but the purpose was the same. They helped to make meals…
I found the bronze-looking statue of the boy on a table near a wall among furniture and other items prior to a special sale at the auction house. It took a while to find him,…