Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do…
Author: sherry
“There’s David Driskell.” Alvin Lester was sitting about two chairs away from me and could see around the thick post that was blocking my view. Lester is an art consultant from Richmond, VA, whom my…
Sometimes when I’m walking through an auction house, especially among the furniture, I notice the details that make certain pieces stand out. The unusual feet and arms of a chair, the supports on a table,…
Readers ask about Marilyn Monroe plate & ice cream maker
Posted in collectibles, Home, Movies, and Performers
Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do…
I was nearing the end of the catalog for the sale of African American manuscripts when I turned the page and read the entry: “(RELIGION.) SHARPTON, REV. AL.” I immediately looked at the black and…
First look at copy of Negro Motorist Green Book
Posted in Books, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and travel
The book looked much smaller than I had imagined. I guess I was expecting something with more volume and heft, given its enormous importance in the lives of African American travelers during the 1930s-1960s. The…
Patent date isn’t exactly the year an item was made
Posted in Equipment, history, and Reader questions
Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. From time to time, I get emails from readers mistakenly assuming…
The first thing I saw as I walked into the church community center was a huge wall with multicolored images featuring a man’s brown face surrounded by puzzle pieces that appeared both cacophonous and distinct. As…
The inherent humor in a pair of clown shoes
Posted in Clothing, and Personal items
The oversized shoes in the checkerboard pattern stood out like the proverbial sore thumb among the drab human foot-sized shoes. The toe was as large and round as the moon, and the heel a slender…
Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do…