My friend Ella knows how she wants to be buried. She’s put to writing the songs to be sung, the funeral home to prepare her body and the place to bury it. She’s even written…
Category: Ephemera/Paper/Documents
Each Friday, I answer readers’ questions about items they own, helping them with the research on the history and directing them to resources to determine value. This week I’m focusing on one question – about…
I don’t know Frederick Holland Jr., have never met him. But I have a lime-green case with papers and photos from his years serving in the U.S. Army in the 1940s, enrolled in a beauty school, hanging out…
A lovely old tin of Catholic holy cards
Posted in collectibles, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Religion
I didn’t think much of it when my auction pal Rebecca mentioned that she’d seen some Catholic holy cards in a box lot at the auction house. I see cards, rosaries, tiny crosses and other…
Circus heroes on Dixie Cup ice cream lids
Posted in Businesses, collectibles, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, food, Performers, and Radio
When I saw the round paper discs lying in a box on the auction table, I was certain they were the lids for old milk bottles. Those glass bottles were delivered at homes before I was…
Readers ask about matchbooks & Booker T. Washington
Posted in Books, collectibles, and Ephemera/Paper/Documents
I get a lot of requests from readers about how much their matchbook covers are worth. This blog post offers suggestions on how to determine what you have and the market value. Each Friday, I answer readers’ questions…
My auction pal Rebecca is on the lookout for a box of Wheaties with Gabrielle Douglas on the front. She’s been looking for it since the summer when she heard that the face of the African American Olympic…
1950s photos of cops, artist, black boys
Posted in Art, Children, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Photos
The flat box was lying practically in the middle of a wide table of throw-away items at the auction house. So I had to stretch my arms pretty far over to retrieve it, and I…