I get a lot of requests from readers about the value of their matchbook covers. Please read my blog post about how to determine what you have and the market value. There was a…
Category: Ephemera/Paper/Documents
As soon as I saw the tattered edges of the pages spilling from the old scrapbook, I knew instantly what it was. Not photos, but other mementos of someone’s life. We all have them –…
When I came upon the handful of books on the auction table, I wasn’t sure what they were. Then I saw the title: War Ration Book 4. And then I saw Book 3 and several…
The paper sign stood out like the proverbial sore thumb there on a middle rack at the auction house. Once, I’m sure, it was a hoot, but it felt like an anachronism now. Its calculations…
I’d had the program for months, so long that I didn’t even remember when I had bought it at auction. It was likely among some documents in a box lot and, upon finding it once I…
There was a time when I sewed some of my own clothes. It worked out well, especially because I could make slacks that reached beyond my ankles – no more high-water pants – and didn’t…
When I saw the album cover on the auction table, it brought back some long-forgotten memories: The Wagon Wheel, a small nightclub at the end of a long moonlit country road in the heart of…
Christmas cards not from the heart
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Military
Last week, I sent out my usual batch of Christmas cards with the sweet little expressions of joy and cheer. This year, I chose cards with Merry Christmas and Happy New Year on the front…
I was standing around waiting for some items to come up at auction when I spotted a stack of magazines on a table. They were vintage copies of Look magazine from the 1940s and 1960s,…
From Brownie books to black children’s magazine
Posted in Black history, Books, and Ephemera/Paper/Documents
When I first saw the books and their titles in the glass case at the auction house, my first thought was of cameras. The images on the covers, though, were of strange little characters with…