Uncovering Our History Through The Relics Left Behind
Posted in Art, and Ephemera/Paper/Documents
The engraving was an obvious mess. It had dark water stains in the upper left corner and at the bottom. The sides were nicked and a dark line cut right through the center. The paper…
Who buys globes anymore, I wondered as I stood near one, waiting for some items to come up for auction. This was a floor-model, with a wooden leg and 12-inch ball. With time on my…
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Movies
Anyone who’s a movie fan instantly recognizes the image of Humphrey Bogart. See a trench coat and you think “The Big Sleep.” See an old rickety boat and “The African Queen” materializes. Think of an…
I found one! I found one! I found one! I felt like shouting to the rafters when I came across a reproduction of a Cream of Wheat ad from 1919 at auction with a little…
I know very little about stamps, and when they come up for auction I usually look the other way. Collecting them seems so complicated and insular. Those folks have a language, culture and knowledge base that’s…
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and food
I did a double-take when I saw the stack of coupons on a tray in a glass case at the auction house. No, I thought to myself, they couldn’t be auctioning old product coupons. But…
After a preview recently, my auction buddy Janet and I stopped by a diner that has the best Belgian waffles. Toasty and light, without the need for strawberries, whipped cream or any other topping. As we…
Posted in Black history, and Ephemera/Paper/Documents
When I first saw the bright yellow book with the red band and white lettering, I knew I had to check. Its title shouted out its contents loud and clear, so I was wondering if…
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Photos
The photos in the album were stunning, not only in their execution but in the stories they told. These photos offered a slice of life at Nazareth College in the mid-1930s: A 1935 commencement of women…
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents
How could I resist the questions, which obviously were playing to my vanity? “Are you photogenic?” “What would you look like on television?” As soon as I read the words on the small cardboard box I knew…
