How can you read this? the auction-goer said incredulously. He was being nosy, trying to read the notes I had written as I made my way through the auction house. I always jot down notes…
Category: Ephemera/Paper/Documents
Don’t throw away your family’s history
Posted in Black history, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Photos
Dr. Diane Turner held up a small photo album containing the documents of an African American soldier who had served in World War I. She had found and bought it on eBay, and she was astounded.…
Cream of Wheat ad with black chef
Posted in Art, Black history, collectibles, and Ephemera/Paper/Documents
I had noticed the Cream of Wheat ad but had not really noticed it. You know, the way you see something out of the corner of your eye but you move on rather than stopping…
I got an email yesterday on the day of the country’s rejoicing over Osama Bin Laden’s demise from a man who had a newspaper with news of the killing. He was thinking strategically: “I have the…
I didn’t know Hazel Allen, but from the scrapbooks, photo albums and magazines lying on tables at the auction house, I could tell that she saw the value of saving history. My first introduction to…
I’ve been to many auctions where the simplest of African American ephemera has been snapped up by dealers. But I was not prepared for the prices on such items at a recent manuscript auction. When did our…
Elvis Presley memorabilia
Posted in collectibles, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Records
Sometimes at auction, I’ll buy a box lot of stuff without even having checked it out. Usually, there’s something neat tucked down in the bottom, maybe of little valuable but interesting anyway. That happened a…
Note left on a refrigerator
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Kitchen
I was browsing the back room at the auction house, looking for nothing in particular. I scanned the titles on the spines of some books packed haphazardly into boxes. I glanced at some reproduction prints lying against…
I keep bumping into Frank Sinatra through my auctions finds. His name has turned up several times as I researched a person or an object rooted in African American history. Sure, I was familiar with Sinatra’s…
Sports isn’t exactly my forte. So when I see sports-related items at auction, I usually breeze right past them (unless they’re from the Negro Leagues). I had done just that at an a new auction…