The ticket stub was among a box lot of items I had bought at auction. It was for the “Exposition Universelle de 1900,” the Paris International Exposition of 1900. Printed on the front of the…
Category: Ephemera/Paper/Documents
Are you feeling down, emotionless, lacking ambition and self-confidence? Well, have I got the cure for you! Tucked inside a box lot I got at auction this week was a small ziplock bag with a…
Sometimes the smallest things can say so much. A nod, a note, a gift. They can also contain a mystery, taunting us to solve them. One such mystery captivated me at auction this week. I had…
Do you remember Rickie Tickie Stickies? I didn’t when I first found a bunch of them in packages while inspecting a box lot from auction a couple weeks ago. I was going to toss them until…
Searching for J.N. Wilson’s stereoview cards
Posted in Black history, collectibles, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Photos
I got an email recently from a great-granddaughter of Savannah photographer J.N. (Jerome Nelson) Wilson, whose stereoview card of two black boys from the 19th century has been the subject of recent news stories. Tina Wilson…
Black images and America’s shameful past
Posted in civil rights movement, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Photos
The images spoke their own evilness. Paul Robeson – one of the smartest and most talented men in the world – toting a bale of cotton, staggering out of a bar singing “Ol’ Man River”…
Don’t tear apart old books for the bird prints
Posted in Books, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Uncategorized
For me, books are sacred. You don’t tear out the pages or write on them or mar them in any way. That’s a no-no. Imagine my horror when I came across sets of pages torn from…
Buzz is still on story of ‘rare’ slave photo
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, Photos, and slavery
Last week, questions were raised about what was described as a “rare” photo of two slave boys and the identity of the photographer who captured them. I wrote about the photo, too, out of curiosity. I’m an…
Licking and gluing S&H Green Stamps
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Home
I came across some books of S&H Green Stamps recently while combing through a box lot from an auction. They were inside an old Eckerd’s drugstore paper bag, the word “Stamps” neatly written across the…
We all save them – the newspapers and magazines chronicling historical events in the country. Sept. 11, 2001. World War II and other wars. The assassinations of the Kennedys and Dr. King. The first moon walk…