Uncovering Our History Through The Relics Left Behind
Posted in Black history, history, and Work
The history of black folks in America can be so elusive. Every now and then, I come across an item at auction that seems to have no connection to black history and with a little…
Posted in Advertising, Businesses, history, and Signs
When I saw the broom holder with the attached Bond Bread metal sign, I knew I had found what I was looking for. The wooden holder was exactly what I needed to store the vintage…
Posted in Black history, history, and Music
When I first saw the phonograph records, I was drawn to the illustrations. All were brightly colored and painted into the surface – unlike the black vinyl I was used to seeing with a circular…
I was flipping through a stack of photos at auction recently and found two that caused me to pause. Both were black and whites of two separate groups of black men who were Masons. They…
Posted in collectibles, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, history, and Native Americans
When I see items at auction about Native Americans, I’m drawn to them as much as I am to those pertaining to African Americans. We both share a history in this country that has not…
Posted in Black history, history, Photos, and Women
The black and white photos were part of a stack in a low-cut cardboard box in a glass case at the auction house. I pick up early photos like these from time to time, and…
Posted in Black history, Books, and history
At auction some years ago, I stumbled across a worn, beaten-down and scruffy book whose title faintly included the word “Negroes.” Opening it, I saw that it was children’s book titled “The First Book of…
Posted in Art, Black history, Civil War, history, and Military
What this flag must have seen! It started out as a piece of silk cloth in Philadelphia, painted by David Bustill Bowser with an emblem of a black Union soldier waving goodbye to a white woman…
First, I saw the beige quilt with the red and tan pattern. It was much lovelier than most quilts I’d seen at auction. It was folded on top of furniture at the auction house and surprisingly, no…
