Uncovering Our History Through The Relics Left Behind
Posted in Military, Music, and Uncategorized
When I saw the organ on the auction-house website, I knew I had to see it. I’m one of those folks who’ve taken piano lessons ad-nauseum and still can’t play. So, when I see anything…
Posted in collectibles, Music, and Toys
First, I tried to get the boxy contraption to play, and then the auction-house staffer, who was just as curious as me about this instrument, tried it. As we watched the paper roll round a…
I was cataloguing some old 78 rpm records, including too-many copies of Frank Sinatra’s “White Christmas/Jingle Bells,” when I came across a name and label I did not recognize. The singer was Ruth Wallis on…
Another box of photos had arrived at the auction house. Like the others, they were in a flat box that also contained documents pertaining to African Americans. The photo on top of the batch was a sepia studio…
It’s a memory that we all share. That first – and subsequent – 45 rpm that we couldn’t wait to buy and then listen to over and over again. Those were the days when buying…
Posted in collectibles, Home, Music, and Radio
My auctioneer friend Rodney looked out over the sea of furniture and saw what I had already seen. “There are a lot of good ones out there,” he said. We were both admiring a collection…
Posted in Auction, Broadway plays, and Music
When I finally walked into the basement of Maynard Bertolet’s stone house, I should have felt claustrophobic, but I didn’t. Before me were thousands of vinyl pop and classical albums he had collected over more…
Posted in Music, Performers, and Photos
The wonderful photos kept coming. For several weeks, black and white photos with a mix of people, events and celebrations turned up on the auction table. An auction-house staffer told me that a dealer brought them…
Posted in Music, and Performers
I didn’t recognize the singer in the stack of photos among many others in a half-cut cardboard box on the auction table. She seemed to be bellowing out some song with all her heart, and…
Posted in Architecture/Buildings, Black history, and Music
The words in black lettering stood out very clearly among the other papers, documents and posters on the auction table. “Mr. Berry Gordy’s Office.” They were printed beneath architectural drawings of an office space created…
