Uncovering Our History Through The Relics Left Behind
Posted in Black history, Clothing, and Style
Fashion shows have always been a mainstay in the African American community. Even now, they are still being held as fundraisers for sororities, clubs, churches and other organizations. At auction a few years ago, I…
The tools looked like any others you’d see in a vintage kitchen: rolling pins, hand mixers, ceramic mixing bowls, sad irons, meat grinders. But one thing stood out about them. Most were one-third the size…
Posted in Beauty Products, furniture, and Style
At auction, I’ve stumbled across vintage hair dryers, straightening combs, curling irons, and even plastic curlers for a doll’s hair. Blow dryers, too, end up on the tables from time to time. But at auction over…
Posted in Black history, Clothing, Photos, Postcards, and Style
In the auction catalog, the description of the postcards sounded a lot like “Crowns,” a book of photographs about black women and their love affair with hats: “Group of 275 real photo post cards of African…
I didn’t go to auctioneer school, but I’m beginning to wonder if there’s a class with the title “Hyperbole, Or How to Over-Exaggerate at Auction.” I was at an auction this week where the auctioneer…
Posted in Style
The sandy-colored braid and hair piece on the auction table seemed like an anachronism. It was in its original box and on the inside top was written: Mdme. Pauline Kohlerman Manufacturer & Importer of Human…
My earliest recollection of using a hair dryer was in college. I have this image of myself and other women sitting in a long room with the plastic hoods on our heads, waiting patiently and…
Posted in Style
“Your hair has a lot of tiny curls,” the reporter said to me. Her name was Rosemary and she was a white colleague at the paper where I worked in Tampa, Fla., some years ago.…
