I always imagined having a locomotive and its cars rumbling around the tracks in my basement. It didn’t matter that for much of my life I never had a basement for such a setup, but I’d…
A secret love for model trains
Posted in collectibles, and Toys
Category: Toys
A slot machine of your very own
Posted in collectibles, Games, and Toys
The buyer was one of the auction-house’s regulars, so I eased my way over to him, curious about why he bought this old metal monstrosity of a slot machine. “I have three at home,” he…
I was wasting some time at auction recently, picking up items I had looked past on my first walk-through among the tables at the auction house. I was examining a group of items when I…
I was flipping through some GE Show ‘N Tell records and filmstrips from 1964 that I got at auction, putting aside the Disneys and fairy tales and cartoons. Then I started seeing some serious stuff: Indian…
Playing around with doll furniture
Posted in collectibles, Dolls, and Toys
The woman peered into the little white paper bag, not sure of what she’d find inside. “Is this doll furniture?” she asked. Yes, it is. She then picked up the bag and began taking out…
Toy trains and Pullman porters
Posted in Black history, civil rights movement, and Toys
For some reason I can’t figure, I love model trains. So, when I saw tables of them at auction a week ago – Lionels, Tyco and other brands in original boxes, and some with no…
Leo Moss, black doll-maker from the 1900s
Posted in collectibles, and Toys
I was bathed in the black doll culture last weekend. I was shadowing doll-enthusiast Fern Gillespie at the 21st International Black Doll Show and Sale in Philadelphia as she visited and scouted doll-makers for a…
Listening to the sounds of noisemakers
Posted in Toys
My auction buddy Janet seems to like noisemakers. She’s always picking up a few here and there at auctions. Usually, she chooses the tin toys with black images on them. Clackers, clippers and clappers, that’s what they’re sometimes…
Charles Harrison & the View-Master
Posted in Toys
I’m sure there are a lot of people who remember their View-Masters. Dropping the round flat reel of the Grand Canyon or Cinderella into the viewer’s slot, and clicking the little plastic lever to turn…