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# Auction Finds

Uncovering Our History Through The Relics Left Behind

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://myauctionfinds.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Promoting and selling the art of Earl Wilkie](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/03/30/promoting-and-selling-the-art-of-earle-wilkie/) - It’s been a couple months since David Raine started marketing the artwork of his father, Philadelphia artist Earl Wilkie. He checked in recently to tell me how it was going.
- [Sale of artist Earl Wilkie's works](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/09/29/sale-of-artist-earl-wilkies-works/) - Several works of art by artist Earl A.T. Wilkie and pieces from his collection were auctioned off this week. All of the pieces were sold.
- [American Red Cross Clubs for blacks in WWII Paris](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/02/18/american-red-cross-clubs-for-blacks-in-wwii-paris/) - The map of Paris with the red cross was innocent enough. I didn’t think much about it as I unfolded it to take a closer look. Then I saw that it listed the location of two Red Cross clubs for African American soldiers in 1945.
- [Reader praises artist Selma Burke, asks about James Sword](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/08/30/reader-praises-artist-selma-burke-asks-about-james-sword/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s question is from a reader who was a student of African American artist Selma Burke and is a great-great grandchild of artist James Brade Sword.
- [Bouillon cup – too big for tea, too small for hearty soup](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/12/29/bouillon-cup-too-big-for-tea-too-small-for-hearty-soup/) - I was more curious about the two handles on the cup than the pattern. What was it? It wasn’t a teacup because it was too large, and it seemed much too small to be a soup bowl. The pattern was beautiful, and the bottom bore the maker's name: Theodore Haviland. I learned that this was a bouillon cup.
- [Emilio Casarotto - artist behind buxomy female figurines](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/03/13/emilio-casarotto-artist-behind-buxomy-female-figurines/) - Friday is normally the day I answer reader’s questions. But today I have an answer to a question I asked in a blog post a couple years ago. I wanted to know the name of the artist who had created some heavy-set figurines featuring black women. Recently, two readers identified him as Emilio Casarotto.
- [Inside boxing's fabled old Blue Horizon](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/08/09/inside-boxings-fabled-old-blue-horizon/) - Are there ghosts in here? The words shot from my brain straight through my mouth without warning. I was standing in the lobby of the Legendary Blue Horizon boxing venue in Philadelphia at the beginning of an impromptu tour conducted by former owner Vernoca Michael.
- [Almost missed: A Samuel J. Brown painting](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/04/27/almost-missed-a-samuel-j-brown-painting/) - I was sitting at auction reading an antiques newspaper when I looked up to see a painting up for bid. It was a stylized image of a Madonna and child by artist Samuel J. Brown.
- [I can’t get away from “Alice in Wonderland”](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/06/04/i-can’t-get-away-from-“alice-in-wonderland”/) - Lewis Carroll’s book “Alice in Wonderland” keeps sneaking up on me. I've found two editions of it hiding among books and small items I've picked up in box lots at auctions over the past few months.
- [Art teacher Bessie Ruth Bridges imprints a generation](https://myauctionfinds.com/2021/09/10/art-teacher-bessie-ruth-bridges-imprints-a-generation/)
- [Freda Reiter’s sketches of 1958 murder trial](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/06/14/freda-reiters-sketches-of-1958-murder-trial/) - It must have been one horrific murder perpetrated that July 4, 1958, on the tony Main Line in the Philadelphia suburbs. And people could read all about it in their morning paper and see sketches drawn by Freda L. Reiter of the wife's trial in the slaying of her husband.
- [The life sounds of soul music](https://myauctionfinds.com/2009/10/19/the-life-sounds-of-soul-music/) - Actor Colman Domingo uses the soul music from his past to re-create his life in the play "A Boy and His Soul." Old record albums come up often at auctions.
- [An unusual presence of blacks at Union League](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/02/23/an-unusual-presence-of-blacks-at-union-league/) - It was a room full of black folks at the Union League of Philadelphia with, I’m sure, one collective thought: These white men looking down on us from their gold-framed pictures must be turning over in their graves. Before them sat a room full of the city's African American elite.
- [Watercolors by an artist named Dawson](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/03/05/watercolors-by-an-artist-named-dawson/) - The watercolors were quite lovely, that was my first thought as I saw them hanging on a wall at the auction house. They were painted by an artist named Dawson. I didn't recognize the name but I wanted to know more about the person who had created such beautiful work.
- [A shy unassuming artist named Kermit Oliver](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/04/08/a-shy-unassuming-artist-named-kermit-oliver/) - The painting showed a lone black man in a pastoral scene emboldened with brilliant tones of caramel colors. I ventured closer to it, eager to find out who had created such a powerful image. I found his name in the auction catalog: Kermit Oliver, a Texas artist who shunned publicity.
- [Skip Pitts and his magic guitar](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/05/09/skip-pitts-and-his-magic-guitar/) - The auction house was holding its first Quality Sale of items expected to bring bigger prices. The only things that interested me were some guitars because they piqued a memory: A week ago, a radio announcer had said that a guitarist named Skip Pitts had died.
- [A mesmerizing old Ford truck & the highway it calls home](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/07/18/a-mesmerizing-old-ford-truck-the-highway-it-calls-home/) - To me, it was a no-name highway, a stretch of lonely road that held something I found fascinating: an old Ford truck partially hidden under a shelter attached to a weather-beaten barn. To folks in this part of central Georgia, Highway 96 is just as important as any of the country’s legendary roadways.
- [Searching for a 1960s black Patti Playpal doll](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/11/19/searching-for-a-1960s-black-patti-playpal-doll/) - The woman walked directly to the dolls I had displayed on a table near the back of my booth at the indoor flea market. She was looking for a black Patti Playpal doll like one she had as a child in the 1960s,she told me.
- [A painting by artist Henry Bozeman Jones](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/03/09/a-painting-by-african-american-artist-henry-bozeman-jones/) - The two sisters had waited for hours for one particular painting at auction. A landscape by Henry Bozeman Jones, whom they knew as Uncle Henry. They wanted to buy it but were outbidded.
- [Reba Dickerson-Hill masters art and life](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/05/09/reba-dickerson-hill-masters-art-and-life/)
- [Missing my chance to interview artist Leroy Johnson](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/08/11/missing-my-chance-to-interview-artist-leroy-johnson/)
- [Chief Joseph in a stack of Native American photos](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/04/08/chief-joseph-in-a-stack-of-native-american-photos/) - The first photo among the black and whites showed the proud stoic face of a Native American man. He wore two long braids on either side of his head, a pompadour framing his forehead, eyes staring to the left. He was Chief Joseph, a famous Native American leader of the Nez Perce War of 1877.
- [James House Jr. sculpture from ’39 World’s Fair](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/07/06/james-house-jr-sculpture-from-’39-world’s-fair/) - The wooden sculpture was taller than me, and thicker. The wood was dark, heavy, rough to the touch. It stood in a corner just beyond a wide door that led to another room in the auction house. It was signed John House Jr. 1935.
- [Reader asks about works by sculptor James House Jr.](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/09/28/reader-asks-about-works-by-sculptor-james-house-jr/) - About a year ago, I wrote a blog post about a sculpture that was displayed at the 1939 New York World’s Fair by artist and caricaturist James House Jr. A reader recently wrote me about two pieces of House’s sculptures that he owned.
- [Susan F. Cobin’s wonderland of art and whimsy](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/05/26/susan-f-cobins-wonderland-of-art-and-whimsy/)
- [A wondrous time at book-club talk](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/05/21/a-wondrous-time-at-book-club-talk/)
- [Second time around for Robert Cromartie painting](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/10/21/second-time-around-for-robert-cromartie-painting/) - As soon as I saw the woman in the painting, I recognized her. Her portrait had been auctioned some years before with another painting of a black soldier with attitude. I didn’t buy either because the bids were too high for works by a local unknown artist. Now one of them was back. Would I get lucky this time?
- [Hammond organs offer key to jazzman Luther Randolph](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/03/25/hammond-organs-offer-key-to-jazzman-luther-randolph/)
- [Augusta Savage in French](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/12/08/augusta-savage-in-french/) - I have a special interest in the 1939 New York World's Fair because African American sculptor Augusta Savage created her piece "The Harp' for it. So, at auction when I came across a French magazine with photos from the fair I wondered if it was included.
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - March 1, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/03/01/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-march-1-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 28, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/28/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-28-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 25, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/25/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-27-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 27 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/27/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-25-2022/)
- [A book of Southern rhymes](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/11/09/a-book-of-southern-rhymes/) - It was a good day of ephemera at one of my favorite auction houses this week. And I found one thing that I had to have: a children's book of Southern rhymes, songs and folklore from 1899.
- [Vintage human hair pieces](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/01/14/vintage-human-hair-for-the-head/) - At auction this week, I came across vintage human hair pieces from a Mdme. Kohlerman in Baltimore. It got me to thinking about where we get wigs and pieces today.
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 21, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/21/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-20-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 20, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/20/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-21-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 16, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/16/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-16-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 15, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/15/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-15-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 14, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/14/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-14-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 13, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/13/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-13-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 12, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/12/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-12-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 9, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/09/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-9-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 26, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/26/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-26-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 1, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/01/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-1-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 3, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/03/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-3-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 2, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/02/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 4, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/04/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-4-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 5, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/05/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-5-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 6, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/06/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-6-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 7, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/07/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-7-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 8, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/08/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-8-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 10, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/10/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-10-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 11, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/11/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-11-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 17, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/17/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-17-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 18, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/18/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-18-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 19, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/19/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-19-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 22, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/22/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-22-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 23, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/23/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-23-2022/)
- [28 Days (Plus 1) of Black History and Culture - Feb. 24, 2022](https://myauctionfinds.com/2022/02/24/28-days-plus-1-of-black-history-and-culture-feb-24-2022/)
- [A dream book of lottery numbers](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/03/30/a-dream-book-of-lottery-numbers/) - I was going through a box lot of items from Sunday’s auction when I came across an old softcover 1926 dream book of lottery numbers to play.
- [Black footprint in America came way before slavery](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/08/19/black-footprint-in-america-came-way-before-slavery/) - At auction some years ago, I stumbled across a worn book scruffy book whose title included the word “Negroes.” It was children’s book titled “The First Book of Negroes” and written by Langston Hughes in 1952. It told of the mighty history of black people in Africa and the footprints they left in America way before slavery.
- [Wringer washing machine leads to black female inventor](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/10/10/wringer-washing-machine-leads-to-black-female-inventor/) - While researching wringer washing machines, I came across an interesting bit of history: A black woman named Ellen F. Eglin invented a clothes wringer in the 1890s, but unfortunately didn't patent it.
- [Frank Sinatra and civil rights](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/02/09/frank-sinatra-and-civil-rights/) - I kept bumping into Frank Sinatra through auctions. His name turned up several times while I was researching a person or an object rooted in African American history.
- [Man & woman anti-slavery tokens](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/08/11/man-woman-anti-slavery-tokens/) - As soon as I saw the metal token on the auction house website, I recognized it. It held an image of a woman on one knee, her hands chained and raised heavenward, asking for a freedom that was denied her.
- [Shindana – black dolls with their own identity](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/06/13/shindana-black-doll-with-her-own-identity/) - had seen the big box of dolls several times at the auction house and had rifled through it a few times. I was looking but not seeing. Finally, I took the time to examine the dolls and found a black baby doll with the inscription Shindana.
- [Toy trains and Pullman porters](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/08/04/toy-trains-and-pullman-porters/) - While I was perusing the tables at auction recently, I was stopped by a familiar name on some trains: Pullman. I immediately thought about the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.
- [Mourning ring with photo of African American woman](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/11/30/mourning-ring-with-photo-of-african-american-woman/) - I wasn’t paying too much attention to Rick the auctioneer as he peered at a ring in his hand. He saw something on the ring that I had missed when I checked the jewelry carousel, and announced that it was an African American mourning ring as he walked it over for me to see.
- [Charles Harrison & the View-Master](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/01/22/charles-harrison-the-view-master/) - I come across View-Masters often at auction, and I've bought some. But I didn't know that a black man, Charles Harrison, had a hand in a redesign until recently.
- [Black images and America’s shameful past](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/06/25/black-images-and-america’s-shameful-past/) - The role of visual culture in shaping black Americans' struggle for civil rights is now on display at the International Center of Photography in New York. It also shows how blacks used it to create their own positive images.
- ['60s voting poster reminds us of sacrifices](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/06/10/60s-voting-poster-reminds-us-of-sacrifices/) - The poster was folded in half, its aged back exposed and giving no hint of what ideas the other side held. I opened up the poster and saw that it was a reminder to African Americans to register and vote. It looked to be from the 1960s.
- [A black car-maker in the 1900s](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/02/26/a-black-car-maker-in-the-1900s/) - One of my greatest finds this week was a black car manufacturer from the 1900s. The vehicle was the Patterson-Greenfield car, the first and only of its kind.
- [Spike Lee, a railroad & other nuggets of black history](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/03/02/spike-lee-a-railroad-other-nuggets-of-black-history/) - I was looking through the catalog at the African American manuscript auction when Spike Lee came through the door. He had come to the Swann Auction Galleries sale of African American manuscripts and other memorabilia.
- [Vintage photos of a well-to-do black family](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/12/15/vintage-photos-of-a-well-to-do-black-family/) - Were my eyes deceiving me, I wondered as I glanced at the photos of middle class black people in a box on the auction table. These were not the types of photos I normally saw of us.
- [Tending her grandparents’ gravesite](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/06/20/tending-her-grandparents’-gravesite/) - We had driven past the headstone when my friend Valorie called out for me to back up the car. She was in quietly looking out back the window for the gray stone that marked the graves of her grandparents Lillyan and James Fassett.
- [Autographed photo of Nat King Cole](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/12/01/autographed-photo-of-nat-king-cole/) - It was like digging for buried treasure. The auctioneer had already passed the long row of boxes and pictures propped against an outside wall of the garage. Nobody wanted any of it, so he moved on. Buried in a plastic sleeve was an autographed photo of Nat King Cole.
- [Where black history gets a full life, not a month](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/02/24/where-black-history-gets-a-full-life-not-a-month/) - At an auction recently, I bought a box of documents and papers listed as mid-20th century African American items. Black history items show up from time to time at auction, not just in February during Black History Month. Here's a sampling of the contents of that box and the expansive history they hold and represent.
- [Ritual of the straightening comb](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/05/10/ritual-of-the-straightening-comb/) - As young black girls, we endured the pain as our mothers or older sisters straightened of our coarse hair to make it silky. I came across three straightening combs at auction recently that brought back memories.
- [Theodore Ward’s new breed of black theater before Tupac](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/06/30/theodore-wards-new-breed-of-black-theater-before-tupac/) - The new Broadway musical featuring the words of Tupac Shakur is a far cry from what New York theater is accustomed to seeing. Maybe that’s why so many seats were empty Sunday at the matinee of "Holler If Ya Hear Me." It can be tough to bring something different to Broadway, just as playwright Theodore Ward learned decades ago in his play "Our Lan'."
- [From Brownie books to black children’s magazine](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/12/09/from-brownies-books-to-black-children’s-magazine/) - When I first saw the books and their titles in the glass case at the auction house, my first thought was of cameras. The images on the covers, though, were of strange little characters with skinny legs. They were characters from a series of Brownies' books.
- [Ticket stub, postcard open door to black history](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/08/02/ticket-stub-postcard-open-door-to-black-history/) - I found a ticket stub for the World's Fair in Paris in 1900, and was intrigued. I was even more interested when I began my research and found an exhibit mounted there called "The Exhibit of American Negroes."
- [Doll leads to 1940s female photographers](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/03/04/doll-leads-to-1940s-female-photographers/) - I could barely read the maker’s name on the neck of the doll, and the dim overhead lights at the auction house weren’t giving up much brightness to aid me. But I finally made out the name: Constance Bannister, who I learned was famous for her photographs of babies in the 1940s and 1950s.
- [Taking another look at Turky Trott’s Christmas adventure](https://myauctionfinds.com/2021/12/17/taking-another-look-at-turky-trotts-christmas-adventure/)
- [Connecting with a 19th-century Black history & art collector](https://myauctionfinds.com/2021/04/01/connecting-with-a-19th-century-black-history-art-collector/)
- [Artist Frank J. Dillon as stained-glass designer](https://myauctionfinds.com/2021/11/29/artist-frank-j-dillon-as-stained-glass-designer/)
- [A land of dreams in the art of Benjamin Britt](https://myauctionfinds.com/2021/08/17/a-land-of-dreams-in-the-art-of-benjamin-britt/)
- [Frank J. Dillon, one of my “found” black artists](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/05/12/frank-j-dillon-one-of-my-“found”-black-artists/) - I was flipping through a list of artworks at one of my favorite auction houses when I came across the name Frank J. Dillon. He was listed as black but I had never heard of him.
- [Watch a video from my recent book signing](https://myauctionfinds.com/2021/10/21/watch-a-video-from-my-recent-book-signing/)
- [A lively book signing for "ART WITH HEART"](https://myauctionfinds.com/2021/09/27/a-lively-book-signing-for-art-with-heart/)
- [Authenticating a Black ancestor's history by joining the DAR](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/08/26/authenticating-a-black-ancestors-history-by-joining-the-dar/)
- [Readers wonder if J. MacDonald Henry artwork is original](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/07/08/readers-wonder-if-j-macdonald-henry-artwork-is-original/) - Friday at Auction Finds is a day I answer readers’ questions. Today’s questions are from two readers who want to know if their J. MacDonald Henry portraits are originals. Here’s how they can find out.
- [A Charles Bibb print & Samuel J. Brown painting](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/09/22/a-charles-bibb-print-samuel-j-brown-painting/) - I feel like I’m in the midst of a whirlwind of African American art. I keep bumping into familiar artists and their early works, discovering a different style of their works and meeting new artists. I bought a print by Charles Bibb at a ridiculously low price and loved a still life by Samuel J. Brown that was out of reach.
- [An art auction that, well, wasn’t](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/05/25/an-art-auction-that-well-wasn’t/) - I checked out an art auction over the weekend at one of the oldest African American art galleries in Philadelphia. I came across works I had not seen before by some familiar names.
- [Dox Thrash & his carborundum prints](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/05/29/dox-thrash-his-carborundum-prints/) - As soon as I saw the word on the label, I recognized the material. "Carborundum" was printed in large block letters on the cover of the box, and it conjured up the name of African American artist Dox Trash, who used it to create carborundum prints.
- [The ‘blossoming’ of artist Tom McKinney](https://myauctionfinds.com/2021/07/26/the-blossoming-of-artist-tom-mckinney/)
- [Neighborly faces in the works of artist Tom McKinney](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/06/29/neighborly-faces-in-the-works-of-artist-tom-mckinney/)
- [Roland Ayers exhibit at Philadelphia's Woodmere Art Museum](https://myauctionfinds.com/2021/07/19/roland-ayers-exhibit-at-philadelphias-woodmere-art-museum/)
- [WHYY interviews Sherry about her new book](https://myauctionfinds.com/2021/06/28/whyy-interviews-sherry-about-her-new-book/)
- [Help me identify the artist’s name on this lithograph](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/08/19/help-me-identify-the-artists-name-on-this-lithograph/) - I often stumble across artwork that speaks directly to me, and as a result, have built a neat little collection. I was at an auction recently when I saw a lithograph of a quartet. I loved it and immediately looked for the artist’s signature so I could find out more about him or her. The signature was illegible. Can you help me decipher it?
- [Browbeating at a luxury estate auction](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/11/12/browbeating-at-a-luxury-auction/) - The woman in the serigraph print was obviously an African queen. I could tell by her clothing, her head wrap, and her regal posture and direct stare. I was curious about who she was and who created the print. I learned that she was Queen Mtomi Twala of Swaziland and the artist was Andy Warhol.
- [A framer’s tear restored in the deft hands of conservator](https://myauctionfinds.com/2021/04/16/a-framers-tear-restored-in-the-deft-hands-of-conservator/)
- [How “rare” is the slave boys’ photo](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/06/14/how-“rare”-is-the-slave-boys’-photo/) - A story has been circulating over the past few days about a photo of two slave boys found during an estate sale in North Carolina. It's being called "rare," but there's are some questions about that.
- [A woodblock print by Tadashi Nakayama](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/05/24/a-woodblock-print-by-tadashi-nakayama/) - I had almost breezed past the print when its fiery colors forced me into a double-take. The splashes of reds and a bold spot of yellow popped against the black background and just about willed me to stop. It was a woodblock print by Tadashi Nakayama.
- [PBS’ ‘Market Warriors’ is one dumb show](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/07/31/pbs-market-warriors-is-one-dumb-show/) - My friends had been pushing me to watch the new PBS show "Market Warriors" since it began airing a couple weeks ago. Not because it was entertaining and they thought that perhaps I could learn something from it. It was because the show was so awful.
- [When blacks published their own gospel music](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/06/07/when-blacks-published-their-own-gospel-music/) - I thought you’d like those, the auction staffer said, a big smile on his face. He was feeling this motherlode of age-stained songbooks that lay on the table in front of me. I had just approached them and wasn’t sure what they contained.
- [Bold mosaics celebrate history of Phila. church and its city](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/03/25/bold-mosaics-celebrate-history-of-church-and-its-city/) - The first thing I saw as I walked into the church community center was a huge wall with multicolored images featuring a man’s brown face surrounded by puzzle pieces that appeared both cacophonous and distinct. As I looked around the room, I saw three other mosaics just as large and just as boisterous.
- [Selling a 116-year-old church & its memories](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/04/15/selling-a-116-year-old-church-its-memories-2/) - The church building was an anachronism, from its white shingled exterior to its red splintered and weather-beaten door. The First Baptist Church of Bridesburg in Philadelphia was built during a time when families walked out of their homes and strode right next door or two doors down the street to worship. Soon, it may be only a memory.
- [Reader seeks identity of a black bride doll](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/10/24/reader-seeks-identity-of-a-black-bride-doll/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about the identity of a black bride doll. I didn't recognize the doll, so I sought help from an expert on black dolls.
- [Reader asks about cartoonist & artist Lester Kern](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/09/06/reader-asks-about-cartoonist-artist-lester-kern/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s question is from a reader who came across some drawings by African American cartoonist and artist Lester Kern.
- [A book of lovely paintings by Brazilian artist Carybe](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/11/12/a-book-of-lovely-paintings-by-brazilian-artist-carybe/) - When I heard the auctioneer say the word "African," I instinctively looked up. He was holding a large book in his hand, unsteadily, as he flipped to a front page where I saw a bright yellow garment on a body with a dark face. It was a book of watercolor reproductions by a Bahian painter with a single name, Carybe.
- [I loved the black Ginny doll but not the price](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/04/11/i-loved-the-black-ginny-doll-but-not-the-price/) - From where I sat slightly behind her, I could see that the woman had crossed off most of the items on her "dolls I want" list. Her sheet looked much like mine as we watched one male bidder snatch up doll after doll at the auction.
- [It could be musical, but it looks medieval](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/10/06/it-may-be-musical-but-it-looks-medieval/) - "What do you think this is?" I asked the two men chatting across from me at the auction house. This" was a wide cylinder with rusty metal studs sticking out all around its body in some unrecognizable pattern.
- [Decorating with other people’s photos](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/02/24/decorating-with-other-peoples-photos/) - Why would anyone want a stranger’s photos? That was the question put to me on my Facebook page by a former colleague who’s now living in Charlotte, NC. He couldn’t fathom why anyone would want the photos of people they don’t know.
- [A wedding photographer who left a legacy of images](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/10/30/a-wedding-photographer-who-left-a-legacy-of-images/) - This is the story of an educator who apparently saw himself as much more than that. At auction recently, I came across tons of his photos and slides of brides in white, children at play in a school yard, a man in Central Park and him as a young soldier.
- [Collections that baffle me - swizzle sticks](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/07/29/collections-that-confound-me-swizzle-sticks/) - At auction recently, a large container of cocktail stirrers or swizzle sticks caught my eye. There must have been a hundred or more of them. Who collects swizzle sticks, I wondered.
- [Vintage Valentine's Day cards at auction](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/02/12/vintage-valentine-cards-at-auction/) - At auction a few weeks ago, I came across a box lot of vintage greeting cards. Most were Christmas cards, but among them were four lovely Valentine cards, some unusual.
- [The mystical talents of artist Otto Neals](https://myauctionfinds.com/2021/02/01/the-mystical-talents-of-artist-otto-neals/)
- [A country lithograph by Carlos Andreson](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/06/05/a-country-lithograph-by-carlos-andreson/) - The scene reminded me of Thomas Hart Benton. An old pickup truck sat parked at a railroad crossing as the driver engaged in a conversation with a man idling at his door. It was Benton's style, but this lithograph was signed by Carlos Andreson.
- [Who is this artist Helen S. Barth?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/04/05/who-is-this-artist-helen-s-barth/) - At auction recently were a scattering of watercolors by an artist whose name I recognized. I had bought her painting of a black boy selling paper bags on a street.
- [Theater Playbills & what they say about our tastes](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/11/04/theater-playbills-what-they-say-about-our-tastes/) - A few weeks ago, I took a trip to New York to see James Earl Jones and Cecily Tyson in the Broadway production of “The Gin Game.” I have a Playbill for the show and others. I also have a batch of similar ‘50s and ‘60s programs of local shows. My Playbills – just as the vintage ones - offer some insight into both tastes and times.
- [‘Trip to Bountiful’ & southern storytelling](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/07/29/trip-to-bountiful-southern-storytelling/) - When I saw "The Trip to Bountiful" back in 1985 with Geraldine Page, I found the movie plodding. Page’s portrayal of Carrie Watts was both sweet and sad, but I thought the play itself was as slow as molasses. When I heard that Cecily Tyson was in a new African American version of the play, I decided to try it again.
- [Martin Luther King Jr. as advice columnist](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/07/12/martin-luther-king-jr-as-advice-columnist/) - As we stood in her basement, the woman wanted to show me a photo of her family in an old copy of Ebony magazine underneath some papers. I had seen one Ebony and an early Life magazine on a table, but glancing at the dates I had bypassed them. Until I saw the ones dated 1957 and 1958.
- [Weathered primitive farmhouse benches](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/02/21/weathered-primitive-farmhouse-benches/) - The four weather-beaten wooden benches were placed prominently near the front among other disparate items, but close to the chairs so auction-goers could see them. I had missed them, though, because I was not in the market for seating.
- [Posters tell movie history of Mantan Moreland](https://myauctionfinds.com/2021/01/04/posters-tell-movie-history-of-mantan-moreland/)
- [NAACP Christmas Seals & the women behind them](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/02/05/naacp-christmas-seals-the-women-behind-them/) - I was thumbing through some papers and documents on African American history when I came across an unused sheet of Christmas stamps. In the center was a lighted torch and below it, the word "NAACP." It was a sheet of 1956 Christmas seals whose history, I found, was linked to two African American women.
- [Wouldn’t be Christmas without Santa & sleigh](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/12/18/wouldnt-be-christmas-without-santa-sleigh/)
- [Disassembling a Hess truck collection](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/01/11/disassembling-a-hess-truck-collection/) - Boxes and boxes of Hess trucks and more were up for sale recently at auction, and the male auction-goers snatched them up at bargain-basement prices.
- [Most times, finding a lucky old coin is elusive](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/11/25/most-times-finding-a-lucky-old-coin-is-elusive/)
- [Lovely antique coin purses](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/11/03/cute-antique-coin-purses/) - I was browsing at the auction house when I spotted two small items with high reliefs on the tops. I found out they were antique coin purses called Tam o' Shanters.
- [Painting by little-known Phila. artist Gladys Crampton](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/11/19/painting-by-little-known-phila-artist-gladys-crampton/)
- [Autumn drive ends at historic site of James Still, ‘Black Doctor of the Pines’](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/11/12/autumn-drive-ends-at-historic-site-of-james-still-black-doctor-of-the-pines/)
- [Famous Jacob Lawrence painting turns up on someone else’s wall](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/11/04/famous-jacob-lawrence-painting-turns-up-on-someone-elses-wall/)
- [An awful look for a Louis Vuitton trunk](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/10/23/an-awful-look-for-a-louis-vuitton-trunk/)
- [From the estate of Lena Horne](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/02/28/from-the-estate-of-lena-horne/) - The email asked only one question: "Did you get anything in the Doyle New York auction of Lena's estate last week?" I was surprised to learn that items from her estate had been auctioned off. And I wasn’t there.
- [Penchant for flowers shows in designs of Hubert Le Gall](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/10/16/penchant-for-flowers-shows-in-designs-of-hubert-le-gall/)
- [Trash can transformed into a thing of beauty in hands of Leo Sewell](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/10/08/trash-can-transformed-into-a-thing-of-beauty-in-hands-of-leo-sewell/)
- [“Black Lives Matter” signs from the creative to store-bought](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/10/01/black-lives-matter-signs-from-the-creative-to-store-bought/)
- [Children’s books illustrated by African American artist John Wilson](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/09/23/childrens-books-illustrated-by-african-american-artist-john-wilson/)
- [A love for black children's books](https://myauctionfinds.com/2009/09/22/a-love-affair-with-childrens-books/) - Giving black children some books with illustrations of children that look like them is a special gift.
- [Hip hop reaches crowning heights at Sotheby’s sale](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/09/17/hip-hop-reaches-crowning-heights-at-sothebys-sale/)
- [Artist Ann Tanksley – ‘My voice is in my painting’](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/09/09/artist-ann-tanksley-my-voice-is-in-my-painting/)
- [Early voting machine reminds us of gains that could be lost](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/09/03/early-voting-machine-reminds-us-of-gains-that-could-be-lost/)
- [Kenneth Slaughter & Wings Over Jordan](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/09/04/kenneth-slaughter-wings-over-jordan/) - They were in a different CBS studio each Sunday, this group of singers with some of the best voices in spiritual music. But Wings Over Jordan couldn’t just walk through the front door of hotels to the floor where the studio was waiting.
- [Frederick Douglass photo find](https://myauctionfinds.com/2009/11/06/frederick-douglass-photo-find/) - At auction, I came across a photo of Frederick Douglass taken by photographer Cornelius Battey, who became the official photograper for Tuskegee Institute.
- [My Southern Treat: Nu-Way hotdogs](https://myauctionfinds.com/2009/12/28/my-southern-treat-nu-way-hotdogs/) - I don’t remember when I fell in love with Nu-way hotdogs. But I do know that after I left my hometown of Macon, GA, I always dropped by when I went back to visit.
- [My Southern Treat: MoonPie](https://myauctionfinds.com/2009/12/29/my-southern-treat-moonpie/) - When a friend and I went to the World’s Longest Yard Sale a couple years ago, we spent three nights in Chattanooga, TN, the town of the infamous MoonPie.
- [Early black portraits: A rare find](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/02/16/black-portraits-a-museum-find/) - The Atwater Kent Museum in Philadelphia recently made a remarkable find of pre-Civil War portraits of an African American couple named Stephen Smith and his wife Harriet.
- [James Van Der Zee’s photos of Harlem](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/02/25/james-van-der-zees-photos-of-harlem/) - No one quite captured the people of Harlem like photographer James Van Der Zee. Four of his photographs were up for auction Tuesday at Swann Auction Galleries.
- [My love for Negro League baseball](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/03/15/a-love-affair-with-negro-league-baseball/) - I’m not much of a baseball fan, but I am a fan of the Negro Baseball League. It has to do with their history and their struggles as a league when they were left out of Major League Baseball.
- [Old family photos](https://myauctionfinds.com/2009/09/10/old-family-photos/) - I'm amazed when at auctions, I find old family photos that children or grandchildren have tossed when their elders have died. That's a lot of lost memories.
- [Family vacation slides](https://myauctionfinds.com/2009/09/15/family-vacation-slides/) - Recently, I bid on and got two boxes of slides at an auction from a family's vacations and holidays from the 1950s and 1960s. They are great glimpses into the past.
- [Intimate photos](https://myauctionfinds.com/2009/09/23/nude-photos/) - One item at a recent auction drew a lot of looks and peeks, and embarassed faces. The item of interest was a small album of photos of a naked couple. I only glanced at them for a quick second, but they were black and whites of a naked man and woman facing the camera.
- [Can you find the key to open this puzzle bank?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/06/05/can-you-find-the-key-to-open-this-puzzle-bank/) - The coin bank was different from most I’d seen at auction. It was in the shape of a cute little house with mosaic bushes beneath windows with curtains, paneled double doors and patterns of brick. In the back was a coin slot; without it, I would not have guessed that this was a bank. It was a puzzle bank that held tight to its secret of how to open it.
- [A guessing game of useful and different items](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/06/12/a-guessing-game-of-useful-and-different-items/) - Here I am again with a guessing game of items that I found interesting at auction. I wasn’t sure what to make of one of them until I read the sticker that the auction house had attached to it. Can you guess what these are?
- [Can you identify this NFL/Bud Light item?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/06/19/can-you-identify-this-nflbud-light-item/) - The light blue item with the oversized white faux stitching and NFL/Bud Light emblems looked way out of place among the more stylish and expensive items on the auction-house floor. It was an item that would appeal to a certain type of football fan. What is it?
- [Guess the new function of this Fli-Back paddle](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/06/26/guess-the-new-function-of-this-fli-back-paddle/) - I instantly recognized the shape of the flat wooden item on the auction table, but its current function was far different from what I remembered. I flipped it over and saw that it was a Fli-Back paddle ball. Someone, though, had re-created it for something other than fun.
- [Can you guess what this tangle of ropes is?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/07/10/can-you-guess-what-this-tangle-of-ropes-is/) - The item was sitting atop a table in the furniture room at the auction house, a crisscross puzzle of ropes. I couldn't readily guess what it was or what it was used for. Can you?
- [Guess how these carousel horses are (or were) used](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/08/14/guess-how-these-carousel-horses-are-or-were-used/) - Who doesn’t love a carousel? They evoke memories of carnivals and state fairs without the hair-raising and screaming fits of roller-coasters. Our guessing game today offers up carousel horses. Can you guess how they are (or were) used?
- [Take a guess on an item we can’t live without these days](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/09/11/take-a-guess-on-an-item-we-cant-live-without-these-days/) - When I saw the little black item with the small square on top, I instantly shot a photo of it. In this particular form, the item was a far cry from its descendants of today. What is it?
- [Guess what this decorative wrought iron contraption is](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/09/25/guess-what-this-decorative-wrought-iron-contraption-is/) - When I first saw the wrought iron piece, I wasn’t sure what it was or how it was used. It was decorative with a daisy flower displayed on the top. Can you guess what it is?
- [Take a guess on this cold-weather treat](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/10/16/take-a-guess-on-this-cold-weather-treat/) - I’d seen these metal cylinders before and found them artistic in their utility. If you had to use them, they might as well be good-looking. And so they were. Can you guess what they are?
- [Can you guess what this flywheeled contraption was used for?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/10/23/can-you-guess-what-this-flywheeled-contraption-was-used-for/) - I’ve seen many of this type of household product at auction but in a much smaller version. Most had wooden boxes with a turn handle, but the purpose was the same. They helped to make meals for many people a bit more palatable. What do you think it is?
- [Guess what this half doll is used for](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/01/15/guess-what-this-half-doll-is-used-for/) - She’s a cutie, this porcelain doll in the pink flowered skirt. What you see on first glance is not all of what she is, though. She is a half doll, a porcelain figure that was popular during the early part of the 20th century.
- [It’s a table, but what kind of table is it?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/02/05/its-a-table-but-what-kind-of-table-is-it/) - The antique table was beautiful from where I stood, and as I drew closer, it grew even nicer. There's something about dark wood cut in a pleasing form that checkmates me. It was typical, except for that red velvet pouch hanging from its bottom. Can you guess what this table was used for?
- [Can you guess what this rusty cast-iron item is?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/02/19/can-you-guess-what-this-rusty-cast-iron-item-is/) - Now, it looks like a tangled mess of rusted metal, but I’m sure I knew exactly what this item was when I first spotted it on the back lot at the auction house. What struck me was the flower-petal designs on the cast-iron legs. What is it?
- [Can you guess what this is?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/03/04/can-you-guess-what-this-is/) - Up close, it looks like a jumble of organs with an oversized gray stone attached. What you think you see, though, may not be what it seems. What is it?
- [Can you guess what this metal contraption is?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/03/11/can-you-guess-what-this-metal-contraption-is/) - As soon as I saw the item, I figured out what it was. It was designed to be a machine to help us but looked as if it would do us harm. It was a vintage version of a piece of equipment that some of us would consider torture, but we pay homage to it nonetheless. What is it?
- [Take a guess at this cute little item](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/03/18/take-a-guess-at-this-cute-little-item/) - I like the three little ----- over there, my auction-buddy Janet told me. I hadn’t seen them so I went back to look and there they were, the cutest set of items in the place. They were a little banged up but still possessed loads of character. Can you guess what they were?
- [Can you guess the function of this handy kitchen tool?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/04/01/can-you-guess-the-function-of-this-handy-kitchen-tool/) - I was first drawn to the polished wooden patina of the item on the auction table. It looked to be vintage with very little wear from age and use. I wasn’t sure what it was, though, because the bivalved cover was closed, its top and bottom a matching pair. Can you guess what it is?
- [A ‘guess-what-it-is’ item with a timeless heart](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/04/08/a-guess-what-it-is-item-with-a-timeless-heart/) - I love these types of antique items and tend to gravitate toward them at auction. I'm drawn to their construction and the etchings in their small glass windows. Most of these etchings – which always seem to be in color – aren’t just routine, they tell a story of our shared history. What is it?
- [Guess what retirement plan is inside this box](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/04/15/guess-what-retirement-plan-is-inside-this-box/) - You couldn’t miss the sunshine-yellow box on the auction table. Maybe that’s what the maker had in mind when it chose such a brilliant color and a collage of leisure activities that reminded you of Florida, beaches and sailing. Can you guess what was inside this "retirement" box?
- [Can you guess what this Christmas gift is?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/04/29/can-you-guess-what-this-christmas-gift-is/) - The big square gift box still wore its wrapping paper covered in poinsettias and a big red bow. The paper was a bit faded, and the gift looked as if it had never been unwrapped. When I lifted the lid, I understood why. Can you guess what was inside the box?
- [These mystery items were a must for well-groomed men](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/05/06/these-mystery-items-were-a-must-for-well-groomed-men/) - The small chrome item gave no hint of its function. I stood there looking at it very closely, not ready yet to ask the auction-house staffer for the answer. I finally did and was amazed at his answer, which I would never have guessed. Can you do better than I did?
- [It looks like a scale, but is it?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/05/13/it-looks-like-a-scale-but-is-it/) - Gadgets from the past always make exploring at auctions so much fun. Like this machine that looks like a scale for weighing vegetables or fruits. That’s what I thought, but I was wrong. Can you guess what it is?
- [What leggy creature is this?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/05/20/what-leggy-creature-is-this/) - I had almost passed by this tangle of metal appendages when I did a double-take. It looked like a spider or a piece of art made with found objects. What the heck was it?
- [It looks like a spice rack, but is it?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/06/03/it-looks-like-a-spice-rack-but-is-it/) - When I saw the wooden chest with the shutters, I was a little confused. It didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the collection. Its connection, though, was behind the shutters. Can you guess what it is?
- [Name the group this application belongs to](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/06/10/name-the-group-this-application-belongs-to/) - I was surveying the items on the top shelf of the glass case at the auction house, looking for something of interest when out of the corner of my eye I saw it. The "it" was a symbol and a name that I knew much too well. Both have left an indelible stain on the history of this country and were a menace to the people they terrorized. What group was it?
- [They look like cowboy spurs but are they?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/07/01/they-look-like-cowboy-spurs-but-are-they/) - I came across the pair of chrome items in a box of stuff I had bought at auction. They looked like the spurs I’d seen cowboys wear on their boots in western movies, so I Googled to search for them. I was way way off on their true name and purpose. What are they?
- [Can you guess what this box is used for?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/07/15/can-you-guess-what-this-box-is-used-for/) - The rectangular box bore a picture of two men with guitars serenading two dark-haired women. The inscription on the picture was in a language I did not understand. The people who use this box are a common sight in one foreign country, especially in its capital. What is this box used for?
- [When a suitcase is more than just luggage](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/07/29/when-a-suitcase-is-more-than-just-luggage/) - I had to look up to see the red suitcase atop some furniture at the auction house. There was nothing unusual about the luggage itself, just the form that someone had given it. What had it been transformed into?
- [It looks like a child’s plastic tractor, but is it?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/08/12/it-looks-like-a-childs-plastic-tractor-but-is-it/) - The back lot of this particular auction house is usually loaded with toys, chairs, dolls, school desks and other items for little tots. So when I saw the yellow tractor, I figured it was just another plaything. But it was not. Can you guess what it is?
- [Can you guess what this saw was used for?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/08/26/can-you-guess-what-this-saw-was-used-for/) - When I first laid my eyes on the saw, I immediately figured it was used on small pieces of wood. It looked like a real one but was half the size of the old hand saws I’d seen before. Perhaps a woodworker’s saw? Nope. Can you guess how it was used?
- [It looked like a puzzle, but it was not](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/09/23/it-looked-like-a-puzzle-but-it-was-not/) - I had just handed the auction-house assistant an item I had been examining when I spied the two wooden blocks embracing each other. It was hard to tell what they were, but they seemed to be fitted together like a puzzle. What was it?
- [It was used for cleaning, but what did it clean?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/09/30/it-was-used-for-cleaning-but-what-did-it-clean/) - The wooden oak drum seemed to be a heavy burden for the auction-house table on which it sat. It was laden with cast-iron metal from top to bottom that surprisingly gave it a lovely patina that you wouldn’t dare clean. It was a must in large kitchens in the late 19th century to clean a tool for preparing and eating food. What is it?
- [It looks like a floor lamp, but is it?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/10/07/it-looks-like-a-floor-lamp-but-is-it/) - They are -------, I overhead the man say to the woman as they stood just outside the doorway to the room where I was previewing items on a table at the auction house. Checking later, I saw what he was referring to: Two decorative thin twisted metal poles, one with a dusty white glass globe in the center, with tripod feet and spear-like tips.
- [An antique board with a unique purpose, but what?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/10/14/an-antique-board-with-a-unique-purpose-but-what/) - The metal and wood hangers were the first to catch my eye. One was quite beautiful in its construction - a curved piece of wood attached to thin metal that reminded me of two oversized safety pins. It was hanging in front of a flat wooden board whose purpose back in the day was both practical and – for us today - unusual. What was it used for?
- [It looked like a livestock feeder but it was not](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/10/21/it-looked-like-a-livestock-feeder-but-it-was-not/) - Someone at the auction house had placed the red "thing" up high, on top of a piece of furniture. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it looked like something a farmer would use to feed livestock – maybe chickens or pigs. After some digging, I found out that I was wrong. What is it?
- [What pot-bellied antique item is this?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/10/28/what-pot-bellied-antique-item-is-this/) - It has a wide middle reminiscent of a pot-bellied stove, and its function was not far removed from that of its lookalike. This tin metal item with the iron feet and gold leaf design was common during the early part of the 20th century, especially in weather like we’re having now. What is it?
- [Fannie Lou Hamer & the 1964 Democratic convention](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/08/19/fannie-lou-hamer-the-1964-democratic-convention/)
- [Tuskegee Airmen artifacts show up far from home](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/08/07/tuskegee-airmen-artifacts-show-up-far-from-home/)
- [Folding screens in very distinct forms](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/08/03/folding-screens-in-very-distinct-forms/)
- [How us auction enthusiasts miss ‘being’ there](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/07/29/how-us-auction-enthusiasts-miss-being-there/)
- [The singsong sounds of auctions](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/03/16/the-singsong-sounds-of-auctions/) - I was standing aside from the auction not paying much attention when the sounds of the auctioneers’ voices struck me. There was a rhythm to their chants, and I'd like to share them with you.
- [Cutouts of baseball fans carry on tradition of ‘dummy boards’](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/07/27/cutouts-of-baseball-fans-carry-on-tradition-of-dummy-boards/)
- [Like the movement, John Lewis was beaten, bloodied but unbowed](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/07/20/like-the-movement-john-lewis-was-beaten-bloodied-but-unbowed/)
- [What artifacts will tell the story of 2020 protests?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/07/15/what-artifacts-will-tell-the-story-of-2020-protests/)
- [Revisiting Ebony's 1965 "White Problem in America" issue](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/07/13/revisiting-ebonys-1965-white-problem-in-america-issue/)
- [A different view of race in 1965 Ebony issue](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/03/26/a-different-view-of-race-in-1965-ebony-issue/) - I was flipping through some magazines at auction last week when a familiar cover willed me to stop. It was an August 1965 copy of Ebony magazine with the silhouette of a man’s face in white against a black background. "The White Problem in America," the cover blared.
- [A quick historical trace of my artifacts](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/11/16/a-quick-historical-trace-of-my-artifacts/) - I wasn’t sure what to take with me – the male and female anti-slavery tokens or the fragile Abraham Lincoln engraving. I was pondering them after seeing a notice in the local community newspaper about a panel of experts who would examine your artifacts.
- [African American ceramics artists lost in history](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/07/09/african-american-ceramics-artists-lost-in-history/)
- [Louis Armstrong & black sheet music](https://myauctionfinds.com/2009/08/31/black-music/) - At a recent auction, I was outbidded on a collection of sheet music with covers of black people. I have a few that I have framed as art. That got me to thinking about a photo I have of Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five band.
- [A bow and 'tip of the cap' to Negro Leagues baseball](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/07/01/a-bow-and-tip-of-the-cap-to-negro-leagues-baseball/)
- [Negro Leagues pitcher Terris McDuffie](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/09/20/negro-leagues-pitcher-terris-mcduffie/) - When I first saw the photo of the black ballplayer with the letters NY on his cap at auction recently, I was hoping he was a Negro Leaguer. And it was - pitcher Terris McDuffie.
- [George Floyd’s death links to a murderous past of lynchings](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/06/02/george-floyds-death-links-to-a-murderous-past-of-lynchings/)
- [Early black designers fashioned  their own space](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/05/27/early-black-designers-fashioned-their-own-space/)
- [Tough road for early black models](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/09/25/tough-road-for-early-black-models/) - When I first saw the photo print, I thought the women were Cotton Club dancers. They all had that look, except for a few whose skin color was a little darker than the others. Their names were handwritten on the back, along with the date Nov. 7, 1954. I found out that they were not dancers but black models.
- [Robert Purvis, a black abolitionist you may have never heard of](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/05/11/robert-purvis-a-black-abolitionist-you-may-have-never-heard-of/)
- [Black photographers pictured black folks as their true selves](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/04/29/black-photographers-pictured-black-folks-as-their-true-selves/)
- [Photos offer behind-the-curtain view of circus at ease](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/04/27/photos-offer-behind-the-curtain-view-of-circus-at-ease/)
- [PAFA's Constance Clayton exhibit is stroll through black arts history](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/02/24/pafa-constance-clayton-exhibit-is-stroll-through-black-arts-history/) - The two sisters had come to the auction with enough money – they thought – to buy a painting by their Uncle Henry. They jumped in and then out as the bids got too high. One bidder was Constance E. Clayton, the ex-Phila. school chief, an avid collector and advocate for African American art whose donation of works to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is now on exhibit.
- [The lost history of Aunt Kitty’s diminutive doll](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/04/22/the-lost-history-of-aunt-kittys-little-doll/)
- [Richmond's black patients had a friend in Maggie L. Walker in 1918 pandemic](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/04/20/vas-black-patients-had-a-friend-in-maggie-l-walker-in-1918-pandemic/)
- [Hair-care labels by African American designer Charles Dawson](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/04/15/hair-care-labels-by-african-american-designer-charles-dawson/)
- [Jazz in the name of artist Verna Hart](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/04/06/jazz-in-the-name-of-artist-verna-hart/)
- [Earliest black census workers](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/03/30/earliest-black-census-workers/)
- [Artsy 1930s Fortune magazine covers](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/03/28/artsy-1930s-fortune-magazine-covers/) - The worker was plastered against skyscrapers in the background of the framed illustration hanging on a wall at the auction house. He was on the front of the November 1932 issue of Fortune magazine in one of its lovely covers of the time.
- [Finally able to buy stained-glass windows](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/02/05/finally-able-to-buy-stained-glass-windows/) - When his mother moved into her house decades ago, my handyman/friend Robert said, all the houses had beautiful stained-glass windows. Most of the windows are gone, stolen, he says. I’ve always wanted stained-glass windows but was out-bidded on them at auction. That has changed, and I have picked up two that he has installed.
- [Portable toilet for the great outdoors](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/02/10/portable-toilet-for-the-great-outdoors/) - The large horseshoe-shaped item looked like one of those pillows to help you sleep comfortably on a long flight. The auctioneer wasn’t sure what it was, so he began reading the package, which was intact. It was a portable toilet/commode for the great outdoors.
- [A few unusual and some lovely things](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/02/17/a-few-unusual-and-some-lovely-things/) - One of the things I love about auctions is the adventurous nature of them. You never know what you’ll come across – either staring you in the face or hidden among a motley crew of items. Recently, I came face to face with some items that I found both unusual and lovely in their own way.
- [French country cabinets were sweet but not for me](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/02/12/french-country-cabinets-were-sweet-but-not-for-me/) - I’m on the hunt for a nice cabinet for my new updated kitchen, so when I go to auctions these days, I purposefully check out the furniture. Recently, I was walking through the furniture when I came across a beautiful cabinet that was a combination of painted wood, metal and glass. Unfortunately, it was too large for my kitchen.
- [‘Gotta Quit Kickin’ My Dog’ & 1912 presidential campaign](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/02/19/gotta-quit-kickin-my-dog-1912-presidential-campaign/) - I had never heard of Champ Clark, and you probably haven’t either. He was the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1912 but lost to Woodrow Wilson. I learned of him when I stumbled across a hound-dog figurine inscribed with his campaign slogan: “They Gotta Quit Kickin’ My Dawg Aroun’.”
- [Old cookbook ads are just as notable as the recipes](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/02/26/old-cookbook-ads-are-just-as-notable-as-the-recipes/) - The cookbook was a mess. Its cover was so dusty that I could barely read the title and its pages were pockmarked with stains. But that was all cosmetic - this church cookbook had been loved. As I gingerly turned it delicate pages, I found something else just as intriguing as the recipes. It contained nice half and full-page ads ranging from coal companies to carriage shops as well as grocers.
- [Dindga McCannon’s artistic homage to black women](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/03/02/dindga-mccannons-artistic-homage-to-black-women/) - As I drove down the narrow one-way street, I kept an eye out for artist Dindga McCannon’s house. Look for the purple steps, she had told me at a New York auction where her painting had just sold for $130,000. Not only were the steps purple but so was the door. The interior of her house was just as vibrant, the walls loaded with warm and colorful quilts bearing the faces of black women – her subject of choice for the last 55 years.
- [Reproduction prints are Charles White’s nod to the masses](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/03/04/reproduction-prints-are-charles-whites-nod-to-the-masses/) - Rummaging through some papers I’d picked up at auction over the years, I found a portfolio of four reproduction prints by African American artist Charles White. I was reminded that White converted a number of his powerful ink-and-charcoal drawings into lithographs and reproductions to make them more affordable to the people he drew in his works.
- [A daughter’s watercolor of her mother’s doll](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/03/11/a-daughters-watercolor-of-her-mothers-doll/) - There’s something about dolls that draws me to them. I’ve written about plenty of them and often would see them at auction. Not anymore, though. At auction recently, I was surprised to see a doll represented not in physical form but in a painting. It was titled “My Mother’s Doll,” created by a local artist seemingly in honor of her mother.
- [1960s Christmas card aided black student activists](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/03/09/1960s-christmas-card-aided-black-student-activists/) - As I flipped through a box of auction items I didn't remember buying, I came upon a bulging tan envelope with a Christmas wreath at the top. Inside was a set of Christmas cards unlike any I had seen before. The cards were decorated not with ornaments but with phrases demanding civil rights. They were sold by the National Council of Negro Women in 1964 to raise money for student activists.
- [Astonishing prices for Johnson Publishing Co. artworks](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/02/03/astonishing-prices-for-johnson-publishing-co-artworks/) - The woman in the back was apparently so excited that she started waving her hand. The auctioneer jokingly warned that he might include her in the bidding. Artist Dindga McCannon glowed as she watched the bids soar for her painting. The final price of $161,000 was as astonishing for her work as some of the others in the Johnson Publishing auction.
- [Cotton Club show & black female tap dancers](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/11/20/cotton-club-search-for-female-tap-dancers/) - The woman was moving as masterfully as the men, leaning forward and tapping backwards in a tradition that defined an era of dance for African American men. As I sat there watching her in the "Cotton Club Parade" show, realized that I had not seen black woman tap dancers before.
- [Pickle castors recall an earlier time of fancy dinners](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/01/29/pickle-castors-recall-an-earlier-time-of-fancy-dinners/) - When I saw the long shelf of ruby and clear glass containers, I thought they were pretty, but I wasn’t sure what they were. Someone mentioned that they were pickle jars, but the catalog sheet described them as pickle castors. What I did know, unfortunately, was that they would not sell for the big bucks the collector likely paid for them.
- [Store signs leave a huge impression](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/01/27/store-signs-leave-a-huge-impression/) - 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 Berea College-made brooms I owned. It was among a collection of huge signs, each with their own history.
- [Pretty condensed milk holders looking for a home](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/01/22/pretty-condensed-milk-holders-looking-for-a-home/) - The auctioneer was being decidedly honest. He didn’t expect the collection of condensed milk containers – however lovely – would sell well or at all. Not a single one had attracted a bid on his website, he noted nonchalantly, like a man who had accepted his fate.
- [Colors were awesome, but most glassware just doesn’t sell](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/01/20/colors-were-awesome-but-most-glassware-just-doesnt-sell/) - It was like looking into a rainbow. Lining two walls of shelves, carnival glass and other glassware glistened in the artificial light. It looked as if the auction-house staff had painstakingly dusted and buffed each one of the pieces. The colors were splendid.
- [Interesting array of old things](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/01/15/interesting-array-of-old-things/) - My walk-through at the auction house wasn’t turning up any noticeable gems on this particular day. But I’ve been going to auctions long enough to know that most items hold a story worth telling. Then I zeroed in on a few that looked interesting and inviting.
- [The well-known & the little-known are in Johnson Publishing's art auction](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/01/13/the-well-known-the-little-known-are-in-johnson-publishings-art-auction/) - As I was flipping through the catalog for the upcoming auction of Johnson Publishing Company artwork, I quickly noticed that most were local artists from Chicago. I had never heard of many of them and I was pleased, because we sometimes forget that many little-known artists are worth collecting.
- [Vogue picture records lead to 'ace jazzman' Charlie Shavers](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/01/09/vogue-picture-records-lead-to-ace-jazzman-charlie-shavers/) - When I first saw the phonograph records, I was drawn to the brightly colored illustrations. They were produced in the 1940s by a small record company that didn’t have the heft to pull in big-name performers. Vogue Picture Records did have one jazz musician in its lineup: Charlie Shavers, an amazing trumpeter.
- [1920s photo posters of Armstrong, Smith & other jazz greats](https://myauctionfinds.com/2020/01/06/1920s-photo-posters-of-armstrong-smith-other-jazz-greats/) - A black and white photo of a man playing a piano lay atop a stack on a table at auction. His skin was so light that I wasn’t sure if he was African American or not. I didn’t recognize him but figured he was someone famous. Ma Rainey was in another photo, but I needed help picking out Louis Armstrong in another one.
- [Freda DeKnight’s Ebony cookbook embraced black chefs, cooks & caterers](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/12/02/freda-deknights-ebony-cookbook-embraced-black-chefs-cooks-caterers/) - Louis Armstrong loved ham hocks and red beans. Duke Ellington ate his dessert first. Those were some of the gems in Freda DeKnight’s “The Ebony Cookbook,” but they were not the most interesting. Most important were the black cooks, chefs and caterers who were extolled in their communities but shunned by the mainstream culinary world.
- [Driving forces behind "people's art" in 20th-century US & Mexico](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/11/25/driving-forces-behind-peoples-art-in-20th-century-us-mexico/) - A few years ago, I picked up an Elizabeth Catlett lithograph of a Mexican girl with a stoic and determined stare. It was published by Associated American Artists, which was unfamiliar to me. I didn’t think much of it until recently when I came across a portfolio that contained artworks published by the same company. Now I was intrigued.
- [Playbill for Bill “Bojangles” Robinson’s 1939 ‘Hot Mikado’ show](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/11/20/playbill-for-bill-bojangles-robinsons-1939-hot-mikado-show/) - The cover of the theater program was a little off-putting, but the photo tucked inside was adorable. The cover showed a caricature of a male dancer with red lips and black face for the 1939 show "Hot Mikado" with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. The photo showed Robinson laughing it up with three children on a New York sidewalk a few years later.
- [1923 ‘Simms’ Blue Book’ of accomplished African Americans](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/11/18/1923-simms-blue-book-of-accomplished-african-americans/) - The book was titled the “Simms’ Blue Book,” but its color was faded and its cover was pockmarked with stains. No matter, because it was an original copy of a 1923 book by James N. Simms listing African American professional and business people across the country. And there were more of them than most people imagined.
- [Storied colonial home bears an African American legacy](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/11/14/storied-colonial-home-bears-an-african-american-legacy/) - Helene Huffer couldn’t stop tearing up. She was about to leave a home that had taken hold of her the moment she saw it in person. "I love the house so much," she said. "It’s very hard to leave." She was referring to a house that made her feel as much at home as the 18th-century African American family who built it.
- [The art of Walter Dodd Condit](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/11/11/the-art-of-walter-dodd-condit/) - As I peered at the watercolor, I saw signs of the style of artist Walter Dodd Condit. In the mishmash of angles and colors were the familiar outlines of rowhouses typical of much of his works. This one looked more abstract, and I wondered if it was a later transitional piece by this little-known Philadelphia artist.
- [Artist Walter Condit paints a real house of ruins](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/04/10/artist-walter-condit-paints-a-real-house-of-ruins/) - It’s the house right up the street, I heard one auction-goer say. And then another, and another. They were looking at an old abandoned house in a watercolor painting that I had just bought at auction. The artist was Walter Condit, a named artist who had lived in the neighborhood for years.
- [Looked like a Disney store, but it was just one person's collection](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/10/23/looked-like-a-disney-store-but-it-was-just-one-persons-collection/) - The man was wondering aloud what many of us longtime auction-goers stopped asking years ago. Where did he keep all of this stuff? "This stuff" was a collection of Disney characters - Mickey Mouse in particular - in a plethora of forms. It was one person’s 40-year collection and it could have filled a Disney store.
- [My unintended collection of black dolls](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/10/09/my-unintended-collection-of-black-dolls/) - On Sunday, the Paul Robeson House & Museum in Philadelphia will host Barbara Whiteman, founder of the Philadelphia Doll Museum, which houses her huge doll collection. Thinking of her presentation got me to wondering about my own menagerie of black dolls that I bought at auction and the history behind them.
- [Fierce animals engraved in beauty & reverence](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/10/07/fierce-animals-engraved-in-beauty-reverence/) - Wow, I thought as I saw the bold figure of a lion drawn in deep dark colors that seemed to glisten. It filled the page with its enormity, with a full curvy mane engulfing its neck and a sleek body standing taut and straight. This lovely print was one of five from a series of illustrations of animals from the 1840s.
- [Not always easy to unlock the story behind photos](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/10/02/not-always-easy-to-unlock-the-story-behind-photos/) - I was flipping through a stack of photos at auction and found two that caused me to pause. Both were black and whites of two separate groups of black men who were Masons. Then I came across another: a group of white women in dark dresses, each with a pair of what looked to be juggling pins. The women were not identified, making it hard to unlock their history.
- [Pulling the strings on Disney’s Mickey & Minnie](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/09/30/pulling-the-strings-on-disneys-mickey-minnie/) - Mickey and Minnie had lost their luster. They lay inert in a case at the auction house like discarded playthings. Their clothes were tattered, their bodies were marred (Minnie had a chip on her nose), and they were more throwaways than the marionettes they once were.
- [Looked like a parking meter, but it was actually for riders](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/09/25/looked-like-a-parking-meter-but-it-was-actually-for-riders/) - The thing had the shape and look of a parking meter, but it obviously was not. It was heavy like a parking meter, but on the side were an oversized loop and a button presser. I learned that it was a portable coin collector for a trolley or streetcar, and even an amusement park.
- [Photos of bomber crash into Empire State Building, 1945](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/09/23/photos-of-bomber-crash-into-empire-state-building-1945/) - First, I saw a black and white photograph of people on the streets looking upward, their faces giving no hint of what they were seeing. The photo beneath it showed a minister in collar presumably giving last rites. They were among four photos from an accidental crash of a B-52 bomber into the Empire State Building in 1945, killing 11 people.
- [Famous Native American chiefs on early cigarette “silks”](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/09/18/famous-native-american-chiefs-on-early-cigarette-silks/) - 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 always been accurately drawn. At auction recently, I saw small portraits of Native American chiefs on short lengths of silks that were used to promote cigarettes brands.
- [The soft melody of a piano in a place of voices](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/09/16/the-soft-melody-of-a-piano-in-a-place-of-voices/) - I heard the soft melodious sound as soon I entered the auction house. Someone was playing a piano, and that was unusual. Turning a corner in a room full of furniture, I found the sound but not the body. The music was coming from a shiny black Kohler & Campbell baby grand player piano, its keys dropping and lifting at the touch of imaginary fingers.
- [Vintage women’s compact case carried it all](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/09/11/vintage-womens-compact-case-carried-it-all/) - I was asked by a friend to go through his deceased aunt’s house to see if there were any items of value. One thing I found interesting if not valuable was an Art Deco case inside a black satin purse. It was a cute vintage compact carryall that held her cosmetics & more. Recently, I came across similar make-yourself-beautiful items at auction.
- [Comical age-guessing game promotes early want ads](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/09/09/comical-age-guessing-game-promotes-early-want-ads/) - As soon as I saw the first few lines on the folded and wrinkled sheet of paper, I figured the rest was tongue-in-cheek: IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT YOUR GIRL’S AGE … Then it mentioned “World ‘wants,’” which befuddled me. Soon I realized it was an early age-guessing game used as a promo for the New York World’s want ads.
- [A place where pigs got better treatment than some people](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/09/04/a-place-where-pigs-got-better-treatment-than-some-people/) - The almanac cover looked like a circus, and perhaps that’s what it was meant to show since the title was “Barker’s Illustrated Almanac.” Inside were humorous cartoons of animals dressed like humans. It was all so comical until I learned that Barker’s didn’t ascribe the same humanity to black people in its cartoons.
- [Deborah Shedrick’s bold painting of a jazz saxophonist](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/08/28/deborah-shedricks-bold-painting-of-a-jazz-saxophonist/) - Several of the artworks in my collection are musicians with saxophones. I’ve always loved this instrument that sounds like an anguished soul. When I see artwork with a saxophone, I head towards it. At auction not long ago, I found one: a black face playing a gold saxophone so long that it trailed off the canvas. It was signed “Shedrick,” and I instantly recognized the name. Deborah Shedrick.
- [Nifty old block prints for 15¢ Canada Dry, Jello & More](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/08/26/nifty-old-block-prints-for-15¢-canada-dry-jello-more/) - I was digging around in a box of items at auction when I spotted some small wooden blocks. Picking one up, I saw that it was a metal stamp like the rubber ones used by crafters to create ink designs. They were block prints advertising various products and companies, including a Canada Dry Halloween print with a witch.
- [Photos of diner & lesbian wedding tell their own stories](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/08/21/photos-of-diner-lesbian-wedding-tell-their-own-stories/) - 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 usually spend a few minutes flipping through them to find some that are striking and different. I found two of them in this stack, and pulled them out based on the stories I saw in them.
- [19th-century portrait of African American woman](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/08/14/19th-century-portrait-of-african-american-woman/) - I started to call you, the female auction-house staffer told me as I stood there waiting for a bidder’s number. She had seen an African American-related item for sale that day and immediately thought of me. What she wanted me to see was a portrait of an African American woman in one of those early photo formats from the 19th century.
- [Telling the story of Toni Stone as 1st woman in Negro Leagues](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/08/12/telling-the-story-of-toni-stone-as-1st-woman-in-negro-leagues/) - Some years ago when I met Mamie “Peanut” Johnson at a black history showcase, I was surprised and delighted to learned that black women were Negro Leaguers, too. Later, I learned that she was not the only one. There were three, and Toni Stone was the first. All were lost to history. Last weekend, I attended a play about Stone that tried to remedy that.
- [Portfolio of photos of man’s best friend](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/08/07/portfolio-of-photos-of-mans-best-friend/) - I couldn’t tell whether the photos of dogs and their owners had been collected by someone as a group or pulled together from disparate lots by the auction house. But there they were, about a dozen older photos. I was drawn to them because some were comical and unorthodox.
- [A mounted turtle with a signature](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/07/31/a-mounted-turtle-with-a-signature/) - I had gone through the glass cases at the auction house once and came up empty-handed. When I passed by again, an auction-house assistant stood behind them. Did you see anything interesting, I asked the man, who’s usually very good at spotting items that get past me. What about the turtle, he remarked.
- [Rejection didn’t stop a determined Augusta Savage](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/07/29/rejection-didnt-stop-a-determined-augusta-savage/) - In 1923, Augusta Savage applied for a summer program at the Fontainebleau School of Fine Arts, a newly opened American-owned school in France. The selection committee rejected her because she was black. I was familiar with this snub and got a chance to see letters about it at a recent exhibition for this talented artist.
- [Fire extinguisher more dangerous than the fire](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/07/24/fire-extinguisher-more-dangerous-than-the-fire/) - In my kitchen pantry is a fire extinguisher like any other that you’d buy at a Big Box store. Recently, I came across an early fire extinguisher that looks nothing like it. This one bore a large flat metal label with the inscription: "Shur-Stop. The Automatic Fireman on the Wall. Throw at Base of Flames."
- [Black history through the comedic eyes of Amanda Seales](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/07/22/black-history-through-the-comedic-eyes-of-amanda-seales/) - I’d never heard of Amanda Seales, but I was open to seeing her live game show called "Smart, Funny & Black" at a theater in Philadelphia when a friend suggested it. The friend later sent me a link, and I saw that the topic was African American history. A game show with humor AND African American history? How could I resist?
- [Proudly posing with your shiny new car](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/07/17/proudly-posing-with-your-shiny-new-car/) - Every now and then on Facebook, a relative of mine posts a photo of himself or herself standing next to their new luxury car. Showing it off is a matter of pride - a way to tell the family that I have arrived, that I have the means to buy a $40,000 or $50,000 car. It’s a practice that goes back decades.
- [Black regiment’s Civil War flag & the stories it could tell](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/07/15/black-regiments-civil-war-flag-the-stories-it-could-tell/) - 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 dressed as Columbia, who represented the United States. After many years in a Civil War museum in Philadelphia, this rare artifact was sold recently at auction.
- [Tiffany lamps light up the place in more than one way](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/07/10/tiffany-lamps-light-up-the-place-in-more-than-one-way/) - Two lamps were placed close to each other in a brightly lit glass case. Which is Tiffany, visitors were asked. They looked just alike, but one was obviously an imposter. I chose the lamp on the right. I’m no expert on these famous lamps, but a close look at the lampshade on the left revealed imperfections you’d never find on a Tiffany.
- [Road Kill Café door was amusing, but the thought of the menu was not](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/07/08/road-kill-cafe-door-was-amusing-but-the-thought-of-the-menu-was-not/) - I took a photo of the faded red door propped against a table at the auction house because I thought the name painted on it was both amusing and a bit repulsive. Road Kill Café. I’m sure it didn’t serve roadkill, but it still wasn’t a place where I’d like to eat.
- [One person’s love affair with WhimsiClay Cats](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/07/03/one-persons-love-affair-with-whimsiclay-cats/) - The ceramic cats were the cutest things in their whimsical poses, colorful whiskers and human clothes, and there were so many of them that they had to be part of someone’s collection. Several carried a maker’s tag, WhimsiClay, and were designed by a woman named Amy Lacombe.
- [Isaac Scott Hathaway & the Booker T. 50-cent coin](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/07/01/isaac-scott-hathaway-the-booker-t-50-cent-coin/) - They sold a Booker T. Washington coin, my auction buddy Janet told me when I finally sat down after roaming the auction house to avoid a long coin sale. It was a 1946 Washington commemorative 50-cent coin, designed by an African American artist named Isaac Scott Hathaway. The coin represented two firsts: an African American subject and designer.
- [Collecting bees like they collect honey](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/06/26/collecting-bees-like-they-collect-honey/) - When I think of bees, collecting them does not immediately come to mind. I enjoy seeing them at a distance as they fly from flower to flower in my garden. But I never thought of bringing them inside in the form of pottery or ceramics.
- [Odd pairing of skull, beastly hand & angels on chariots](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/06/24/odd-pairing-of-skull-beastly-hand-angels-on-chariots/) - First, I saw the skull. It was dark heavy metal with screws in its ears. My eyes traveled down the art piece and I saw the fat clawed fingers of a beast. I stopped to take it all in because it was so strange. But there was more.
- [Hoping for – but not getting - a big win at “Antiques Roadshow”](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/06/19/hoping-for-but-not-getting-a-big-win-at-antiques-roadshow/) - The appraiser looked a bit tired and seemed indifferent. It was closing in on 12 noon, and the “Antiques Roadshow” had been going on for nearly five hours. He had probably seen too many items worth only a few bucks and not enough worth more to get him excited. And then I showed up with mine.
- [The unusual & offbeat seemed to be everywhere](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/06/17/the-unusual-offbeat-seemed-to-be-everywhere/) - I could practically stand in one place and see the offbeat items waiting for me to notice them. How could I avoid an elongated chair that reminded me of the sleek build of a dachshund. Or the BBQ grill made from the rear end of a classic car.
- [1950s Fred Press glasses that I didn’t know I had](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/06/12/1950s-fred-press-glasses-that-i-didnt-know-i-had/) - I kept the glasses in my kitchen cabinet for several years, thinking that I would someday take them out, serve iced tea or lavender lemonade in them, and marvel at their beauty. They were 1950s glasses with single stalks of gold wheat outlined against a turquoise background. Until recently, I never knew who designed them: Fred Press, an artist whom I was familiar with.
- [Sculpture of an African American woman’s head by Fred Press](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/04/22/sculpture-of-an-african-american-womans-head-by-fred-press/) - The black sculpted head was almost lost among the pile of stuff on the auction table. Maybe that’s why I had walked right past it during my first preview of items that were hours away from being auctioned. It appeared to be the head of a black man (it was actually a woman), sculpted by an artist named Fred Press.
- [Early Native American monument that never materialized](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/06/10/early-native-american-monument-that-never-materialized/) - It was a foggy and humid Friday in 1913 when a ship carrying the president of the United States headed to a site in New York Harbor for a momentous ceremony. In another ship, nearly three dozen Native American chiefs in ceremonial dress were headed to the same place. They met at a site for a proposed monument to what some considered a “vanishing race.”
- [Sale items symbolize Saint Katharine’s calling](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/06/03/sale-items-symbolize-saint-katharines-calling/) - The auction at the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament’s building started at 9 a.m., and I sat through a long tedious online sale and two rooms of an onsite sale. That’s how bad I wanted a bronze-finish plaster/resin statue of an Africa American woman and baby – a modern Black Madonna.
- [Old wagon revives memories of a man’s childhood](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/05/29/old-wagon-revives-memories-of-a-mans-childhood/) - I’d seen the dealer at this auction house many times before. I never found him very friendly, but lately he had begun to nod or offer a quiet hello to me. This time, he seemed eager to share a childhood memory, spurred by a full-size painted horse and wagon advertising Seabrook produce. As a child, he had ridden on his father’s horse and wagon.
- [Art in the form of fired bricks](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/05/22/art-in-the-form-of-fired-bricks/) - It took me a moment to realize that the charred bricks on the auction table were not what they seemed. They were actually fired clay art pieces with textured gray surfaces glazed in cream and aqua. They were created by the hands of a local artist named Leslie W. Eadeh whose name was unfamiliar to me.
- [A patchwork of handmade classic quilts](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/05/20/a-patchwork-of-handmade-classic-quilts/) - 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 a table at the auction house and surprisingly, no one had left an absentee bid on it. Then, I came upon two long tables of even more quilts. They appeared to be the life works of a prolific quilter.
- [A collection of Lefton porcelain angels](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/05/15/a-collection-of-lefton-porcelain-angels/) - The porcelain angels and other figurines at auction were actually quite cute. Most of the angels bore a month of the year written in gold on their skirts. But there were other figurines without wings and halos who held something of importance in their hands. The birthday angels were marked Lefton.
- [Shining a belated light on artist Augusta Savage](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/05/13/shining-a-belated-light-on-artist-augusta-savage/) - Augusta Savage is one of those great unknown artists. That’s not surprising given that she was both black and female. She came a long way from a poor upbringing to become celebrated among African American artists of the Harlem Renaissance. Few people know her name, but a new traveling exhibit seeks to change that.
- [Hand-painted chair for a true cat lover](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/05/08/hand-painted-chair-for-a-true-cat-lover/) - I’m not into cats, dogs or other animals as pets. I don’t want to clean up after them inside my house or outside during their walk. That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate them in other forms, such as a chair with hand-painted cats or an adorable ceramic cat I actually bought at auction.
- [Looking for signs of blackness in the Marvel universe](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/05/06/looking-for-signs-of-blackness-in-the-marvel-universe/) - I knew exactly what I wanted to see when I entered the “Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes" exhibit at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Who would I find among Marvel’s black super heros? I went looking for signs of blackness in the Marvel universe.
- [Victorian fashion plates show early women’s styles](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/05/01/victorian-fashion-plates-show-early-womens-styles/) - The magazines bore such names as Godey’s Lady’s Book, Mme. Demorest's Mirror of Fashions and Peterson’s Magazine. Within their covers, women of means could see some of the latest styles, many of them based on French designs. They were the fashion magazines of that period.
- [Vintage green luggage takes me back to my college days](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/04/29/vintage-green-luggage-takes-me-back-to-my-college-days/) - Seeing those hard-side green suitcases took me smack back into the past. I’d fill each of the three matching pieces of my Forecast luggage with the few clothes I could afford and head off to college. Now, someone – or their family - had finally decided to discard their luggage, and I stumbled upon it. You never know what will spark a memory.
- [Song does not intertwine Paul Robeson & Kate Smith](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/04/22/song-does-not-intertwine-paul-robeson-kate-smith/) - When I read the stories about the removal of Kate Smith’s "God Bless America" from the games of two sports teams, one name stood out for me:Paul Robeson. Most of the stories equated her singing a story about “darkies” with his rendition of the same song, never bothering to find out who Paul Robeson was and what he stood for.
- [Vanity jar ‘received’ a woman’s brushed hair](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/04/24/vanity-jar-received-a-womans-brushed-hair/) - What a sweet little vanity jar I thought as I saw the squat white container adorned with pink roses. It looked like one of those Nippon trinket boxes that held earrings or small jewelry on a woman’s dressing table way back when. I learned that it was a hair receiver. What the heck was that?
- [Spring arrives in form of stone goddesses & tin tubs](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/04/17/spring-arrives-in-form-of-stone-goddesses-tin-tubs/) - The four tall stone statues of women on pedestals were hard to miss. The auction-house staff had placed them near the front-door entrance. That was not surprising; it’s what they do at the first sign of spring. I'd seen stuff like this before, but these female statues were new – and costly.
- [What to do with old photo albums](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/04/15/what-to-do-with-old-photo-albums/) - The boxes of photo albums were in separate spots on the outside tables at the auction house. As I rounded the corner of each table, I found another album and then another. Seeing so many of these discarded books, I wondered what will happen to my old photo albums. Will they end up someplace like this? Will yours?
- [An elegant figural lamp in a female form](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/04/10/an-elegant-figural-lamp-in-a-female-form/) - As I walked among the furniture at the auction house, I came upon an item that was familiar to me – but different. It was a female figure elegantly dressed in a gilt gown and head wrap. She held a rod that reached above her head and ended in a spray of lights. “She” was a six-foot-tall floor lamp.
- [My first look at Ebony’s first issue, Nov. 1945](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/04/03/my-first-look-at-ebonys-first-issue-nov-1945/) - The Ebony magazine cover showed a black boy haloed by a group of white boys in a show of harmony. I looked over the cover very carefully because this first issue of Ebony was as new to me as the magazine itself was nearly 75 years ago. I’d never held an actual copy before.
- [Family artifacts that may be worthy of history & cash](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/04/01/family-artifacts-that-may-be-worthy-of-history-cash/) - A few years ago, a woman told me that her aunt was a WAC during World War II. There were not a lot of black WACs, so I knew this was important history. A lot of us have family photos and documents that are just as significant. A recent auction shows that they may not only be worthy of history but cashable.
- [Who is Doyle, the painter of this mule and buggy?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/03/18/who-is-doyle-the-painter-of-this-mule-and-buggy/) - There was nothing fancy about the painting, but it was appealing. It was a simple oil of an old man in a buggy drawn by a mule. In the background – which appeared to be too close and too overbearing – was a building with an iron-railing balcony. The painting was signed “Doyle,” but I could find out nothing about the artist. Who was he?
- [Colorful reminders that spring was afoot](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/03/27/colorful-reminders-that-spring-was-afoot/) - You couldn’t miss the settee. It was all pastel colors of soft pinks, yellows and blues with marbled stone posts and flowers. The brightness of the settee made its little spot in the auction house feel as fresh as spring - a welcome diversion from the chill outside and the misery of another late winter day.
- [Enslaved woman in John Rogers’ “The Fugitive’s Story”](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/10/15/enslaved-woman-in-john-rogers-the-fugitives-story/) - The three men in the sculpture were stalwarts of the abolitionist movement of the 19th century. Standing before them was an enslaved African woman holding her child. The men were identified in this sculpture titled “The Fugitive’s Story” by John Rogers, but the woman was not. It made me wonder who was she.
- [Enslaved Africans on illustrated pages of Harper’s Weekly](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/03/25/enslaved-africans-on-illustrated-pages-of-harpers-weekly/) - The sheets of yellowing pages of "Harper’s Weekly" instantly attracted me. During the Civil War, the newspaper was famous for its illustrations of the war’s battles, its wins, its losses and its politics. Harper’s also chronicled the lives of enslaved Africans in its illustrations. I wondered if this grouping contained any of those illustrations. It did.
- [A collection of cute vintage animal planters](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/03/20/a-collection-of-cute-vintage-animal-planters/) - There was nothing very distinguishing about the array of vintage planters spread out over two tables at the auction house. Except that they were so cute. They were figural planters with animals ranging from deer to rabbits.
- [Disparate items that left an impression](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/03/13/disparate-items-that-left-an-impression/) - I often come across stuff at auction that I have no intention of buying, but they still strike me as interesting or unusual. Like that tall shimmering clock whose body looked like silver tinsels. It was not the only one that left an impression on me.
- [Sneakbox racing trophies from Barnegat Bay](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/03/11/sneakbox-racing-trophies-from-barnegat-bay/) - Two of the cup-style trophies already had absentee stickers, so at least one person was drawn to them. Trophies don’t exactly lure me, but I always stop to read the inscription because I’m curious about their origin. The ones in front of me were awarded during Sneakbox races in the 1920s. What the heck was a Sneakbox?
- [Discovering the raku sculptures of an artist named Chojnacki](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/03/06/discovering-the-raku-sculptures-of-an-artist-named-chojnacki/) - I couldn’t resist the five ceramic sculptured busts sitting on a table at the auction house. They resembled those anatomical models with pull-apart body parts from health class. There was no pulling these apart, though, because they were obviously created as works of art and not for teaching.
- [Book leads to Sojourner Truth & Booker T. Washington health-spa visits](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/02/25/book-leads-to-sojourner-truth-booker-t-washington-health-spa-visits/) - The manual was not unlike any other book I’ve picked up at auction - except that it promoted a sanitarium. It was not what we commonly think of as a sanitarium. It was actually a health resort/spa that attracted the rich and well-to-do. Imagine my surprise to learn that Sojourner Truth and Booker T. Washington had stayed there.
- [A great day to pick up lovely pottery](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/03/04/a-great-day-to-pick-up-lovely-pottery/) - For a second, I thought I had walked into a ceramic pottery store. Shelf after shelf of contemporary pottery lined several tall units at the auction house. This was the collection of a buyer who was eclectic and chose some very lovely pieces.
- [Little-known black actress named Theresa Harris](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/05/02/little-known-black-actress-named-theresa-harris/) - I had never heard of the actress Theresa Harris. I was I had never heard of the actress Theresa Harris. I was introduced to a woman like her this weekend in a Broadway show called "By the Way, Meet Vera Stark" on Broadway. 
- [This is what a Beatles obsession looks like on paper](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/02/27/this-is-what-a-beatles-obsession-looks-like-on-paper/) - I knew before I walked into the auction house that tons of books would be up for sale. But as I got closer to the books, imagine my surprise when I saw that they were all one note. They were about the Beatles – the collection of an avid fan.
- [A quartet of gilt horn-playing angel sculptures](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/02/20/a-quartet-of-gilt-horn-playing-angel-sculptures/) - The angels were reclining. Their big plastic bodies were lying on a row of sofas at the auction house as they awaited their fate. Their gold-painted bodies were in contorted shapes, and each held a short horn in its hand. They had hooks on their backs for hanging, but I wondered how you’d incorporate them in your home décor.
- [Some of the best buys are in box lots](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/02/18/some-of-the-best-buys-are-in-box-lots/) - When my buddy Janet and I started going to auctions, we’d wait around for hours until the last box lots were sold. By then, many of the buyers had gone home, overwhelmed with fatigue and too much wasted time. I don’t do that anymore, but recently, a box of small items reminded me of the goodies that sometimes can be found in box lots.
- [How did those false teeth end up here?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/02/13/how-did-those-false-teeth-end-up-here/) - The auction-house staffer was nonchalant, but we two auction-goers were astounded. I had seen them first: sets of false teeth with pink gums and heavy metal plates in a glass case with other items. “Everything shows up at auction,” the staffer said nonchalantly.
- [A face like Sinatra’s on back of art chair](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/02/11/a-face-like-sinatras-on-back-of-art-chair/) - The face was easily recognizable, but the canvas was a tad unusual. As I rounded a corner at the auction house, Ol’ Blue Eyes was looking straight at me. At least the image in the painting looked like Sinatra. It was painted on a wooden canvas on the back of a chair that looked like a throne.
- [Blackface paints an ugly era in America’s history](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/02/04/blackface-paints-an-ugly-era-in-americas-history/) - Some years ago, I came upon a vendor at a nostalgia convention who was selling something I knew of but had never seen before: a tube of blackface makeup. The current uproar over a man in blackface in the 1980s yearbook of Virginia’s governor reminded me of that makeup and its demeaning history. .
- [Pinback buttons for Bond Bread aviator series](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/02/06/pinback-buttons-for-bond-bread-aviator-series/) - The auction-house staffer was just as curious as me. After he lifted the tray from a case behind the counter, he reached for one of the pinback buttons as soon as I did. The buttons bore the words "Bond Bread," along with tiny drawings of famous airplanes and the names of their aviators.
- [A surprising mix of black dolls at convention](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/08/07/a-surprising-mix-of-black-dolls-at-convention/) - I wasn’t sure what I’d find when I drove to Washington recently for the convention of the United Federation of Doll Clubs. I knew what I’d be looking for, though. Black dolls. Lots of them. All kinds of them. And I was hoping that I would not be disappointed.
- [Gun holsters & more tell story of Frank Rizzo](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/01/30/gun-holsters-more-tell-story-of-frank-rizzo/) - I heard the man’s voice and recognized it instantly. “Where are the guns?” he shouted, jokingly. “Where are the guns?” He was standing in front of some leather handgun holsters that had come from the estate of Philadelphia’s notorious police chief and mayor Frank Rizzo. The holsters were not the only things up for auction.
- [Is it a real Civil War relic?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/01/28/is-it-a-real-civil-war-relic/) - I’m not a collector of war relics, but I'm always curious about history. That’s why I stopped and asked an auction-house assistant to let me see some Civil War relics in a glass case. Some were in cushioned boxes so I could not actually handle them. Others were in a worn plastic bag. Were they real, I wondered.
- [Native American girl in needlepoint](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/07/01/native-american-girl-in-needlepoint/) - I instantly fell in love with the small framed needlepoint of the little girl,who looked to be Native American. She lay there on the auction table, her eyes looking to the left.
- [A mixed bag of items people tag to buy](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/01/23/a-mixed-bag-of-items-people-tag-to-buy/) - The small round orange and lime stickers pop up like weeds. Walk through any auction house during preview time, and you’ll see plenty of these stickers left behind by people who couldn’t wait around for the auction. They came, they saw, and they left a bid that presumably was high enough to knock out the competition.
- [Martin Luther King’s "I Have a Dream” pendant necklace](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/01/21/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-pendant-necklace/) - When I saw the two pendant necklaces, they brought back memories. I had one like them years ago, wearing it to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. They bore his portrait, the title of his infamous “I have a dream” speech and the organization that he headed.
- [Awe-inspiring interior of Memorial Hall](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/01/16/awe-inspiring-interior-of-memorial-hall/) - It was a dark moonless night in November when I arrived at Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park for a meeting. Entering the building, I was astounded. It was cavernous, with ceilings so high they seemed to reach to the sky and colors so bright they shone like the sun. I didn’t expect to be so blown away by what I saw.
- [‘Little Brave Sambo’ is a new look on an old stereotype](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/01/14/little-brave-sambo-is-a-new-look-on-an-old-stereotype/) - When I first saw the title, I thought I had misread it. “Little Brave Sambo.” That didn’t sound right. All of the books I had seen about this little boy’s encounter with four tigers were summarily titled “Little Black Sambo.” What was this all about?
- [Early photo album shows “you” among America’s natural beauty](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/01/09/early-photo-album-shows-you-among-americas-natural-beauty/) - Many of the heavy Bibles and photo albums on the table were in dark browns and blacks. But at least two were in softer tones, including a green cloth album with silver-plated adornments. It held no photos, but the title page was intriguing: "Album of American Scenery." Was it a photo album or a picture book?
- [Basquiat-inspired art on an uncommon canvas](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/01/02/basquiat-inspired-art-on-an-uncommon-canvas/) - Someone was trying to channel the famous graffiti-artist-turned international star Jean-Michel Basquiat – both in style and canvas. Basquiat painted on anything that he could find, including a refrigerator door. And that’s exactly what the auction house was selling: a 1950s unsigned refrigerator door with drawings in the style of Basquiat.
- [A lamp to fit any taste or whim](https://myauctionfinds.com/2019/01/07/a-lamp-to-fit-any-taste-or-whim/) - The auction house was chocked full of lamps. Everywhere I turned, I saw table lamps, chandeliers, lighted glass wall sconces and floor lamps. Some had unusual bases and others were more traditional. There were enough lamps to fit any taste or whim.
- [10 gifts to wow the person who loves the unusual](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/12/19/10-gifts-to-wow-the-person-who-loves-the-unusual/) - Everywhere I turned at the auction house, I came face to face with yet another item that was “out there.” None were the customary Christmas gifts that you’d wrap in green paper and tie with a red bow. These were gifts that stretched the imagination, and as such would be appreciated only by a few.
- [A family of gold frogs with emerald rhinestones](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/12/17/a-family-of-gold-frogs-with-emerald-drops/) - The frogs were the stars in the glass case at the auction house. They were textured with tiny bumps, and gold-tone in color with emerald rhinestones all over their bodies. It was a desk set, and I found the pieces both whimsical and fun.
- [A book of love written in the language of flowers](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/05/17/love-spoken-in-a-book-written-in-language-of-flowers/) - It wasn’t the sort of old book I’d normally grab at auction. I’m usually looking for books with an African American theme, ones that tell the story of my history. But the title of this little book called out for my attention: "The Language of Flowers." A great book for this time of year when the Earth is in bloom.
- [Look like Buddhas, but actually they’re not](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/12/12/look-like-buddhas-but-actually-theyre-not/) - Years ago, whenever my friend Elaine encountered a small Buddha statue, she’d rub its belly for good luck. It was a round pot-belly, smooth and exposed, likely touched too many times by too many people with wishes of prosperity. I came across several Buddha-like figures at auction and learned that hers and these were not true Buddhas.
- [Dynamite blasting machine fit for Wile E. Coyote](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/12/10/dynamite-blasting-machine-fit-for-wile-e-coyote/) - The machine was filthy, dusty and battered, but when I saw the plunger I knew exactly what it was. Anyone who’s seen Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner in the Looney Tunes animated series knows a dynamite blasting machine when they see one. This was a chance to buy an authentic device.
- [Gretchen Branche in Broadway’s “Blackbirds of 1933”](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/12/05/gretchen-branche-in-broadways-blackbirds-of-1933/) - The publicity photo of a young African American woman seemed out of place in the box. The large photo was lying at the bottom, hidden by a stack of cabinet cards of African Americans from the late 19th century. It was a glamour photo of Gretchen Branche, a singer in Lew Leslie’s “Blackbirds of 1933.”
- [Black people defined themselves through cabinet cards](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/12/03/black-people-define-themselves-through-cabinet-cards/) - The half-box of cards was on the bottom shelf, and I could see a stack of sepia photos of African Americans in it. I asked the auctioneer for the box – it was inside one of the glass cases away from the bidders – and I was delighted to see that they were cabinet cards of African Americans from the late 19th century. For a short time, it offered a period of hope.
- [Roaming an estate sale for signs of Frank Rizzo](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/11/26/roaming-an-estate-sale-for-signs-of-frank-rizzo/) - Frank Rizzo’s presence had long left the house, which exuded a warmth that I did not expect from the abode of a man with such a notorious reputation. He was a man whom many felt was both a racist and a bully, and whom others adored without question. Now, his family was selling off pieces of his life.
- [Charles White’s drawings show strong bond with Paul Robeson](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/11/28/charles-whites-drawings-show-strong-bond-with-paul-robeson/) - I’m sure I had seen the drawing somewhere before, but I apparently was so awed by its bold figure that I didn’t read past the title. This time I did, and learned that artist Charles White had used Paul Robeson as his model for “Preacher.” That drawing was one the many mesmerizing works in a retrospective of the artist at the Museum of Modern Art.
- [Household items in 1854 cookbook are not so ancient](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/11/21/household-items-in-1854-cookbook-are-not-so-ancient/) - I was browsing some of the vintage cookbooks I had picked up at auction and came across one with illustrations of kitchen items from the 19th century. I realized that I have updated versions of them and had seen others at auction. Many of them have remained as essentials in our kitchens.
- [A different take on black boy-with-watermelon stereotype](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/11/19/a-different-take-on-black-boy-with-watermelon-stereotype/) - When I first saw the modern painting of a little black boy with a watermelon, I was torn. I have seen so many derogatory images of black-boy-with-watermelon that I shun them. But when I saw this one, I was surprised that it moved rather than repulsed me. I went back several times to look it over, and it eventually grew on me.
- [Lynn & Leslie, Constance Bannister’s African American babies](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/11/14/lynn-leslie-constance-bannisters-african-american-babies/) - Leslie did most the crying. She wouldn’t sit still for the shoot by famed baby photographer Constance Bannister. Usually, her brother could get her and sister Lynn to settle down. On this day, Leslie wasn’t having any of it. The identical twins were among the first African American babies photographed for Bannister’s international date book.
- [Ragan A. Henry, radio pioneer & art connoisseur](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/11/12/ragan-a-henry-radio-pioneer-art-connoisseur/) - Starting in the 1970s, Ragan A. Henry amassed a bevy of radio stations on the East Coast when it wasn’t easy for black people to own any at all. But with smarts, wits and a dream, he was one of the few. Along the way, he also built an eclectic art collection, much of it by African Americans, which is up for auction this week.
- [Limiting black voting has always been a Georgia pastime](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/11/07/limiting-black-voting-has-always-been-a-georgia-pastime/) - I don’t even remember what the white woman looked like, but I do recall her attitude. Brash, nasty, harsh. I was a junior at Paine College in Augusta, GA. Some female friends and I had gone to the local elections office to register to vote. This southern woman obviously didn’t want to register us, but we were determined.
- [Keeping an eye on works by artists I’ve collected](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/10/31/keeping-an-eye-on-works-by-artists-ive-collected/) - I often go to the African American art auction at Swann Auction Galleries in New York to see if any of the works I’ve collected are sold and for how much, and to see original paintings by those artists. Each time, something turns up - either an Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence or Romare Bearden print that sells for a lot more than I paid for it.
- [The ugly images of anti-Semitism & racism](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/10/29/the-ugly-images-of-anti-semitism-racism/) - At auction, I often see stereotypical items aimed at making Jews, black people and other folks appear less than human, as people not worthy of existing at all. That was the thinking of the man who killed 11 innocent people at a synagogue on Saturday. Some items that turned up at auction recently remind us that the past is never past.
- [Anti-slavery pleas displayed in different forms](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/10/24/anti-slavery-pleas-displayed-in-different-forms/) - I’d often seen the "Am I Not a Man and a Brother" and the "Am I Not a Woman and a Sister" slogans on coins and medallions. This time, they were on a plaque and a framed print along with slave shackles. Whatever the form, the pleas are always powerful felt.
- [From giant bronze floor vases to Josephine Baker marionette](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/10/22/from-giant-bronze-floor-vases-to-josephine-baker-marionette/) - Sometimes at auction house, I come across items I have no intention of buying but are struck by them: Their novelty, their beauty, their outlandishness, or because they are just plain strange.
- [Anguish in faces of men in Biggers & Bloch’s drawings](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/10/17/anguish-in-faces-of-men-in-biggers-blochs-drawings/) - When I first saw the drawing, I immediately thought it was another version of a print by Philadelphia artist Julius Bloch. But it couldn’t be. Bloch was a white artist and I was attending an auction of works by African American artists. It was created by John Biggers, and both had adeptly portrayed a black man’s anguish.
- [Jim Crow signs separated a people & a nation](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/09/26/jim-crow-signs-separated-a-people-a-nation/) - Lest we forget. That’s what came to my mind when I saw the Jim Crow signs in the glass case at the auction house. These “Colored” and “White” signs remind us of a time when African Americans could not drink out of the same water fountain, use the same toilet, sit down at the same restaurant or even sit next to a white person on a bus, train or streetcar.
- [Woman in red hat sparks a memory, but what?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/10/10/woman-in-red-hat-sparks-a-memory-but-what/) - When I saw the painting of the woman in the red hat, she instantly reminded me of another painting. Her black hair was nicely coiffed, her red hat was fashionable, and she looked so life-like. Where had I seen a painting just like this? And who was this artist?
- [Beauty in the shades of slag glass panel lamps](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/10/08/beauty-in-the-shades-of-slag-glass-panel-lamps/) - A few years ago, a woman brought a lovely glass panel lamp to a presentation a friend and I were conducting on family treasures. She wanted to know how much it was worth. It was a slag glass panel lamp and was worth about $750. Recently, several of these beautiful lamps came up for auction.
- [Who made the folk art chest to honor Jesse Owens?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/10/03/who-made-the-folk-art-chest-to-honor-jesse-owens/) - The blanket chest was aged and lovely, but the image painted on it was even more impressive. It was folk art, created by some anonymous person to honor the accomplishments of Jesse Owens in the 1938 Berlin Olympics.
- [George Washington Carver on a whisky decanter](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/10/01/george-washington-carver-on-a-whisky-decanter/) - The figure looked like many of the other ceramic sculptures of African Americans I’d seen in discount stores. This image of George Washington Carver of the peanut fame was different, though: it was porcelain, a bit more elegant and it was a whiskey decanter from 1977.
- [People of color on magic-lantern slides](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/09/19/people-of-color-on-magic-lantern-slides/) - Every now and then, magic-lantern slides show up at auction, and I always check them for images of African Americans. Most times, there are none. I got lucky recently when three of them showed up, including one of an African American woman in cap and gown.
- ['Stop busing’ buttons & meat rubber stamps from another era](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/09/24/stop-busing-buttons-meat-rubber-stamps-from-another-era/) - The box of pinback buttons was pushed under a table near the door to the auction house, but their message was loud and clear: "Stop Forced Busing." It was not the only box full of nothing I came across that day. Across the room were some rubber stamps imprinted with the names of meat. The boxes had nothing in common except that they were from another era.
- [The political Pop art of Sister Mary Corita Kent](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/09/17/the-political-pop-art-of-sister-mary-corita-kent/) - It was hard to miss the painting on the far wall, even from where I stood way across the room. Its deep red brushstrokes and bold black arrow made it stand out like a command. I learned that this painting with its strong anti-prejudice message was created in the 1960s by a little-known Pop artist nun named Corita Kent.
- [Chicago World’s Fair medal that looks like a coin](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/09/12/chicago-worlds-fair-medal-that-looks-like-a-coin/) - The auction-house staffer handed me a blue case with a silver coin resting cushiony in blue velvet. He lifted the coin from its bed and opened it. That’s when I saw that it was not a coin but a medal with a succession of accordion-like pages of beautiful images from the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.
- [Jazz legend & teacher Don Gardner leaves a dual legacy](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/09/10/jazz-legend-teacher-don-gardner-leaves-a-dual-legacy/) - A few years ago, I was at a jazz event when an older man with gray hair and gray beard got up to speak. He was Don Gardner, a jazz singer and musician whom I interviewed about his years as a performer and the founding of the black musicians’ union way back when. Gardner died recently but left behind a legacy that I’m happy I got the chance to record.
- [Using hunting-dog postcards to sell gunpowder](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/09/05/using-hunting-dog-postcards-to-sell-gunpowder/) - Browsing the glass case at the auction house, I had seen nothing that spoke to me, until an assistant placed a tray of hunting-dog postcards in front of me. The animals were skillfully drawn as portraits - as if they had sat for the artist.
- [A wooden folding organ to carry on your travels](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/08/29/a-wooden-folding-organ-to-carry-on-your-travels/) - When I saw the organ on the auction-house website, I knew I had to see it. It was a traveling organ, a portable folding instrument that was used by singers, preachers, Army chaplains and anyone else who needed to make music in the field.
- [A sea of golden French-style mantle clocks](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/08/27/a-sea-of-golden-french-style-mantle-clocks/) - The ornate clocks created their own sea of gold, interrupted only by their white porcelain faces that stood out like watchtowers. I was about to walk past them but paused to look more closely at the adults and children carved on them.
- [Original paintings of Cream of Wheat illustrations](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/08/22/original-paintings-of-cream-of-wheat-illustrations/) - I’ve seen plenty of Cream of Wheat posters with the ever-smiling chef. But when I learned of an auction of the original paintings, I wanted to see them in the flesh. And there they were, nicely executed but painted in stereotypical strokes.
- [A bounty of chic from a country store](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/08/20/a-bounty-of-chic-from-a-country-store/) - The auction house could easily have been converted into a country store. All that was missing were the shelves and tables to hold items that could countrify your home - and a welcoming owner standing behind a cash register. This auction was the place to be to find country chic – real and not-so-real.
- [‘Ground Round’ sign recalls a favorite eating place](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/08/16/ground-round-sign-recalls-a-favorite-eating-place/) - The sign was lying on its side, its letters twisted, but its big sunshine-yellow words clicked with the auction-goer: "Ground Round a family fun place to eat and drink." He remembered going to the restaurant in the 1980s, and spoke of it like it was a member of the family.
- [Court reporters & their writing machines](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/08/13/court-reporters-their-writing-machines/) - The auction house had advertised the antique typewriters, but when I arrived I found something just as interesting: smaller machines with oval-shaped keys and rollers with paper that resembled cash-register tape. They were stenotype machines used by court reporters.
- [Cruising inside the world of Alaska totem poles](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/08/08/cruising-inside-the-world-of-alaska-totem-poles/) - As the tour bus rounded a corner to Saxman Village Totem Park in Alaska, the guide directed us to look at a pile of gray logs with splashes of color. Laying on the ground were several broken totem poles dying naturally, according to native tradition. But the best stood waiting for our arrival.
- [Aunt Sally's Pancake Flour as a lesser-known Aunt Jemima’s](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/08/06/aunt-sallys-pancake-flour-as-a-lesser-known-aunt-jemimas/) - Both the image and the product name on the metal tin poster surprised me. The tin featured a young black girl wearing a clean dress with a white pinafore, and a bright smile. She had red lips shaped by lipstick – unlike the more common grotesque images of black children of that era. She was advertising "Aunt Sally’s Pancake Flour."
- [A hand-held mouth organ called a PlaRola](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/08/01/a-hand-held-mouth-organ-called-a-plarola/) - I tried to get the small 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 cylinder on the PlaRola, we heard nothing. I learned later that we were leaving out a most important step.
- [The lowly mouse as a cutesy collectible figurine](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/07/30/the-lowly-mouse-as-a-cutesy-collectible-figurine/) - I enjoyed the movie “Ratatouille” about the mouse (or maybe it was a rat) named Remy that was a Michelin-star chef, but if I see one of the rodents in my house, I won’t invite it into my kitchen. So, I find it a little strange that some people actually collect mouse figurines.
- [78 rpm risqué party records from the 1940s](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/07/25/78-rpm-risque-party-records-from-the-1940s/) - 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 the Deluxe label. She was a risqué singer from the 1940s and this was an adult "party record."
- [The hand-tinted photos of Wallace Nutting](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/07/23/the-hand-tinted-photos-of-wallace-nutting/) - I can’t remember the last time I went to an auction and didn’t see one of those small hand-colored landscapes by Wallace Nutting. The colors were usually muted and dull, and the images rather drab. Among the masses, Nutting was no-doubt a very popular artisan at one time because so many of his works now turn up at auction.
- [Broadside shows slavery’s awful practice of splitting families](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/07/16/broadside-shows-slaverys-awful-practice-of-splitting-families/) - The bold title was very clear in its mission: "Public Sale of Negroes, by Richard Clagett." If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was the title of a book and its author. But this was a broadside, and Clagett was a slave trader who auctioned enslaved African men, women, children and babies in a practice as horrid as any other in the history of the United States.
- [Palmer Hotel assures it is fireproof after Great Chicago Fire](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/07/11/palmer-hotel-assures-it-is-fireproof-after-great-chicago-fire/) - The aged envelope bore a large heading above a drawing of the Palmer Hotel in Chicago. The pronouncement would mean nothing without knowing the hotel’s history. “Only Fire-Proof House in the United States,” it blared. The hotel had good reason to reassure guests that they would be safe.
- [“Wind Song” perfume as lure for women to buy ‘54 Chevy](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/07/09/wind-song-perfume-as-lure-for-women-to-buy-54-chevy/) - The first image I saw was a small bottle of perfume, its top enveloped by a large printed bouquet of ribbons on a card. Beneath it, I read three words that were incongruous with the image: "New 1954 Chevrolet." What did a Chevy have to do with perfume? Then I read the small print and found out.
- [Coffee-table bases from battered to sleek](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/07/02/coffee-table-bases-from-battered-to-sleek/) - The tables with the glass tops and grotesque bases were the first to catch my eye. The bases were thick and twisted like some giant hands had ripped them into big chunks. The tables were among several others with base designs that ranged from gnarly to sleek.
- [Photo flip book about a 1906 horse champ named Dan Patch](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/06/27/photo-flip-book-about-a-1906-horse-champ-named-dan-patch/) - The first time I recall seeing a flip book was in the 1981 movie "Ragtime." I remember watching with the amazement of a kid as a character quickly flipped the pages of the small book with his thumb. I finally got a chance to see one on my own recently at auction. It was produced in 1909 about a championship horse named Dan Patch.
- [1906 raffle ticket to help buy an artificial leg](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/06/25/1906-raffle-ticket-to-help-buy-an-artificial-leg/) - When I saw the pink raffle ticket at auction, I figured it was like any other ticket. Who hasn’t bought a raffle ticket to help out a church, group or other cause? The prize in this 1906 raffle was a 4x5 camera and a parlor lamp, and the cause was personal but worthy.
- [Fanciful items designed for a modernist home](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/06/20/fanciful-items-designed-for-a-modernist-home/) - It’s amazing to me that someone would use bones as a sculpture material. The first I saw of them were animal bones attached to a straight-back chair. It looked awful. This week, I came across a face made of small bones with an antler protruding from the head. That face was not the only whimsical item I encountered.
- ["Blacula” movie poster recalls ‘70s blaxploitation films](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/06/18/blacula-movie-poster-recalls-70s-blaxploitation-films/) - One wall at the auction house was plastered with movie posters, but I saw only one that I wanted. It was "Blacula," a black Dracula for those movie-goers who in the 1970s longed for their own heroes. One young man at the auction house was snapping up all the posters, but I wasn’t going to let him have my Blacula.
- [Grocery receipts reveal what we were eating in 1900s](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/06/13/grocery-receipts-reveal-what-we-were-eating-in-1900s/) - The receipts looked like nothing more than fountain-pen scribbles on a sheet. Looking closer, though, I could read the names of some of the products that were sold by this wholesaler in 1900. I love finding these old grocery receipts because they show what we were eating back then.
- [1900s mugshot of a San Francisco pickpocket](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/06/11/1900s-mugshot-of-a-san-francisco-pickpocket/) - The man’s grainy photo looked as if it was straight out of a newspaper. He stared out unabashedly - a bowler hat set squarely atop his head - in the mugshot photo. At 32, he had been arrested by the San Francisco Police Department for picking pockets, circa 1900.
- [Once the perfect gift, cut glass is now passé](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/06/06/once-the-perfect-gift-cut-glass-is-now-passe/) - “Oh my God,” I heard the woman exclaim loudly. I’m sure she didn’t mean for everyone in the room at the auction house to hear her. But most of us had the same reaction when we saw the long table chocked full of cut glass, which sadly no one buys or uses anymore.
- [Remembering Aunt Sarah & her dolls](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/06/04/remembering-aunt-sarah-her-dolls/) - I met Aunt Sarah some years ago when I lived in Florida, and drove with her niece and my good friend Yvonne to Jacksonville to visit her and Uncle Stafford. Aunt Sarah had a great passion, and you instantly knew what it was once you stepped into her living room. She loved dolls. They were the children she never had.
- [Using scantily clad women to sell ointments](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/05/30/using-scantily-clad-women-to-sell-ointments/) - When I first saw the trade cards, I assumed that the women in deep necklines and sexy poses were selling exactly what they were showing. Usually I ignore such images at auction, leaving them for the guys. But then I saw the word "ointment" in large letters on one card and I had to see what these were all about.
- [Celebrating the royals with collector’s plates](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/05/23/celebrating-the-royals-with-collectors-plates/) - Everywhere I turned at the auction house, I saw Queen Elizabeth II’s smiling face on a collector’s plate. It was both jarring and refreshing to see her smiling, especially after she sat stoic-faced during the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. I wondered how soon I would begin seeing commemorative plates of the newlyweds.
- [Queen Charlotte – Britain’s first biracial queen](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/05/21/queen-charlotte-britains-first-biracial-queen/) - I had never heard of Queen Charlotte until after the royal wedding on Saturday. A friend who spent the weekend immersed in all things royal mentioned it. She’d read that a woman with African roots had been part of the British monarchy way before Megan Markle. Way back to the 18th century, it seemed.
- [Memorial cabinet cards in remembrance of a loved one](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/05/16/memorial-cabinet-cards-in-remembrance-of-a-loved-one/) - I was flipping through some cabinet cards at auction recently when I came across an unusual one. Cabinet cards normally bore a photo of folks dressed in their finest, but this one was different. It was black with gold lettering, and had a dove at the top and a sacred poem at the bottom. It was a memorial card for a woman who died in 1891.
- [Daily schedule for 1970 TS Bremen Caribbean cruise from NY](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/05/14/daily-schedule-for-1970-ts-bremen-caribbean-cruise-from-ny/) - I had never heard of the TS Bremen, but when I saw a schedule for a 1970 cruise to the Caribbean, I quickly picked it up. Cruises are still big business, and I was curious about whether they had changed much in nearly 50 years. In most ways, they had not.
- [Charles Drew bust by artist Inge Hardison](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/04/30/charles-drew-bust-by-artist-inge-hardison/) - I wasn’t expecting to find much at this place where vendors rent stalls to sell their merchandise. Until my auction buddy Janet mentioned the bust of Charles Drew. She was astounded to find a bust of this great doctor in so unlikely a spot. Even better, it had been sculpted by an African American artist named Ruth Inge Hardison.
- [Do your homework to avoid overpaying at auction](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/05/07/do-your-homework-to-avoid-overpaying-at-auction/) - Before I buy anything at auction, I always know how much the item is worth. The worse thing is to bid blindly, because most times you’ll pay too much. I saw that happen recently at an auction of home improvement products. The buyer paid too much for flooring; it was cheaper at Home Depot.
- [Birdhouses created in a child’s hand and manner](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/05/02/birdhouses-created-in-a-childs-hand-and-manner/) - I spotted the shelves of bird houses from a distance at the auction house. They were arranged neatly in a cabinet near a wall – some of them alike, several of them looking like an abstract painting. "Aren’t they cute," a woman said as a statement rather than a question. Some of them actually were.
- [Fish-tail chair, coiled snake & other captivating things](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/04/25/fish-tail-chair-coiled-snake-other-captivating-things/) - I saw the chair first. It had thick gray cushions, curved arms and a dip in its back that looked like the tail of a whale. It was so clean that I wondered if anyone had ever curled up in it. This chair was not the only unusual furniture item that willed me to stop - to either admire or balk.
- [Scott’s Scrap Book cartoons not as famous as Ripley’s](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/04/23/scotts-scrap-book-cartoons-not-as-famous-as-ripleys/) - Before me were small sheets that had been cut from newspapers, stacked side by side in a thick double pile. The cartoon atop the left stack was titled "Believe It or Not!" and I recognized it as Ripley’s moniker. The one on the right was titled "Scott’s Scrap Book," which I had never heard of and found more intriguing.
- [Called scraps, but these pictures are far from it](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/04/18/called-scraps-but-these-pictures-are-far-from-it/) - The small embossed pictures were in no sensible order in the box. I suspected that they had been removed from an old Victorian scrapbook where they had been carefully placed and perfectly organized. They were Victorian scraps, used by people of means in the 19th century to while away the time - in a lovely and relaxing way.
- [Oversized figures of Christ, African female & Marlboros](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/04/16/oversized-figures-of-christ-african-female-marlboros/) - One week, the auction house had a larger-than-life figure of Christ that looked as if it had been taken from a church. A few weeks later, the larger-than-life figure was an African female and then, a pack of Marlboro cigarettes. What gives?
- [From $170,000  to $600,000 – record-breaking African American art sale](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/04/09/from-170000-to-600000-record-breaking-african-american-art-sale/) - The audience seemed to be ho-hum as artist Charles Ethan Porter’s beautiful yellow sunflowers went for $40,000. I didn’t observe much stirring when William H. Johnson’s jitterbug dancers sold for $90,000. But when Elizabeth Catlett’s mournful face of an African American woman topped off at $170,000, the auction applauded. It would not be the last time.
- [Memory jug beckons to an African folk art tradition](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/04/11/memory-jug-beckons-to-an-african-folk-art-tradition/) - Did you see the memory jug, my auction-buddy Rebecca asked. To be honest, I had no idea what a memory jug was but was not surprised that she did. I found the jug in the front room, and it was a mess: muddy and dirty with all sorts of small items – spool, comb, eyeglasses, clay pipe and padlock – attached to it.
- [Artifacts tell their own story of Martin Luther King’s life](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/04/04/artifacts-tell-their-own-story-of-martin-luther-kings-life/) - One artifact was a photo of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, two men who sought freedom for African Americans in their own ways. Another was a large pinback button from the SCLC’s Poor People Campaign. As we commemorate King’s death, I’ve gone through the archives and pulled out blog posts pertaining to his life.
- [The endearing pocket knife](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/04/02/the-endearing-pocket-knife/) - When I was growing up, men fought with switchblades. Too much drink mixed with a bump or a slight would draw out the knives at a juke joint on Saturday nights. That’s how men fought - with knives that left a mark but most times never left you dead. I thought about switchblades recently after seeing some pocket knives at auction.
- [Promise of fair treatment made & broken at 1939 NY World’s Fair](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/03/28/promise-of-fair-treatment-made-broken-at-1939-ny-worlds-fair/) - The newspaper pages were tucked behind a seemingly unrelated art print of a stone church. I perused the pages to find some mention of the artist but saw nothing. What I did find was an article with the president of the 1939 New York World’s Fair promising blacks that they would be treated fairly by the organizers. He lied.
- [A 2nd Laura Wheeler Waring’s portrait of James Weldon Johnson](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/03/26/a-2nd-laura-wheeler-warings-portrait-of-james-weldon-johnson/) - The auction house had played the portrait high on its website. That was understandable since the artist who painted it and the subject were both famous African Americans. It was a portrait of James Weldon Johnson painted by artist Laura Wheeler Waring in the 1940s. It practically mirrored a portrait by Waring at the Smithsonian. What gives?
- [The documented life of peace activist Ethel Taylor](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/03/21/the-documented-life-of-peace-activist-ethel-taylor/) - The woman’s history was laid out on the table like an open book: passport, FBI and CIA files, photos, airline tickets, thank-you letters from POW families. They told the story of Ethel Taylor of Philadelphia, who through the group Women Strike for Peace protested nuclear testing and the Vietnam War.
- [Rattlesnake keychain, widemouth bass mailbox & more](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/03/19/rattlesnake-keychain-widemouth-bass-mailbox-more/) - The rattlesnake was showing its fang, but who could blame it. Someone had chopped off its head and made it into a keychain. It was not the only odd and interesting item I came across recently attesting to the fact that you can find and buy anything at auction.
- [Leadbelly & Josh White at Village Vanguard, 1941](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/03/14/leadbelly-josh-white-at-village-vanguard-1941/) - Another box of photos had arrived at the auction house. One showed a white-haired singer playing his guitar in a nightclub, and I instantly recognized him but drew a blank on his name.
- [A stand of copper trees in an unlikely place](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/03/12/a-stand-of-copper-trees-in-an-unlikely-place/) - I was walking to my car when I saw a mass of tall wooden stalks jutting out of some containers. Perhaps they were trash waiting to be discarded, I thought. As I got closer, I decided that I couldn’t leave without knowing exactly what they were. They turned out to be copper tree sculptures, and they were amazing.
- [A well-preserved collection of vintage handkerchiefs](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/03/07/a-well-preserved-collection-of-vintage-handkerchiefs/) - When I saw the five binders in the glass case, I assumed they contained postage stamps. I wasn’t interested in anyone’s postage stamp collection, but these binders seemed too bulky to be holding tiny stamps. Inside were page after plastic page of lovely vintage handkerchiefs.
- [Early pinback buttons with faces of common people](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/03/05/early-pinback-buttons-with-faces-of-common-people/) - The pinback buttons I spotted in the glass auction case were new to me. I’d seen buttons of political candidates, civil rights campaigns and cartoon characters, but I had never come across any with the faces of private people. These were old, dating back to the early 1900s.
- [The nostalgic call of 45 rpm records](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/02/28/the-nostalgic-call-of-45-rpm-records/) - 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. I was transported back to that time by a collection of 45 rpms at auction recently. What are your memories of buying 45s??
- [Big fly, majestic eagle & hapless fish in a sculptural zoo](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/02/26/big-fly-majestic-eagle-hapless-fish-in-a-sculptural-zoo/) - The oversized metal house fly left me dumbfounded. Who would want such a thing? An auction-house staffer wondered the same thing. He was so perplexed that he had to show it to another staffer, who jokingly predicted that it would actually sell at a good price. People love “different.”
- [Artists on the outside (but not looking in)](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/07/12/artists-outside-the-mainstream/) - When I first saw the small tablet-size sculptures on the table, they reminded me of the paper packets that gardeners stick in the ground to help them remember what they planted. They had been signed by an artist named Weessocki. It was a name unfamiliar to me.
- [A collection of old matchbooks](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/02/13/a-collection-of-old-matchbooks/) - There was a time when I’d pick up a matchbook or two or three from the counter at every restaurant, night club or café I’d go to. I didn’t smoke but I "collected" them anyway. So, I was intrigued when I came across someone's matchbook collection.
- [For blacks, getting a home loan was tough in 1934 & still is](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/02/19/for-blacks-getting-a-home-loan-was-tough-in-1933-still-is/) - I read several articles last week on how African Americans and Latinos get turned down more often than whites for home-mortgage loans. It reminded me of a letter I came across at auction three years ago from a North Carolina woman to President Roosevelt seeking his help in forcing a government agency to approve her loan.
- [Woman tries to reclaim her home in 1930s Jim Crow South](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/03/16/woman-tries-to-reclaim-her-home-in-1930s-jim-crow-south/) - "I am a poor Colored Woman trying to have a home for living in my old age My husband and I have put all our life earnings in this place and now it is taken away from us." I read these words of Lucy Dalton of Asheville, NC, as I was combing through some old books and papers at an auction recently.
- [George Washington Carver in 1947 comic book of greats](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/02/14/george-washington-carver-in-1947-comic-book-of-greats/) - When I saw the title and cover of the yellowed comic book, I didn’t expect it to be thorough. Published in 1947, it offered highlights on the lives of 48 famous Americans, and I wondered if any African Americans were listed. I found one and was pleasantly surprised.
- [Tuskegee Airmen 1943 “Buy War Bonds” poster](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/02/05/tuskegee-airmen-1943-buy-war-bonds-poster/) - When the United States needed money to fund its role in World War II, it looked to its citizens to buy war bonds. It besieged everyone with posters, including African Americans who were not even treated as citizens. Appealing to their patriotism, the government created a poster featuring the much-loved Tuskegee Airmen.
- [Telling the story of mom’s cherished china](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/02/12/telling-the-story-of-moms-cherished-china/) - The note was written in a neat clear script. I couldn’t see the exact words from where I stood across the table. Handwritten in black fountain-pen ink, the note was atop a white porcelain dinner plate with pink roses. I walked around the table to the other side so I could read it. I was hoping it was a personal message, and it was.
- [Readers ask about matchbooks & Booker T. Washington](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/10/05/readers-ask-about-matchbooks-booker-t-washington/) - I got two questions recently about matchbooks from people who came across my blog post about a matchbook covers collection sold at auction. Another reader wante dto know the value of a book about Booker T. Washington.
- [Vintage radios in the form of lovely furniture](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/02/07/vintage-radios-in-the-form-of-lovely-furniture/) - 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 of console and tabletop vintage radios, and they were a lovely sight.
- [Cracker Jack prizes and childhood nostalgia](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/01/31/cracker-jack-prizes-and-childhood-nostalgia/) - The sign on the open flat box clearly identified the tiny metal items, but plenty of us auction-goers knew instantly what they were. “Vintage Cracker Jack Prizes,” the sign stated. Who among us Baby Boomers wouldn’t recognize the small charms, many with loops, that we had pulled out of boxes of popcorn covered in sweet molasses and peanuts?
- [One collector’s love affair with novelty cigarette lighters](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/01/22/one-collectors-love-affair-with-novelty-cigarette-lighters/) - It was a collection that bespoke of a different time when just about everyone lit up. This collector had pulled together novelty lighters in a plurality of shapes. Pick your category and there was certain to be lighters to fit it. A golfer? You got lighters featuring golf balls. A Coke enthusiast? You got two lighters in Coca-Cola red.
- [A set of eagles that got everyone’s attention](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/01/29/a-set-of-eagles-that-got-everyones-attention/) - The wooden eagles had been placed almost in our paths, but to the right and up a step. The birds were certainly a show-stopper. That was understandable, since our own Eagles had soured to the Super Bowl. On first glance, they appeared to just be a pair of birds, but then we all walked around to their backsides. What a surprise!
- [1953 Red Cross poster with N.C. Wyeth illustration](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/01/24/1953-red-cross-poster-with-n-c-wyeth-illustration/) - The red crosses on the poster were so fiery that I could almost feel the heat. The Red Cross emblems were emblazoned on waving flags with multicolored billowing clouds behind them. In the left corner, I saw N.C. Wyeth stamped in capital letters. This was a lithographic advertising poster for the American Red Cross, dated 1953.
- [From bedroom to kitchen, an array of marble table tops](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/01/17/from-bedroom-to-kitchen-an-array-of-marble-table-tops/) - First, I saw the beautiful hutch with burgundy glass tile emblazoned with two emblems, and then the beige freckled marble top. Just around the corner was an oval table with white marble top. Was there more natural stone on furniture on this day or was I noticing it more because I’m thinking of granite for my kitchen countertops?
- [Comics-book pages all over a chest of drawers](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/01/15/comics-book-pages-all-over-a-chest-of-drawers/) - I didn’t grow up reading comic books, but I’ve found myself as an adult drawn to the Marvel Comics movies. I think I’ve seen every "Iron Man" and "X-Men" movie. So when I saw that an auction house was selling a chest wrapped in comics and shaped like a piece of furniture called a commode (not a toilet), I had to see it up-close.
- [“Four and Twenty Blackbirds” is throwback from childhood](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/01/10/four-and-twenty-blackbirds-is-throwback-from-childhood/) - As soon as I saw the title "Four and Twenty Blackbirds," the first verse of the little ditty started playing in my head. My mind hummed the rest, filling in a word here and there that I recalled. I hadn’t thought about that song in a long time, but the birds were a pleasant reminder. And here they were, featured in an 1895 card game based on the song.
- [Lucky penny keychain leads to St. Louis jazz bar & Miles Davis](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/01/08/lucky-penny-keychain-leads-to-st-louis-jazz-bar-miles-davis/) - I was sifting through a box of leftovers from auction when I spotted an aluminum horseshoe-shaped keychain with a penny in the center. On one side was the embossed name of the Glass Bar in St. Louis. It was the bar – by then renamed - where Miles Davis and his first quintet with John Coltrane made a recording while playing for a radio show.
- [Picture Stories: Ruth St. Denis, Jacob’s Pillow, MA, 1968](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/10/18/ruth-st-denis-jacobs-pillow-ma-1968/) - 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. One was a photo of modern-dance pioneer Ruth St. Denis.
- [Picture Stories: Newspaper photos](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/10/23/picture-stories-newspaper-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. Several were newspaper photos, including one of a British artist who dubbed himself the “world’s most rejected artist.”
- [Picture Stories: Stepping out in style](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/10/25/picture-stories-stepping-out-in-style/) - 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. I have shared some of those old photos and the stories behind them in a series called "Picture Stories." This is the final installment - of people stepping out in style.
- [Selling the vast record collection of a lifetime](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/10/30/selling-the-record-collection-of-a-lifetime/) - 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 pop and classical albums he had collected over more than 50 years and nestled in rows of evenly spaced five-foot shelves. I had come face to face with the crème de la crème of his collection.
- [Early 20th-century take on Wedgwood’s slave medallion](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/11/01/early-20th-century-take-on-wedgwoods-slave-medallion/) - The pencil drawing had all the hallmarks of the famous Wedgwood slave medallion from the 18th century. It was an abolitionist symbol showing an African American man, chains around his wrists and the words "Am I Not a Man and a Brother" printed across the top. The drawing looked and felt early 20th century, but is just as relevant today.
- [Inkwells recall a different era of keeping in touch](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/11/06/inkwells-recall-a-different-era-of-keeping-in-touch/) - The emerald green inkwell caught the eye of my auction buddy Janet. But I was drawn to the entire collection. I love inkwells, and when I saw so many different styles on the auction table I had to linger for a while. They were a sweet display of anachronism, beckoning to an era when we commonly corresponded through words on paper.
- [Questions from a 1930s “Negro History” contest](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/11/08/questions-from-a-1930s-negro-history-contest/) - The bound sheets of paper had faded with age and the text had been typed with a typewriter whose ribbon needed changing. The cover page bore the title "Negro History," and the pages contained questions for a contest that appeared to be a black history version of a spelling bee.
- [Fancy little match safes to keep you from catching on fire](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/11/13/fancy-little-match-safes-to-keep-you-from-catching-on-fire/) - The first time I came across a match safe at auction, I wasn’t sure what it was. It was about the size of my palm and very simple. 19th-century men carried these fancy cases in their pockets to hold their matches to keep them from rubbing together and catching on fire.
- [A time when you got a prize in your washing powder](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/11/15/a-time-when-you-got-a-prize-in-your-washing-powder/) - On first glance, the fronts of the small trade cards were not very impressive. They held lithographic color images of children tending cows, riding horses, riverboating and fishing. On the back, though, a grocer was advertising a washing powder with a prize in its box. What? I wondered.
- [The many incarnations of the noble typewriter](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/11/20/the-many-incarnations-of-the-noble-typewriter/) - Most of the typewriters on the tables at the auction house appeared to be in good condition, bearing little of the dust I've seen on some that have been stored in basements for years, unseen and untouched. Old typewriters fascinate me because of their utilitarian beauty. Take a look.
- [A turkey stuffed, but not for Thanksgiving](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/11/22/a-turkey-stuffed-but-not-for-thanksgiving/) - I’m used to seeing stuffed and mounted animals at auction, and I’ve written about many of them, even an elephant foot made into a cigarette stand. But to my surprise, I recently stumbled upon a stuffed and mounted wild turkey. Not the eating kind, but its cousin, which you won’t likely find on a dinner table at Thanksgiving.
- [Frederick Douglass on cover of Harper’s Weekly, 1883](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/11/27/frederick-douglass-on-cover-of-harpers-weekly-1883/) - Frederick Douglass was the main speaker at the 1883 National Colored Convention in Louisville, KY, using his great voice to rally against the injustices still encountered by former slaves in the era of Reconstruction. Two months later, Harper’s Weekly featured him on its cover, a copy of which I bought at auction recently.
- [Inspecting an immigrant “girl” for work as domestic, 1870s style](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/11/29/inspecting-an-immigrant-girl-for-work-as-domestic-1870s-style/) - The young woman stood hopefully, her eyes downcast, as a fashionable woman with a little girl inspected her while other dour women waited their turn behind her. This image on the cover of an 1873 Harper’s Weekly reminded me of a slave auction, but much less brutal and visceral. This was a poor white woman’s version.
- [Christmas tree in the form of a Victorian woman](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/12/04/christmas-tree-in-the-form-of-a-victorian-woman/) - Even the auctioneer was a bit astonished when the item came up for auction. "It’s the first one I’ve seen," he said. He wasn’t alone. It was the first for me, too. Who’d ever heard of a Christmas tree in the shape of a Victorian woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat?
- [Ogontz School for Girls’ 1926 senior yearbook](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/12/06/ogontz-school-for-girls-1926-senior-yearbook/) - As I flipped through the pages, the book reminded me of a high school yearbook, but this one had original photos of only the seniors graduating from the Ogontz School for Girls in 1926. It was a very personal yearbook - only 44 copies were made - about the last year of a carefree life at a privileged school.
- [A 1987 pencil drawing of a slave auction](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/12/11/a-1987-pencil-drawing-of-a-slave-auction/) - When I saw the pencil drawing hanging on a wall at the auction house, I wasn’t sure what was going on. As I looked closer, I saw a man tied to a ball and chain with a woman and child alongside him. It was a slave auction. I was curious about the artist and the history of the drawing.
- [Christmas gift ideas from 1902 Strawbridge’s catalog](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/12/13/christmas-gift-ideas-from-1902-strawbridges-catalog/) - At auction recently, I came across a 1902 Christmas catalog from Strawbridge & Clothier, and it spoke of a time when this store and its counterparts were the place to go for shopping in Philadelphia. The gifts were fancy, and the prices a bit to hefty for most people who were making pennies an hour. Still, the catalog offered a nice trip back to see what the middle class was buying.
- [When cap guns were king](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/12/18/when-cap-guns-were-king/) - As soon as I saw the two sets of cap guns, they brought back memories. Memories of my boy cousins and little brothers who fired paper caps at each other with toy guns. How far we have come from the days when they were king, but with the real things creating so much havoc, not far enough.
- [Rubik’s Cube was the child’s-play toy of the ‘80s](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/12/20/rubiks-cube-was-the-childs-play-toy-of-the-80s/) - Remember Rubik’s Cube, the puzzle with so many twists and turns that it seemed maddingly impossible to solve? I don’t recall spending time trying to solve it, but when I spotted one at auction recently, it brought back memories of our fascination with the cube so many years ago.
- [Roswell spaceship as mysterious as ever](https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/01/03/roswell-spaceship-as-mysterious-as-ever/) - The model looked too modern to be a replica of the spaceship that many believed crash-landed in Roswell, NM, in 1947. It had sleek aluminum wings that folded over onto itself on both sides and a black cover where aliens would have been seated. It was nothing like the 1950s and 1960s-era space saucers from science fiction movies.
- [Fetaque Sanders, a consummate African American magician](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/08/28/fetaque-sanders-a-consummate-african-american-magician/) - The face that stared out at me from the broadside put the man’s time as way before the 1960s. He had wavy black processed hair and a light skin tone that gave him an entry and cache that those of a darker hue weren’t allowed back then. What was fascinating about this black man was both his name and his occupation: Fetaque Sanders, Magician.
- [Picture Stories: Lobby card for Eddie Jones' “One Round Jones”](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/10/09/picture-stories-lobby-card-for-eddie-jones-one-round-jones/) - 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. One group included lobby cards for several films with all-black casts, some of them made by black-owned production companies.
- [Picture Stories: Chubby Checkers at Krass Bros. men's store, Philadelphia](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/10/16/picture-stories-chubby-checkers-at-krass-bros-mens-store-philadelphia/) - 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. Several were photos of entertainers, including Chubby Checkers and Billy Eckstine at local stops.
- [Picture Stories: Martha Graham & Doris Humphrey, Bennington School of Dance, 1940s](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/10/11/picture-stories-martha-graham-doris-humphrey-bennington-school-of-dance-1940s/) - 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. One group of photos showed moder-dance pioneers Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey at Bennington College’s summer program in the 1940s.
- [Picture Stories: Dance Carnival at Madison Square Garden, 1941](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/10/04/picture-stories-dance-carnival-at-madison-square-garden-1941/) - 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. One group showed a couple dancing on the floor of Madison Square Garden in 1941.
- [Encountering the early custom of “courting in bed”](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/10/02/encountering-the-early-custom-of-courting-in-bed/) - Have you heard of the practice of "bundling" or “courting in bed?" I hadn’t either until recently when I was going through a stack of books at an auction. When I came across a thin paperback with the title "Little Known Facts about Bundling in the New World," I had to pause and look it over.
- [Jazz singer Ann Robinson's photos at Village Vanguard](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/08/16/jazz-singer-ann-robinsons-photos-at-village-vanguard/) - I didn’t recognize the singer in the stack of photos among many others on the auction table. She seemed to be bellowing out some song with all her heart, and having fun doing it. Her name was Ann Robinson, who at that moment in time was performing at the Village Vanguard in New York City, 1941. She was a night club singer who performed scat with a comedic touch.
- [Tossing out those old Encyclopedia Britannicas](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/09/27/tossing-out-those-old-encyclopedia-britannicas/) - I have no memories of the encyclopedia salesman. No one came to our door in rural Georgia trying to sell us encyclopedias that we could not afford. So recently when I saw a worker heave boxes of gold-lettered Encyclopedia Britannicas onto a table at an auction house, no memories formed in my head, just words: Time had certainly bypassed these books.
- [Faces from an early black movie poster, but whose?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/09/20/faces-from-an-early-black-movie-poster-but-whose/) - The image of the black police officer with a raised gun was the first to spark a memory. I had seen that image somewhere, but where? Someone had cut the picture from another poster and glued it like a collage onto a piece of cardboard. Then I remembered where I had seen it: on an Oscar Micheaux movie poster.
- [A seeming lifetime of fox hunting & horse shows](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/09/18/a-seeming-lifetime-of-fox-hunting-horse-shows/) - The tables were an amalgan of fox hunting and horse-show paraphernalia, signs of a life lived among horses and stables and hounds. There were trophies, a diary, mounted heads of red foxes and riding boots. There was so much that it drew me in, and based on the number of bids, a lot of other people, too.
- [1931 Bachwitz magazine of elegant French fashions](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/09/13/1931-bachwitz-magazine-of-elegant-french-fashions/) - I don’t look too closely at clothes when I’m at an auction, but I did buy a few things recently for a charity fundraiser that I’m helping to plan. In another room, I stopped in mid-stride when I came across a 1931 magazine of French afternoon outfits that were gorgeous. The history of its publishing company, though, was tragic.
- [Selling what’s left of a shuttered elementary school](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/09/11/selling-whats-left-of-a-shuttered-elementary-school/) - The woman was a solitary figure in a long hallway that 10 minutes earlier had been filled with people moving mechanically from one classroom to another. In this quiet time, she seemed to be savoring the aloneness. The others had come for another purpose: a sell-it-all auction at this closed elementary school.
- [Windsor chairs, tiger coffee table & more spark bids](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/09/06/windsor-chairs-tiger-coffee-table-more-spark-bids/) - The bright green discs were the first thing I saw on the items as I entered the furniture room at the auction house. None of them had just one sticker, most had two or three – indicating that these were prized items that some dealers knew would pull in the big bucks. Intrigued, I obviously slowed my pace to see what all the fuss was about.
- [Early kid’s games of chance lead to barbaric carnival games](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/09/07/early-kids-games-of-chance-leads-to-barbaric-carnival-games/) - I saw the chicken first. I was perusing the tables at an auction house when I came across a game board with a large brown hen. It was a child’s game that looked like something out of a carnival or state fair. This child’s target was innocuous; some real carnival games featured black men and boys as targets.
- [Growing cotton for the fun of it](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/06/25/growing-cotton-for-the-fun-of-it/) - I could hear only one end of the conversation but one word stood out as the woman repeated it: Cotton. From the conversation, I could tell that she wasn’t talking about a cotton garment but the plant itself.
- [Even a missing address couldn't stop delivery of mail](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/08/30/even-a-missing-address-couldnt-stop-delivery-of-mail/) - How on earth did these letters ever make it to through the mail, both I and another auction-goer wondered as we thumbed through a stack of old letters on a table at the auction house. Most had only the name, city and state of the addressee, but they were postmarked and apparently got to their destination. But how?
- [Large collection of beloved Boston Terrier figurines](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/08/23/large-collection-of-beloved-boston-terrier-figurines/) - Turning a corner inside the auction house, I walked right smack dab into the presence of a black and white menagerie. In front of me were tables lined with a collection of figurines of a dog I recognized but couldn’t name. Then it came to me: Boston Terriers. Another auction-goer later mistook them for bulldogs.
- [Black Philadelphia through the lens of John W. Mosley](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/09/26/black-philadelphia-through-the-lens-of-john-w-mosley/) - The children were just adorable. Photographer John W. Mosley had captured them in their fashion best, on their way perhaps to church on an Easter morning. Mosley photographed the children in 1951, and their photo is in a wonderful exhibit of a photographer who told the story of Philadelphia’s African American community through his lens.
- [Dick Gregory never lost his “tell-it-like-it-is” streak](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/08/21/dick-gregory-never-lost-his-tell-it-like-it-is-streak/) - The first time I saw Dick Gregory was during a speech he gave at Ohio State University where I was a graduate student in the 1970s. By then, he had given up his lean years as a stand-up comedian, and was a strident student of America and one of its harshest critics. I actually met him more than 20 years later for story about his life for Emerge magazine.
- [Early photos offer glimpse of desegregated classes](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/08/14/early-photos-offer-glimpse-of-desegregated-classes/) - Where I come from, you won’t likely see photos of black and white children in the same class before the 1960s. That just did not happen in the South – especially not in 1937. That’s the year printed on some elementary school photos of mixed classes. What the photos don’t show is how the children interacted back in the classrooms or on the school grounds at recess.
- [It looks like a home phone but this one’s for the car](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/08/09/it-looks-like-a-home-phone-but-this-ones-for-the-car/) - You couldn’t tell how the phone was used by just looking at it. A home phone was the first thing that came to my mind, even though it looked rather strange. The phone was in the shape of the old Princess phones from the 1960s, but it had a speaker where the rotary dial should be.
- [Cleveland society through lens of Jimmy Baynes](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/08/07/cleveland-society-through-lens-of-jimmy-baynes/) - I was flipping through a box of photos of African Americans posing at fancy events when I decided to flip one of them over to see if it was identified. There was no mention of where this event took place or where, but I got something just as good: the name of the photographer. Jimmy Baynes of Cleveland, OH. These were photos of black folks in all their grandeur.
- [Paint-by-numbers kits make everyone an unlikely artist](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/08/02/paint-by-numbers-kits-make-everyone-an-unlikely-artist/) - I had seen a painting like this one before at the auction house, and I had ignored it. It looked like an illustration out of some book and it didn’t move me. Then this one appeared, and I learned that these were paint-by-numbers works that were very popular during the 1950s. The concept is still inspiring real artists such as Kerry James Marshall.
- [Architect’s 1972 drawing of Berry Gordy’s LA office](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/07/31/architects-1972-drawing-of-berry-gordys-la-office/) - 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 on a board along with architectural drawings presumably of Gordy’s new Motown office in Los Angeles in 1972.
- [1900s Hampton photos illustrate students at work](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/07/26/1900s-hampton-photos-illustrate-students-at-work/) - I had learned of Frances Benjamin Johnston’s photos after finding a ticket stub at auction for the 1900 Paris International Exposition. She had been commissioned by Hampton Institute to photograph the school’s students for the expo. Now I had come across a catalog of 44 of her photos from a 1966 exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art.
- [A stop-off at Tuskegee to honor an Airman uncle](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/07/24/a-stop-off-at-tuskegee-to-honor-an-airman-uncle/) - My uncle Charles was a Tuskegee Airman, but I didn’t fully recognize it until long after he had died. Recently, I was driving down Interstate 85 in Alabama when I passed a sign for Tuskegee and wanted to see the school that Booker T. Washington founded. Along the way I saw a sign for the site where my uncle trained to be a pilot.
- [Lots of non-luxury items at Taj Mahal sale, including mold](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/07/10/lots-of-non-luxury-items-at-taj-mahal-sale-including-mold/) - Everybody seemed to be carrying a mattress. I watched as a young woman and man struggled to carry what looked like full mattresses to their vehicle. Then I saw two men balancing a queen mattress over their heads. This was the fourth day of the sale of contents at the Trump Taj Mahal, and most of the luxury items were gone. Left behind was the more modest stuff, including mold.
- [Made-to-order men’s suits in Sears 1929 catalog](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/07/19/made-to-order-mens-suits-in-sears-1929-catalog/) - There was a time when you could buy just about anything from a Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalog. I was surprised to see that among those “anythings” were made -to-order suits for men – which I found in a 1929 Sears specialty catalog. What was most interesting were the swatches of actual wool fabric on the pages.
- [Where else to buy an expensive monkey lamp?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/07/12/where-else-to-buy-an-expensive-monkey-lamp/) - The first thing that got my attention were the three bright green stickers on the top of the lamp. They were absentee bids, and they stamped the lamp as an item that would attract fast and furious bidding. This monkey lamp was indeed something special.
- [Heavily used slate pencils in a metal case](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/07/17/heavily-used-slate-pencils-in-a-metal-case/) - The small metal box was rusty on the top and gave no hint of its contents. Inside I found a narrower box with an inscription that was partially rubbed off: "Young America Pencil Case for a Good Scholar." Now I knew what it was used for, but was again stumped by the gray stone rods inside that were definitely not pencils.
- [Pork fat in a jar, but it's actually good ol' lard](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/07/05/pork-fat-in-a-jar-but-its-actually-good-ol-lard/) - I was perusing the gourmet food section of a Marshalls store recently when I came upon a product straight from my childhood. Pork fat. When I was growing up in Georgia, it was called lard, and my grandmother fried some of the best chicken, and made some of the best biscuits and pie crusts with it. Lard had lost its appeal, but now it’s apparently back.
- [Grand chandelier & opulent vase for a humongous house](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/07/03/grand-chandelier-opulent-vase-for-a-humongous-house/) - You’d need a big house for that, the man said as I stood looking in amazement at a crystal chandelier that seemed to be as tall as my 5'8". He was right about the chandelier; it was gigantic. It had three tiers, the bottom of which looked like a punch bowl ready for dipping champagne or fruit punch. It was not the only oversized piece at the auction, though.
- [Odd and curious shapes of wine and liquor bottles](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/06/28/odd-and-curious-shapes-of-wine-and-liquor-bottles/) - That’s my bottle, I thought as I approached one of two tables at the auction house filled with wine and liquor bottles. It was in the shape of an island man wearing a sunshine-bright yellow plastic hat, his features outlined in brilliant colors against amber glass. The bottle was one of several in odd shapes, including one that wore a corset.
- [A child's wonder at a Star Wars thermos](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/06/26/a-childs-wonder-at-a-star-wars-thermos/) - I was standing at one of my tables at my block’s annual yard sale when I overhead the mother talking to her son. The boy was about 5 years old and she was explaining the plastic thermos in her hand. You take the top off and put cold sodas in it, she said. The boy still looked puzzled. Why wouldn’t he? The thermos was way before his time and no one uses them anymore.
- [Betty Boop & a Harlem singer named Baby Esther](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/04/17/betty-boop-a-harlem-singer-named-baby-esther/) - I was surprised to see so many Betty Boop figurines at auction again. The week before, tons of them were spread out on more than a half-dozen tables at the same auction house. Seeing so many got me to thinking about where this very popular character came from. It seems that Betty has a black grandmother in her past.
- [Requiem for the torturous Monday wash day](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/06/21/requiem-for-the-torturous-monday-wash-day/) - Whenever I see a vintage cookbook, I quickly reach for it and open it up. I’m usually looking for interesting recipes to try or sweet stories to read. I came across one at auction recently with recipes from Cape Cod, along with a written-to-be funny recipe on how to wash clothes in a backyard pot.
- [An actual larger-than-life Dick and Jane](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/06/19/an-actual-larger-than-life-dick-and-jane/) - When I saw the pictures of the children in the book, it took me back decades. When I was a child they were like our fictitious rich cousins, always enjoying their good life, with me and millions of other children wandering vicariously alongside them. They were Dick and Jane, and their simplistic four-letter word stories taught many of us how to read.
- [Book of “household hints” is as seamless as time](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/06/14/book-of-household-hints-is-as-seamless-as-time/) - I seem to be drawn to old cookbooks, as well as those thin guides whose sole job was to help the little housewife cook, clean and manage her household a little better. I came across one recently chock full of hints, from how to grow onions in mold to how to get rid of bedbugs.
- [A ’38 photo news mag for African Americans](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/06/15/a-38-photo-news-mag-for-african-americans/) - I was on my way out of the auction house, having seen nothing I wanted to buy, when I decided to stop and browse at a table near the door. At the far end, I spotted a bright green cover on what I assumed was sheet music. When I got closer, I saw that it was not. It was an African American weekly news magazine called Candid.
- [Even an ordinary hand dryer has a bit of history](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/06/12/even-an-ordinary-hand-dryer-has-a-bit-of-history/) - I had washed my hands in the auction-house restroom when I turned to my left and was faced with two choices: paper towels or hot-air hand dryer. The paper-towel dispenser was modern in design. The hand dryer looked ancient. Its appearance got me to thinking about the evolution of products for drying our hands – and led me to a debate on which method is better.
- [1950s dinette sets stir up childhood memories](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/06/07/1950s-dinette-sets-stirs-up-childhood-memories/) - There was nothing distinguishing about the two dinette sets - except their age, and the warm and homey memories they stored. They were the ubiquitous dinette sets from the 1950s, with Formica tops and chrome legs. They stood out from all that surrounded them, and silently beckoned auction-goers of a certain age to stand before them and reflect.
- [One man’s collection of walking canes & jogging sticks](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/06/05/one-mans-collection-of-walking-canes-jogging-sticks/) - That’s a rare one, the auctioneer said as I stooped to peek inside a glass case of what looked like miniature wands. He was motioning to a short walnut jogging stick with silver ends. The jogging stick and a 39-star flag that were part of one’s collection both had a story to tell about their unusual origins – one true, the other perhaps not.
- [‘Gone Fishin’ watercolor reminds me of my uncle](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/05/24/gone-fishin-watercolor-reminds-me-of-my-uncle/) - From as far back as I can remember, my uncle has loved fishing. He’s a Southerner, and any creek or private pond or lake that was home to fish was in his blood. I thought of him recently when I saw a watercolor of a man in a straw hat on a dock with a fishing pole in the water and a bucket of bait at his feet.
- [Civil War letters from soldier to his son back home](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/05/31/civil-war-letters-from-soldier-to-his-son-back-home/) - When I saw the orange absentee-bid stickers on the box of faded letters, I instantly asked the auction staffer to see them. I figured if two people wanted the letters, there must be something interesting about them. And there was. They were letters from a Civil War soldier – not to his wife but to his teenage son.
- [Things that make me go “Wow!” and “Huh?”](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/05/22/things-that-make-me-go-wow-and-huh/) - Most of the time when I’m previewing items an auction, I amble through the aisles, stopping at a table here and there and picking through stuff. Sometimes, though, an awesome or confounding item catches my eye, and I have no choice but to stop. Here are some of the items that recently forced me to linger. Would they have had the same effect on you?
- [Sweet draw of a ’67 Mustang, ’68 Stingray & ’70 Cobra](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/05/15/sweet-draw-of-a-67-mustang-68-stingray-70-cobra/) - When I walked through the door of the auction house, a group of men had already taken their places around the two cars to my left. The shiny blue Mustang and white Corvette Stingray had seductively drawn them into their spaces. To my right was a Ford Torino whose bold yellow color was almost blinding.
- [US passport bears black woman's 1892 call for freedom](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/05/10/anna-julia-coopers-call-for-freedom-on-your-us-passport/) - Some friends and I will be taking a Mediterranean cruise later this year, so I had to make sure my passport was up to date. Doing so reminded me of a conversation I had with a collector of commemorative postage stamps of African Americans, specifically Anna Julia Cooper. "Look at your passport, page 25, you’ll see her words," the collector said. And so I did.
- [Little story books that fit in a child’s hands](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/05/08/little-story-books-that-fit-in-a-childs-hands/) - The books were so small, I could hold them quite easily in my open hand. They bore the title and images of familiar children’s books characters, and were obviously made for small hands. They were miniature or little books, appealing because of their size, and written many decades ago by a noted author.
- [Butterflies as wall art & not specimens](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/05/03/butterflies-as-wall-art-not-specimens/) - The bright metal butterflies had their own space on walls that normally held artwork at the auction house. There were so many of the large and colorful things that they needed a giant field of flowers to flutter about in. These were made to hang on your walls - not the real butterfly specimens of collectors.
- [Washtubs stand in for planter & summer cooler](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/05/01/washtubs-stand-in-for-planter-summer-cooler/) - The first time I saw the washtubs at auction, I was struck by their utilitarianism. They were galvanized metal with black numbers painted on them and black legs holding them up. The auction house had sat them conspicuously on white bedroom furniture with dark marble tops.
- [Whimsical 1912 tire treads to fit your political party or job](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/04/26/whimsical-1912-tire-tread-to-fit-your-political-party-or-job/) - I knew I needed to replace the Michelin tires on my 2012 Mazda 6 because the tread was low and my mechanic had warned me. Coincidentally, Michelin and treads came up again while I was thumbing through a 1912 Life magazine. Michelin ran a snippy ad with some suggested tire treads for its competitors.
- [Two works by Phila. female artists from the 1960s](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/05/06/two-works-by-phila-female-artists-from-the-1960s/) - The works were just as far apart in style as they were in locations at the auction house. I saw the colored etching first, its image of two string-playing musicians muddied by age spots on the paper and grime on the framed glass. The other had bold colorful brushstrokes broken up by the black-ink outline of a woman’s face and torso.
- [Ashtrays bespeak a different era for Howard Johnson’s](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/04/24/ashtrays-bespeak-a-different-era-for-howard-johnsons/) - I don’t have any young memories of eating one of the 28 flavors of ice cream at Howard Johnson’s. My family could never afford to eat there or drop by for a bite on travels we never took. But many people do remember this place of ice cream, fried clams, frankfurters and a homey atmosphere - for casually eating in or forced to take out.
- [The tradition of coloring eggs at Easter](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/04/19/the-tradition-of-coloring-eggs-at-easter/) - We all have the memory: Opening up a pack of Paas Easter egg dye, mixing the dye tablet with water, and gently swishing the white hard-boiled egg until it turned a pastel pink, blue or other color we had chosen. The memories came flooding back recently when I came across a Paas dye kit and Chick-Chick, which I had never heard of before.
- [It’s spring, and out come the tiger, gator & spotted cow](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/03/22/its-spring-and-out-comes-the-tiger-gator-spotted-cow/) - The tiger and gator feigned ferocity, each looking much too real as one perched on an elegantly carved bench and the other on a wraparound soft leather sofa. Neither was obviously real, but the auction house staff had placed them conspicuously so they would appear menacing. They along with other garden items outside were the first signs of spring.
- [Wooden rulers offer a measure of nostalgia](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/04/12/wooden-rulers-offer-a-measure-of-nostalgia/) - I didn’t give the wooden rulers a first look as I breezed along the tables of items at auction. Who needs a ruler these days, I’m sure I huffed to myself. But on second look, I noticed the engravings and graphics on them: Mickey Mouse, Pillsbury flour and a ruler to measure your feet for shoes.
- [When food was delivered in wooden crates](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/04/05/when-food-was-delivered-in-wooden-crates/) - The cover of the wooden crate was nailed shut and there wasn’t a hammer in sight to pry it open. I wanted to desperately see what was inside when I zeroed in on the words stamped in black at the top of the cover: “Paul Cristy Funeral Home, Millville, N.J." Did the box contain someone’s ashes, I wondered.
- [Kitchen tools for tiny hands & a country kitchen](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/04/03/kitchen-tools-for-tiny-hands-a-country-kitchen/) - The tools looked like any others you’d see in a vintage kitchen – meat grinders, mixing bowls, hand mixers. But one thing stood out about them. Most were one-third the size of normal tools.
- [Nostalgic remnants of Route 66 don’t tell the whole story](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/03/29/nostalgic-remnants-of-route-66-dont-tell-the-whole-story/) - Route 66 sparks in me a childhood memory of a scene from the old TV show of the same name. Tod Stiles and Buz Murdock are in a room with an elderly black woman played by Ethel Waters. For me as a child, it was perhaps the first time I remembered seeing a black person on the show named after a road that epitomized small-town America.
- [Houdini’s Big Little Book of Magic](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/03/27/houdinis-big-little-book-of-magic/) - It would take more than magic to put this little book back together again. Its spine was torn, its cover was marked with a jagged water stain, and its cover was slightly ajar. The word "MAGIC" had eerily disappeared from its title, but the name Houdini was in large bold letters.
- [‘Colored and scented’ wedding rice in a can](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/03/20/colored-and-scented-wedding-rice-in-a-can/) - The cardboard can was almost hidden among the other small vintage items on the table. But the scripted-in-black words on its front gave up its contents: "Grade 'A' Fancy Colored & Scented Wedding Rice.” The can had some heft, indicating that something was inside it. So I unscrewed the lid to take a peek.
- [1950 FBI wanted poster for bank robber Willie Sutton](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/03/15/1950-fbi-wanted-poster-for-bank-robber-willie-sutton/) - Three images of William Francis Sutton stared out from the FBI wanted poster, and some auction-goer had already left a bid on it. This criminal was better known as Willie Sutton – a notorious bank robber and the Houdini of prison escapes. The poster said he was armed and extremely dangerous, but many described him as a kind and gentle bandit.
- [The pain of wearing screw-back earrings](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/03/13/the-pain-of-wearing-screw-back-earrings/) - Several years ago, on a whim, I bought a pair of screw-back earrings with butterscotch stones. I’ve never worn them, probably because I remember the pain of wearing screw-backs and clip-ons. At auction recently, I came across a pair of unused screw-backs, and they got me to thinking about the evolution of earrings.
- [Using crow calls to round up pesky "caw-caw" birds](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/03/08/using-crow-calls-to-round-up-pesky-caw-caw-birds/) - The craftsmanship of the two wooden cylinders caught my eye first. I wasn’t sure what they were, but they looked to be both hand-made and well-made. The auction-house staffer thought they were duck calls, but they were actually crow calls - a way to lure those pesky creatures to a place where they could be shot (and a way to lure turkeys for the same fate).
- [WWII women pilots on a deck of playing cards](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/03/06/wwii-women-pilots-on-a-deck-of-playing-cards/) - The women looked cool striding purposely in their leather jackets, zoot-suit pants and thick boots. Their backdrop was a World War II B-17 bomber with an imprinted name of which I could only make out the word “Mama.” They were women pilots, and their faces were on a deck of playing cards promoting the National WASP World War II Museum.
- [Elvis & Lone Ranger on TV-shaped lapel pins](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/03/01/elvis-lone-ranger-on-tv-shaped-lapel-pins/) - The small metal pieces on a tray at auction were in the shape of tiny TV sets with popular TV characters from the 1950s on the screen: Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers, even Elvis. They resembled cereal-box premiums, so I assumed that’s what they were. But I suspect that I was wrong. Do you recognize them?
- [Niagara Falls novelty moccasins you could send through mail](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/02/27/niagara-falls-novelty-moccasins-you-could-send-through-mail/) - The tiny moccasins were both cute and crude, but I was drawn to their bright yellow tag. It was an address label, and these moccasins had been sent through the mail like a postcard from Niagara Falls. On the back was a distasteful message noting their origin: “Injuns made them far away.” These mocs were a far cry from real Native American beadwork.
- [Eggs by mail for city folks? Metal crates made it easy](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/02/22/eggs-by-mail-for-city-folks-metal-crates-made-it-easy/) - The mottled and dirty metal box was shut when I approached it, but I noticed the words "Fragile" and "Eggs" on the lid. I opened it and saw a series of paper cylinders in a lattice design, a few of which contained brown plastic eggs. I learned that this was an egg crate, used decades ago to send fresh eggs through the mail to city folks.
- [Survival kits no remedy for headaches caused by ’64 Mississippi activists](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/02/20/survival-kits-no-remedy-for-headaches-caused-by-64-mississippi-activists/) - It was a kit for surviving a night of partying and drinking at the 1964 Democratic convention. But the kit might have worked just as well for party leaders faced with headaches from challenges and protests by Fannie Lou Hamer and civil rights activists from Mississippi.
- [The culture of blackness in Kerry James Marshall’s art](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/01/30/the-culture-of-blackness-in-kerry-james-marshalls-art/) - When I saw the first huge painting by Kerry James Marshall, I zeroed in on the charcoal black faces of the men who peopled it. They were in a barber shop, much like any you’d find in any black neighborhood in any city in this country. But it was about more than just the men: He added bits and pieces of their culture.
- [What’s the story behind old suitcase filled with toddler’s clothes?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/02/15/whats-the-story-behind-suitcase-filled-with-toddlers-clothes/) - At some point, I’m sure, the little girl’s clothes had been neatly folded and lovingly placed in the suitcase. But by the time I came upon them at auction, too many hands had unfolded and jostled them. The suitcase concealed its secret of why it was still full of clothes that had been stored away. What happened?
- [What a sports action-figures collection looks like](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/02/13/what-a-sports-action-figures-collection-looks-like/) - The room was packed as tight as a group of defensive linemen laid out on top of a quarterback. It had taken the auction-house staff days to set up the seemingly endless tables of sports action figures from one man’s collection. There was so much stuff that it was overwhelming to me but a boon to the male dealers in the room.
- [Snuff, a slap and life inside 1800s rich family's home](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/02/08/snuff-a-slap-and-life-inside-1800s-rich-familys-home/) - The newspaper clipping had yellowed with age, and I was drawn to it by both its appearance and the headline on the article: "50-Cent Turkeys Graced Tables of Rich in 1815, Old Diary Shows." The most interesting item in the article, however, was an encounter between the snuff-dipping Marquis de Lafayette and a little girl.
- [Unloading a collection of egg cups](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/02/06/unloading-a-collection-of-egg-cups/) - It was beginning to feel like an invasion – the non-threatening kind, though. First, there were the cute pedal cars two months ago, then the sweet little pigs a month ago. Now, it was egg cups, those round moon-shaped dishes to hold your hard-boiled eggs. Someone was selling off what appeared to be a longtime collection.
- [1968 Dick Gregory for President campaign button](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/02/01/1968-dick-gregory-for-president-campaign-button/) - It was almost hidden. The bright colors of the red yellow and black button were the thing that helped it to stand out from the field of patriotic "Willkie and McNary" buttons. Willkie seemed to winning the race for attention, but Gregory wasn’t fooling around. "Write in. Dick Gregory for President. Peace and Freedom," the button boldly stated.
- [Spotting a fake Coca Cola bottle](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/01/03/spotting-a-fake-coca-cola-bottle/) - When you’re in Georgia, you expect to see a lot of Coca Cola. When you visit antique shops and malls in the state, you expect to see even more. Some of it is real and a lot of it is fake.
- [Hanging on to 60” inch TV with junk in the trunk](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/01/25/hanging-on-to-60-inch-tv-with-junk-in-the-trunk/) - As soon as I saw the mammoth TV with the wide screen, I thought of a friend of mine. She and I had had a conversation a month ago about a similar 60-inch rear-projection TV in her home that she was going to have fixed. I thought it was a waste of money to repair a 25-year-old TV with junk in the trunk.
- [On cabinet cards, designs outshine the photos](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/01/23/on-cabinet-cards-designs-outshine-the-photos/) - I’ve always been intrigued by cabinet cards. Not so much by the unsmiling and stiff people in the portraits but by the fancy designs highlighting the photographers. The cards were imprinted with text and artwork, with the most elaborate on the back. Card edges could also be different - from gilt borders to embossing to beveling. They are most appealing.
- [Souvenir paperweights made to your liking](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/01/18/souvenir-paperweights-made-to-your-own-liking/) - Most of the photos seemed to have turned a sepia brown with age, but they easily could have been shot that way. They were all encased in clear crystal, and both them and it had seen many years go by. They were glass souvenir paperweights of churches and historical places, much unlike the vibrant colorful ones I’d seen often at auction.
- [You can’t have enough pigs](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/01/16/you-cant-have-enough-pigs/) - "We’re going to sell the rest of the pig collection next week," I heard the auctioneer say. What on earth was he referring to? I had only seen a few cute finger-sized pig figurines in one of the glass cases. And then I saw them: table after table of someone’s voracious appetite for pig collectibles.
- [A bit monstrous, but these machines made chores easy](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/01/11/a-bit-monstrous-but-these-machines-made-chores-easy/) - I was walking among the furniture at the auction house when I came upon a display of oversized machines. There were about a half-dozen wood and iron contraptions, one of which was a clothes wringer, so I assumed they were all antique washing machines. I was wrong, and so was the auction house.
- [In Paul Robeson’s day, Russia was the enemy](https://myauctionfinds.com/2017/01/09/in-paul-robesons-day-russia-was-the-enemy/) - Paul Robeson must be turning over in his grave. That’s what we say in the South when something unbelievable happens that a now-deceased person had fought/spoken for or against. Robeson was persecuted by the government half a century ago for speaking out against oppression in the United States and his perceived communist leanings. Today, Russia is painted as the good guy.
- [Marilyn’s ‘62 birthday dress leads me to her friendship with Ella](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/09/12/marilyns-62-birthday-dress-leads-me-to-her-friendship-with-ella/) - Julien’s Auctions will be selling that slinky see-through gown that Marilyn Monroe wore when she sang a sexy "Happy Birthday" to President Kennedy in 1962. While the dress is iconic, I found out a more interesting tidbit: Marilyn Monroe was a fan of Ella Fitzgerald, who was also on the program, and they were friends.
- [A baby version of my red Japanese maple](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/12/21/a-baby-version-of-my-red-japanese-maple/) - As soon as I saw the tiny tree, I was excited. It looked exactly like the Japanese maple that turns a deep red in my front yard. The one that coaxes strangers to take pictures of it. The one that casts a bright red glow through my neighbor’s second-floor windows. My tree is a showstopper, and so was this lovely bonsai.
- [‘Ordinary’ black women who did extraordinary work at NASA](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/11/09/ordinary-black-women-who-did-extraordinary-work-at-nasa/) - Margot Lee Shetterly thought nothing of the black female scientists who peopled her childhood world in Hampton, VA. Her father was a research scientist at the Langley Research Center in her hometown and he worked with them. It was her husband’s fascination with her father’s stories of the women that sparked the book & upcoming movie “Hidden Numbers.”
- [Victorian lingerie pins? Never heard of them](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/12/19/victorian-lingerie-pins-never-heard-of-them/) - The cute little pins looked like hair barrettes to decorate a little girl’s braids or ponytails. The pair were made of a soft pink enamel with a faux pearl encased in a diamond-shaped casing. When I read the hand-printed description on the tag, I was surprised to learn what they actually were: lingerie pins. I had never heard of such.
- [Hand fans that both cool and teach history](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/12/14/hand-fans-that-both-cool-and-teach-history/) - The pictures on the front of the paper fans reminded me of postcards. One showed men in suits and boater hats eyeing sunbathers on a beach at the Jersey shore. The images were featured on fans promoting Sunday excursions by train for as little as $1.75.
- [A forlorn coffin standing off to itself](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/12/12/a-forlorn-coffin-standing-off-to-itself/) - It wasn’t exactly a pine box but it was wooden. The auction house had positioned the coffin upright, as if it were a closet waiting to be stepped into instead of a box ready to take you home. The coffin had been placed away from the rest of the furniture but near the front entrance door, so there was no way to miss it.
- [The artsy appeal of graniteware](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/12/07/the-artsy-appeal-of-graniteware/) - Somewhere in my garage is a beautiful gray coffeepot with speckles that I picked up at auction some time ago. It’s one of those big old metal coffeepots like the ones you’d see on a cattle drive in old western movies. It’s called graniteware, and I love it for its artistic look.
- [Alvin Ailey Dance Theater still “feels” my soul](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/12/05/alvin-ailey-dance-theater-still-feels-my-soul/) - I’ll never be able to listen to a Duke Ellington tune again without seeing the dancers of the Alvin Ailey company. Duke’s music is all over Ailey’s "Night Creatures," and principal dancer Hope Boykin and the rest of the company moved through it, around it and within it. How can bodies move like that?
- [Early music reward cards for very good students](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/11/30/early-music-reward-cards-for-very-good-students/) - The oversized faces opposite large buildings stood out on the postcards. The cards were imprinted with the words "Reward Card," and I wanted to know what the reward was. The card itself was the reward, given out during the early 20th century by music teachers to deserving students.
- [From race cars to fire trucks, a plethora of pedal cars](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/11/28/from-race-cars-to-fire-trucks-a-plethora-of-pedal-cars/) - This auction was obviously for the men, and plenty of them turned out for it. It was also for those of us who like nifty little things, and we got our eye-full, too. We all came to see – and some to bid – on nearly 75 pedal cars that had once been part of some soul’s collection.
- [Antique tool chest linked to Wells Fargo’s pioneer days](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/11/23/antique-tool-chest-linked-to-wells-fargos-pioneer-days/) - The weather-beaten chest caught my eye because it was so beat-up. The wood had long lost its brownish color, and the thing looked to weigh a ton. It was likely made by a Connecticut company whose chests were said to be used by Wells Fargo during its early years.
- [Discovering Rose Murphy, the 1940s “Chee-Chee Girl”](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/11/21/discovering-rose-murphy-the-1940s-chee-chee-girl/) - The jacket cover of the first 45 record in the box was a burst of orange, and standing in the middle of it with her trademark smile was none other than the great Lena Horne. There were other familiar singers, but I was stopped by one I had never heard of before: Rose Murphy, the "Chi-Chi" singer and pianist.
- [‘Good woman’ metal sign is not funny at all](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/11/16/good-woman-metal-sign-is-not-funny-at-all/) - I’m sure most people who saw the sign chuckled out loud or silently. Maybe a few of us found it offensive, but moved past it. It had black lettering on a white background, and the message was about the status of a woman, a sports car and a garage.
- [Pedometer from childhood hero Jack Armstrong & Wheaties](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/11/14/pedometer-from-childhood-hero-jack-armstrong-wheaties/) - Before the weather started to chill, I went out and bought a pedometer. I didn’t want to buy one of those digital things that linked to my phone and drained my data. I was surprised the mechanical ones were still being made. Then, a few months later, I came across one from the 1940s that grew out of a kids radio show sponsored by Wheaties.
- [Frank James’ gun, corpse’s belt buckle & gangster’s faucets at sale](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/11/07/frank-james-gun-corpses-belt-buckle-gangsters-faucets-at-sale/) - The man was waiting to nab one of three outlaw revolvers used in bank robberies in the late 1800s. But the prices that most of the items were bringing in this auction of military, Civil War and other historical collectibles were not too promising. After a long wait, he did manage to land a gun used by Frank James in a Minn. Bank robbery in 1876.
- [Vintage toy pianos that were child’s play](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/11/04/vintage-toy-pianos-that-were-childs-play/) - The first toy piano I saw was in the back lot of an auction house, most of its front stripped clean of the black paint that defined the rest of it. All that was left was the natural wood. Then I came across a mint-size Magnus organ and later, a child’s player piano with music rolls. I hadn’t seen so many child pianos in such a short time before.
- [From Jackie pearls to Marilyn dolls to coins at Franklin Mint sale](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/11/02/from-jackie-pearls-to-marilyn-dolls-to-coins-at-franklin-mint-sale/) - One auction-buyer paid $1,300 for a set of silver coins. Another practically bought the entire lot of Jackie Kennedy and Princess Diana dolls in fabulous outfits. One guy did the same for most of the die-cast cars that were sold five and six to a tray - at one point paying $100 per tray. All bought at a recent Franklin Mint auction.
- [Vintage Halloween postcards more sweet than spooky](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/10/31/vintage-halloween-postcards-more-sweet-than-spooky/) - Looking at the images on the postcards I could see why so many people like to collect all things Halloween. The witches, black cats and jack-o-lanterns were quite colorful and sweetly drawn. There were a stack of them, both invitations to a party and greetings, at auction recently.
- [New African American museum sparks feelings of “What if?”](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/10/26/new-african-american-museum-sparks-feelings-of-what-if/) - “Jesus," I heard the woman say in a voice of controlled disbelief behind me. "Jesus," she said again. She was reacting to a set of child-size ankle shackles on display at the new African American museum in DC. I was struck, too, by the shackles and equally about the illustrious history of Africans before many of her people were stolen and wondered “what if.”
- [Leftovers from a theater show](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/10/24/leftovers-from-a-theater-show/) - The first thing I saw was a cow’s head and then a horse’s head, and the items reminded me of Halloween. Looking closer, I saw that they were likely props from a theater. What do you think?
- [Postcards show amazing cowboy/cowgirl rodeo stunts](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/10/19/postcards-show-amazing-cowboycowgirl-rodeo-stunts/) - I’d seen plenty of these early postcard folders of scenic areas before, purchased by vacationers as souvenirs. This one, though, bore pictures of six cowgirls - which was both unusual and intriguing. Inside were beautiful postcards of cowboys and cowgirls performing amazing stunts. They were the work of a man deemed the master of rodeo photography.
- [Dazzled by kid’s barber chair, gas pump & neon clock](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/10/17/dazzled-by-kids-barber-chair-gas-pump-neon-clock/) - The woman and I both agreed that the car was cute. She thought it was a real child’s car and wondered if I’d like her to take a photo of me with it as a keepsake. I did not, but I did love the shape and coloring of this little car, which was actually a child’s barber shop chair. It was one of several other items at auction that were dazzling.
- [A time when Niagara Falls was ‘honeymoon capital’ & more](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/10/12/a-time-when-niagara-falls-was-honeymoon-capital-more/) - A friend of mine took a trip a few months ago to Niagara Falls and she didn’t seem too impressed with it. Her aunt, though, had more pleasant memories. That’s where she and her husband spent their first married days, in what was then called the "Honeymoon Capital of the World." I thought about them when I came across a staged photo of a couple with the falls as a backdrop.
- [An ‘overwhelming’ array of Disney & Mickey collectibles](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/10/10/an-overwhelming-array-of-disney-mickey-collectibles/) - After a while, the woman’s words became a chorus. "It’s overwhelming," she kept saying as she walked among glass cases filled with Disney collectibles in the auction-house room. Every now and then, she’d stop to observe some items – most of which were figures of Walt Disney’s famous mouse. Anyone who wandered into this room was sure to feel the same way.
- [The medical illustrations of Frank Netter MD](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/11/25/the-medical-illustrations-of-frank-netter-md/) - The stuffed cardboard box was trying mightily to stay folded shut, so I wanted to see what was preventing it from lying flat and closing. It was filled primarily with medical drawings; one of the most interesting was a print from around the 1940s or 1950s of a little black girl in a white hospital ward.
- [African American camp-meeting songs captured in another’s hand](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/10/05/african-american-camp-meeting-songs-captured-in-anothers-hand/) - When I saw the thin song book at auction, I was excited. From its title "Impressions of a Negro Camp Meeting," I assumed that an African American composer had written songs derived from a long-ago religious service. I was wrong. It was written by a white composer who adapted the oral folk songs of rural African Americans and Appalachian people.
- [Plaster figures of Native American heroes](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/10/03/plaster-figures-of-native-american-heroes/) - He’s looking past you, the auction-goer observed as I stood looking myself at a plaster bust of a Native American chief. The figure did appear to be looking beyond me, his stern face turned to the man who stood to my left, whose own face resembled the Europeans who had confiscated his peoples’ land. The plaque was one of several plaster sculptures for sale.
- [An unusual sight of turtle shells in a Ziploc bag](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/09/28/an-unusual-sight-of-turtle-shells-in-a-ziploc-bag/) - What the heck are these, I thought, when I saw snatches of brown and cream items in a plastic Ziploc bag on the auction table. The bag was cloudy so it was hard to tell exactly what I was looking at. When I zoomed in, I saw that it was a bag of turtle shells – without the turtles.
- [Not the real coffin clock from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show"](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/09/21/not-the-real-coffin-clock-from-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/) - Back in the 1980s, I went with friends to see "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." When the movie started, people started throwing stuff toward the screen (and on us) and singing along with the movie. We left, and I never thought about the movie again until recently when an auction house had what it said was “possibly” the coffin clock used in the movie.
- [Whereabouts of historical busts at 1st black shopping center](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/09/19/whereabouts-of-historical-busts-at-1st-black-shopping-center/) - I came across the artist James M. Washington Jr. by chance. I was searching for photos of artwork by another Phila. artist when I came across photos of granite busts he had created of black historical heroes for the first black-owned shopping center in the country. I wondered what had become of those busts and eventually found the answer.
- [Can you put animal bones to good use as Georgia O’Keeffe did?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/09/16/can-you-put-animal-bones-to-good-use-as-georgia-okeeffe-did/) - I’d seen sun-bleached skulls of cows and steers, so I was not surprised to see some at the auction house. What surprised me were the plastic cartons of dusty and worn animal heads, bones, horns and antlers – waiting to take on another life. I could never repurpose them into much of anything, unlike what artist Georgia O’Keeffe did with them.
- [Replica of Wedgwood 18th-century slave medallion](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/09/14/replica-of-wedgwood-18th-century-slave-medallion/) - I knew the image by heart. An enslaved African man, one knee bent, hands folded and arms in chains, his eyes looking to heaven to rescue him from the hell he was living on Earth, surrounded by the plea: "Am I Not a Man and a Brother?" Now I was seeing it again on a reproduction stone medallion.
- [Can you guess what these antique kitchen & tool items are?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/09/09/can-you-guess-what-these-antique-kitchen-tool-items-are/) - All of the items were rather lovely in their simplicity. On first glance, I was totally befuddled about the identity of three of them, and the fourth was so similar to its contemporary counterpart that it was easily recognizable. Most were at home in early kitchens, and the other in a tradesman’s shop. Can you guess what they are?
- [Mystery lithograph is work of French artist Georges Dayez](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/09/02/mystery-lithograph-is-work-of-french-artist-georges-dayez/) - A few weeks ago, I wrote about a lithograph of a quartet that bore the illegible signature of the artist. I asked for your help, and you were obliging. The print was made around 1960 by a French artist named Georges Dayez, who also created some jazz paintings.
- [Wearing your best dress for that fancy studio portrait](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/08/31/wearing-your-best-dress-for-that-fancy-studio-portrait/) - Nice dress, I thought when I saw the first photo inside one of those lovely paper frames from decades ago. The woman wearing the dress stood regally, a hat atop her head that was as fancy as the outfit that she wore. I flipped past her photo and unfolded more frames, where I saw some other fine outfits.
- [Contradictions of America’s founding in child’s history book](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/08/29/contradictions-of-americas-founding-in-childs-history-book/) - Many of us were taught that Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492. We were too young and too innocent and too oblivious to question how he could have founded a country that was already occupied by native people. When I came across an 1878 school history book, I wondered what it told children about the country’s founding.
- [Panther Bobby  Seale fires them up at black history showcase](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/03/28/panther-bobby-seale-fires-them-up-at-black-history-showcase/) - Bobby Seale looked at me stonily, wearily. He had spoken for an hour before on the founding of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in 1966, and then had spent another hour signing his book. And now I wanted to ask him about Panther items that were pulling in big bucks at auction.
- [Read an eBay for Business blog post about me](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/08/24/read-an-ebay-for-business-blog-post-about-me/) - Many of my Friday blog posts are answers to readers' questions about the items they own. I choose the most interesting items, and research them on Google to unlock their stories and eBay to determine their value. I do much the same for the items I sell on eBay, and the eBay for Business blog wrote a story about it.
- [Unicorn with ballerina legs, tortuous lamp & other unusual items](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/08/22/unicorn-with-ballerina-legs-tortuous-lamp-other-unusual-items/) - Often, I find myself face to face with items at auction that cause me to just stop and stare. Recently, four items at three different auction houses took hold of me. Are they showstoppers for you, too?
- [An exciting Wurlitzer countertop jukebox](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/08/17/an-exciting-wurlitzer-countertop-jukebox/) - The man was like the proverbial kid in a candy store. He was oohing and aahing over a dusty old tabletop jukebox like it was a beautiful woman. Never mind that it was dusty and dirty, and probably didn't work. He was salivating over a 1940s Wurlitzer countertop jukebox in a lovely classic design.
- [A bounty of old hand tools that will Wow! you](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/08/15/a-bounty-of-old-hand-tools-that-will-wow-you/) - The text message wasn’t very encouraging to me: "You going to Briggs tomorrow? They have 12 vintage cookie jars and a bunch of old/rustic tools for sale. Could be a blog post." I’d written about cookie jars before so that didn’t spark my interest. Neither did the old tools - until I saw them.
- [Kellogg's Pep cereal pinback buttons](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/08/10/kelloggs-pep-cereal-pinback-buttons/) - Neither the auction-house staffer nor I could identify most of the cartoon characters. We spotted Superman, Dick Tracy, Orphan Annie, Blondie. I had seen the characters on a group of pinback buttons on a beanie cap and was intrigued. These are Kellogg Peps, he said. "They did cartoon characters. You won’t recognize them."
- [Short-lived frenzy over leather postcards](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/08/08/short-lived-frenzy-over-leather-postcards/) - I wasn’t exactly sure what the leather notecards were when I saw them in the glass case at the auction house, so I asked to see them. Handing the tray of cards to me, the staffer mentioned that they were leather postcards. They were used around the turn of the 20th century and were very popular.
- [What are these large corrugated tin sculptures?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/08/05/what-are-these-large-corrugated-tin-sculptures/) - When I first saw the corrugated tin pieces, I thought of the seed pods from the 1956 sci-fi movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." There were two of them, upright, oval in shape, their tops squared off in small sections separated by gashes. What were they? Can you figure it out?
- ['Mississippi Washer’ was no relief for black washerwomen](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/08/03/mississippi-washer-was-no-relief-for-black-washerwomen/) - When I saw the wooden barrel at the auction house, I thought it was a planter, but a faded label identified it as a “Genuine Mississippi Washer." In its day, it was touted as relief from the back-breaking work of washing clothes by hand. The women who could afford this washer weren’t cleaning their own clothes. That was done largely by black washerwomen.
- [The last house where Paul Robeson lived](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/08/01/the-last-house-where-paul-robeson-lived/) - Arcenia McClendon remembers the time she met Paul Robeson. She was a young school teacher in her early 20s and she’d see him and his sister sitting on the porch of a house at 50th and Walnut Streets in Philadelphia. She finally got a chance to meet him, and decades later she was on hand volunteering at an art sale to raise funds for this special place.
- [A small collection of hotel ‘Do not Disturb’ signs](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/07/27/a-small-collection-of-hotel-do-not-disturb-signs/) - When I first say the group of hotel "Do Not Disturb" signs in a tray on the auction table, I was surprised and curious about why someone would bother to take them. But the more I thought about it, I found it to be an unusual way to remember a pleasant trip or vacation. Do you take home hotel door hangers as souvenirs?
- [Vintage sprinklers to unwrinkle your clothes](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/07/25/vintage-sprinklers-to-unwrinkle-your-clothes/) - Did you see the sprinklers, my auction buddy Janet asked me. When she said it, the image that came to my mind were lawn sprinklers, and I wondered why in the world would she think that I'd be interested. She was talking about hand-held clothes sprinklers in the shape of Chinese men.
- [Reader seeks lyrics to song by gospel composer Thomas A. Dorsey](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/07/22/reader-seeks-lyrics-to-song-by-gospel-composer-thomas-a-dorsey/) - Friday at Auction Finds is a day to answer readers’ questions. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items or learn more about them. Today, a reader is seeking help in finding the lyrics to a song by African American composer Thomas A. Dorsey.
- [Vintage farm wagon with Gourds for Sale sign](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/07/20/vintage-farm-wagon-with-gourds-for-sale-sign/) - The farm wagon was an old workhorse that had seen better years. It still had its wooden wheels, and most of its black paint. The wagon was not the only thing that broke my stride through the back lot of the auction house. Protruding from its bed was a hand-written sign: "Goose and Apple Gourds $3 each."
- [The bold beauty of African-designed fashions](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/05/18/the-bold-beauty-of-african-designed-fashions/) - When I stepped into the fashion exhibit room, I was as struck by the textures and colors as I had been a few moments before by photos of the ancient pages of the manuscripts of Timbuktu. The fashions were gorgeous.
- [1950s TV lamps spark a feeling of awe](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/07/13/1950s-tv-lamps-spark-a-feeling-of-awe/) - Wow, I thought as I saw the two shelves of rather unusual but lovely lamps at the auction house. There were almost a dozen of them - all made of glazed ceramic in the colors of green, brown, soft gray and black. I instantly recognized some of them as TV lamps in the form of animal figures in sleek and graceful movement.
- [A counter jar full of colorful cigar bands](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/07/18/a-counter-jar-full-of-colorful-cigar-bands/) - The glass jar was chock full of cigar bands about size of a man’s swollen ring finger. I could not see all of them clearly in the barrel-shaped jar, but I knew they bore the names of their makers. Early on, cigar bands were considered a work of art.
- [That’s one strange looking frog](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/07/11/thats-one-strange-looking-frog-2/) - The animal was a browse-stopper. I glanced up at the bright green figure when I noticed an auction-goer lingering much too long at its table. When I finally walked over, I saw the fixation: The thing had an animal body and a human face.
- [Ivory Snow model who became a porn star](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/07/06/ivory-snow-model-who-became-a-porn-star/) - The cute happy baby on the Ivory Snow detergent box drew a smile from me, but didn’t hold my interest long enough to give it a second look. Then I saw the note. It was handwritten in ink on a long sheet of spiral notebook paper: "This is Marilyn Chambers. She became a big porn star. Ivory Snow took her picture off the boxes."
- [Martha’s Vineyard movie theater waiting to shine again](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/06/29/marthas-vineyard-movie-theater-waiting-to-shine-again/) - The old building looked alone and neglected at the bottom of a Martha’s Vineyard street made for tourists. It was rather simple in design, and its yellow and white paint still held most of its color and a big sign bore its name in red letters. It was the “Island” movie theater, a scruffy cousin to the newly renovated Strand a stone’s throw away.
- [Striking filigree balconies on Martha’s Vineyard cottages](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/06/27/filigree-balconies-on-marthas-vineyard-cottages/) - We were walking along a paved path bordered by petunias near our hotel, headed to the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting grounds to see the gingerbread cottages it is so well known for. Once in that peaceful place, I was struck by the lovely filigree molding on the balconies.
- [An automaton cat that cobbles boots](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/05/09/an-animaton-cat-that-cobbles-boots/) - Something was making a racket among the old teddy bears. It couldn't be the bears because none of them had voice boxes. It was actually a Roullet and Decamps animaton cat - with parts missing - likely from the late 19th century.
- [Reader seeks value of Angela Davis FBI wanted poster](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/06/17/reader-seeks-value-of-angela-davis-fbi-wanted-poster/) - From time to time, I get questions from readers about the items they own. Today’s question is about the value of a 1970 Angela Davis FBI wanted poster.
- [What sort of cloud is this?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/06/24/what-sort-of-cloud-is-this/) - I had seen the large white cloud on a wall just below another like it, but figured they were wall art and kept stepping. Now, the first of them was being offered, and I was surprised to learn what it actually was and the famous person who made it. It was more than just a cloud, so what was it?
- [What's with the love for cast iron pigs](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/06/22/whats-with-the-love-for-cast-iron-pigs/) - That will sell well, I overheard a woman say to her male companion. My back was turned to them so I wasn’t sure what she was talking about. I turned slightly to see this magnificent item for myself. What I saw was a small black painted pig with green stickers on its back. A pig? What’s so special about a pig?
- [Peering through the lens of a Magiscope](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/06/20/peering-through-the-face-of-a-magiscope/) - I first came upon a Magiscope sculpture about five years ago when an auction house was selling five small tabletop pieces. They were new and different with their irregular metal stands and round glass tops embedded with bubble-like lens. Now I was face to face with one that was as tall as me and as beautiful as the others.
- [Little girl’s dresser set with a sweet little note](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/06/13/little-girls-dresser-set-with-a-sweet-little-note/) - How cute, I thought when I saw the child-size porcelain dresser set on a tray inside a glass case at the auction house. There was nothing fancy about it. What was most interesting was the handwritten note lying next to it.
- [A real-life homespun cracker barrel](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/06/08/a-real-life-homespun-cracker-barrel/) - When I saw the large barrel atop a table at the auction house, I had to explore it. It was scruffy and marred, and the bottom looked as if it had been stained by water. Near the top was the remnant of a label, so I moved in closer to read it: "Exton’s The Best Crackers." It was a genuine cracker barrel.
- [Large & lovely brooches from another time](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/06/06/large-lovely-brooches-from-another-time/) - I fawned over the brooches as soon as I saw them in the glass case at the auction house. I had trudged through tons of old beat-up clocks and dusty Coca Cola memorabilia, and these pieces of jewelry were a welcome relief. Take a look. Are they as lovely to you as they were to me?
- [Carved tusk that looked like African elephant ivory](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/06/01/carved-tusk-that-looked-like-african-elephant-ivory/) - The carved tusks looked like larger versions of two African ivory pieces I had at home. I bought mine long before the most recent U.S. restrictions on buying and selling ivory. Auction houses, though, can still sell it but carefully.
- [Guess what famous ballplayer owned this restaurant?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/05/27/guess-what-famous-ballplayer-owned-this-restaurant/) - The soft yellow and blue colors on the postcard were the first thing to catch my eye. I could tell it was a linen card and thereby had some age on it. Near the top of the card stood a ballplayer, his arms to the left, ready to send a ball singing. Just beneath him were images of a restaurant, which was the namesake of this legendary baseball player.
- [Pie birds help steam escape from your pies](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/05/25/pie-birds-help-the-steam-escape-from-your-pies/) - When I saw the tray of ceramic birds, I thought they were those cute little items you stick into a potted plant to water it as the soil dries out. These were much too lovely and delicate for grimy soil, but I had no idea what they were. "They’re pie birds," an auction-goer said.
- [Plantation dress from an Alabama granny](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/05/23/plantation-dress-from-an-alabama-granny/) - The dress had seen better days. Literally. From what I could see – I wasn’t about to touch it – it was stained and torn and worn. It was accompanied by two handwritten notes about the owner, a slaveholder. I could find little about her but more about her Alabama town.
- [Indelible photos of ancient Timbuktu manuscripts](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/05/16/indelible-photos-of-ancient-timbuktu-manuscripts/) - When I saw the photo it took my breath away. That’s how powerful it was, even though the image simply showed fragile faded pages covered in weather-beaten leather held together with an equally worn strap. It was part of a “Manuscripts of Timbouctou (Timbuktu)” photo series in the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Creative Africa exhibit.
- [Here’s your chance to nab a Duke Ellington treasure](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/05/11/heres-your-chance-to-nab-a-duke-ellington-treasure/) - I was on my way out the door of the auction house when I spotted some sheet music on a table. The music that caught my eye was for the 1943 movie "Cabin in the Sky," featuring a song written by Duke Ellington. Since it was unsigned, I didn’t buy it. But I may have a chance at nabbing some of his treasures at an auction in Harlem next week.
- [A lovely doll steamer trunk with a Victorian feel](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/05/09/a-lovely-doll-steamer-trunk-with-a-victorian-feel/) - When I first saw the small trunk at auction, I thought "treasure chest." It was black all over with stained wooden planks and tiny round nail heads both decorating and holding the metal plating in place. Inside, someone had attached cute Victorian stickers to the paper-lined top – an act of a child, not a pirate.
- [J. McDonald Henry print from my past](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/05/04/j-mcdonald-henry-print-from-my-past/) - My old friend Renee was trying desperately to get me to remember the name of the West Indian artist, but it wasn’t clicking. Then she walked over to a print on her wall and read the name: J. MacDonald Henry. Of course. I had a Jamaican mother and child print of hers years ago. Coincidentally, I had seen that same print at auction a few weeks ago.
- [Unusual – and beautiful - console radios from 1930s](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/05/02/unusual-and-beautiful-console-radios-from-1930s/) - This must have been a week for folks to unload vintage console radios, I thought when I saw two at the same auction house. Then a few days later, I saw another one. All three were from the 1930s, had odd shapes, and were beautiful.
- [1947 TripTik road guide evokes nostalgia](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/04/27/1947-triptik-road-guide-evokes-nostalgia/) - Someone may have kept the two bright road guides as a way to remember their travel adventure. They’d gone to the Delaware Motor Club office in Wilmington, DE, on June 25, 1947, and an AAA agent had mapped out their trip in green marker in TripTik guides, which I found at auction recently.
- [1968 Phila. (Rizzo) proclamation targeting protesters](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/04/25/1968-phila-proclamation-targeting-protesters/) - The bright yellow sheet was hidden beneath a pile of nothing papers, in a cheap black frame with the bold black word "PROCLAMATION" across the top. It was a 1968 decree aimed at preventing riots in Philadelphia in wake of Martin Luther King Jr.’s death.
- [Should you collect the Tubman $20 bill?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/04/22/should-you-collect-the-new-tubman-20-bill/) - When I learned that Harriet Tubman would be the face on the new $20 bill, I rejoiced. She is a woman so deserving of such an honor. Then the collector in me asked a practical question that I’m sure is on the minds of many: Will the new bill be a valuable collectible?
- [Retablo carvings on mirror tell stories of life in Peru](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/04/20/retablo-carvings-on-mirror-tell-stories-of-life-in-peru/) - From where I stood, I could barely make out the carvings framing the mirror. I could see that they were colorful and a little crude. So I followed a narrow path that had been left open between the furniture and the wall and made my way to the mirror. I later learned that this was a Peruvian retablo.
- [Simple form leads to history of POW camps in U.S.](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/04/18/simple-form-leads-to-history-of-pow-camps-in-u-s/) - What an odd but interesting document, I thought, as I spied the blank form titled "Prisoner of War" inside a plastic covering on the auction table. I’d never seen anything like it before and wondered if it was real. Though simple, it perhaps held the history of World War II POW camps in this country.
- [Cellophane tape holds together 1949 ‘Dear Jane’ letter](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/04/13/cellophane-tape-holds-together-1949-dear-jane-letter/) - The sheet of paper was covered in a haphazard crisscross of cellophane tape that had turned golden-brown with age. It was a handwritten letter that had been ripped into pieces and taped back together again. Dated 1949, it was written by a man who was breaking up with his girlfriend because she was seeing another man.
- [A peek behind the curtain of the 1921 ‘Shuffle Along’](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/04/11/a-peek-behind-the-curtain-of-the-1921-shuffle-along/) - As I sat in the theater, I tried to summon their excitement and anxiety. It wasn’t often that they could sit anywhere they wanted in a Broadway theater, much less watch black performers sing and dance in their own show. The year was 1921 and they had come to see “Shuffle Along” on Broadway.
- [History told in book of black film posters](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/04/06/history-told-in-book-of-black-film-posters/) - I was only a few feet away from my car at the auction house when Joe, another auction-goer, asked me over to look at some books he had bought at an estate sale. One that he especially wanted to show me was a coffee-table-heavy book whose jacket featured two Hirschfeld-style dancers. Inside were beautiful photos of black film posters.
- [Dainty hankies are reminiscent of a different woman](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/04/04/dainty-hankies-are-reminiscent-of-a-different-woman/) - My grandmother never went to church without white gloves and handkerchief. I especially remember her gloves folded over her left hand and her pocketbook with the hankie inside hanging from her right arm. In her day, a woman was not dressed unless she had both. At auction, I found hankies like the ones she used and others more colorful.
- [Stopped by a 2005 mural honoring Philadelphia Stars](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/03/30/stopped-by-a-2005-mural-honoring-philadelphia-stars/) - The mural stopped me like a car hitting its brakes. I didn’t press mine, of course, but I did park my car to take in the huge mural that had been created in honor of Philadelphia’s premier black baseball team, the Philadelphia Stars of the Negro National League. The mural was as powerful as the team’s history and reputation.
- [Reader asks about “Wild Things” book signed by Maurice Sendak](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/03/25/reader-asks-about-wild-things-book-signed-by-maurice-sendak/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. This time, a reader wanted to know the value of a 1963 copy of "Where the Wild Things Are" signed by the author Maurice Sendak.
- [Sweet little boxes that once held jewelry](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/03/23/sweet-little-boxes-that-once-held-jewelry/) - The cardboard boxes were so small that they almost disappeared among the large items on the table. You had to squint to read the writing on them, but I knew what they were without having to do that. A couple years ago, I had come across a similar box that had held human-hair jewelry. These likely had contained traditional jewelry.
- [A boxy cash register to keep employees honest](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/03/21/a-boxy-cash-register-to-keep-employees-honest/) - The wooden box had seen better days. Someone had ruined its beautiful natural wood by painting it off-white, and now the paint was peeling in spots. I couldn’t figure out what the box was, but the auction house wrote a description on a piece of paper: a primitive cash register. Its job was to keep employees honest.
- [Relics are a reminder of school days](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/03/16/relics-are-a-reminder-of-school-days/) - The big red Coke machine stood against a wall in the middle of the long hallway of the school building, looking out the double doors to a wide yard and just beyond, a main highway. I passed that machine many times every day. It was among the relics from grade-school past that show up at auction.
- [Exhibit shows limited history of fashion in Philadelphia](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/03/14/exhibit-shows-a-limited-history-of-fashion-in-philadelphia/) - The dresses were decidedly not for the common woman. Whether African American or white, she could never in her lifetime wear the beautifully tailored wedding gown or couture Paris fashions. But that wasn’t the aim of a new fashion exhibit, which is both limited and exclusionary.
- [Furniture from home of a Donald Trump designer](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/03/09/furniture-from-home-of-a-donald-trump-designer/) - I was walking among the furniture at the auction house when I came across a Louis XV style writing table with a note attached: “Originally out of the lobby of the Trump Taj Mahal." The table was one of several pieces of furniture from the home of a Donald Trump designer/decorator.
- [Not so long ago, few knew artist Norman Lewis’ name](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/03/07/not-so-long-ago-few-knew-artist-norman-lewis-name/) - I was standing in the last room of the Norman Lewis exhibition when my friend Monica walked over to me. Did you see the letter in that case, she asked. I had not, so I followed her to the glass case and began reading. It was a sadly written letter from Lewis to a N.Y. art dealer in 1977 asking to be represented by his gallery.
- [African American art by some old (and new) favorites](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/02/18/african-american-art-by-some-old-and-new-favorites/) - When I first started going to auctions looking to buy African American art inexpensively, several pieces by Norman Lewis came up for sale. None wowed me, but at the Swann Auction Galleries auction recently, I came across one titled "Meeting Place" that did.
- [Our cultural history on the face of a church fan](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/03/02/our-cultural-history-on-the-face-of-a-church-fan/) - The table held several flats of fans, but the ones that drew me held a story. They were diverse in both their images and messages, silently imparting slices of our cultural history. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen an array of church fans, but this was the first at auction. I found them intriguing because of their subjects.
- [My portrait of Frederick Douglass in new book](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/02/29/my-portrait-of-frederick-douglass-in-new-book/) - When I walked into the community room at Mother Bethel AME Church, I saw a stack of boxes on a table. I was sure they contained a book I wanted badly to see. It was titled “Picturing Frederick Douglass,” with 160 different photographs of the man, including one that I had bought at auction.
- [Worker by day turns after-hours into magic & marionettes](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/02/22/worker-by-day-turns-after-hours-into-magic-marionettes/) - I wasn’t sure who would buy the marionettes. They had belonged to a theater company that apparently had stored and forgotten them. I purchased them several years ago at auction and recently decided it was time to sell them on eBay. I was hoping that they would go to the home of someone who appreciated their history and workmanship. A wooden female marionette found a home with a magician who would use her in his shows.
- [Reader asks about prints signed by sculptor Richmond Barthè](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/02/26/reader-asks-about-prints-signed-by-sculptor-richmond-barthe/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. Today’s question is about the value of prints signed by African American sculptor Richmond Barthè.
- [Hand grenade looks real but only wants to amuse you](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/02/24/hand-grenade-looks-real-but-only-wants-to-amuse-you/) - When I saw the grenade in the glass case, I knew it was someone’s idea of a joke. Instead of recoiling from this faux weapon, I asked the auction-house staffer to take it out of the case. It resembled a real grenade, but with the number 1 attached to the pull pin and bright yellow lettering on its base.
- [Flash! magazine and the “fair skin jinx”](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/02/17/flash-magazine-and-the-fair-skin-jinx/) - You could not tell from the cover photo that the magazine was aimed at African Americans. The fair-skinned man had all the markings of what I would normally see on the front of mainstream magazines published in 1938. But he was a light-skinned African American bandleader named Willie Bryant who the magazine said had overcome the “fair skin jinx.”
- [Guess the function of this novelty item](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/02/12/guess-the-function-of-this-novelty-item/) - I stood staring at the cute little item in the glass case trying to decide whether I wanted to actually handle it. It was black with a brass enclosure. When an auction staffer walked up, I pointed to it. “What is it?” I asked. Initially, neither of us could figure out what it was. Can you?
- [Ice crystals add interest to items left outside](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/02/10/ice-crystals-add-interest-to-items-left-outside/) - There was a simple beauty to the way the thin layer of ice had formed crystals on items set up on the back lot at the auction house. As I strode through the assemblage of stuff, I stopped every so often to just take them in.
- [Life-sized menacing alligator bookends](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/02/08/life-sized-menacing-alligator-bookends/) - I had seen the alligator bookends on the auction-house website the day before. But by the time I arrived for the sale the next day, they had slipped my mind. Until I was making my way through the furniture room and saw the two gigantic heads reclining on a white camelback sofa.
- [A hearty celebration for Richard Allen stamp](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/02/03/a-hearty-celebration-for-richard-allen-stamp/) - The singing and praising were loud enough to wake the dead. The soloist for the Postal Service Choir had raised the audience from their seats in spirited song, setting them to swaying and clapping to Kool & the Gang’s "Celebration." They were rejoicing over a new postage stamp in honor of Richard Allen at Mother Bethel AME Church.
- [The timeless elegance of pearl necklaces](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/02/01/the-timeless-elegance-of-pearl-necklaces/) - On first glance, the old black and white photo was typical - a group of society women fashionably dressed in dark colors staring and smiling straight into the camera. As I looked closer, I noticed one thing. Most of them wore pearls, dating them to a time when most women’s outfits were incomplete without them.
- [Lovely print by Vietnamese artist Mai Thu](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/01/11/lovely-print-by-vietnamese-artist-mai-thu/) - The boys were adorable. That was not the first word that popped into my head when I saw the art print at auction – it came later. What I saw was a fertile green field with bold splashes of red and muted pastels. Vietnamese artist Mai Thu had filled it with a mass of black-haired Asian boys in innocent play.
- [Is reader’s Ring magazine an original or reprint?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/01/29/is-readers-ring-magazine-an-original-or-reprint/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. This week, a reader seeks the value of what appears to be a 1922 first edition of The Ring boxing magazine, which is considered the “Bible of Boxing.”
- [An oversized hunk that’s much too lovely to chill food](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/01/27/an-oversized-hunk-thats-much-too-lovely-to-chill-food/) - The wooden icebox was massive. I came upon it under a large shed that held box lots, tools, cheap art prints, books and everything else the auction house could stuff under the roofed building without walls. It was at the far end, its commanding presence making it seem like a king. It was big and it was beautiful.
- [Hard times spell end for century-old antiques shop](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/01/25/hard-times-spell-end-for-century-old-antiques-shop/) - The antiques shop was in a lovely brownstone on one of those venerable old streets much like the venerable old place that it had become. Its front hallway was narrow, partially blocked by an oversized mahogany cabinet filled with crystal and cut glass. Hard times had forced this century-old shop to close and sell its contents.
- [A birdhouse masquerading as a doll house](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/01/22/a-birdhouse-masquerading-as-a-doll-house/) - The first thing I noticed about the small house was the screen door. It was crudely made, painted white with real screen. It reminded me of the old basement screen door I’m about to replace in my 1920s-built house. This one, though, was at the entrance to a birdhouse.
- [Backs of furniture reveal little about their looks](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/01/20/backs-of-furniture-reveal-little-about-their-looks/) - I was wandering among the furniture at an auction house recently when I looked up and saw the back of a piece of furniture. I could see only tall weathered planks held together with nails, indicating it was an antique. But what was it? I wondered the same about several other pieces. Take a look at what else I found.
- [A (Spool) Pet that never needs feeding](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/01/18/a-spool-pet-that-never-needs-feeding/) - They were paper cutouts of six animals attached to empty thread spools. All I could see were their faces and two front feet. Their tails were glued to the other end. They were Spool Pets, a marketing device that used children to force their mothers to buy more thread.
- [Diary – not Bible – speaks of family & country’s history](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/01/13/diary-not-a-bible-speaks-of-family-countrys-history/) - Another diary, I groaned silently as I read the words in gilt on the cover. I had just seen a small thick diary on the box-lots table, and I wasn't ready for another. This one, though, was different. It recorded marriages, births and deaths – one that noted the assassination of a president.
- [Reader seeks identity of Hazelle’s African American marionette](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/01/08/reader-seeks-identity-of-hazelles-african-american-marionette/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them identify their items or determine the value of them. Today’s question is about a Hazelle’s African American marionette.
- [Box with aliens, Ninja turtles & Mickey Mouse yo-yos](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/01/06/box-with-ufos-ninja-turtles-mickey-mouse-yo-yos/) - I can’t remember the last time I picked up a yo-yo – I was never very good at controlling the thing – and it’s not often that I see them at auction. The last time was several years ago, when some wooden ones turned up. Recently, a box of plastic used yo-yos showed up, and a few stood out.
- [Chicken replaces fish in our ‘Feast of the Seven Chickens’](https://myauctionfinds.com/2016/01/04/chicken-replaces-fish-in-our-feast-of-the-seven-chickens/) - The idea formed in the middle of Christmas dinner, as the family feasted on good food and reveled in great company. It was a different take on an Italian Christmas-Eve tradition, “Feast of the Seven Fishes.” But chicken would replace fish and seafood in a “Feast of the Seven Chickens.”
- [Low cabinet with vintage license-plate drawers](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/12/30/low-cabinet-with-vintage-license-plate-drawers/) - When I spotted the low cabinet at the auction house, I instantly thought of a friend who’s just begun converting old stuff into something new. Someone had used vintage license plates as the cover for the drawers on the cabinet. I figured that it would be inspiring to him, just as it was to me.
- [Christmas decorations with a touch of class](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/12/21/christmas-decorations-with-a-touch-of-class/) - It’s not unusual to see Christmas decorations piled atop table after table at auctions. Many of them are similar to the ones I buy for a few bucks. But the decorations on boxes up sale on this particular day were different. They looked classier, especially the box of faux red roses that caught my eye.
- [Vintage holiday greeting cards for you](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/12/23/vintage-holiday-greeting-cards-for-you/) - As you celebrate the holidays with your family, I wish you warmth and love as expressed in these three greeting cards from the early 20th century.
- [Tin comic-book holder bearing a Roy Rogers look-alike](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/12/28/tin-comic-book-holder-bearing-a-roy-rogers-look-alike/) - I could see a drawing of a cowboy on a horse on the side of the tin holder. The image resembled something out of a Roy Rogers and Trigger movie, so I went right to it to get a closer look. The cowboy surely looked like Roy Rogers, but I wasn’t sure. Above his head in rope lettering were the words “Comic Book Corral."
- [Norman Lewis finally gets his day with major exhibit & $800,000 sale](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/12/18/norman-lewis-finally-gets-his-day-with-major-exhibit-800000-sale/) - Norman Lewis is much like many other African American artists of his generation who were ignored by the so-called art world. That is changing now as major museums and collectors are buying their works. Lewis is now the subject of a Philadelphia museum exhibit and one of his paintings just sold for $800,000 at auction.
- [A real ‘Jingle Bells’ one-horse open sleigh](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/12/16/a-real-jingle-bells-one-horse-open-sleigh/) - The auction-house website called it a "one-horse open sleigh," with a photo of a familiar wintertime vehicle that made a simple song into a national treasure. I didn’t grow up in a place where it snowed in the wintertime nor in an era when one-horse open sleighs were common. So I knew that I’d hunt for the sleigh as soon as I arrived at the auction.
- [These Star Wars figures brought big bucks, but yours may not](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/12/14/these-star-wars-figures-brought-big-bucks-but-yours-may-not/) - I was in an editing program in Tucson, AZ, in 1983 when a group of us went to see the latest movie in the Star Wars trilogy, "Return of the Jedi." Too bad none of us had the presence of mind to stop by K-mart afterward to pick up a few of the movie’s action figures. They could be valuable today.
- [Guess how this lovely piece of 1950s furniture was used](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/12/11/guess-how-this-lovely-piece-of-1950s-furniture-was-used/) - As soon as I saw the piece of furniture in the golden pine finish, I knew it was 1950-ish. The short brass-capped feet and simple lines told me that it was Midcentury Modern. Can you guess what it is?
- [Landscape paintings on the faces of pocket change](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/12/09/landscape-paintings-on-the-face-of-pocket-change/) - It was almost time for the sale of paintings at the auction house, so I browsed as I waited for it to start. In one framed piece, I saw 10 tiny landscapes in a vertical row opposite 10 silver coins. Someone had painted birds, water, trees and houses on coins.
- [Collector balks at low price of her prized dolls](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/12/07/collector-balks-at-low-price-of-her-prized-dolls/) - "I want my dolls!," the woman screamed. It was the anguished cry of a woman in distress, the fervor in her voice belying the frail body that sat in the wheelchair. She had watched as her beloved dolls were being sold for too little money.
- [Reader seeks info on slave depot in Columbus, GA](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/12/04/reader-seeks-info-on-slave-depot-in-columbus-ga/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items, and sometimes help them to gather historical information about a subject or item. Today’s question is about the site of the Harrison & Pitts slave depot in Columbus, GA.
- [Early slots, girlie, gumball & salted peanuts machines](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/12/02/early-slots-girlie-gumball-salted-peanuts-machines/) - I came to the Native American slot machine first, but it was the big red head of another machine on a table just behind it that pulled me in. I had seen the array of arcade games in black and white on the auction bid sheets, but that was no match for seeing them in color.
- [A lovely lamp, flower frog & an African carving](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/11/27/a-lovely-lamp-flower-frog-an-african-carving/) - At auction, I’m always finding items that touch me or cause me to stop. Sometimes, I will buy them; other times, I just snap a photograph to view later. Today, on this day after Thanksgiving, I’d like to share some of those items with you.
- [Signed Robb Armstrong ‘JumpStart’ comic strip](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/11/09/signed-robb-armstrong-jumpstart-comic-strip/) - We all watched raptly and in awe as cartoonist Robb Armstrong drew the famous husband and wife duo from his newspaper comic-strip "JumpStart." When he finished the drawing, it was sold to a lucky person. I wasn't that person, but I did nab a signed Armstrong strip at auction recently.
- [A hot-dog cart to start your own street business](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/11/25/a-hot-dog-cart-to-start-your-own-street-business/) - Now that’s something I don’t see very often, I thought as I approached the hot-dog cart among the vintage and antique furniture at the auction house. It looked like it was fresh from the factory, without a smudge of dried ketchup, mustard or relish on it. The cart was patiently waiting for a budding entrepreneur.
- [A vintage velour recliner that drew oohs](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/11/23/a-vintage-velour-recliner-that-drew-oohs/) - "I think it’s cool," I heard a woman say excitedly behind me. I turned and saw two women who could easily have been searching for furniture to fill a new apartment. They were looking at a deep pink velour recliner that was ages old but in relatively good condition. It was not my taste, though.
- [Guess the current equivalents of these items from the past](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/11/20/guess-the-current-equivalents-of-these-items-of-the-past/) - When I first saw the Western Union telegram, Jerry Butler started singing in my head. This telegram had been sent in 1944 from a man to his wife announcing his arrival the next day at 10 a.m. No one uses telegrams anymore, and it got me to thinking about other items that may be obsolete. Take a guess at what has replaced these items.
- [Invitation to Kennedy’s 1961 inauguration](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/11/16/invitation-to-kennedys-1961-inauguration/) - The words "Inaugural Committee" were in a neat script on the oversized envelope, making it clear that the content inside was official. The envelope itself was the faded off-white color of aged paper, so I knew that it was not from the Obama committee. It was actually an invitation to the ’61 inauguration of John F. Kennedy.
- [‘Where’s George’ – Tracking Washington on a marked $1 bill](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/11/13/wheres-george-tracking-washington-on-a-marked-1-bill/) - I was pulling three bucks out of my wallet to leave a tip for the waitress when I saw the $1 bill. Someone had stamped a message in red on the front asking me to register the bill at a site called “Where’s George.” Obviously, I was curious to know more.
- [When kitchen and farm tools were more than just functional](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/11/11/when-kitchen-and-farm-tools-were-more-than-just-functional/) - Antique kitchen and household tools have a style to them. The tools I use today in my own kitchen are pretty simple and utilitarian, and no one would mistake their design for art. They were made to be used, not admired. Not so with some antique items I saw while browsing a product catalog at auction recently.
- [Makeshift face, quartet of mannequins & other unusual things](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/11/06/makeshift-face-quartet-of-mannequins-other-unusual-things/) - The huge eyes were the first thing I saw as I entered through the outside door into the furniture room at the auction house. They were staring straight at me, situated on either side of a gargantuan nose affixed to a board behind the trio. How unusual.
- [Reader seeks pedigree of Frederick Douglass souvenir spoon](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/10/30/reader-seeks-pedigree-of-frederick-douglass-souvenir-spoon/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value - and sometimes the origin - of their items. Today’s question is about the pedigree of one of two Frederick Douglass souvenir spoons.
- [Mr. Peanut costume leads to African American comic illustrator](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/10/28/mr-peanut-costume-leads-to-african-american-comic-illustrator/) - I watched as the man picked up the stiff Mr. Peanut costume from a table in the back lot of the auction house and tried it on for his friends. Little did I know that the creation of that iconic character was credited to an African American comic illustrator.
- [When rural mail was delivered by sleigh in snowy places](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/10/26/when-rural-mail-was-delivered-by-sleigh-in-snowy-places/) - I grew up in a rural area in Georgia, and each day the mailman would drive his car up close to the mail box at the end of the driveway, lean across his seat, open the little door on the box and deposit the mail. We had kind winters with no snow, so he was never troubled by such bad weather. He didn’t need the rural Post Office snow sleigh sold at auction recently.
- [African American boy immortalized in stone](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/10/21/african-american-boy-immortalized-in-stone/) - I found the bronze-looking statue of the boy on a table near a wall among furniture and other items at the auction house. His likeness had been taken from an early print of three young African American boys with expressive faces. This boy with the wide smile had been immortalized in stone.
- [A desire to carry on a tradition of grandfather clocks](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/10/19/a-desire-to-carry-on-a-tradition-of-grandfather-clocks/) - I have a friend who has moved into a new home and wants a grandfather clock to help dress it up. I understand because I have always loved the look of antique grandfather clocks. At auction recently were several for her to choose from.
- [Furniture, motorcycles & more that dazzle me](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/10/14/furniture-motorcycles-more-that-dazzle-me/) - From time to time while I’m wandering through furniture at auction houses, I meet up with some pieces that are so beautiful that they will me to stop. I’m never in the market for furniture, but the pieces make me gawk like a driver passing an accident on the street. That's what I did recently, and I'd like to share them with you.
- [1937 novel illustrated by Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/10/12/1937-novel-illustrated-by-mexican-artist-miguel-covarrubias/) - The books were stacked one atop the other from one end of a long row of tables to the other. I groaned because I knew I had to go through all of them to find anything worth buying. In the first box, I saw a book titled "Green Mansions," and I was about to bypass it when I saw the words "Illustrated by Covarrubias."
- [This chair’s a waste of an animal’s bones](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/10/09/this-chairs-a-waste-of-an-animals-bones/) - I’ve seen a number of chairs at auction that were made with animal body parts. But one I saw recently was the most crudely made one that I’d seen. Someone had nailed animal bones (real or not) to an antique Queen Anne chair. I guess you’d call it folk art.
- [Photo album of soldier’s memories of women he knew](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/10/07/photo-album-of-soldiers-memories-of-women-he-knew/) - When I first saw the scrapbook/photo album, I didn’t expect to find much in it, probably just some photos from a trip long forgotten. But I opened it anyway and found memories of a soldier and the women (and a few men) he knew.
- [Decorating with real tortoise shells](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/10/05/decorating-with-real-tortoise-shells/) - When I first saw the two large tortoise shells in the glass case at the auction house, my first reaction was "how wrong! It seemed a little barbaric to be selling the disembodied backs of two animals.
- [Reader seeks Jet magazine photo of himself in ’63 protest](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/10/02/reader-seeks-jet-magazine-photo-of-himself-in-63-protest/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items or to get them started on research. Today's question is from a reader who’s looking for a Jet magazine photo of himself from a 1963 protest march in Atlanta.
- [2 paintings from my collection in museum exhibit](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/09/30/2-paintings-from-my-collection-in-museum-exhibit/) - When I arrived at the exhibit at Woodmere Art Museum in Philadelphia, I had one thing in mind: I wanted to see where the museum had hung the two paintings I had loaned for the exhibit. And there they were, paintings by Samuel J. Brown and Columbus Knox.
- [Engravings of African Americans from Civil War book](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/09/28/engravings-of-african-americans-from-civil-war-book/) - The engravings of blacks were the first that caught my eye. They were among a group of eight from a book published in the late 19th century by an abolitionist named Mary A. Livermore, a narrative of her four years as a nurse in the Union Army tending to wounded soldiers.
- [Weather-beaten outhouse with crescent-moon cutout](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/09/23/weather-beaten-outhouse-with-crescent-moon-cutout/) - The outhouse was the first thing I spotted when I turned the corner on the ramp overlooking the back lot at the auction house. There it stood without leaning, with its gray weather-beaten boards and slanted corrugated tin roof intact. Who in the world would buy an outhouse?
- [The transcendent beauty of Chinese snuff bottles](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/09/21/the-transcendent-beauty-of-chinese-snuff-bottles/) - The bottles were breathtaking. The colors looked as if they’d just been lifted from a rainbow and the carvings from a work of nature. They were Chinese snuff bottles from a private collection.
- [The premium you pay for buying at auction](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/09/18/the-premium-you-pay-for-buying-at-auction/) - I bought a cute little Singer child-size sewing machine at auction this week. I was hoping I’d be the only sewing enthusiast in the room to keep the price low. An internet bidder went tit-for-tat with me, but I got the machine with a $40 bid. But that wasn’t my final bill: A 15 percent buyer’s premium slid the price to $46. Buying at auction means paying the fee.
- [Faith Ringgold’s quilt of Maya Angelou sells big at auction](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/09/16/faith-ringgolds-quilt-of-maya-angelou-sells-big-at-auction/) - For most of the auction I could only see the back of Faith Ringgold’s head. She was wearing a fabric cap, burgundy on top with a wide black band. At one point, she looked over her right shoulder, and I thought I detected a smile. She probably felt the exuberance of the crowd during the auction of a story quilt she had made for Maya Angelou in 1989.
- [Vinyl 45 rpm records and the cases that held them](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/09/14/vinyl-45-rpm-records-and-the-cases-that-held-them/) - I couldn’t wait to buy the 45 for Jr. Walker & the All-Stars' new record. I don’t recall where I had heard it, probably on the radio, but I knew that it was a record I had to have. It was the saxophone intro that enthralled me on "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love For Me)."
- [Spring isn’t the only time to buy lovely outdoor furniture](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/09/09/spring-isnt-the-only-time-to-buy-lovely-outdoor-furniture/) - Looking along the row of furniture on the back lot of an auction house recently, I was a bit confused about whether it was the end of summer or the beginning of spring. Fall will soon be upon us, but you couldn’t tell by some of the lovely outdoor furniture on the lot.
- [Bizarre wild boar lamps & cheese-wheel table](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/09/07/bizarre-boar-lamps-cheese-wheel-table/) - I'm used to seeing lamps and tables in unusual shapes and designs. So I shouldn’t have been too surprised to see lamps on an auction-house website whose bases were wild boars, or a table in the shape of a cheese wheel.
- [A guessing game of sewing items & other neat stuff](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/09/04/a-guessing-game-of-sewing-items-other-neat-stuff/) - Do you know what these are, I asked the auction-house assistant hoping that he could come closer to a guess than me about the wooden pointy items. They were cylindrical, rounded at the waist, their tops coiled in bright yarn. I later found out what they were. I challenge you to figure out the use of some other sewing items.
- [1930s communist pamphlet on blacks in a ‘Soviet America’](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/09/02/1930s-communist-pamphlet-on-blacks-in-a-soviet-america/) - The small pamphlet bore the title "The Negroes in a Soviet America." On the cover was a young African American man, smiling broadly and happily as he undoubtedly envisioned a future vastly different from what he was living. Published in 1935, it promised a new communist America where blacks would be treated equally.
- [Photos of Victorian blacks & Maya Angelou art auction](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/08/31/photos-of-victorian-blacks-maya-angelou-art-auction/) - "This looks interesting," my auction buddy Janet wrote in the email. She was referring to an upcoming exhibit of rare photos of blacks who lived in England during the 19th century. They give a peek into a side of black life that had often been missing. Meanwhile, an auction of artwork owned by Maya Angelou offers a glimpse into her taste.
- [A blank check on a lithographic stone](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/08/28/blank-bank-checks-inscribed-on-lithographic-stones/) - The cement gray stone was about 3" thick and reminded me of a cornerstone without the sharp bend. I knew this was no cornerstone because it had images inscribed on both sides. One side bore images of blank checks, and the other, buildings from the 1920s.
- [Huge sale of liquidated hotel furniture](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/08/26/huge-sale-of-liquidated-hotel-furniture/) - When I saw notice of the hotel-liquidation sale on the auction-house website, I emailed several of my friends. I knew that most of them didn’t need furniture but maybe they knew someone who did. There were tons of stuffed chairs, bedroom sets, lamps, framed prints, bar stools and bathroom vanities. And I knew that they all would go for very little money.
- [Got a 1980s car? Here's a key for you](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/08/24/got-a-1980s-car-heres-a-key-for-you/) - The tables were loaded with boxes, but they held the stuff that should have been tossed long ago. Near the edge of a table I spotted a large plastic jar that reminded me of those old Lance cookie jars. It was filled with something that I didn’t recognize until I was right on top of it: old car keys. Seemingly hundreds of them.
- [Readers ask about selling Lois Jones painting & Wilson stereoview card](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/08/21/readers-ask-about-selling-lois-jones-painting-wilson-stereoview-card/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. Today’s questions are about selling a Lois Mailou Jones painting and a J.N. Wilson stereoview card.
- [Sale of 1964 black & white Plymouth police car](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/08/19/sale-of-1964-black-white-plymouth-police-car/) - When I saw the black and white police car parked inside the auction house, I had a flashback. Not a flashback to reality but a flashback in spirit. The car reminded me of those 1960s southern police cars and the brutal officers who manned them. This one, though, had Delaware credentials, and was up for sale.
- [Artifacts that once decorated a NY crab house](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/08/17/artifacts-that-once-decorated-a-ny-crab-house/) - I was strolling through the back room of the auction house when I saw a mass of relics corralled along a side wall that stretched the width of the room. They were hanging on practically every inch of wall space, covering the floors and holding down table tops. They had once decorated a crab house on Long Island, NY.
- [1968 inlay puzzle of a black child drawn as his natural self](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/08/12/1968-inlay-puzzle-of-a-black-child-drawn-as-his-natural-self/) - The images of the African American boy were partly hidden beneath a black cloth doll on the auction table. I immediately moved the doll aside so I could get a closer look at the images on the board. The child had been drawn naturally in 1968 on six inlay puzzle pieces made by a company called Judy.
- [Reader asks how to sell mom’s cache of Depression glassware](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/04/10/readers-asks-how-to-sell-moms-cache-of-depression-glassware/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about how to sell a mother’s collection of Depression and other glassware.
- [Vintage puzzle games that make you wanna holler](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/08/10/vintage-puzzle-games-that-test-your-patience/) - I tried my hardest to roll the BB-sized silver balls into the round grooves on the face of the card. There were six tiny balls, and they were stubbornly rolling around in all directions or huddling in the left corner. I was challenging one of those old addictive puzzle games, and it was winning.
- [It looks like a ‘70s afro pick, but is it?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/08/07/it-looks-like-a-70s-afro-pick-but-is-it/) - The item with the metal teeth reminded me of one of those afro picks from the 1970s. It could easily have dug through the mass of tiny curls on my head back in the day. But it wasn't a pick; in fact, it was a kitchen utensil from around the 1930s and onward. Can you guess what it is?
- [It's a cake breaker](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/08/07/its-a-cake-breaker/)
- [An odd-looking typewriter called Oliver](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/08/05/an-odd-looking-typewriter-called-oliver/) - The contraption sitting in front of me on a table at the auction house was obviously a typewriter. It had the customary keys, but its typebars were aligned along two sides like towers. I'd seen my share of Underwoods and Royals but nothing like this. It was an Oliver No. 9 typewriter.
- [‘Negro Spirituals’ sheet music by Harry T. Burleigh](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/08/03/negro-spirituals-sheet-music-by-harry-t-burleigh/) - Several years ago, while browsing in a cramped shop somewhere in Manhattan, I came across the cover for some sheet music of Negro spirituals by the African American composer Harry T. Burleigh. Unfortunately, the sheet music itself was missing. At an auction recently, I found another such cover that, this time, had the music.
- [SCLC's 1968 Poor People’s Campaign button](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/07/29/sclcs-1968-poor-peoples-campaign-button/) - "This is what you’ve been waiting for," the auctioneer said to me. He was flipping through a box sheet music featuring African American images that he was about to hold up for bids. I wasn’t interested in that box, but the one next to it. It held a pinback button from the SCLC’s 1968 Poor People’s Campaign.
- [Ice cream maker & Bannister doll spark warm memories](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/07/31/ice-cream-maker-bannister-doll-spark-warm-memories/) - Auctions tables are full of remnants from our past, and one special item can evoke memories that have long lain dormant. That’s what happened recently. A hand-crank ice cream maker evoked tears of joy and sadness for one reader. A Bannister doll called up a proud memory for another.
- [Wooden Victorian wall pockets in a lattice design](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/07/27/wooden-victorian-wall-pockets-in-a-lattice-design/) - When I think of wall pockets, my mind doesn't conjure up the images I saw on the auction-house website. The wall pockets in my head were ceramic and small, with a wide mouth culminating in a "V" shape to hold water for flowers. The auction house had posted a photo of a wooden structure in a lattice design, and described it as a Victorian wall pocket. So where do you put the water?
- [Japanese comic books I can’t read](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/12/03/japanese-comic-books-i-can’t-read/) - I was sitting there minding my own business at auction recently when three comic books came up for sale. They were Japanese comic books and I was intrigued - even though I don't speak the language.
- [Readers ask about selling vintage tool chests & Haitian art](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/07/24/readers-ask-about-selling-vintage-tool-chests-haitian-art/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s questions are about resources for selling vintage tool chests and Haitian art.
- [Batch of letters to Babe Ruth’s wife Claire](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/07/22/batch-of-letters-to-babe-ruths-wife-claire/) - When I saw the listing for the letters on the auction-house website, I found it rather intriguing. They were mailed to Mrs. Babe Ruth from fans who adored her husband and, unable to get close to him, wanted a nod from someone who did.
- [Bedroom chests that are irresistible](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/07/20/bedroom-chests-that-are-irresistible/) - First, I saw one bedroom chest - more an armoire than a chest - whose design and height were so grand that it immediately willed me to it. Then I saw a much-smaller chest that rivaled it. Then another, and another. I can usually find some nifty items at this auction house, but not so many of the same items that stood out so singularly.
- [Mystery boxes of vintage items held no surprises](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/07/15/mystery-boxes-of-vintage-items-held-no-surprises/) - Was this a joke? That’s what I wondered when I saw the label on the box of items on the auction table. The box was labeled "Surprise Package," but its contents could be seen through the clear plastic top. What was the surprise?
- [Reader asks about photo of WWII African American Navy men](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/07/17/reader-asks-about-photo-of-wwii-african-american-navy-men/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. Today’s question is about a World War II photo of African American men enlisted in the Navy.
- [Estate-sale cameo with diamond spurs debate](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/07/13/estate-sale-cameo-with-diamond-spurs-debate/) - "That’s worth a lot of money," the woman said, as I stood holding a cameo I’d found on a bookshelf at an estate sale in a beautiful stone home that had enough rooms to be a bed-and-breakfast. A busybody, she was certain that the tiny stone on the cameo's pendant necklace was a diamond. I wasn't so sure.
- [Mother & baby painting by Carlos Lopez Ruiz](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/07/08/mother-baby-painting-by-carlos-lopez-ruiz/) - The coupling of the mother and baby in the painting captivated me. It was a small oil painting, giving an intimacy to the image of the mother swaddling her child. It was done by an artist unfamiliar to me: Carlos Lopez Ruiz, born in Colombia.
- [Reader seeks original copy of Negro Motorist Book - Me, too!](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/07/03/readers-seeks-original-copy-of-negro-motorist-book-me-too/) - Friday is the day I answer readers’ questions. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s question is from a reader who wants to buy an original copy of the Negro Motorist Green Book. Good luck!
- [One too many tacky pink flamingos](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/07/06/one-too-many-tacky-pink-flamingos/) - Are those pink flamingos, I thought incredulously as I noticed boxes of the plastic creatures stuffed into large brown cardboard boxes under the auction table. And indeed, they were. These were even more tacky and cheap, but they set me out on a search for who was behind this cultural icon.
- [Antique armchairs with a religious flair](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/06/29/antique-armchairs-with-a-religious-flair/) - I wasn’t sure what style of chairs they were, but I knew that I liked their shape. The three armchairs shared the seat of a French provincial sofa with beige damask upholstery. They reminded me of chairs made for a house of worship. But what type of chairs were they?
- [Coney Island signs offer women not hotdogs](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/06/24/coney-island-signs-offer-women-not-hotdogs/) - I have no memories of good times at the fabled Coney Island in New York, but my auction buddy Janet does. She grew up in Brooklyn, and has stories to tell of going there for fun and hotdogs with her family. I thought of her when I came across a pair of Coney Island signs depicting women. They were not selling hotdogs.
- [Newspaper-ad illustrations of women’s fashions](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/06/22/newspaper-ad-illustrations-of-womens-fashions/) - The papers had the dingy look of age, throwaways that someone no longer wanted. I could see that even before I got to the stacked sheets of papers at the end of the auction table. But as I approached them, I saw that they held newspaper-ad illustrations of women's fashions.
- [Sojourner Truth’s ‘Ain’t I A Woman’ on a ‘76 poster](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/06/17/sojourner-truths-aint-i-a-woman-on-a-76-poster/) - At first, it was hard to figure out who was featured in the dark marks that seemed to be scattered in the center of the poster. I had seen the poster on the auction house’s website and knew it was an artist’s rendering of the face of Sojourner Truth, along with her famous "Ain't I A Woman” speech.
- [Finding beauty in clunky industrial mold patterns](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/06/15/finding-beauty-in-clunky-industrial-mold-patterns/) - Those will probably go high, auction-goer Sly said as we stood looking at a grouping of wooden molds scattered on tables and atop bookshelves at the auction house. They were painted in red, black and yellow. On first glance, I wasn’t exactly sure what they were. Then I learned they were industrial mold patterns.
- [Right to vote is as precious as a gem](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/11/06/right-to-vote-is-as-precious-as-a-gem/) - I don’t know Frederick Holland Jr., have never met him. But I have a lime-green case with papers and photos from his years serving in the U.S. Army and iving his life in the States. One of the most important documents I found was his voter's registration card.
- [On a Sunday afternoon at Jose Garces’ Luna Farm](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/06/08/on-a-sunday-afternoon-at-jose-garces-luna-farm/) - I’m glad you invited me, Theresa said as she leaned toward me. It wasn’t the first time she’d thanked us, and I understood exactly how she felt. We were sitting at a table under a gigantic white tent, spending a wonderful afternoon at a barbecue on Iron Chef Jose Garces' Luna Farm.
- [S&H Green Stamps sign evokes memories of Don Lee poem](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/06/03/sh-green-stamps-sign-evokes-memories-of-don-lee-poem/) - I could see the S&H Green Stamps sign clear across the room, hanging on a peg wall with its red, white and green colors pocked with a few black spots and nicks. It evoked memories of a 1960s Don Lee poem about black salvation.
- [Gold & platinum records produced by Gamble & Huff](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/06/01/gold-platinum-records-produced-by-gamble-huff/) - The gold and platinum records were at the very back of the catalog. There I found listings for 19 gold and platinum records produced by Gamble and Huff, including the Jacksons and Teddy Pendergrass. And someone was parting with them.
- [Guess what this horse’s backside is used for](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/05/29/guess-what-this-horses-backside-is-used-for/) - When I first saw the small replica of a horse’s backside, the vulgar epithet that one antagonist hurls at another came to mind. The item was lying on its side on the auction table, its third of a body chestnut, its tail black with hoofs painted the same color. What is it, I wondered, figuring that it had to be more than what it appeared to be.
- [Photo of black hotel workers & Atlantic City pageant float](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/05/27/photo-of-black-hotel-workers-atlantic-city-pageant-float/) - When I first looked at the black and white photo, I noticed the grim-faced African American man with folded arms and averted eyes standing with two other men near an Atlantic City beauty pageant float. The three were stationed like sentries around a float overflowing with so many flowers and bunting that it was hard to see the two little white girls sitting beneath an overhang in the shadows.
- [Letters from 2 doctors offer personal glimpses into WWII](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/05/25/letters-from-2-doctors-offer-personal-glimpses-into-wwii/) - The letters were each neatly tri-folded in a shoebox, and I could tell that they had been typed because the heavy imprint of the keys was clear through the paper. I was not sure how long I’d had them or what they were about. As I started to read them, I realized that most were letters from two American doctors serving during World War II.
- [The worth of old newspapers as mementos](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/06/08/the-worth-of-old-newspapers-as-momentos/) - I began mulling our penchant for saving the relics of historical events after finding a collection of old newspapers and magazines in a box lot at auction recently.
- [How to get more African American artists on Wikipedia](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/05/22/how-to-get-more-african-american-artists-on-wikipedia/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s conversation focuses on how to get more African American artists - and history - on Wikipedia.
- [Art Deco lamps festooned with female nudes](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/05/20/art-deco-lamps-festooned-with-female-nudes/) - The woman in black lacquer with her hands folded behind her head and her bare chest poked out was the first lamp I saw on the table. It was among a virtual garden of Art Deco figural lamps from the 1920s with nude female figures.
- [Young stately black men in Kehinde Wiley’s art](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/05/18/young-stately-black-men-in-kehinde-wileys-art/) - I was standing in a room of screaming giants whose voices were in their postures. Every wall in the gallery burst with color of young African American men treated as majestic figures - with eyes that were proud, daring and searching. They were the young black men in Kehinde Wiley's larger-than-life portraits.
- [Reader asks about where to buy a Dox Thrash print](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/05/15/reader-asks-about-where-to-buy-a-dox-thrash-print/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s question is where to buy a Dox Thrash print (or other work of art).
- [An MLB All-Star Boot for an over-the-top fan](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/05/13/mlb-all-star-boot-for-an-over-the-top-fan/) - The boot was as big as John Wayne’s image as a symbol of the western cowboy. It stood boldly - all five feet of it in red, white and sky blue colors – in a room filled with other sports memorabilia waiting for a soon-to-start sale. This Annaheim Angels boot was one of 33 created for the 2004 All-Star Game in Houston.
- [The jazz memories of singer Don Gardner](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/05/11/the-jazz-memories-of-singer-don-gardner/) - I hadn’t much noticed the gray-haired man with the cane until my friend Rebecca mentioned that he was a famous musician. She spoke his name, and I recalled seeing his young face with a wide smile on one of the album covers displayed along a wall in another room. Don Gardner was jazz singer whose 1962 song was a breakout hit.
- [Guess the use for this little box with annoying sound](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/05/08/guess-the-use-for-this-little-box-with-annoying-sound/) - The square box had baffled me off and on for weeks. I had found it among some items in a box lot from an auction and was very curious about what it was. On the outside, it resembled a music box, patterned in inlaid wood of diamonds and zigzags with a small holder attached to one side. Can you guess what it is?
- [In the yard, the telltale signs of spring’s arrival](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/05/04/in-the-yard-the-telltale-signs-of-springs-arrival/) - I was ambling along the weather-beaten plank walkway above the back lot of the auction house. The day was blue-sky clear, and the sun was turning from warm to sweaty hot as I scanned the items on the bare-earth lot below. Then I began to notice something: The lot was sprinkled with furniture and accessories that were tokens of spring.
- [Documents of death in a box lot of papers](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/04/29/documents-of-death-in-a-box-lot-of-papers/) - "Transportation Of Dead Bodies.” Instantly, the words snapped me to attention as I edged around the auction table to take a closer look at the box lot of papers. The document was a 1905 health form permitting the transfer of the body of a 24-year-old Maryland woman from a hospital.
- [Thanks for the memories of Wacky Plak & Stickies](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/05/01/thanks-for-the-memories-of-wacky-plak-stickies/) - I often get emails from readers who are overjoyed at stumbling onto a blog post that awakens a pleasant memory. That was the case for two emails I got recently. The readers were reminded of Wacky Plak cards and Rickie Tickie Stickies from the 1960s.
- [Readers ask about Harlem Magicians program & dummy doll](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/04/24/readers-ask-about-harlem-magicians-program-dummy-doll/) - Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s questions are about a Harlem Magicians souvenir program and a ventriloquist doll.
- [A telemarketing call in 1940s Barbara Stanwyck movie](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/04/20/a-telemarketing-call-in-1940s-barbara-stanwyck-movie/) - The actress Barbara Stanwyck, playing a society woman named Jess Drummond, was anxious. She was waiting for a phone call from a man she had recently met and was attracted to. The phone rang, and she literally ran to it. No, I have enough magazine subscriptions, she said softly but with disappointment. No, I don’t want any cookbooks.
- [Reader seeks help with early photo of African American woman ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/04/17/reader-seeks-help-with-early-photo-of-african-american-woman/) - Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about an early black and white photo of an African American woman.
- [A servants’ call box in need of some TLC](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/04/13/a-servants-call-box-in-need-of-some-tlc/) - When I first saw the roughly painted wooden box, I thought it was a clock. It had the stylized hands of the antique Seth Thomas and Ansonia pendulum clocks that turn up often at auction. But this white box had no dial, no holes for winding and very few digits. It was obviously not a clock, but what was it?
- [Spotting artist David Driskell at NY art auction](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/04/08/spotting-artist-david-driskell-at-ny-art-auction/) - "There’s David Driskell." Art consultant Alvin Lester was sitting about two chairs away from me and could see around the thick post that was blocking my view. I poked my head around it and saw a black man with a full round face and bits of gray in his hair. I instantly recognized artist David Driskell from photos I’d seen in books.
- [Can you guess what these furniture pieces are?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/04/06/can-you-guess-what-these-furniture-pieces-are/) - Sometimes when I’m walking through an auction house, especially among the furniture, I notice the details that make certain pieces stand out. I wondered if I could guess what these pieces were just by looking at those details. Can you?
- [Readers ask about Marilyn Monroe plate & ice cream maker](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/04/03/readers-ask-about-marilyn-monroe-plate-ice-cream-maker/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s questions are about a Marilyn Monroe plate and a hand-crank ice cream maker.
- [Photos of child preacher Alfred Sharpton Jr.](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/04/01/photos-of-child-preacher-albert-sharpton-jr/) - I was nearing the end of the catalog for the sale of African American manuscripts when I turned the page and read the entry: "(RELIGION.) SHARPTON, REV. AL." I immediately looked at the photos and saw images of an African American boy prominently shown in a robe, one photo of him speaking into a microphone that he had leaned close to his mouth.
- [First look at copy of Negro Motorist Green Book](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/03/30/first-look-at-copy-of-negro-motorist-green-book/) - The book looked much smaller than I had imagined. I guess I was expecting something with more volume and heft, given its enormous importance in the lives of African American travelers during the 1930s-1960s. It was a lifeline for African Americans at a time when they were not allowed to eat in a restaurant or use the bathroom in a service station.
- [More than flowers in gardens at Phila. Flower Show ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/03/04/more-than-flowers-in-gardens-at-phila-flower-show/) - The backyard chickens attracted a large gathering at a garden display at the Philadelphia Flower Show. One chicken was picking at the straw floor near an old rusty car with netting on its doors. At one corner of the fenced plot, another chicken - pooped from all the attention, perhaps - took a break from our gawking as another stood by ignoring us.
- [Patent date isn’t exactly the year an item was made](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/03/27/patent-date-isnt-exactly-the-year-an-item-was-made/) - Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. From time to time, I get emails from folks mistakenly assuming that the year inscribed on an item is its production date. Today, I’m using a reader’s question to explain the meaning of dates and years imprinted on vintage and antique items.
- [Black Panther banner, Purvis Young art & more of my 2013 favorites](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/01/01/black-panther-poster-purvis-young-art-more-of-my-2013-favorites/) - I know the first day of the new year is supposed to be a time for looking forward (and I’ll certainly be doing that). But since Auction Finds is also a blog about looking back, I decided to compile some posts of items that I loved discovering.
- [The inherent humor in a pair of clown shoes ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/03/23/the-inherent-humor-in-a-pair-of-clown-shoes/) - The oversized shoes in the checkerboard pattern stood out like the proverbial sore thumb among the drab human foot-sized shoes. The toe was as large and round as the moon, and the heel a slender curve. Any child could see that these were clown shoes.
- [Are you afraid of a big bad - clown?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/12/29/are-you-afraid-of-a-big-bad-clown/) - "Clowns scare people," the auction-goer said, stopping near me as I stood in a corner of the auction house fingering one of a pair of brightly colored glass clowns. I found that strange, and set out to find out if that was the case.
- [Readers ask about MC “Five Cents” Jones carving & James Brown doll](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/03/20/readers-ask-about-mc-five-cents-jones-carving-james-brown-doll/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. Today’s questions are about a possible carving by folk artist MC "Five Cents" Jones and a James Brown doll.
- [Salesman’s samples as stand-ins for real furniture](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/03/18/salesmans-samples-as-stand-ins-for-real-furniture/) - Surprisingly, buyers had left two small pieces of furniture in two separate locations on outside tables at the auction house. The first one I spotted was a kitchen buffet in honey-colored wood with red drawer pulls. They were too large for a dollhouse and too small for a large doll. Might they be salesman's samples?
- [Goin' fishing for love, not for mounting](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/09/05/goin-fishing-for-love-and-not-mounting/) - My uncle Arthur has been "goin’ fishing" for as long as I can remember. He's the type who seeks out familiar fishing spots – not one of those guys who spend big bucks for a trip to catch a fish to mount on his wall.
- [Table with silly feet, a proud peacock & other fun items](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/03/09/table-with-silly-feet-a-proud-peacock-other-fun-items/) - What strange feet that table has, I thought, as I glanced across the room while previewing furniture for the next-day’s sale at the auction house. As I moved closer to the table - whose top looked like an oversized open quote mark - I saw that my eyes had fooled me.
- [Readers ask about Haitian watercolors & wooden mask](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/03/06/readers-ask-about-haitian-watercolors-wooden-mask/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s questions are about watercolors by Haitian artist Martino Dorce and an African mask.
- [How one Webster dictionary defined 'Negro' in the 1950s](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/03/02/how-one-webster-dictionary-defined-negroes-in-the-1950s/) - The big hunk of a dictionary was resting on the auction table like a giant paperweight. From the look of it, I could tell that it was ancient. So I wondered how this old storehouse of American language defined me and my ancestors during that period. I turned to the N’s and looked for the word "Negro."
- [Readers ask about Fisk Jubilee Singers and Sendak books ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/02/27/readers-ask-about-fisk-jubilee-singers-and-sendak-books/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s questions are about the value of a book about the Fisk Jubilee Singers and scribblings in Maurice Sendak’s "Where the Wild Things Are."
- [Sewing case stitched during infancy of the Civil War](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/02/25/sewing-case-stitched-duriing-infancy-of-the-civil-war/) - The male auction-goer placed his numbered sticker right dab in the center of the fabric case. The sticker's bright yellow color was a brilliant contrast to the faded and tattered gray lining of what looked to be a sewing case. Inside, a woman had stitched her name and the date: Jan. 26, 1861, during the infancy of the Civil War.
- [African Americans who sat for Andrew Wyeth](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/02/23/african-americans-who-sat-for-andrew-wyeth/) - Some years ago, a colleague told me that African Americans had sat for artist Andrew Wyeth. He knew of some of the people, he said, and would try to get me some interviews. That never materialized and my interest waned. It was revived recently when I came across some of their portraits in a 1968 book of the artist’s works.
- [Reader asks about book signed by Elizabeth Catlett ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/02/20/reader-asks-about-book-signed-by-elizabeth-catlett/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about a book bearing the signature of African American artist Elizabeth Catlett.
- [Table, chair & lamp made with crutches](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/02/16/table-chair-lamp-made-with-crutches/) - Now that was a something different. That was my first thought after my meandering through antique furniture at an auction house led me to a very unusual glass-topped table and matching chair. Their frames were a labyrinth of wooden crutches.
- [Reader asks about value of bedroom furniture](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/02/13/reader-asks-about-value-of-bedroom-furniture/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about the value of a mother-in-law's bedroom furniture.
- [Photo of a 1920s African American aviator? Or not?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/02/11/photo-of-a-1920s-african-american-aviator-or-not/) - The man and the airplane in the photo were from another era. He had a speck of a smile, and he was wearing an early 20th century U.S. Navy pilot's uniform, with cap and goggles. His outfit, though, was worn and damaged, and his goggles were slightly askew.
- [Reader asks about Ebony greeting cards for Black History Month](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/02/06/reader-asks-about-ebony-greeting-cards-for-black-history-month/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their treasures, or to find items. Today’s question is from a teacher seeking Ebony magazine greeting cards to use for Black History Month.
- [Enough gumball machines to open an arcade](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/02/09/enough-gumball-machines-to-open-an-arcade/) - The scene was right out of a child’s candy-laced dream. Two long tables were topped with gumball machines containing small balls of red, yellow, blue, orange and all the other colors of the rainbow. There were 75 machines, most looked vintage, and they appeared to have been someone's collection.
- [‘Selma’ impact is deeply felt ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/02/04/selma-impact-is-deeply-felt/) - I finally went to see the "Selma" movie, but I didn’t know what to expect. My friends had indicated that it moved slowly, and in my mind, that meant plodding. So I settled back in the darkened theater yesterday with a handful of people to catch a glimpse of one violent episode in American history. The first few scenes, far from tedious, set the tone for me.
- [’64 newspaper article on deaths of Miss. civil rights workers](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/01/07/64-newspaper-article-on-deaths-of-miss-civil-rights-workers/) - The bold headline on the framed yellowed newspaper told me plenty about what the editors considered the most significant on Aug. 5, 1964: the bombing of North Vietnam. But I saw another headline that had more resonance for me: "FBI Identifies Two Bodies as Rights Workers." I knew exactly whom it was referring to. Chaney, Schwerner, Goodman.
- [A woven basket so big that it invites jokes ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/02/02/a-woven-basket-so-big-that-it-invites-jokes/) - "I’m waiting for a snake to come up out of there," the man said as I hauled my outlandishly large straw basket from one room to another at the auction house. I had just won the bid for this basket – and was outbid on several other beautiful ones – a few minutes before. The room was so crowded that I had to raise the basket up high to get it through the throng.
- [Charles Searles sculpture in a public library](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/01/30/charles-searles-sculpture-in-a-public-library/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day, and I try to help readers figure out the value of their items. Occasionally, I get an item that I want to know more about. That’s what happened not too long ago. My auction pal Rebecca teaches computer classes for seniors at a local library, and noticed two sculptures by artist Charles Searles. How did they get here?
- [A fine painting on the back of leather chair](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/01/28/a-fine-painting-on-the-back-of-leather-chair/) - I was scouting out an auction house that sells lovely and sometimes unique furniture when I spotted a painting of a white-haired man slightly bent, his gaze intent. As I neared the piece of furniture I saw that the artist had painted the man on the back of a leather chair. Now that was different.
- [The woodworking art of Stewart Paul](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/01/26/the-woodworking-art-of-stewart-paul/) - For 17 years, Stewart Paul hauled around his handcrafted wooden tables, boxes and cabinets to craft shows in a big 1971 Plymouth station wagon. He dragged them around so much that they took as much a beating as Paul himself. He grew weary and indifferent to woodworking, and decided to stop. He put away his tools and machinery, and shuttered his shop.
- [Who is the studio furniture-maker Stewart Paul?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/02/12/who-is-the-studio-furniture-maker-stewart-paul/) - The auctioneer had said hello, walked out the door, closed it and then came right back in again. You like a mystery, he said in more a statement than a question. He told me about a little-known woodworker/furniture maker named Stewart Paul whose works were up for auction that day.
- [Readers seek hat stretcher & Prohibition medical prescription](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/01/23/readers-seek-hat-stretcher-prohibition-medical-prescription/) - Sometimes, I get inquiries from readers who want to buy items I have written about. Most times, I don't have the items because I don't buy everything I write about. If I did, I'd be a hoarder, especially since I've written more than 1,000 blog posts since starting my blog in 2009. Today's questions are from business owners seeking to buy a hat stretcher and a Prohibition medical prescription.
- [Hefty price for a small dragonfly perfume bottle](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/01/21/hefty-price-for-a-small-dragonfly-perfume-bottle/) - The bidding started innocuously with a price that was not unheard at the Decorative Arts sale. So when bidding on the sweet little amber perfume bottle with the gilt dragonfly started at $375, I didn’t blink. But it kept going and going and going, with no signs of stopping at a reasonable price.
- [Who was Phila. artist Etelka J. Greenfield?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/01/16/who-was-phila-artist-etelka-j-greenfield/) - I first came across the name of the artist Etelka J. Greenfield on a program for a 1948 exhibit at the Pyramid Club in Philadelphia. She was among a group of black and white, male and female artists. When a painting of hers was sold at auction a few years ago, she was described as an African American artist. But was she? I wanted to find out for sure.
- [A bounty of flowering & leafy artificial plants](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/01/19/a-bounty-of-flowering-leafy-artificial-plants/) - I was chatting with an auction-house staffer when I glanced to my right and noticed the flowers on a tall artificial plant. This plant – which resembled an Angel’s Trumpet - was unusual because its flowers not only had open blooms but also dying ones. I found it very strange that fading flowers would be added to artificial plants to make them look real.
- [Antique embalming machine that's unnerving ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/01/14/antique-embalming-machine-thats-unnerving/) - I had seen a contraption like it two months earlier in another room during a special sale at the auction house. Now, it or its twin had turned up again. I wasn't sure what it was when it first appeared until I read the auction bid sheet. It was an antique embalming machine.
- [Victrola cabinet carved by African American hands](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/01/12/victrola-cabinet-carved-by-african-american-hands/) - I had spent much of my time at the preview of the museum exhibit of African American art looking at the works on the walls. Then I rounded a corner in the small exhibition space and came right smack upon one of the most beautiful art pieces in the exhibit: An intricately and deeply carved Victrola cabinet like none I’d seen before.
- [Through an artist's eyes](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/02/15/through-an-artists-eyes/) - A couple years ago, I bought at auction a watercolor by an art student who drew a Philadelphia rowhouse scene from outside his window. It was intriguing.
- [Old, dusty but neat phonographs](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/10/24/old-dusty-but-neat-phonographs/) - The long row of vintage phonographs looked like a collection gone bad. They were in various states of disrepair, they were dusty, and they were neglected. They carried such names as Victor, RCA Victor, Edison and Brunswick.
- [Reader asks about Negro Leagues baseball poster ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/01/09/reader-asks-about-negro-leagues-baseball-poster/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about a Negro Leagues baseball game poster.
- [16-ounce Coca-Cola bottle molds](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/12/31/16-ounce-coca-cola-bottle-molds/) - As soon as I saw the 16-ounce Coca-Cola molds, I knew there would be a mad dash for them when the bidding started. Some Coca-Cola products are very collectible, and these were likely among them. These molds, though, were not a complete set.
- [Vintage Christmas tree topper in shape of star](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/12/22/vintage-christmas-tree-topper-in-shape-of-star-2/) - I didn’t notice the metal star until I was combing through a box of items I had bought at auction. The word "Presto" was engraved on one side, and the areas around each of the five points had a narrow red, black and green band. A short electrical cord stretched from inside the star and ended in a tiny wooden bulb that resembled a Christmas light.
- [Depression-era travel guides on the states ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/12/10/depression-era-american-guide-series-on-the-states/) - I bought the box of books for an early edition of Paul Laurence Dunbar's poems. But what I also found were three travel guidebooks in the American Guide Series written by some then-published and unpublished writers during the Depression era.
- [Readers seek Ruby Bridges-type doll & identity of black doll](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/12/19/readers-seek-ruby-bridges-type-doll-identity-of-black-doll/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s questions are about where to find a doll that resembles the little African American girl in Norman Rockwell's famous painting and the identity of a black doll.
- [Ice pick holder was once a necessity, now a novelty ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/12/17/ice-pick-holder-was-once-a-necessity-now-a-novelty/) - The first time I saw the flat brown paper box on the auction table, I picked it up to find out what was inside. The box held an ice pick and coupon book holder, which I suspect were quite useful in their day when ice boxes were made of wood and folks waited for the ice man to cometh.
- [A woman’s home turns up lovely antique Christmas gifts](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/12/15/a-womans-home-turns-up-lovely-antique-christmas-gifts/) - The owner of the house had owned an antiques store, and you could tell by the way she had furnished her home. Now holding only a fourth of her belongings, the home still bore tables of beautifully colored glass, stuffed chairs, clocks, Oriental rugs and an eclectic choice of other collectibles. Some of the items would make lovely Christmas gifts.
- [Reader asks about artist Etelka Greenfield](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/09/12/reader-asks-about-african-american-artist-etelka-greenfield/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today's question is about the value of a painting by artist Etelka J. Greenfield.
- [Reader tells me more about artist Collins Thomas](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/12/12/reader-tells-me-more-about-artist-collins-thomas/) - I’m always uncovering artists at auction who are unfamiliar to me. So it’s a delight when I learn that they’re still alive and I can interview them. Sometimes, though, they aren't and I can find very little about them. So I was thrilled recently to get an email from a reader who knew one of those "lost" artists, Collins Thomas.
- [A crucifix with an ungodly aim](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/02/06/a-crucifix-with-a-non-godly-aim/) - The auctioneer was both surprised and delighted. He was selling a tray of crucifixes, talking them up so us auction-goers would bid up the price when he came upon an unusual discovery. There was a knife inside one of the crucifixes.
- [Rebuilding livelihoods from Ferguson’s ashes](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/12/08/rebuilding-livelihoods-from-fergusons-ashes/) - I don’t know Jeniece Andrews or Natalie DuBose, but I do feel for these African American women whose livelihoods were upended by the rioting in Ferguson. They are an antiques-shop owner and a baker who had the courage to step out on their own to build their businesses. They are now using social media to help rebuild. You go, girls.
- [Readers ask about WWII artifacts, Wyeth book & Searles art](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/12/05/readers-ask-about-wwii-artifacts-wyeth-book-searles-art/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s questions are about selling WWII artifacts, book illustrated by N.C. Wyeth and sculpture by Charles Searles.
- [Who was Phila. artist Collins Thomas?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/10/03/who-was-phila-artist-collins-thomas/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them. Today, I am seeking help in identifying a Philadelphia artist named Collins Thomas, who may have been African American.
- [Animal treadmill that powered a washing machine](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/12/03/animal-treadmill-that-powered-a-washing-machine/) - The first photo at the top of the series on the auction website showed a contraption with a single wooden wheel like a WWI military tank but with an upward slant. Next to it was a photo of a wooden box on legs. I wasn't sure what they were but was curious about their purpose.
- [Terrifying 1950s satellite jumping shoes ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/12/01/terrifying-1950s-satellite-jumping-shoes/) - The shoes looked very painful and very unsafe, and I could not imagine how anyone could walk or hop in them. They were candy-apple red, a pair of thick metal shoes with round toes, white cloth straps, and springs attached to a platform base. I had never seen anything like them before.
- [Readers ask about ‘hound dawg’ song & silver chair](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/11/28/readers-ask-about-hound-dawg-song-silver-chair/) - Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s questions are about sheet music for a song titled "They Gotta Quit Kickin' My Dawg Aroun'" and where to buy a silver chair.
- [A standout set of silver chairs	](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/02/03/a-standout-set-of-silver-chairs/) - For me, silver is the color of a dime, a necklace, forks and spoons, and antique vessels. So imagine my delight when I was browsing the furniture offerings at an auction house recently and came upon two silver sofas.
- [A Louis Slobodkin sculpture with attitude](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/10/18/louis-slobodkin-sculpture-with-attitude/) - I was at auction recently and came across a bronze sculpture of a woman with an attitude. It was sculpted by Louis Slobodkin, and I loved it.
- [Identifying the tip end of antique safety razor](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/11/26/identifying-the-tip-end-of-antique-safety-razor/) - The auctioneer was eager to show me one of the small items in the glass case. It’s a razor, he said, removing it from a tray. I don’t know what this part is for, he added, pointing to a metal extension on the bottom tip with a series of holes on one side and an opening on the other. It was a mystery to me, too.
- [Mystery of the "Gotta Quit Kickin’ My Dawg Aroun'" song](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/04/30/mystery-of-the-gotta-quit-kickin-my-dawg-aroun-song/) - I had seen the piece of sheet music, slightly ajar in its frame, the glue from the masking tape holding it in place long gone. The title of the song nor the hapless hound dog on the cover did not initially appeal to me.
- [Guessing the function of a brass turtle](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/11/24/guessing-the-function-of-a-brass-turtle/) - The auctioneer pointed to two turtles on a tray in the glass case. Know what they are? he asked. I didn't offer the smart answer of "turtles," because I was pretty sure they were more than that. On their back was the inscription "Pull my head but not my leg." I was baffled. Can you guess their function?
- [Readers ask about Twelvetrees’ black postcards & horn chair](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/11/21/readers-ask-about-twelvetrees-black-postcards-horn-chair/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s questions are about Charles Twelvetrees’ postcards of black children and a steer horn chair.
- [A $3,750 giraffe head/neck & a whole lot more ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/11/19/a-3750-giraffe-headshoulders-a-whole-lot-more/) - There was something a bit discomforting about the giant animal carcasses grouped together in a far corner of the auction house. I was used to seeing smaller animals mounted on the walls waiting to be auctioned. But these were your bigger species: buffalo, moose, giraffe, elk.
- [A box of Cracker Jill (not Jack) charms](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/11/17/a-box-of-cracker-jill-not-jack-charms/) - Cracker Jack I had heard of, but not Cracker Jill. That was the first thought that leaped into my head when I saw the name Cracker Jill. It was printed in bright red letters on paper inside a plastic container, not on the cover of a paper box like the Cracker Jack from my childhood.
- [Armed Services Edition books from WWII](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/11/10/armed-services-edition-books-from-wwii/) - I was standing in the middle of an attic with built-in bookshelves overcrowded with dusty books. I noticed a long row of mini paperbacks, and picking up one that was laying on a chair, I read the title "Joe Louis" and the words "Armed Services Edition." These books were distributed overseas to Army and Navy troops during World War II.
- [Readers ask about Underground Railroad eatery matchbook & liquor decanters](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/11/14/readers-ask-about-underground-railroad-eatery-matchbook-liquor-decanters/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s questions are about an Underground Railroad soul food restaurant matchbook and liquor decanters.
- [Wild Turkey bourbon decanters](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/11/23/wild-turkey-bourbon-decanters/) - Someone had removed the turkey’s head. It was lying there exposed next to two other ceramic decanters of Wild Turkey Bourbon. The decanter was one of seven I found on two tables at the auction house.
- [Readers ask about Black Americana card-holder, dashboard clock & Coke bottle](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/11/07/readers-ask-about-black-americana-card-holder-dashboard-clock-coke-bottle/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. Today’s questions are about a Black Americana card-holder, a dashboard clock and how to collect Coke bottles.
- [Obsolete Mile-O-Graph road mileage device](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/11/05/obsolete-mile-0-graph-road-mileage-device/) - It was always a chore for me to try to figure out the mileage from here to there by consulting a map and doing the math. At auction recently, I came across a Mile-O-Graph mileage device from the 1950s that did the "arithmetic" for you. Today, in an age of smartphones and GPS, this little gadget is an anachronism.
- [World War II Army Carlisle first aid kit](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/11/03/world-war-ii-carlisle-army-first-aid-kit/) - The beautiful little raspberry red tin must have been hiding from me, because I had not seen it among the packed table of miniature items. It was an Army First Aid Packet with sterile dressing and infection-fighting powder for World War II soldiers in the field.
- [When Halloween was a simple affair ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/10/31/when-halloween-was-a-simple-affair/) - The two diaries had been in a box of other items at auction, and I found them after I was going through the box at home. They belonged to a girl named Olga, and covered the years 1930 to 1936. Since today is Halloween, I wondered what Olga’s Halloween was like and if she mentioned it in her diaries.
- [Real horse saddles as motorcycle seats](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/10/29/real-horse-saddles-as-motorcycle-seats/) - I stood slightly away from the table, trying to get a better look at two bulky and very dirty horse saddles lying on the floor. Behind me, I overheard a man tell his friend: I’ve seen those on motorcycles. Was he kidding? Bikers actually used these hard surfaces as seats?
- [Treasures in a little girl’s keepsake chest](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/10/27/treasures-in-a-little-girls-keepsake-chest/) - The mahogany box with the little treasure chest on top was closed, so naturally I had to see what was inside. As I raised the lid, I saw a montage of old photos and other items. This was no ordinary wooden box. This was a girl’s keepsake chest.
- [Welby and Ansonia clocks I don’t want to give up](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/10/20/welby-and-ansonia-clocks-i-dont-want-to-give-up/) - To be honest, I bought the first clock to sell. It’s a Welby anniversary clock, a brand I hadn’t heard of before, in brass and glass with a top piece that resembles a spider. Every time I pass the clock, I imagine it sitting on the mantle in my living room. Then I came across an Ansonia steeple clock that rivaled it.
- [Should auction house ask that a "Sold!" item be returned?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/10/17/should-auction-house-ask-that-a-sold-item-be-returned/) - I paid little attention to the owner whispering in the ear of the auctioneer. But what the auctioneer did in response was a surprise: He asked the winning bidder of a Seagull Artist Portrait guitar to give it back because they had made a $200 mistake in the minimum bid price.
- [The life & art of Stuart M. Egnal	](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/02/21/the-life-art-of-stuart-m-egnal/) - I was previewing the upcoming sale at one of my favorite auction houses when the artist’s name appeared again. Stuart M. Egnal. I had written about him before when other of his artwork was sold.
- [1950s programs for Harlem Globetrotters & Magicians](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/10/15/1950s-programs-for-harlem-globetrotters-magicians/) - The table was covered with trays of beautifully illustrated color souvenir programs for Philadelphia Eagles games from the 1940s and 1950s. The back row held a tray of three programs that were different. They were 1950s programs for the Harlem Globetrotters and another team I had never heard of - Harlem Magicians.
- [Frankart’s lithe nude female sculptures ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/10/13/frankarts-lithe-nude-female-sculptures/) - So I’m sitting in the audience at the auction when I noticed that the auctioneer kept mentioning the word "nude." He was selling a succession of nude female bronze-like sculptures, most bearing the name Frank Art. What the heck is Frank Art, I wondered.
- [Reader seeks black action figures by Olmec](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/10/10/reader-seeks-black-action-figures-by-olmec/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. Today’s question is about finding black action figures made by a company called Olmec.
- [Whimsical wood sculptures by artist Joe Derr](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/10/08/whimsical-wood-sculptures-by-artist-joe-derr/) - The trio was sitting high and playing loud. The auction house had placed the wooden female jazz singer, and her piano and trumpet players on a perch atop some furniture to give them prominence. And so they had, eliciting a smile from me and a desire to linger.
- [Protest posters from the Vietnam War](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/10/06/protest-posters-from-the-vietnam-war/) - The entire back stone wall of the auction house was awash in posters aligned tightly next to each other. Their silent messages gave off the forceful sound of the weapons they were protesting. Someone was selling a large collection of Vietnam War-era posters, and most were unmistakably anti-war.
- [Accent pieces for your tables & walls](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/10/01/accent-pieces-for-your-tables-walls/) - If I ever decide to change the tabletop accent pieces in my home, I won’t go to the nearest furniture store. I’d go to auctions, and take my time to find the right pieces. That’s the advice I’d give anyone who’s in the market for lovely accent pieces for their home. Like that beautiful starburst mirror I saw recently.
- [1960s Phillies bobblehead doll ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/09/29/1960s-phillies-bobblehead-doll/) - Hidden under a box of dolls I bought at auction was a surprising item: a 1960s Phillies bobblehead. I didn't know they were made that early. I thought bobbleheads were a new invention.
- [Reader asks about Tiffany belt buckle with witch logo](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/09/26/reader-asks-about-tiffany-belt-buckle-with-witch-logo/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about a so-called Tiffany belt buckle with a Salem witch insignia.
- [Handling a Ku Klux Klan belt buckle](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/04/23/handling-a-ku-klux-klan-belt-buckle/) - The man had pulled the brass item out of a piece of soft white paper and was watching amusedly as the young camerawoman examined it. It was a brass Ku Klux Klan belt buckle, handmade and crudely carved.
- [Reader asks where to replace a G.A.R. grave maker ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/09/19/reader-asks-where-to-replace-a-g-a-r-grave-maker/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about where to place a G.A.R. grave marker that was displaced during a tornado.
- [A Buckwheat doll from the ‘Little Rascals’ TV show](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/09/15/a-buckwheat-doll-from-the-little-rascals-tv-show/) - When I saw the Buckwheat doll still sealed in plastic, I was surprised. Not only surprised but amazed that some company had taken the time to make a doll in the image of a little black boy from an early TV show. I remembered Buckwheat as a little dark-complexioned boy with wild hair. The doll I held in my hand was a palatable Buckwheat.
- [1880 book on Fisk Jubilee Singers & their songs](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/09/24/1880-book-on-fisk-jubilee-singers-their-songs/) - I don’t know how I had missed the book, possibly because it was hidden in one of the many boxes of out-dated books up for auction. But as soon as the auctioneer mentioned the title, I jerked to attention. He was asking for bids on an 1880 book on the history of the Fisk Jubilee Singers.
- [Dialect songs of James Weldon & J. Rosamond Johnson](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/11/26/dialect-songs-of-james-weldon-j-rosamond-johnson/) - I was going through some dusty and dirty containers of old Edison cylinder records from the early 1900s when I saw a name I recognized. The composer was J. Rosamond Johnson, who with his brother James Weldon had written "Lift Every Voice and Sing." But the song on this record was a far cry from that wonderful masterpiece.
- [Furniture accent pieces that won't bankrupt you ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/09/17/furniture-accent-pieces-that-wont-bankrupt-you/) - The man had just moved from New York and his wife was looking for a lamp for their home. Before buying from a store, I advised him, consider an auction. Some of the best buys and the best-looking home items can be found sitting on an auction-house table or floor.
- [An irresistible Levi’s jeans wing chair](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/09/08/an-irresistible-levis-jeans-wing-chair/) - "Isn’t it amazing,” I said to the man who seemed to have taken root in the stuffed chair. "And it’s comfortable, too,” he replied. “Try it.” He pried himself from the chair, which was upholstered in Levi's jeans - pockets and labels included - and so I tried out this unusual chair.
- [Reader asks if Coke bottle is the real thing ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/09/05/reader-asks-if-coke-bottle-is-the-real-thing/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. This week’s question is from a reader who wants to know if his vintage Coca-Cola bottle is rare.
- [24-pounder mortar shell that quickly drew suitors](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/09/03/24-pounder-mortar-shell-that-quickly-drew-suitors/) - You couldn’t miss the large metal ball with the black pockmarked surface speckled with light shades. Neither could you get past the three green stickers plastered on it. It was obvious to me as an auction regular that this Coehorn 24-pounder mortal shell would be a hot item.
- [Readers ask about hat pin & Royal Doulton figurine](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/08/29/readers-ask-about-hat-pin-royal-doulton-figurine/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s questions are about an heirloom hat pin and a Royal Doulton figurine.
- [A rotary phone that was both baffling & nostalgic ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/08/25/a-rotary-phone-that-was-both-baffling-nostalgic/) - I watched as the boy stood in front of my table, puzzled at the object in front of him. How do you use it, he asked his mother unabashedly. He was staring at an old beige rotary telephone. While the phone was a discovery for him, it sparked memories for his mother.
- [Reader asks about early black TV cooks ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/08/22/reader-asks-about-early-black-tv-cooks/) - A question about early African American TV cooks inspired me to find out if there were any during the 1950s. I could not locate a single one, but I did find several who should have had their own shows.
- [Coconut head art that didn’t fit the mold](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/08/20/coconut-head-art-that-didnt-fit-the-mold/) - Most of the carved heads were displayed so high atop furniture that I had to stand back to get a good look at them. I had searched for them specifically at the auction house because they were described as “Carved Coconut Head Art.” These were different from the carved ones I'd seen before.
- [The works of African American artist Roland Ayers](https://myauctionfinds.com/2011/12/20/the-works-of-african-american-artist-roland-ayers/) - A couple years ago, I was browsing the art offerings at one of my regular auction houses when I spotted a watercolor saturated with the color orange, with images of African Americans. It had been painted by Philadelphia artist Roland Ayers.
- [A forlorn drawing that no one wanted](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/08/18/a-portrait-of-depression-that-no-one-wanted/) - No one would take Linda home. I couldn’t blame them because she looked like one miserable person. I'm not sure who drew Linda, but this portrait could have been a poster for depression.
- [Readers say thanks for digging up history](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/08/15/readers-say-thanks-for-digging-up-history/) - I enjoy finding items that are unfamiliar to me because the stories behind them turn out to be fascinating. Researching them allows me to learn about buried treasures of our shared history. Readers of "Auction Finds" seem to appreciate it, too. I get emails from people who were trying to identify an item and found the answer in a blog post.
- [Italy’s Capodimonte porcelain – love it or not](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/08/13/italys-capodimonte-porcelain-love-it-or-not/) - "I hate the stuff," I overheard the man say to his friend, who replied emotionlessly that he liked the stuff, even had a clown figure made out of it. They were eyeing a Capodimonte porcelain flower bouquet. I had to agree with the friend, but not so severely. I found the glazed pieces a bit gaudy.
- [A discarded wedding dress & the woman who wore it](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/08/11/a-discarded-wedding-dress-the-woman-who-wore-it/) - Old wedding dresses – either still in their whiteness or in an aged yellow – seem to turn up pretty often at auction. I came across one of those dresses recently, but this one was different. Lying on top of it was a photo of the bride wearing it.
- [Watercolor by a Charleston artist named Yancey](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/08/08/watercolor-by-a-charleston-artist-named-yancey/) - The little girl in the red dress was the first image that snared me as I wandered among the artwork on the auction house wall. Her with the brown face, standing on a sidewalk in the bottom left corner of a lovely watercolor. I learned that this was a scene on Magazine Street in Charleston, SC, from around 1967.
- [What’s the allure of a steer horn chair?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/08/06/whats-the-allure-of-a-steer-horn-chair/) - The chair sat there alone, like the lucky prize in some strange contest. It was draped in the light grayish fur of some animal I did not recognize, its arms and legs the horn of the same creature. The auction house described it as a steer horn chair.
- [What to do with vintage fire hydrants ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/08/04/what-to-do-with-vintage-fire-hydrants/) - I was about to walk right past the two rusted fire hydrants, but stopped. I stood there looking at them, wondering: How exactly do you re-use old fire hydrants?
- [Inverted pages in 1939 World’s Fair Fortune mag](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/08/01/inverted-pages-in-1939-worlds-fair-fortune-mag/) - Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. Today, I have a mystery of my own about a dozen upside-down pages in a July 1939 copy of Fortune magazine’s NY World’s Fair edition.
- [A vintage tin of smelling salts](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/07/30/a-vintage-tin-of-smelling-salts/) - As soon as I saw the name on the tin, an image of a woman being revived with smelling salts formed in my head.
- [An early oil painting by Reba Dickerson-Hill ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/07/28/an-early-oil-painting-by-reba-dickerson-hill/) - At auction, artwork is always the first draw for me. I immediately head over to the paintings to first see an image that transfixes me and then an artist’s name that I recognize. Recently, I came across an oil painting of a landscape with a name I knew: African American artist Reba Dickerson-Hill.
- [African American art](https://myauctionfinds.com/2009/10/02/african-american-art/) - Recently, I purchased at auction a painting by an African American artist named Reba Dickerson Hill, known for using sumi-e, a Japanese ink painting process.
- [How one reader sold some Father Divine photos](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/07/25/how-one-reader-sold-some-father-divine-photos/) - Recently, a reader emailed to ask if I wanted to buy some photos of Father and Mother Divine. I wasn’t in the market to buy them but suggested that the reader try selling them on eBay. The reader emailed to tell me that the first two had sold quickly on the site. I asked the reader to do a Q&A about the photos and the sale.
- [A time when hand fans cooled church-goers](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/07/23/a-time-when-hand-fans-cooled-church-goers/) - I remember their brown faces and white uniforms. They stood at the door of the church, likely hot themselves, handing out paper fans to help cool us against the rising heat in the sanctuary. Even with air-conditioning today, church fans are still being used. Some folks collect the old ones, like the four with African American images that I came across recently at an antiques mall.
- [Taking a sip of faux moonshine off a Tennessee exit ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/07/21/taking-a-sip-of-faux-moonshine-off-a-tennessee-exit/) - The card was advertising free moonshine tastings somewhere in Tennessee. It showed a bright red Mason jar of whole cherries that looked more like canned fruit than illegal whiskey. I’d never heard of or seen cherry moonshine, so we had to take a side trip off I-75 north on our way to a family reunion in Cincinnati.
- [Reader asks about matchbooks of NFL teams](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/07/18/reader-asks-about-matchbooks-of-nfl-teams/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about a collection of matchbooks with NFL team logos.
- [Redd Foxx & women over 40](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/07/24/redd-foxx-audio/) - I came across a 1956 recording of Redd Foxx's joke "Women Over 40" at auction a few weeks ago and knew I had to have it. It was among a group of 45s with original jackets and sleeves.
- [To buy or not to buy Ezra Jack Keats’ ‘Peter’s Chair’ ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/07/16/to-buy-or-not-to-buy-ezra-jack-keats-peters-chair/) - couldn’t put the book down nor could I make up my mind to buy it. The book “Peter’s Chair” by Ezra Jack Keats and a plush doll figure of the little African American boy were in their original box. I had never been a fan of Keats, until I bought this book and learned more about him.
- [Vintage illustrations clipped from magazines, Part 3](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/07/11/vintage-illustrations-clipped-from-magazines-part-3/) - This is the third group of cover illustrations from the 1930s that someone clipped from magazines and stored away. Most of these are illustrations of various types of flowers. What was just as interesting about these were the ads on the flip side of the them.
- [Vintage illustrations clipped from magazines, Part I](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/07/07/vintage-illustrations-clipped-from-magazines-part-i/) - I was going through some ephemera and other papers that I had bought at auction some time ago when I stumbled on a variety of illustrations. Someone had cut out the illustrations from magazines and stored them neatly away. What I found just as interesting as the illustrations were the ads on the flip side of the pages.
- [Vintage illustrations clipped from magazines, Part 2](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/07/09/vintage-illustrations-clipped-from-magazines-part-2/) - This is the second group of cover and inside-page illustrations from the 1930s that someone clipped from magazines and stored away. Most of these are illustrations of dogs and other animals. What was just as interesting about these were the ads on the flip side of the pages.
- [Poster of 1964 encounter between King & Malcolm X](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/07/02/poster-of-1964-encounter-between-king-malcolm-x/) - No one seemed to want the framed poster of the smiling and jovial Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. The auctioneer’s voice lingered on the call-out for bids, but no hands with numbers shot up. I finally bought the poster, which was drawn from the one and only encounter between the two back in 1964.
- [Vintage reproduction photos of a tranquil Atlantic City](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/07/14/vintage-reproduction-photos-of-a-tranquil-atlantic-city/) - Way before the casinos took root and spread down the Boardwalk, the Million Dollar Pier and pony airplanes provided some of the early entertainment in Atlantic City. At least that’s what you’d surmise from a handful of black and white reproduction photos I picked up at auction. But these photos don't show the full picture.
- [Sand comes to life on the Atlantic City beach](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/06/27/sand-comes-to-life-on-the-atlantic-city-beach/) - From where I stood on the beach, I could see a giant purse in the middle of a sculpture. When I finally made it over to the piece, I saw that it was actually a suitcase, flanked by a young boy on one side and a family on the back. These were images of immigrants fashioned from sand by two amazing artists.
- [A 1957 book of calypso songs by William Attaway](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/06/25/a-book-of-calypso-songs-by-william-attaway/) - The first thing I saw on the book’s pink dust jacket were the black faces of happy dancing people. They were not stereotypical black as I was used to seeing on the covers of books from that era. These were much more stylish and benign. The book was titled "Calypso Song Book: Authentic Folk Music of the Caribbean" by William Attaway.
- [On being a ‘dark-skinned Negro’ in 1956](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/06/23/on-being-a-dark-skinned-negro-in-1956/) - Some years ago in Tampa, FL, I was in a fabric store when I heard an African American toddler say, "She black." Was she referring to me, I wondered, since I am a dark-skinned African American woman. The incident came to mind recently when I came across a 1956 Sepia magazine with an article titled "The Real Truth About Dark Negroes."
- [What was the Wilmington Dry Goods store?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/06/20/what-was-the-wilmington-dry-goods-store/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today, though, I have a question of my own about a department store called Wilmington Dry Goods, which was the first to sell nylon stockings in the 1940s.
- [Reader asks about Singer Featherweight sewing machine](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/06/13/reader-asks-about-singer-featherweight-sewing-machine/) - Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about the value of a Singer 221 Featherweight sewing machine.
- [A lovely time clock from an earlier era ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/06/18/a-lovely-time-clock-from-an-earlier-era/) - Looking around, I spotted two men chattering in front of a beautiful antique clock like so many I’d seen at auction. It looked to be an elongated wall clock with the dial prominently displayed at the top inside a wooden cabinet. It was actually an antique time clock, likely from the early 20th century.
- [Artist who drew Time magazine's 1957 MLK cover](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/06/16/artist-who-drew-time-magazines-1957-mlk-cover/) - The face of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. loomed large on the cover of the Feb, 18, 1957, issue of Time magazine. It was a young strong face of the man who’d need all the strength he could muster for the immense task still awaiting him. It was drawn by a prolific Time and talented artist named Boris Chaliapin.
- [Around the world with Singer postcards from 1892](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/06/26/around-the-world-with-singer-postcards-from-1892/) - I bought the sewing machine for the stack of postcards that came with it. They were colorful lithographic postcard ads of people from various nations in traditional clothing posing with a Singer treadle sewing machine, which I barely noticed.
- [Audra McDonald is unmistakably Billie Holiday](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/06/09/audra-mcdonald-is-unmistakably-billie-holiday/) - It was Audra McDonald’s face but Billie Holiday’s voice. To hear her speak and sing with the trademark voice of Lady Day was a beautiful surprise. I didn’t expect her to take possession of one of my most favorite singers but indeed she did. She won a Tony Award for her superb performance of such a tragic figure.
- [Reward of Merit cards for the good student](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/05/12/reward-of-merit-cards-for-the-good-student/) - My auction buddy Janet held several clear sheets of cards in her hands, and from where I sat across from her at the auction house, they looked to be old calling cards or business cards. They were actually lithographic "Reward of Merit" cards handed out to good students by their teachers in the 1800s.
- [Menu for an Atlanta restaurant with offensive name](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/06/04/menu-for-an-atlanta-restaurant-with-offensive-name/) - I don’t usually buy so-called Black Americana items because the images are so maddening. But I was drawn to a Wednesday, Sept. 9, 1959, menu for Mammy’s Shanty, once a popular southern restaurant in Atlanta. So it was with reluctance that I decided to bid on the menu with all of its baggage, primarily because of its historical value and my love for old diners.
- [Reader asks about Camac Baths advertising banner ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/06/06/reader-asks-about-camac-baths-advertising-banner/) - Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about an old Camac bath house banner.
- [Aunt Jemima as a gigantic Sugar Baby](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/06/02/aunt-jemima-as-a-gigantic-sugar-baby/) - "Aunt Jemima on the side of a pancake box." Those were the words we teased each other with as children growing up in Georgia. We didn't know then that she was a stereotype of African American women who had no say in how they were portrayed. Artist Kara Walker has given them a voice in a statue made of sugar on display in New York.
- [Reader asks about old black cast iron wash pot](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/05/30/reader-asks-about-old-black-cast-iron-wash-pot/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about an old black cast iron wash pot.
- [An undertaker’s bill for a 1918 funeral](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/05/28/an-undertakers-bill-for-a-1918-funeral/) - My auction buddy Janet saw it first, the excitement and curiosity in her voice signaling that she had found a treasure. I looked up to see her reading aloud the contents of a framed sheet on a wall. It was a 1918 funeral bill for $151.
- [Reader asks about ‘Shocking’ perfume bottle](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/05/23/reader-asks-about-shocking-perfume-bottle/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about an Elsa Schiaparelli "Shocking" perfume bottle.
- [Langston Hughes’ ‘Shakespeare in Harlem’](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/05/21/langston-hughes-shakespeare-in-harlem/) - My mind was drifting to the sound of an auctioneer in an adjoining room of the auction house when I heard the word "Harlem." I looked up front to the TV monitor in the room where I sat to see a book with a black cover, orange spine and title in lavender letters. It’s a book of poems by Langston Hughes, the auctioneer said.
- [Paul Laurence Dunbar’s ‘Poems of Cabin and Field’ ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/05/19/paul-laurence-dunbars-poems-of-cabin-and-field/) - I had seen the book of poetry by Paul Laurence Dunbar on the auction website and couldn’t wait to get a look at it. Thumbing through the book, I saw that the poems were illustrated with photographs of African Americans from around 1900, taken by the Hampton Institute Camera Club.
- [A question about child-size Betsy McCall paper doll](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/05/16/a-question-about-child-size-betsy-mccall-paper-doll/) - Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today, I had a question about a child-size Betsy McCall paper doll I bought at auction.
- [Advertising banner for Camac bath house ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/05/14/advertising-banner-for-camac-bath-house/) - The banner reminded me of a burlap bag, just monstrously larger and more pliable. It was hanging against one of those old exposed brick walls with the flaky white paint inside a warehouse where an auction would soon take place. It advertised a bath house being built in Philadelphia in the 1920s.
- [A song and gift for a special Mother ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/05/09/a-song-and-gift-for-a-special-mother/) - As we approach Mother’s Day, a simple elementary-school tune keeps re-playing in my head. "M is for the million things she gave me," it began. Now's a good time to give her something back, and what can be more expressive of love than beautiful jewelry from the auction tables.
- [A note of outrage for a fallen Nixon](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/05/05/a-note-of-outrage-for-a-fallen-nixon/) - The huge family Bible was a testament of one family’s desire to ensure that their history lived beyond their own years. Inside was a typed letter from Richard Nixon to a New York couple in 1972, along with a handwritten note of the wife's disillusionment with him and Watergate.
- [Not nostalgia but awe at old irons & more](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/05/07/not-nostalgia-but-awe-at-old-irons-more/) - A couple weeks ago, I took a drive to the annual antiques sale at Renninger's in Kutztown, PA. There were some pretty nifty items for sale and browsing, which was much of what I did. Then I came across an old pressing iron with a beautiful red and chrome ball on its tail that once held fuel.
- [Reader asks about Twelvetrees’ wedding party postcards ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/05/02/reader-asks-about-twelvetrees-wedding-party-postcards/) - Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about a group of wedding party postcards circa 1910 by C.H. Twelvetrees.
- [Curling irons for a man’s moustache](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/04/30/curling-irons-for-a-mans-moustache/) - I went straight to the curling irons as soon as I saw them on the auction table, surrounded by trays of antique items that looked like someone had emptied out an antiques store. They resembled curling irons for women's hair but they were actually moustache curlers for men.
- [Centuries-old sport of curling isn't as easy as it looks ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/03/10/centuries-old-sport-of-curling-isnt-as-easy-as-it-looks/) - I didn’t see the young woman when she left the starting block, but I couldn’t miss her short elegant glide as she slid the round granite curling stone down the white sheet of ice. She resembled a swan upon a lake - her body sleek, her movement one long and smooth stretch. I had tried the same movement an hour before, but my display was more like an ugly duckling.
- [A soldier’s 1944 V-Mail Easter card ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/04/28/a-soldiers-1944-v-mail-easter-card/) - My auction buddy Janet had gone to another room to bid on a Pennsylvania map, but she came back with a framed set of six greeting cards that looked liked photographic copies. They were actually V-Mail cards sent from the Aleutian Islands in 1944 by a soldier to someone in Philadelphia.
- [Metropolitan Opera ‘Porgy and Bess’ music box](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/04/23/metropolitan-opera-porgy-and-bess-music-box/) - The delicate little enameled music box was in a cardboard box full of nothing. Its lid had come unattached and lay bottom-up right next to it. The writing inside the lid was a tiny script that I could barely read, so I picked up the lid for a closer look. It was a 1985 Metropolitan Opera "Porgy and Bess" music box.
- [Readers ask about 'Black Jack' poster, newspapers & Haley figurines](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/04/25/readers-ask-about-black-jack-poster-newspapers-haley-figurines/) - Quite often, I get emails from readers asking about the value of an item after seeing the same question answered in a blog post. My answer is always the same: I really don’t know what the item is worth, but here’s how you can find out. Today's questions are about a hanging poster, Alex Haley figurines and old newspapers. One reader even asked me to sell an item for him.
- [‘Get on the Good Foot’ & other lingering memories](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/04/21/get-on-the-good-foot-other-lingering-memories/) - The James Brown 45 record with the orange label lay near the edge of the table, its title releasing sweet memories for folks of a certain generation who instantly recognized it. One man recalled buying "Get on the Good Foot" for 32 cents at a record store when it came out in 1972.
- [Readers ask about Ginny doll & Mama Weiss cookbook](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/04/18/readers-ask-about-ginny-doll-mama-weiss-cookbook/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. Today’s questions are about the condition of a black Ginny doll and the search for a 1953 Mama Weiss cookbook.
- [Two cows, two sheep & a crocodile that look so real ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/04/16/two-cows-two-sheep-an-alligator-that-look-so-real/) - The cows were peeking from behind life-sized stone Roman figures. One sheep stood between two metal tractor-seat bar stools, while another seemed to be grazing on concrete. Nearby was a crocodile that looked much too real. All were life-sized garden statues waiting to be sold at auction.
- [19th-century funeral invitations ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/04/14/19th-century-funeral-invitations/) - The unfolded papers were rather undistinguished, so much so that I had laid them to the side as I rummaged through a box of lovely old photos. But as I was returning the items to the box I noticed that one sheet of note paper was an invitation to a minister's funeral in 1890.
- [Reader asks about black Georgia ancestors named Jarrell](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/04/11/reader-asks-about-black-georgia-ancestors-named-jarrell/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about a genealogical search of an African American family in Georgia with the surname Jarrell.
- [Italian gilt mirror with frolicking cherubs](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/04/09/italian-gilt-mirror-with-frolicking-angels/) - Isn’t it beautiful, the woman said rather than asked as she walked up behind me at the auction house. I was staring at the bold white images at the top of a tall gold leaf mirror, not quite sure what to make of them. They were alabaster cherubs playing merrily in a tangle of roses against a marble plaque
- [Cotton boll is soldier’s 1941 gift from South](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/04/07/cotton-boll-is-soldiers-1941-gift-from-south/) - Not another wad of handpicked cotton, I thought to myself, cringing at the sight before me as I approached the auction table. But this cotton boll was different: It was a gift inside a box, mailed by a soldier to someone in Philadelphia around 1941.
- [Even the cheap jewelry isn’t safe from thieves](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/04/02/even-the-cheap-jewelry-isnt-safe-from-thieves/) - The auction-house staffer mentioned something to the auctioneer helper that I could not hear. Atop a stand on wheels, the auctioneer had just ended the sale of another item, watched and waited. "A piece of jewelry is missing from the middle table," the helper (who is also an auctioneer) announced. "Please return it. It was done in front of the cameras."
- [A question about handmade black doll toaster cover](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/04/04/i-ask-about-handmade-black-doll-toaster-cover/) - Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today, I have question of my own. It pertains to a handmade black cloth doll that I bought at an auction a week ago.
- [More than Haitian art in Jonathan Demme collection](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/03/31/more-than-haitian-art-in-jonathan-demme-collection/) - I watched as Jonathan Demme, in royal blue sneakers and looking a little thinner and a little grayer than I expected, walked breezily up to a man staring at a painting by Haitian artist Hector Hyppolite. Demme is one of Hollywood’s most famous directors, but you wouldn’t know it as he unpretentiously approached the man after talking to a couple who had patiently waited their turn to meet him.
- [Trying to biblically justify slavery in face of reality](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/03/28/trying-to-biblically-justify-slavery-in-face-of-reality/) - "The Duties of Servants." The broadside didn’t conjure the word "slavery" in my mind. But there it was among the slavery and abolition documents up for auction this week. It had been printed in Leeds, England, in a Q&A format that preached obedience. Around the same time (or perhaps earlier), Frederick Douglass delivered a speech in the same city against slavery in America.
- [A replica wristwatch of Lincoln’s own timepiece](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/03/26/a-replica-wristwatch-of-lincolns-own-timepiece/) - I don’t usually stop to check out the costume jewelry at auction, but I had some time to waste recently so I combed through some cardboard flats of the stuff. I bought one box that seemed to hold some treasures, including a man's wristwatch with a very unusual inscription.
- [A fierce skeleton soldier armed & ready](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/03/24/a-fierce-skeleton-soldier-armed-ready/) - I had just passed the Blues Brothers Jake and Elwood in their trademark sunglasses and black suits singing their hearts out when I rounded the curve in the room at the auction house and saw another daring figure: A skeleton soldier made to look menacing.
- [Works by artists Julius Bloch & Haitian Martino Dorce](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/10/03/works-by-artists-julius-bloch-haitian-martino-dorce/) - During an auction preview recently, I was flipping through some framed paintings propped against a wall when I came upon one bearing the name Julius Bloch. On a table not far away, I found a watercolor by a Haitian artist named Martino Dorce.
- [Rubbing the Apollo's fabled ‘Tree of Hope’](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/03/19/rubbing-the-apollos-fabled-tree-of-hope/) - The real one’s on the stage, the young man in the lobby of Harlem’s Apollo Theater was saying to me. I was enchanted with the figures carved into the slick surface of a stump not far from the double doors to the famed theater. He was referring to the "Tree of Hope," an historical stump that thousands had rubbed for luck.
- [Aunt Sarah’s African American dolls](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/07/10/aunt-sarahs-dolls/) - For a long time, Sarah Robinson hid her dolls, kept them a secret from most folks who knew her. She was worried that they would think it strange for a grown woman to be collecting dolls. Not anymore. Now, she proudly displays her more than 100 dolls.
- [Reader asks about gospel music publisher Lillian Bowles](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/03/14/reader-asks-about-gospel-music-publisher-lillian-bowles/) - Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about Lillian Mae Bowles, an African American publisher of gospel music.
- [A big yellow statue that looks like an Oscar](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/03/12/a-big-yellow-statue-that-looks-like-an-oscar/) - The red room in the auction house was filled with beautiful antique furniture, but the sunshine-bright color of the statue standing in a corner overshadowed it all. It had Art Deco lines and a sleek appearance. The figure felt very familiar to me but I couldn’t quite place it.
- [Reader asks about Ring & other boxing magazines](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/03/07/reader-asks-about-ring-other-boxing-magazines/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about the Ring and other boxing magazines.
- [Life-size Black Americana calling-card holder ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/03/05/life-size-black-americana-calling-card-holder/) - The wooden carved statue with the brown painted face looked more boy than man. He wore a gray coat with striped pants and a servant’s smile. His open left hand was extended as if he were waiting to serve, not to solicit.
- [A noisemaker that’s supposed to sound like a cat ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/03/03/a-noisemaker-thats-supposed-to-sound-like-a-cat/) - "What’s that on the bottom shelf," my auction buddy Janet asked. I followed her eye to an open box of short cylindrical items with a series of small holes on the top. The paper label on the items said "Cat Cry," and around the sides were cute little cats at play, with one crawling out of a boot.
- [Reader asks to buy a Frankenstein mask & hands](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/02/28/reader-asks-to-buy-a-frankenstein-mask-hands/) - Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about a Frankenstein mask and hands that I unfortunately did not buy.
- [George Wallace ’68 “Stand Up for America” campaign brochure](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/02/26/george-wallace-68-stand-up-for-america-campaign-brochure/) - The face on the brochure was both familiar and odious. Who could forget the image of the country’s most outspoken and virulent civil rights opponent of the mid-20th century. It was a brochure for George Wallace's segregationist 1986 presidential campaign.
- [Reader’s broom and its link to 1855 integrated college ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/02/21/readers-broom-and-its-link-to-1855-integrated-college/) - Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about a broom made by students at Berea College in Kentucky, which in the 1800s was the South's only integrated college.
- [A box loaded with items whose time has passed](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/02/19/a-box-loaded-with-items-whose-time-has-passed/) - I don’t usually waste my precious moments on electronic items in box lots at auction. Most times, they are old and obsolete. On this day, though, I decided to dig inside a box and out came relics that were revolutionary in their day.
- [Antique washing machine that keeps on selling ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/02/17/antique-washing-machine-that-keep-on-selling/) - Bet you’re glad you don’t have to use one of these, the auctioneer said as I stood there looking at an old-style washing machine. He was right, but that wasn’t what was on my mind. I had seen an identical machine in this same spot two weeks ago. Was this the same one? This was the third, he said, and buyers were paying big prices for them.
- [Marvin Gaye '64 passport symbolizes a heady time in his life](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/02/14/marvin-gaye-64-passport-symbolizes-a-heady-time-in-his-life/) - Recently, a former employee of the Motown Museum appeared on an episode of "Antiques Roadshow" with a 1964 passport belonging to Marvin Gaye. While I considered the discovery of the passport and its assessed valued - $20,000 - intriguing, I was just as eager to know where he was traveling to and why.
- [Childhood of black dolls spawns love for collecting](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/02/12/childhood-of-black-dolls-spawns-love-for-collecting/) - As a child, Deborah Johnson’s mother had a Topsy-style doll that she did not love. In fact, she hated it, Jennie Butler would later tell her daughter. So, when she had a little girl of her own, Butler bought beautiful black dolls for her. Deborah tells the story of growing up with black dolls and collecting them.
- [Slides of family’s 1958 trip to boy scout ranch](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/02/10/slides-of-familys-1958-trip-to-boy-scout-ranch/) - Several years ago at auction, I bought a box of slides of a family’s trip by car to the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. It was a 4,900-mile round trip where they saw flatlands and buffalos (they even had buffalo steaks at one meal), grain elevators and farms, rivers and woodlands.
- [Reader asks about 'Alex Haley Remembers' collectible](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/02/07/reader-asks-about-alex-haley-remembers-collectible/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today's question is about figurines in the "Alex Haley Remembers Collection."
- [A whimsical etching of a little girl’s orchestra](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/02/03/a-whimsical-etching-of-a-little-girls-orchestra/) - The print was actually quite sweet. It was an etching of a young girl playing "Bo Peep" from sheet music on a Victorian grand piano as other children played a violin, accordion and horn. But the print by Albany, NY, artist Alice Pauline Schafer was not as it seemed on my first glance.
- [Readers ask about & help identify a Noritake-style teapot](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/01/31/readers-ask-about-help-identify-a-noritake-style-teapot/) - Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s question and comments are about a Noritake-style teapot possibly from the 1900s.
- [Don’t ride the (real) white horse](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/01/29/dont-ride-the-real-white-horse/) - You couldn’t miss the big white horse. Someone had leaned it against a wooden beam holding up the roof of an outdoor shelter at the auction house. I didn't think too much of it until a tune bedded down in my head and wouldn't leave: "Don't ride the white horse."
- [Wheeled fire extinguisher from 1900s](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/01/27/wheeled-fire-extinguisher-from-1900s/) - I knew the old dirty cart with the crumbling hose and metal wheels was a piece of early fire equipment. Its red color defined it as something belonging to those who battled blazes a long time ago. It was actually a wheeled fire extinguished once used in factories.
- [Native Americans as cigar-store props & mascots](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/01/22/native-americans-as-cigar-store-props-mascots/) - The Native American figures were exceptionally carved. The maker had given them some dignity in wood, surely not matching the ways they were perceived around the 1850s when the carvings were made. These were symbols for a shop that sold and smelled of cigars and tobacco.
- [Readers ask about souvenir spoons & bug sprayer](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/01/24/readers-ask-about-souvenir-spoons-pump-bug-sprayer/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s questions are about Australian souvenir spoons and an old-fashioned bug sprayer.
- [A clothesline for hanging art, not sheets](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/01/20/a-clothesline-for-art-not-sheets/) - The air was still as water in the room at the auction house, but the garments on the clothesline in the painting were flapping in the wind. I was instantly drawn to the painting because it had a southernness about it. It had been part of a clothesline art exhibit in 1958.
- [Readers ask about Warrington Colescott etching & numbers book ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/01/17/readers-ask-about-warrington-colescott-etching-numbers-book/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s questions are about an etching by African American artist Warrington Colescott and how to use a numbers book.
- [An invasion of the mermaids ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/01/15/an-invasion-of-the-mermaids/) - A trio of mermaids – two small, one medium – were the first ones I saw. They were grouped sitting on the edge of the second level of a table at the auction house, their tales hanging below them. They weren't the only ones, though.
- [James P. Johnson & Billie Holiday art album covers](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/01/14/james-p-johnson-billie-holiday-art-album-covers/) - The picture was on a lower shelf in a locked glass case at the antiques mall. There was no light in the case so the image itself was in the shadows. I found out that it was a David Stone Martin album cover for music by stride piano player James P. Johnson.
- [A 45 record of Ethel Merman singing ZIP code song](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/12/18/a-45-record-of-ethel-merman-singing-zip-code-song/) - I distinctly remember the cartoonish ZIP code man with the stringy right-leaning body and bug eyes. I was still a young girl when he became the popular mascot of the Post Office’s then-new five-digit ZIP code. But I don't remember Ethel Merman singing the ZIP code song.
- [The jazz art of David Stone Martin](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/05/18/the-jazz-art-of-david-stone-martin/) - When I saw the ink outline of two musicians on the auction website, I immediately looked for a signature on the drawing. It was signed "David Stone Martin," and somewhere deep in my mind, I recognized that name.
- [Reader asks about selling Black Panther newspapers ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/01/10/reader-ask-about-selling-black-panther-newspapers/) - Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about where to sell Black Panther Party newspapers. One auction house has sold groups of them for up to $3,000.
- [A painful-looking antique hat stretcher ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/01/08/a-painful-looking-antique-hat-stretcher/) - The item looked like the metal plate that medieval torturers would put on the heads of their victims before electrifying them. But on first glance, I surprisingly knew what it was: A hat block. When the item came up for sale, though, I learned that I was wrong. It was a hat stretcher.
- [Dust & dirt don’t silence piano player’s big sound](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/01/06/dust-dirt-dont-silence-piano-players-big-sound/) - The piano player in the auction house photo was singing his heart out. His scarlet lips and wide open mouth were a little off-putting to me, but I could feel the exuberance of his performance. He wasn’t a real man, though. He was made of a material called composition, molded into the figure of an African American musician and singer.
- [Readers ask about straightening combs, ice cream maker & toilet chair](https://myauctionfinds.com/2014/01/03/readers-ask-about-straightening-combs-ice-cream-maker-toilet-chair/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s questions are about straightening combs, an ice cream maker and a Louis XV-style toilet chair.
- [Early movie poster of Richard Wright’s “Native Son”](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/03/12/early-movie-poster-of-richard-wrights-native-sun/) - I could see the larger-than-life faces of the man and woman on the poster. Their expressions were benign, although her pale white face was in the outline of smoke coming from a revolver in his hand. It was a movie poster for a 1951 adaptation of Richard Wright's "Native Son."
- [An old picture-perfect barn & the 1940s truck it harbored](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/12/30/an-old-picture-perfect-barn-the-1940s-truck-it-harbored/) - Up ahead, a huge barn with gray weather-beaten boards loomed silently against the concrete gray sky. It was mid-morning, and the day itself was this side of raw, not harsh yet, but close to getting there. Nestled in an enclosure next to the barn was an old 1940s truck with as much mileage on it as the barn.
- [Reader asks about Harrison Fisher’s “Girl’s Life” ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/12/20/reader-asks-about-harrison-fishers-girls-life/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about Harrison Fisher’s prints titled "Greatest Moments of a Girl’s Life."
- [Falling hard for the Temptations’ “Silent Night” ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/12/18/falling-hard-for-the-temptations-silent-night/) - I first fell for the Temptations’ "Silent Night" like a woman in love. I couldn’t get enough of hearing Dennis Edward’s stirring lyrics and Melvin Franklin’s deep barrel of a voice. And who was that guy singing so high that it gave me goose bumps?
- [Their eyes were watching … sun wall plaques](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/12/16/their-eyes-were-watching-sun-wall-plaques/) - As I entered the auction house, I saw a small knot of people staring in the same direction, their eyes fixed on something high up on a shelf. I followed their gaze and saw a display of wall plaques in the shape of stylized suns with human faces and pointed rays.
- [Reader asks about artist Faith Ringgold’s Cassie doll](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/12/13/reader-asks-about-artist-faith-ringgolds-cassie-doll/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about a Faith Ringgold doll named Cassie Louise Lightfoot from her "Tar Beach" children’s book.
- [The wrongheaded sale of Jesse Owens’ Olympic medal](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/12/11/the-wrongheaded-sale-of-jesse-owens-olympic-medal/) - It seems blasphemous that one of the 1936 Olympic Gold medals won by Jesse Owens was sold at auction over the weekend. It’s even more distressing that the man himself was never able to capitalize financially on his achievements in Germany while others can do so decades later.
- [Numbers were small but talents were big at Harlem Doll Show](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/12/09/numbers-were-small-but-talents-were-big-at-harlem-doll-show/) - Looking over the display of disparate dolls, I knew that this had to be the work of several doll-makers. Then I learned that the dolls - every last one of them - were not made by several people but only one: Shirley Nigro-Hill of "Nonna’s Treasures."
- [Reader asks about selling Mexican feather art ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/12/06/reader-asks-about-selling-mexican-feather-art/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about a collection of Mexican feather art.
- [A pig & lamb with a French accent](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/12/04/a-pig-lamb-with-a-french-accent/) - The wooden pig and lamb had caught the couple’s eye. They didn’t know what to make of it and to be honest, neither did I. On their sides were printed the French names of the cuts of meats on the animals, and looking closer, I saw that they were wall plaques.
- [Prepping to host my first Thanksgiving meal](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/12/02/prepping-to-host-my-first-thanksgiving-meal/) - The idea seemed to instantly materialize in my brain. I hadn’t done any heavy thinking about it, but I knew it was time for me to step up: I’ll do Thanksgiving dinner this year, I said to my friends. But first I had to auction-buy the trappings that go with the meal.
- [A Gideons Bible in my hotel nightstand](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/10/07/a-gideons-bible-in-my-hotel-nightstand/) - I was searching the drawers for a notepad to write down something that I can’t even recall now when I pulled opened the drawer to the nightstand. There, placed neatly and squarely next to the Yellow Pages was a Gideons Bible.
- [A taste of Appalachian culture in the Blue Ridge](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/09/30/a-taste-of-appalachian-culture-in-the-blue-ridge/) - It was raining buckets outside but inside was as dry as cornstalks in an autumn field. I was at Heritage Weekend at the Folk Art Center in Asheville, where friends and I had decided to take a vacation to see the mountains of western North Carolina. Here, we saw Appalachian artists at work.
- [Discovering grits, black history & the ‘big house’ in NC](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/10/04/discovering-grits-black-history-the-big-house-in-nc/) - Traveling to North Carolina turned up some historical treasures - a cultural center built by George Vanderbilt for the black workers at his Biltmore Estate in Asheville in 1893 - and for one of us, an up-close view of the South's most noted food - grits.
- [Reader asks ‘What to do with Kennedy assassination newspapers?’](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/11/22/reader-asks-what-to-do-with-kennedy-assassination-newspapers/) - Old and sometimes faded and folded copies of newspapers from the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy keep turning up, and I always get questions from readers about how much they are worth. My answer: Depends on the newspaper, who wants it and the condition.
- [A book of “My Spirituals” by Eva Jessye](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/11/20/a-book-of-my-spirituals-by-eva-jessye/) - On its website, the auction house was advertising a massive sale of books, 3,000 of them. Among the photos, I came across a wonderful book of spirituals compiled in 1927.
- [A wooden cart that was used for what?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/11/18/a-wooden-cart-that-was-used-for-what/) - I was roaming the grounds of the auction house, at the perimeter of the area where tons of antique and all kinds of other furniture had been stacked. Then I stumbled onto a cart that stumped me. It had a lovely black wrought iron fireplace screen sitting atop it.
- [Reader asks about books illustrated by N.C. Wyeth ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/11/15/reader-asks-about-books-illustrated-by-n-c-wyeth/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about juvenile books illustrated by noted artist N.C. Wyeth.
- [TV picture too small? Try a vintage magnifier to enlarge your screen](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/11/13/tv-picture-too-small-try-a-vintage-magnifier-to-enlarge-your-screen/) - The auctioneer held up a thick-lensed domed object that looked like the face plate on a deep sea diving suit. My auction buddy Janet nailed it, though. That’s what they put in front of old TVs, she said. The auctioneer said it was a TV magnifier.
- [A woman who kept 34 years of driver’s licenses ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/11/11/a-woman-who-kept-34-years-of-drivers-licenses/) - When the auctioneer mentioned that he had years’ worth of driver’s licenses, I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. How do you accumulate 30 years of licenses belonging to so many different people? In fact, they had belonged to just one woman.
- [Reader asks about Thomas Blackshear art figurines ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/11/08/reader-asks-about-thomas-blackshear-art-figurines/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about figurines by African American artist Thomas Blackshear.
- [A genealogist intrigued by what she didn’t know about black dolls ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/11/06/a-genealogist-intrigued-by-what-she-didnt-know-about-black-dolls/) - Like most folks, Joyce Stamps didn’t grow up with black dolls, but when she was finally introduced to them fully as an adult, the genealogist in her was curious about their history. "I wish they could talk and tell me about who played with them and what kinds of journeys they took with their owners," she says.
- [An orchid by any name beats out a rose	](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/11/04/an-orchid-by-any-name-beats-out-a-rose/) - Whenever I visit Longwood Gardens near Philadelphia, I always head to its orchid house, where the plants are always in bloom in seemingly every color of the rainbow, healthy and beautiful and oh-so-relaxing. I felt the same way more than a month ago in the orchid room at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC.
- [Oprah cleans house & you can buy at her ‘yard sale’](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/11/01/oprah-cleans-house-you-can-buy-at-her-yard-sale/) - Oprah Winfrey has culled some of the furnishings from four of her fabulous homes, and put the stuff up for auction. Starting at 10 a.m. Pacific time in California tomorrow, you can bid on her lamps, chairs, autographed photos, antique furniture and lots more.
- [Bullock’s Wilshire figurine of sad little girl with dog ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/10/28/bullocks-wilshire-figurine-of-sad-little-girl-with-dog/) - The little girl figurine was hiding down in the box on the table at the auction. I didn't see her until I got home - an adorable little thing sitting on top of a suitcase, her tiny dog hugging her side, tears falling from her eyes.
- [Baby dolls don’t ‘eat, cry, or grow up & sass’](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/10/02/baby-dolls-dont-eat-cry-or-grow-up-sass/) - Etta Houston didn’t start collecting dolls until the 1970s when her youngest child got married. First, family members would give her dolls, which I’m sure she accepted graciously, and she bought some on her own. Here's the story of her doll collection.
- [Reader searches for history of mother who was a singer ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/10/25/reader-searches-for-history-on-a-mother-who-was-a-singer/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s question is from a reader who is interested in a genealogical search of her mother and her years with a famed radio gospel group.
- [Pyramid Club’s black arts legacy](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/03/03/the-pyramid-club’s-black-art-legacy/) - At auction recently, I was able to get an original program for a 1948 exhibit by Philadelphia's Pyramid Club. For 20 years, the group held important black art exhibitions.
- [Are papers of Harvard’s 1st black graduate worth $60,000?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/10/23/are-papers-of-harvards-1st-black-graduate-worth-60000/) - A Chicago construction worker recently threatened to burn some historical documents belonging to the first African American graduate of Harvard University. He was angry because college officials refused to pay him the $60,000 that he thought they were worth. Are they worth that much?
- [The art of turning pieces of metal into sculptures](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/10/21/the-art-of-turning-pieces-of-metal-into-sculpture/) - I had noticed the metal sculpture sitting high on a plain wooden table in the back lot of the auction house. It was an appealing work of art, with its jutting angles and open holes, the rust from age giving it a nice patina.
- [Indian reader asks about letter to father from John F. Kennedy](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/10/18/indian-reader-asks-about-letter-to-father-from-john-f-kennedy/) - Today’s question is from a reader in India who has a letter written by John F. Kennedy to her father that appears to have been signed in the president’s hand.
- [An unabashed 'dollaholic' - and very proud of it ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/10/16/an-unabashed-dollaholic-and-very-proud-of-it/) - Vicky Forbes stumbled into doll collecting. She was on the hunt for a childhood doll, searching flea markets, yard sales and just about any place else for her memorable Charmin' Chatty doll. After she found it, she also started to notice others, and then she was hopelessly smitten by this menagerie of dolls.
- [A print of Buffalo Soldiers at Cuba’s San Juan Hill](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/10/14/a-print-of-buffalo-soldiers-at-cubas-san-juan-hill/) - As I approached the display of books and documents on the table, the words 9th and 10th Calvary in the one title stirred a memory. Weren’t those the African American soldiers who charged with Teddy Roosevelt, I asked a woman dressed smartly in a navy uniform with gold buttons and hat. I was correct, she said.
- [War propaganda posters aimed at blacks](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/06/03/war-propaganda-posters-aimed-at-blacks/) - The poster had a good feeling about it. Maybe it was the bright yellows and reds and greens along with the brown-complexioned people encircling the proud image of an African American soldier neatly pressed for war. It was a circa 1918 poster for a film called "Our Colored Soldiers."
- [Reader asks about "Balky Mule" tray with African American motif](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/10/11/reader-asks-about-balky-mule-tray-with-african-american-motif/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s question is about a 19th-century pressed glass water tray whose center design depicts an African American family.
- [There’s more to Barbie than just good looks ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/10/09/theres-more-to-barbie-than-just-good-looks/) - To Whitney Wade, Barbie is more than just a pretty face. Sure, people have complained about her unnaturally svelte figure and pinched waist line, her imprimatur as the essence of American beauty, her unchanging image of what little girls should all look like.
- [A whole lotta Barbie dolls](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/12/31/a-whole-lotta-barbie-dolls/) - At auction recently, about 50 new Barbies were lined up on a metal rack against the wall of one of my favorite auction houses. The girl is still mightily popular, especially among collectors.
- [Portland, ME – a city full of surprises](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/09/19/portland-me-a-city-full-of-surprises/) - I was a bit giddy on this crisp Sunday morning, the air more fall than summer, as my travel buddy and I walked down a hill toward a restaurant on our first day in Portland, ME. The street was nearly bare of both people and cars, and for some reason, I felt safe walking so early on a morning when most folks were still in bed, having breakfast at home or getting ready for church.
- [On the trail of black history in Boston](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/09/17/on-the-trail-of-black-history-in-boston/) - We had just arrived at the Visitors Center in Boston Common when the woman behind the counter mentioned the Black Heritage Trail starting at 2 p.m. It was about 15 minutes beforehand, and we were thrilled that we’d been lucky enough to be there for it.
- [A watercolor by French artist Jean Dubuffet that was not](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/09/25/a-watercolor-by-french-artist-jean-dubuffet-that-was-not/) - There was nothing appealing about the woman in the lithograph. In fact, she seemed troubled, her wide eyes staring out beyond the print but her mind firmly planted on something inside her head. The print was signed Jean Dubuffet, but the signature didn't match that of the avant-garde French painter of the same name.
- [Four doors, a trunk and a black '52 Chevy](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/09/23/four-doors-a-trunk-and-a-black-52-chevy/) - I was sure my eyes were fooling me. Up ahead, leaning one against the other in the back lot of the auction house - were those the doors to a very old car? Indeed they were; they were parts to a 1952 Chevy Styleline Deluxe.
- [My turn to ask – what exactly is this?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/09/27/my-turn-to-ask-what-exactly-is-this/) - I get emails all the time from readers wondering about the value of their items. This week, I’m asking readers to help me identify some items I’ve seen at auction.
- [Any kind of lamp you can (or not) think of](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/09/18/any-kind-of-lamp-you-can-or-not-think-of/) - I seem to have this thing for lamps. As soon as I see one at auction, I head over to it to check it out, especially if it has a unique or interesting form. Sometimes, the ingenuity and strangeness of a lamp grabs me. Here are a few that I found cool, different and eccentric.
- [Readers ask about Club Plantation fan & Apollo 11 mags](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/09/20/readers-ask-about-club-plantation-fan-apollo-11-mags/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. Today’s questions are about a racist fan advertising the 1940s Club Plantation in St. Louis, and Life and Look magazines featuring the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.
- [Ugly blue lamps](https://myauctionfinds.com/2010/10/26/ugly-blue-lamps/) - The two lamps were beyond u-g-l-y. And you couldn’t miss them there, sitting tall on top of a chest among the furniture in a back room at one of my favorite auction houses.
- [Untimely beauty in the form of a salvaged door](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/09/16/untimely-beauty-in-the-form-of-a-salvaged-door/) - From where I stood on the ramp, the line of doors seemed endless. It was an impressive array of wooden doors - some in bright hues, some in dingy white, all weather-beaten with rusty metalwork, in need of paint and lots of care. They were awesome.
- [Reader asks about ‘Wings over Jordan’ choir pamphlet](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/09/13/reader-asks-about-wings-over-jordan-pamphlet/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. Today’s question is from a reader who wants to know the value of a 1950s "Wings Over Jordan" choir pamphlet accompanied by a letter signed by a Supreme Court justice.
- [Bev Doolittle's art in tune with nature](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/09/11/bev-doolittles-art-in-tune-with-nature/) - The auction house had propped several rows of artwork against an outside wall. I didn't expect to find much there - who'd put the good stuff outside on the pavement? - but came across several signed prints by Bev Doolittle. I had never heard of her but I did love the bounty of color and camouflages in her prints.
- [A 1918 car insurance policy for $5.20](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/09/09/a-1919-car-insurance-policy-for-5-20/) - I’m a magnet for old papers. At auction previews, I always comb through the ephemera and other documents. I was flipping through some papers recently when I saw a folded pamphlet and read the title: "Automobile Policy. Expires Sept 19-1919."
- [Endearing photo of an old man & his accordion ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/09/04/endearing-photo-of-an-old-man-his-accordion/) - The duct tape was what snagged me. I had seen the worn and lined face of the elderly black man in the black and white photo, gazed upon it momentarily and moved on. Later, I saw that he had duct-taped his old accordion.
- [The props that make a doll seem so real](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/08/28/the-props-that-make-a-doll-seem-so-real/) - When I arrived at the doll sale, I went looking for black dolls, even though none were in the photos on the auction house web site. Before I could look around for them, though, a curious assortment caught my eye: Two tiny doll hot water bottles, a tiny sad iron and a lovely tiny vanity hand mirror.
- [Do you collect or know someone who collects black dolls?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/06/28/do-you-collect-or-know-someone-who-collects-black-dolls/) - Barbara Whiteman was a little fuzzy about the dolls she had as a child. I understood; so am I. But there are many people who have doll memories but fewer who are like Whiteman who collects dolls, If you collect I'd like to tell your story. If you have memories, I'd like to hear those, too.
- [Food auction & more at Amish Mud Sale](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/08/26/food-auction-more-at-amish-mud-sale/) - From where I stood under a tent in the shade, I could see tables of brown cardboard boxes under another tent not too far away. Curious, I ventured over and came upon a food auction where women eagerly snapped up everything from toilet paper to cookies.
- [Readers ask about degrading Occupied Japan salt/pepper shakers ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/08/23/readers-ask-about-degrading-occupied-japan-saltpepper-shakers/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. This week’s question is about a pair of derogatory Black Americana salt and pepper shakers made in Occupied Japan after World War II.
- [When black dolls talk, Debbie Garrett listens ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/08/21/when-dolls-talk-debbie-garrett-listens/) - Debbie Behan Garrett has a special way with dolls. She hears what they have to say, wordlessly, through the feelings they engender inside her. They are dolls that have led lives, passed through hands (or not) and even strode through history. She has been collecting dolls for 22 years.
- [The life & career of boxing promoter Butch Lewis](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/08/19/the-life-career-of-boxing-promoter-butch-lewis/) - As soon as I entered the wide open room at the auction house, I knew I had walked into the world of Butch Lewis. On a far wall in front of me was a huge white banner with Michael Spinks’ name in bold red capital letters. Lewis was the man who made Spinks a millionaire in less than two minutes.
- [Reader asks about Cannery Row brothel tokens](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/08/16/reader-asks-about-cannery-row-brothel-tokens/) - Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. This week’s question is about brothel tokens from Cannery Row in Monterey, CA.
- [A.C. Hollingsworth - from comic books to paintings](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/08/14/a-c-hollingsworth-from-comic-books-to-paintings/) - The print was almost hidden, so small and fragile that it could have easily been missed. It was an 8x10 print by an African American artist named A.C. Hollingsworth, who got his start as one of the first black comic book illustrators.
- [A bevy of earthenware pots fit for a garden](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/08/12/a-bevy-of-earthenware-pots-fit-for-a-garden/) - Stretched out in a tidy row, they looked like fat pigs. Strewn haphazardly in a tight circle, they looked like fat pigs playing with each other. "They" were about a dozen weathered earthenware pots - some with single and double handles, some without, and several misshapen.
- [Readers ask about Angel of Death matchbook & child’s rickshaw](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/08/09/readers-ask-about-angel-of-death-matchbook-childs-rickshaw/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. This week’s questions are about a matchbook presumably left by an Angel of Death killer and a child’s rickshaw.
- [Memories of a special doll & a love for baby dolls](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/07/17/memories-of-a-special-doll-a-love-for-baby-dolls/) - The brown doll was so precious that Annette took it wherever she went. She slept with it, hauled it to boarding school with her, and kept it by her side through all of her family's traveling and moving. It was special because her mother had made the doll for her.
- [My chance meeting of a black doll collector](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/07/31/my-chance-meeting-of-a-black-doll-collector/) - I met Diane for the first time a couple years ago at my first doll auction. Besides my auction buddy Janet and me, she was the only other African American in the room, and she was buying black dolls. She wasn't faring too well because a lot of other folks wanted those dolls, too.
- [A black church’s cemetery under a child’s playground](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/08/05/a-black-churchs-cemetery-under-a-childs-playground/) - Amelia Brown was 26 years old when she died in Philadelphia in 1819. No one today knows much about her. All we have is her headstone, which had been buried in the topsoil beneath a playground surface. It’s a few blocks south of Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, which owned the long-forgotten burial ground.
- [Readers ask about Lime clown and Classics Illustrated comics](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/08/02/readers-ask-about-lime-clown-and-classics-illustrated-comics/) - Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items.This week’s questions are about a Lime clown figurine from the Dominican Republic and Classics Illustrated comics.
- [Readers ask about buying octopus stool, butcher block table ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/07/26/readers-ask-about-buying-octopus-stool-butcher-block-table/) - Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. Most of the questions concern the value or worth of items, but sometimes, I get emails from readers who want to buy some of the items I find at auction. Most times, I write about items that I do not buy, so I don't have them to sell.
- [Reader asks about 1963 March on Washington newspaper ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/07/19/reader-asks-about-63-march-on-washington-newspaper/) - Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. This week’s question is about the value of a New York Times newspaper with coverage of the 1963 March on Washington. This marks the 50th anniversary of the march.
- [Seeking signs of black westerners in a Wild West auction](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/07/22/seeking-signs-of-black-westerners-in-a-wild-west-auction/) - I went looking for the tintypes and Cabinet cards of photos of African Americans. I knew that we helped to settle the West – even though I never learned that in history class – so I wanted to see if any of the artifacts in this Wild West auction featured black people.
- [Wild West artifacts & the stories they hold ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/07/24/wild-west-artifacts-the-stories-they-hold/) - In my mind, Doc Holliday was a gunslinger, one of the men who left behind a string of real and embellished legacies that were way from spotless. So when I was trolling the list for an upcoming auction of western items, I was momentarily stumped when I saw a Doc Holliday dental chair for sale. Doc Holliday was a man of medicine?
- [How authentic are my African masks?](https://myauctionfinds.com/2012/04/16/how-authentic-are-my-african-masks/) - African wooden masks and carvings seem to be cropping up more often at the auctions I attend. At auction a week ago, I saw two round wooden masks on a table, both identical, so smudged with dust and dirt and nicks that I figured they must be authentic. They were Goli Kple Kple masks.
- [1963 March on Washington record album ](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/02/06/1963-march-on-washington-record-album/) - The bright orange cover on the album caught my eye first. Then I saw the words: "We Shall Overcome." It was a recording of songs and speeches from the 1963 March on Washington, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have A Dream" speech.
- [Photos tell story of a love forbidden by race](https://myauctionfinds.com/2013/07/15/photos-tell-story-of-a-love-forbidden-by-race/) - They were loving each other at a time when it was taboo in his country. But the African American soldier and the white woman in the photographs did not betray any hint of the turmoil that their love could cause them for the rest of their lives once he was back home.

## Pages

- [What's it worth?](https://myauctionfinds.com/whats-it-worth/)
- [Contact Sherry](https://myauctionfinds.com/contact-auction-finds/) - Auction Finds would like to hear from you about your own finds and your collections, and I'd like your feedback and suggestions.
- [Christmas, New York, 2015 - View from Rockefeller Center across Fifth Avenue](https://myauctionfinds.com/christmas-new-york-2015/)
- [Testimonials](https://myauctionfinds.com/testimonials/) - Testimonals from readers praising Auction Finds blog
- [About Auction Finds](https://myauctionfinds.com/about-auction-finds/) - A blog about buying at auction, African American art, African American and American history and auctions in general.
- [How to bid at auction](https://myauctionfinds.com/auction-tips-find-an-auction/how-to-bid/) - How to bid at auction
- [On-site and online bidding](https://myauctionfinds.com/auction-tips-find-an-auction/on-site-and-online-bidding/) - How to bid at the auction house and how to bid online
- [Find an auction house near me](https://myauctionfinds.com/auction-tips-find-an-auction/find-an-auction-house-near-me/) - Find an auction house near me
- [Historical Treasures in Your Home ](https://myauctionfinds.com/historical-treasures-in-your-home/)
- [Simple Steps to an Ebay Store](https://myauctionfinds.com/simple-steps-to-an-ebay-store/) - When I decided to set up an eBay store, I could find no step-by-step instructions for doing it simply but elegantly. Ebay’s website gave me the ingredients – cost, templates, custom pages, categories, promotion boxes – but not a recipe.
- [Your Collections](https://myauctionfinds.com/african-american-postcards/) - We all get attached to items that we have to have in all colors, shapes and sizes. Our collections fill our homes from floor to floor, but we can't seem to stop.
- [Your Finds](https://myauctionfinds.com/your-finds/) - Go ahead. You know you want to brag about them. I'm sure my friends get sick and tired of me jabbering about the great item I just found at an auction or flea market.
- [Minolta XD11 photo](https://myauctionfinds.com/minolta-xd11-photo/)
- [movie posters](https://myauctionfinds.com/movie-posters/)
- [Mystery Finds](https://myauctionfinds.com/mystery-finds/) - I occasionally come across items at auctions that stump me. What is it? What was it used for? I will be posting photos of them, and if you can identify them, please comment below. If you've come across items you can't identify, please submit them to me.
- [African American Postcards](https://myauctionfinds.com/african-american-postcards-2/) - The chance purchase of a few turn-of-the-century postcards showing African Americans was to have been a one-time thing. But after attending a local postcard collector’s show, I was hooked.
- [Archives](https://myauctionfinds.com/archives/)
- [1939 Etching "Negro Tailor"](https://myauctionfinds.com/your-finds/1939-etching-negro-tailor/) - A couple times a year, I go to African American art auctions at Swann Galleries in New York. I confess that I go for the art, the celeb-watching and the day-in-New York.

## Categories

- [Uncategorized](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/uncategorized/)
- [Gallery](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/mystery-finds/)
- [Your Collections](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/your-collections/)
- [Mystery Finds](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/mystery-find/)
- [Auction Tips/Find an Auction](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/auction-tipsfind-an-auction/)
- [Sewing](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/sewing/)
- [camera](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/camera/)
- [Glassware](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/glassware/)
- [Art](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/art/)
- [Ephemera/Paper/Documents](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/ephemera/)
- [Books](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/books/)
- [Photos](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/photos/)
- [travel](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/travel/)
- [pottery](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/pottery/)
- [Music](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/music/)
- [Sports](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/sports/)
- [jewelry](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/jewelry/)
- [Hair](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/hair/)
- [Family](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/family/)
- [Clothing](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/clothing/)
- [Carvings](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/carvings/)
- [flea market](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/flea-market/)
- [collectibles](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/collectibles/)
- [theater](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/theater/)
- [Kitchen](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/kitchen/)
- [Religion](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/religion/)
- [Tins](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/tins/)
- [Lighting](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/lighting/)
- [Etiquette](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/etiquette/)
- [Vehicles](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/vehicles/)
- [slavery](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/slavery/)
- [Crafts](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/crafts/)
- [Halloween](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/halloween/)
- [Christmas](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/christmas/)
- [Style](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/style/)
- [civil rights movement](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/civil-rights-movement/)
- [Home](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/home/)
- [furniture](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/furniture/)
- [bottles](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/bottles/)
- [food](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/food/)
- [Postcards](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/postcards/)
- [dance](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/dance/)
- [Computer/Electronics](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/computerelectronics/)
- [Toys](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/toys/)
- [Games](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/games/)
- [Asian](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/asian/)
- [Exercise](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/exercise/)
- [history](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/history/)
- [Civil War](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/civil-war/)
- [Gardening](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/gardening/)
- [dishware](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/dishware/)
- [Trinket box](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/trinket-box/)
- [Performers](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/performers/)
- [Movies](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/movies/)
- [Comic books](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/comic-books/)
- [Personal items](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/personal-items/)
- [Broadway plays](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/broadway-plays/)
- [Beauty Products](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/beauty-products/)
- [Death](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/death-2/)
- [Black history](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/black-history-2/)
- [Boat](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/boat/)
- [China](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/china/)
- [Animals](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/animals/)
- [Records](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/records/)
- [Military](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/military-2/)
- [Cooking](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/cooking-2/)
- [Architecture/Buildings](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/architecturebuildings/)
- [Dolls](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/dolls-2/)
- [Greeting cards](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/greeting-cards-2/)
- [Culture](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/culture/)
- [Figurines](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/figurines-2/)
- [Holidays](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/holidays-2/)
- [Purses](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/purses/)
- [Clocks](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/clocks/)
- [Health & Medicine](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/health-medicine/)
- [Signs](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/signs/)
- [African American women](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/african-american-women-2/)
- [auction sounds](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/auction-sounds/)
- [government sale](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/government-sale/)
- [Decorating](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/decorating/)
- [Medicine](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/medicine/)
- [Unusual](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/unusual/)
- [Folklore](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/folklore/)
- [Tokens](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/tokens/)
- [Women](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/women-2/)
- [Appraisals](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/appraisals-2/)
- [Children](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/children-2/)
- [Businesses](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/businesses/)
- [Plays](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/plays-2/)
- [Reader questions](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/reader-questions/)
- [TV](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/tv/)
- [Radio](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/radio-2/)
- [Politics](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/politics/)
- [Work](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/work/)
- [Weather](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/weather/)
- [Advertising](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/advertising-2/)
- [Weapons](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/weapons-2/)
- [Doll collectors](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/doll-collectors-2/)
- [Boxing](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/boxing-2/)
- [Auction](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/auction-2/)
- [Equipment](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/equipment-2/)
- [Statues](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/statues/)
- [Guess what it is](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/guess-what-it-is/)
- [Antiques](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/antiques/)
- [School](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/school/)
- [Native Americans](https://myauctionfinds.com/category/native-americans/)

## Tags

- [auction tips](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/auction-tips/)
- [recipes](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/recipes/)
- [Uncle Tom's Cabin](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/uncle-toms-cabin/)
- [book](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/book/)
- [black history](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-history/)
- [black women](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-women/)
- [knitting](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/knitting/)
- [crocheting](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/crocheting/)
- [cross stitch](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cross-stitch/)
- [tatting shuttles](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/tatting-shuttles/)
- [needles](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/needles/)
- [thread](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/thread/)
- [newspaper](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/newspaper/)
- [embroidery](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/embroidery/)
- [patterns](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/patterns/)
- [Louis Armstrong](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/louis-armstrong/)
- [black sheet music](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-sheet-music/)
- [Hot Five](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hot-five/)
- [MC Jones](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mc-jones/)
- [watercolor](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/watercolor/)
- [portrait](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/portrait/)
- [black art](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-art/)
- [black folk art](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-folk-art/)
- [outsider art](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/outsider-art/)
- [Yank](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/yank/)
- [WWII](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/wwii/)
- [Missouri](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/missouri/)
- [black](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black/)
- [soldier](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/soldier/)
- [Japan](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/japan/)
- [surrender](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/surrender/)
- [Holocaust](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/holocaust/)
- [Buchenwald](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/buchenwald/)
- [Army](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/army/)
- [MacArthur](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/macarthur/)
- [canon](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/canon/)
- [zoom lens](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/zoom-lens/)
- [letter](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/letter/)
- [vivitar](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/vivitar/)
- [Bo Brown](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bo-brown/)
- [cartoonist](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cartoonist/)
- [cartoon](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cartoon/)
- [Saturday Evening Post](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/saturday-evening-post/)
- [Penn](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/penn/)
- [professor quagmire](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/professor-quagmire/)
- [color](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/color/)
- [cobalt](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cobalt/)
- [orange](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/orange/)
- [green](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/green/)
- [flower frogs](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/flower-frogs/)
- [blue](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/blue/)
- [maxwell parrish](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/maxwell-parrish/)
- [erphila](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/erphila/)
- [Chinese](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/chinese/)
- [screens](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/screens/)
- [orientalia](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/orientalia/)
- [Coromandel](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/coromandel/)
- [asian art](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/asian-art/)
- [vacation](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/vacation/)
- [slides](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/slides/)
- [finds](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/finds/)
- [Kodak](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/kodak/)
- [Europe](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/europe/)
- [ginger](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ginger/)
- [southern](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/southern/)
- [Ping](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ping/)
- [putter](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/putter/)
- [golf](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/golf/)
- [bags](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bags/)
- [Anser](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/anser/)
- [Dalehead](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dalehead/)
- [Pal](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/pal/)
- [Ayd](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ayd/)
- [Rite In](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/rite-in/)
- [PGA](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/pga/)
- [bird](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bird/)
- [sewing machine](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/sewing-machine/)
- [mini](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mini/)
- [crayola](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/crayola/)
- [crayon](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/crayon/)
- [children](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/children/)
- [intimate](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/intimate/)
- [couple](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/couple/)
- [Bible](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bible/)
- [stockings](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/stockings/)
- [hosiery](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hosiery/)
- [garter belt](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/garter-belt/)
- [mending kit](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mending-kit/)
- [vintage clothing](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/vintage-clothing/)
- [baby boomers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/baby-boomers/)
- [nylon](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/nylon/)
- [silk](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/silk/)
- [lingerie](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lingerie/)
- [afro](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/afro/)
- [locs](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/locs/)
- [chris rock](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/chris-rock/)
- [carnival](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/carnival/)
- [carousel](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/carousel/)
- [dog](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dog/)
- [pig](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/pig/)
- [atwater kent museum](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/atwater-kent-museum/)
- [philadelphia](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/philadelphia/)
- [motorcycles](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/motorcycles/)
- [black girl](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-girl/)
- [poet](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/poet/)
- [Gwendolyn Bennett](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/gwendolyn-bennett/)
- [Harlem Renaissance](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/harlem-renaissance/)
- [antiques](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/antiques/)
- [church](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/church/)
- [Julia Child](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/julia-child/)
- [French cooking](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/french-cooking/)
- [Abby Fisher](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/abby-fisher/)
- [cookbooks](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cookbooks/)
- [Sally Shadd](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/sally-shadd/)
- [Dolly Madison](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dolly-madison/)
- [faux pearls](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/faux-pearls/)
- [necklace](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/necklace/)
- [Jackie Kennedy](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jackie-kennedy/)
- [Michele Obama](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/michele-obama/)
- [music box](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/music-box/)
- [Mikimoto](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mikimoto/)
- [78 rpm records](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/78-rpm-records/)
- [tag sale](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/tag-sale/)
- [women](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/women/)
- [sumi-e](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/sumi-e/)
- [japanese ink painting](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/japanese-ink-painting/)
- [hilda hyman](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hilda-hyman/)
- [swann gallery](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/swann-gallery/)
- [Girl Scouts](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/girl-scouts/)
- [equipment](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/equipment/)
- [uniform](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/uniform/)
- [cameras](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cameras/)
- [kitty](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/kitty/)
- [cat](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cat/)
- [Saks Fifth Avenue](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/saks-fifth-avenue/)
- [Italy](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/italy/)
- [cat bank](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cat-bank/)
- [ceramic cat](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ceramic-cat/)
- [jazz](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jazz/)
- [Ball](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ball/)
- [Mason](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mason/)
- [canning](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/canning/)
- [jars](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jars/)
- [World's Longest Yard Sale](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/worlds-longest-yard-sale/)
- [flea markets](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/flea-markets/)
- [fruit jars](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/fruit-jars/)
- [Atlas](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/atlas/)
- [diner](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/diner/)
- [plates](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/plates/)
- [Atomic Fish](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/atomic-fish/)
- [Libbey](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/libbey/)
- [glasses](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/glasses/)
- [creamer](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/creamer/)
- [eames](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/eames/)
- [retro](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/retro/)
- [swann galleries](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/swann-galleries/)
- [jacob lawrence](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jacob-lawrence/)
- [elizabeth catlett](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/elizabeth-catlett/)
- [harmon foundation](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/harmon-foundation/)
- [pyramid club](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/pyramid-club/)
- [charles white](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/charles-white/)
- [barkley hendricks](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/barkley-hendricks/)
- [augusta savage](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/augusta-savage/)
- [President Obama](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/president-obama/)
- [hatpins](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hatpins/)
- [stick pins](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/stick-pins/)
- [madeleine albright](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/madeleine-albright/)
- [collectors](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/collectors/)
- [Collectors Weekly](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/collectors-weekly/)
- [pins](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/pins/)
- [ellen pyle](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ellen-pyle/)
- [magazines](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/magazines/)
- [find](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/find/)
- [delaware art museum](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/delaware-art-museum/)
- [leyendecker](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/leyendecker/)
- [norman rockwell](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/norman-rockwell/)
- [illustrations](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/illustrations/)
- [Stoddard Dayton car](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/stoddard-dayton-car/)
- [dinosaur mug](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dinosaur-mug/)
- [White Star Line](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/white-star-line/)
- [ship](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ship/)
- [Schrafft's](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/schraffts/)
- [titanic](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/titanic/)
- [memorabilia](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/memorabilia/)
- [babe ruth](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/babe-ruth/)
- [jackie robinson](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jackie-robinson/)
- [signed baseballs](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/signed-baseballs/)
- [pennants](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/pennants/)
- [trade cards](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/trade-cards/)
- [colgan's chips](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/colgans-chips/)
- [tapestry](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/tapestry/)
- [purse](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/purse/)
- [petit point](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/petit-point/)
- [Austria](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/austria/)
- [coffee](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/coffee/)
- [record albums](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/record-albums/)
- [colman domingo](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/colman-domingo/)
- ["A boy and his soul](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/a-boy-and-his-soul/)
- [" OJays](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ojays/)
- [Stylistics](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/stylistics/)
- [Soul Train](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/soul-train/)
- [Millie Jackson](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/millie-jackson/)
- [Smokey](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/smokey/)
- [Denzel](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/denzel/)
- [estate sales](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/estate-sales/)
- [night lights](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/night-lights/)
- [lamp plugs](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lamp-plugs/)
- [Bakelite](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bakelite/)
- [skyscraper](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/skyscraper/)
- [Reading](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/reading/)
- [cast iron](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cast-iron/)
- [cooking](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cooking/)
- [Art Smith](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/art-smith/)
- [designer](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/designer/)
- [brooklyn museum](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/brooklyn-museum/)
- [modernism](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/modernism/)
- [rolling pins](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/rolling-pins/)
- [tiger maple](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/tiger-maple/)
- [springerle](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/springerle/)
- [ebay](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ebay/)
- [autographs](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/autographs/)
- [bidders](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bidders/)
- [respect](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/respect/)
- [blenko](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/blenko/)
- [glass](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/glass/)
- [harley davidson](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/harley-davidson/)
- [honda](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/honda/)
- [dirt bike](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dirt-bike/)
- [kawasaki](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/kawasaki/)
- [jet skis](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jet-skis/)
- [yamaha](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/yamaha/)
- [wedgwood](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/wedgwood/)
- [abolitionist](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/abolitionist/)
- [pin](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/pin/)
- [william wilberforce](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/william-wilberforce/)
- [anti-slavery](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/anti-slavery/)
- [josiah wedgwood](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/josiah-wedgwood/)
- [ben franklin](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ben-franklin/)
- [sojourner truth](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/sojourner-truth/)
- [david webb](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/david-webb/)
- [sotheby](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/sotheby/)
- [collectible](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/collectible/)
- [morgan freeman](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/morgan-freeman/)
- [enameled animals](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/enameled-animals/)
- [jewels](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jewels/)
- [black americana](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-americana/)
- [rubber stamps](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/rubber-stamps/)
- [inkadinkado](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/inkadinkado/)
- [personal stamp exchange](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/personal-stamp-exchange/)
- [hampton arts](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hampton-arts/)
- [mounted](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mounted/)
- [foam mounted](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/foam-mounted/)
- [collecting](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/collecting/)
- [craft](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/craft/)
- [black hair](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-hair/)
- [straightening comb](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/straightening-comb/)
- [madame c.j. walker](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/madame-c-j-walker/)
- [royal crown hair dressing](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/royal-crown-hair-dressing/)
- [hot comb](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hot-comb/)
- [ruby dee](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ruby-dee/)
- [hair products](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hair-products/)
- [hairstyles](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hairstyles/)
- [Good Hair](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/good-hair/)
- [old maid](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/old-maid/)
- [cards](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cards/)
- [card games](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/card-games/)
- [stereotypes](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/stereotypes/)
- [whitman](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/whitman/)
- [virginia reel](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/virginia-reel/)
- [sambo](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/sambo/)
- [zwarte piet](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/zwarte-piet/)
- [Roy DeCarava](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/roy-decarava/)
- [Jack T. Franklin](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jack-t-franklin/)
- [Leica](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/leica/)
- [Argus](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/argus/)
- [Rolleiflex](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/rolleiflex/)
- [Graflex](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/graflex/)
- [photography](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/photography/)
- [Berea College](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/berea-college/)
- [brooms](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/brooms/)
- [broom craft](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/broom-craft/)
- [Kentucky](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/kentucky/)
- [blacks](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/blacks/)
- [benjamin hooks](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/benjamin-hooks/)
- [Carter G. Woodson](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/carter-g-woodson/)
- [Fela](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/fela/)
- [Kuti](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/kuti/)
- [Nigeria](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/nigeria/)
- [musical](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/musical/)
- [Broadway](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/broadway/)
- [mask](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mask/)
- [Igbo](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/igbo/)
- [Lillias White](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lillias-white/)
- [Afrobeat](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/afrobeat/)
- [Zombie](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/zombie/)
- [Ebo Landing](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ebo-landing/)
- [Shrine](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/shrine/)
- [nightclub](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/nightclub/)
- [yoga](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/yoga/)
- [john alden](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/john-alden/)
- [priscilla alden](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/priscilla-alden/)
- [Massachusetts](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/massachusetts/)
- [Winterthur](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/winterthur/)
- [Duxbury](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/duxbury/)
- [Miles Standish](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/miles-standish/)
- [Boston Herald](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/boston-herald/)
- [Longfellow](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/longfellow/)
- [Kindred](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/kindred/)
- [black soldiers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-soldiers/)
- [World War II](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/world-war-ii/)
- [Tuskegee Airmen](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/tuskegee-airmen/)
- [military](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/military/)
- [segregation](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/segregation/)
- [Howard University](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/howard-university/)
- [Eugene Jacques Bullard](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/eugene-jacques-bullard/)
- [fine china](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/fine-china/)
- [dinnerware](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dinnerware/)
- [catering](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/catering/)
- [Aynsley](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/aynsley/)
- [Lenox](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lenox/)
- [Davenport](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/davenport/)
- [Villeroy & Boch](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/villeroy-boch/)
- [healthy southern comforts](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/healthy-southern-comforts/)
- [Thanksgiving](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/thanksgiving/)
- [shelf sitter](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/shelf-sitter/)
- [Marilyn Monroe](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/marilyn-monroe/)
- [Seven Year Itch](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/seven-year-itch/)
- [collection](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/collection/)
- [Homer Laughlin](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/homer-laughlin/)
- [Bing and Grondahl](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bing-and-grondahl/)
- [seed packets](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/seed-packets/)
- [Burt's Seeds](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/burts-seeds/)
- [Card Seed Co.](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/card-seed-co/)
- [labels](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/labels/)
- [Landreth Seed Co.](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/landreth-seed-co/)
- [lithographs](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lithographs/)
- [African American heritage](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/african-american-heritage/)
- [coneflower](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/coneflower/)
- [paper dolls](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/paper-dolls/)
- [Dolly Dingle](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dolly-dingle/)
- [Grace Drayton](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/grace-drayton/)
- [black paper dolls](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-paper-dolls/)
- [Arabella Grayson](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/arabella-grayson/)
- [Pictorial Review](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/pictorial-review/)
- [washboard](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/washboard/)
- [rug beater](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/rug-beater/)
- [spring ritual](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/spring-ritual/)
- [Columbus](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/columbus/)
- [Murdock](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/murdock/)
- [Dubl Handi](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dubl-handi/)
- [baby boomer](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/baby-boomer/)
- [bottle stoppers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bottle-stoppers/)
- [anri](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/anri/)
- [Lynd Ward](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lynd-ward/)
- [woodcuts](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/woodcuts/)
- [Otto Nuckel](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/otto-nuckel/)
- [Frans Masereel](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/frans-masereel/)
- [novel](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/novel/)
- [African](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/african/)
- [slave](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/slave/)
- [cakewalk](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cakewalk/)
- [finds postcards](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/finds-postcards/)
- [bert williams](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bert-williams/)
- [john philip sousa](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/john-philip-sousa/)
- [claude debussey](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/claude-debussey/)
- [James Weldon Johnson](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/james-weldon-johnson/)
- [used car](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/used-car/)
- [Toyota](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/toyota/)
- [Corolla](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/corolla/)
- [Jeep Liberty](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jeep-liberty/)
- [RAV4](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/rav4/)
- [edmunds](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/edmunds/)
- [autotrader](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/autotrader/)
- [Judaica](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/judaica/)
- [holidays](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/holidays/)
- [dinner](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dinner/)
- [meal](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/meal/)
- [dishes](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dishes/)
- [McCalls](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mccalls/)
- [Ladies' Home Journal](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ladies-home-journal/)
- [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/edna-st-vincent-millay/)
- [Allen Saalburg](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/allen-saalburg/)
- [body magic](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/body-magic/)
- [diet](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/diet/)
- [corset](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/corset/)
- [ardyss international](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ardyss-international/)
- [girdle](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/girdle/)
- [undergarment](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/undergarment/)
- [Dell](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dell/)
- [laptop](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/laptop/)
- [Inspiron 1501](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/inspiron-1501/)
- [Vostro](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/vostro/)
- [RAM](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ram/)
- [desktop](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/desktop/)
- [HP](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hp/)
- [AMD processor](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/amd-processor/)
- [computer](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/computer/)
- [yo-yos](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/yo-yos/)
- [Duncan](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/duncan/)
- [Coca Cola](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/coca-cola/)
- [GA](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ga/)
- [ice cream parlor](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ice-cream-parlor/)
- [woolworth's](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/woolworths/)
- [soda fountain](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/soda-fountain/)
- [syrup](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/syrup/)
- [stromeyers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/stromeyers/)
- [Greensboro](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/greensboro/)
- [sit-ins](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/sit-ins/)
- [protests](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/protests/)
- [beer](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/beer/)
- [coasters](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/coasters/)
- [pennsylvania](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/pennsylvania/)
- [Pearl Harbor](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/pearl-harbor/)
- [postal envelopes](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/postal-envelopes/)
- [battles](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/battles/)
- [Fred Miller](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/fred-miller/)
- [Corregidor](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/corregidor/)
- [Japanese bombers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/japanese-bombers/)
- [Dorie Miller](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dorie-miller/)
- [Wake Island](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/wake-island/)
- [princess](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/princess/)
- [frog](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/frog/)
- [Disney](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/disney/)
- [Tiana](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/tiana/)
- [New Orleans](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/new-orleans/)
- [black girls](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-girls/)
- [Santa Claus](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/santa-claus/)
- [Hold To Light](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hold-to-light/)
- [Germany](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/germany/)
- [Antique Trader](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/antique-trader/)
- [Precious](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/precious/)
- [finds. Ishmael Reed](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/finds-ishmael-reed/)
- [Betye Saar](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/betye-saar/)
- [Soul Rhythms](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/soul-rhythms/)
- [Christmas tree](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/christmas-tree/)
- [platter](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/platter/)
- [plate](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/plate/)
- [Stangl](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/stangl/)
- [birds](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/birds/)
- [Fulper](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/fulper/)
- [ornaments](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ornaments/)
- [knitter](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/knitter/)
- [mystery](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mystery/)
- [yarn threader](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/yarn-threader/)
- [buxomy](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/buxomy/)
- [jezebel](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jezebel/)
- [Rubenesque](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/rubenesque/)
- [obesity](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/obesity/)
- [peter paul rubens](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/peter-paul-rubens/)
- [figurines](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/figurines/)
- [planter](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/planter/)
- [snakes](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/snakes/)
- [indiana jones](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/indiana-jones/)
- [herpetophobia](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/herpetophobia/)
- [fear of snakes](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/fear-of-snakes/)
- [decorative arts](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/decorative-arts/)
- [herpetology](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/herpetology/)
- [gifts](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/gifts/)
- [childhood](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/childhood/)
- [toy](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/toy/)
- [big wheel](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/big-wheel/)
- [green machine](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/green-machine/)
- [slinky](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/slinky/)
- [easy bake oven](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/easy-bake-oven/)
- [hopscotch](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hopscotch/)
- [matchbook cars](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/matchbook-cars/)
- [dolls](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dolls/)
- [snowfall](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/snowfall/)
- [Philly](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/philly/)
- [painting](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/painting/)
- [flowers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/flowers/)
- [snowflakes](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/snowflakes/)
- [gift](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/gift/)
- [silver overlay](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/silver-overlay/)
- [Cambridge Caprice](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cambridge-caprice/)
- [silver deposit](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/silver-deposit/)
- [Gorham](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/gorham/)
- [Quezal](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/quezal/)
- [Santa](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/santa/)
- [jumping jack](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jumping-jack/)
- [george washington](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/george-washington/)
- [jack benny](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jack-benny/)
- [declaration of independence](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/declaration-of-independence/)
- [Christmas lights](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/christmas-lights/)
- [nu-way](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/nu-way/)
- [hotdogs](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hotdogs/)
- [Macon](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/macon/)
- [weiners](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/weiners/)
- [chili](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/chili/)
- [Tiki Barber](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/tiki-barber/)
- [Ronde Barber](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ronde-barber/)
- [Wimpy Kid](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/wimpy-kid/)
- [MoonPie](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/moonpie/)
- [Chattanooga](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/chattanooga/)
- [graham cracker](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/graham-cracker/)
- [Cracker Barrel](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cracker-barrel/)
- [Coke](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/coke/)
- [recipe](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/recipe/)
- [Gabriel Brown](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/gabriel-brown/)
- [Gennett Records](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/gennett-records/)
- [hot boiled peanuts](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hot-boiled-peanuts/)
- [snack food](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/snack-food/)
- [south carolina](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/south-carolina/)
- [cigarette lighter](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cigarette-lighter/)
- [black figurines](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-figurines/)
- [black memorabilia](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-memorabilia/)
- [choir](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/choir/)
- [turtle club](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/turtle-club/)
- [annie lee](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/annie-lee/)
- [treasures of the heart](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/treasures-of-the-heart/)
- [rolls royce](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/rolls-royce/)
- [classic cars](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/classic-cars/)
- [collector](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/collector/)
- [trophy](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/trophy/)
- [packard](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/packard/)
- [stanley tarnopol](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/stanley-tarnopol/)
- [pall mall tourer](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/pall-mall-tourer/)
- [new mattress](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/new-mattress/)
- [used mattress](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/used-mattress/)
- [buying](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/buying/)
- [laws](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/laws/)
- [macaroni and cheese](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/macaroni-and-cheese/)
- [ebony](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ebony/)
- [jet](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jet/)
- [greeting cards](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/greeting-cards/)
- [american greetings](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/american-greetings/)
- [halle berry](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/halle-berry/)
- [vanessa williams](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/vanessa-williams/)
- [hank aaron](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hank-aaron/)
- [jesse owens](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jesse-owens/)
- [clothespins](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/clothespins/)
- [wash day](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/wash-day/)
- [Georgia](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/georgia/)
- [Shakers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/shakers/)
- [Ann Lee](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ann-lee/)
- [Rogers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/rogers/)
- [figural clothespins](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/figural-clothespins/)
- [Smithsonian](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/smithsonian/)
- [hair dryer](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hair-dryer/)
- [hood dryer](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hood-dryer/)
- [hand held](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hand-held/)
- [Hess](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hess/)
- [trucks](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/trucks/)
- [Mobil](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mobil/)
- [Gulf](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/gulf/)
- [Leon Hess](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/leon-hess/)
- [Mack B tanker](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mack-b-tanker/)
- [Voyager ship](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/voyager-ship/)
- [Texaco](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/texaco/)
- [Macy's Parade](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/macys-parade/)
- [singer](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/singer/)
- [willcox and Gibbs](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/willcox-and-gibbs/)
- [Featherweight](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/featherweight/)
- [GE Sewhandy](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ge-sewhandy/)
- [Cash Buyers Union](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cash-buyers-union/)
- [centennial](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/centennial/)
- [child toy sewing machine](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/child-toy-sewing-machine/)
- [vintage fabric](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/vintage-fabric/)
- [quilting](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/quilting/)
- [potholders](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/potholders/)
- [reproductions](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/reproductions/)
- [human hair wigs](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/human-hair-wigs/)
- [pieces](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/pieces/)
- [india](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/india/)
- [baby](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/baby/)
- [black babies](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-babies/)
- [ebony magazine](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ebony-magazine/)
- [birth announcement cards](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/birth-announcement-cards/)
- [Russian icons](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/russian-icons/)
- [nadine karnow](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/nadine-karnow/)
- [balalaikas](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/balalaikas/)
- [domras](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/domras/)
- [orchestra](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/orchestra/)
- [Martin Luther King](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/martin-luther-king/)
- [religious icons](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/religious-icons/)
- [Russian](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/russian/)
- [nesting dolls](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/nesting-dolls/)
- [sculptures](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/sculptures/)
- [babushka](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/babushka/)
- [Horn & Hardart](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/horn-hardart/)
- [automat](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/automat/)
- [New York](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/new-york/)
- [Touch of Mink](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/touch-of-mink/)
- [magic](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/magic/)
- [tricks](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/tricks/)
- [miracle light bulb](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/miracle-light-bulb/)
- [silk scarves](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/silk-scarves/)
- [lance burton](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lance-burton/)
- [show](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/show/)
- [dye box](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dye-box/)
- [alpha kappa alpha sorority](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/alpha-kappa-alpha-sorority/)
- [henry hudson hotel](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/henry-hudson-hotel/)
- [View-Master](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/view-master/)
- [Charles Harrison](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/charles-harrison/)
- [design](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/design/)
- [Sears](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/sears/)
- [trash can](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/trash-can/)
- [reels](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/reels/)
- [viewer](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/viewer/)
- [Alpha Kappa Alpha](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/alpha-kappa-alpha/)
- [sorority](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/sorority/)
- [Marjorie Parker](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/marjorie-parker/)
- [Sigma Gamma Rho](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/sigma-gamma-rho/)
- [Delta Sigma Theta](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/delta-sigma-theta/)
- [Zeta Phi Beta](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/zeta-phi-beta/)
- [AKA Barbie](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/aka-barbie/)
- [black women judges](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-women-judges/)
- [American Woman's Association](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/american-womans-association/)
- [Anne Morgan](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/anne-morgan/)
- [clubhouse](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/clubhouse/)
- [women's rights](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/womens-rights/)
- [J.P. Morgan](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/j-p-morgan/)
- [women's history](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/womens-history/)
- [bedroom set](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bedroom-set/)
- [faux wood](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/faux-wood/)
- [chunky](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/chunky/)
- [French Provincial](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/french-provincial/)
- [Ikea](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ikea/)
- [auctionzip.com](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/auctionzip-com/)
- [bids](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bids/)
- [skookum](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/skookum/)
- [native american](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/native-american/)
- [mary mcaboy](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mary-mcaboy/)
- [bully good](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bully-good/)
- [auto show](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/auto-show/)
- [cars](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cars/)
- [lozier](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lozier/)
- [lexington](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lexington/)
- [Life magazine](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/life-magazine/)
- [willys knight](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/willys-knight/)
- [klaxon horn](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/klaxon-horn/)
- [white steamer](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/white-steamer/)
- [william howard taft](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/william-howard-taft/)
- [automobiles](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/automobiles/)
- [Jerry Pinkney](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jerry-pinkney/)
- [Caldecott Medal](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/caldecott-medal/)
- [black children's books](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-childrens-books/)
- [illustrator](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/illustrator/)
- [award](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/award/)
- [Lion and the Mouse](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lion-and-the-mouse/)
- [Valentine](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/valentine/)
- [telegrams](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/telegrams/)
- [Western Union](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/western-union/)
- [black cats](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-cats/)
- [Christmas cards](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/christmas-cards/)
- [singing telegram](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/singing-telegram/)
- [candygram](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/candygram/)
- [Valentine's Day](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/valentines-day/)
- [art student](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/art-student/)
- [Philadelphia rowhouse scene](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/philadelphia-rowhouse-scene/)
- [C. Raughley](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/c-raughley/)
- [Philadelphia School of Industrial Art](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/philadelphia-school-of-industrial-art/)
- [Philadelphia Museum of Art](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/philadelphia-museum-of-art/)
- [textiles](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/textiles/)
- [artwork](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/artwork/)
- [African American portrait](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/african-american-portrait/)
- [Stephen Smith](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/stephen-smith/)
- [Harriet Lee Smith](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/harriet-lee-smith/)
- [Hiram Charles Montier](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hiram-charles-montier/)
- [Elizabeth Brown Montier](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/elizabeth-brown-montier/)
- [Richard Morrey](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/richard-morrey/)
- [Paris Exposition](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/paris-exposition/)
- [W.E.B. DuBois](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/w-e-b-dubois/)
- [Coke trays](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/coke-trays/)
- [Coke bottles](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/coke-bottles/)
- [vending machines](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/vending-machines/)
- [Vendo](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/vendo/)
- [northern lights](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/northern-lights/)
- [aurora borealis](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/aurora-borealis/)
- [costume jewelry](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/costume-jewelry/)
- [Swarovski](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/swarovski/)
- [lights](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lights/)
- [Christian Dior](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/christian-dior/)
- [rhinestones](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/rhinestones/)
- [Juliana jewelry](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/juliana-jewelry/)
- [AB jewelry](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ab-jewelry/)
- [DeLizza & Elster](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/delizza-elster/)
- [Denzel Washington](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/denzel-washington/)
- [slop jars](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/slop-jars/)
- [chamber pots](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/chamber-pots/)
- [privy](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/privy/)
- [toilet](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/toilet/)
- [Frederick Douglass](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/frederick-douglass/)
- [British Museum](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/british-museum/)
- [kensui](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/kensui/)
- [Tias](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/tias/)
- [Ruby Lane](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ruby-lane/)
- [Donald Byrd](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/donald-byrd/)
- [Jelly Roll Kings](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jelly-roll-kings/)
- [black artists](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-artists/)
- [black women artists](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-women-artists/)
- [african american women artists](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/african-american-women-artists/)
- [swann auction galleries](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/swann-auction-galleries/)
- [lois mailou jones](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lois-mailou-jones/)
- [meta warrick fuller](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/meta-warrick-fuller/)
- [laura wheeler waring](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/laura-wheeler-waring/)
- [death](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/death/)
- [James Van Der Zee](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/james-van-der-zee/)
- [photographs](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/photographs/)
- [Harlem](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/harlem/)
- [Zora Neale Hurston](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/zora-neale-hurston/)
- [black photographs](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-photographs/)
- [Patterson-Greenfield car](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/patterson-greenfield-car/)
- [black car manufacturer](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-car-manufacturer/)
- [Greenfield](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/greenfield/)
- [OH](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/oh/)
- [C.R. Patterson](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/c-r-patterson/)
- [Sons & Co.](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/sons-co/)
- [Charles Richard Patterson](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/charles-richard-patterson/)
- [Frederick Douglass Patterson](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/frederick-douglass-patterson/)
- [antique automobiles](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/antique-automobiles/)
- [black noisemakers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-noisemakers/)
- [noise makers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/noise-makers/)
- [Kirchhof](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/kirchhof/)
- [Chein](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/chein/)
- [T. Cohn](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/t-cohn/)
- [minstrel](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/minstrel/)
- [clackeres](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/clackeres/)
- [clappers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/clappers/)
- [rachet](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/rachet/)
- [rattle](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/rattle/)
- [witches](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/witches/)
- [birthdays](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/birthdays/)
- [birth certificate](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/birth-certificate/)
- [Census Bureau](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/census-bureau/)
- [National Archives](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/national-archives/)
- [Social Security card](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/social-security-card/)
- [art exhibitions](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/art-exhibitions/)
- [program](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/program/)
- [Humbert Howard](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/humbert-howard/)
- [Allan Freelon](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/allan-freelon/)
- [Claude Clark](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/claude-clark/)
- [Ralph Taylor](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ralph-taylor/)
- [Delft](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/delft/)
- [tea strainer](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/tea-strainer/)
- [tiles](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/tiles/)
- [strawberry planter](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/strawberry-planter/)
- [Vermeer](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/vermeer/)
- [Holland](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/holland/)
- [clogs](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/clogs/)
- [Colonial Williamsburg](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/colonial-williamsburg/)
- [Oud](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/oud/)
- [Sleepy Hollow Restorations](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/sleepy-hollow-restorations/)
- [Dutch](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dutch/)
- [windmills](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/windmills/)
- [Hercules](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hercules/)
- [chef](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/chef/)
- [cook](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cook/)
- [Gentlewoman magazine](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/gentlewoman-magazine/)
- [Household magazine](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/household-magazine/)
- [James Hemings](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/james-hemings/)
- [Jefferson](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jefferson/)
- [Charles Staib](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/charles-staib/)
- [Nazis](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/nazis/)
- [concentration camp](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/concentration-camp/)
- [John Demjanjuk](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/john-demjanjuk/)
- [Sobibor](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/sobibor/)
- [Jews](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jews/)
- [Quentin Taratino](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/quentin-taratino/)
- [Brad Pitts](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/brad-pitts/)
- [Inglorious Basterds](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/inglorious-basterds/)
- [spirits](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/spirits/)
- [ghosts](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ghosts/)
- [apparitions](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/apparitions/)
- [Charles Dickens](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/charles-dickens/)
- [Christmas Carol](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/christmas-carol/)
- [Julius Bloch](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/julius-bloch/)
- [afterlife](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/afterlife/)
- [covers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/covers/)
- [black people](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-people/)
- [King of Prussia mall](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/king-of-prussia-mall/)
- [Main Street America](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/main-street-america/)
- [Thomas Fogarty](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/thomas-fogarty/)
- [household](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/household/)
- [Shaker style](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/shaker-style/)
- [rocking chair](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/rocking-chair/)
- [paper shredder](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/paper-shredder/)
- [Stangly](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/stangly/)
- [salad bowl](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/salad-bowl/)
- [bird feeders](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bird-feeders/)
- [bird water feeder](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bird-water-feeder/)
- [bird houses](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bird-houses/)
- [Audubon Society](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/audubon-society/)
- [Hendryx](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hendryx/)
- [Crown](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/crown/)
- [bird watching](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bird-watching/)
- [Negro Baseball League](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/negro-baseball-league/)
- [baseball](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/baseball/)
- [Major League Baseball](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/major-league-baseball/)
- [Mamie "Peanut" Johnson](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mamie-peanut-johnson/)
- [Josh Gibson](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/josh-gibson/)
- [Satchel Paige](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/satchel-paige/)
- [Black History Showcase](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-history-showcase/)
- [sampler](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/sampler/)
- [needlepoint sampler](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/needlepoint-sampler/)
- [Winterthur Museum](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/winterthur-museum/)
- [black samplers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-samplers/)
- [schoolgirl sampler](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/schoolgirl-sampler/)
- [crucifix](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/crucifix/)
- [serviceman](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/serviceman/)
- [grave goods](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/grave-goods/)
- [needle cases](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/needle-cases/)
- [Lydia Pinkham](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lydia-pinkham/)
- [mending kits](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mending-kits/)
- [darning eggs](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/darning-eggs/)
- [tatting shuttle](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/tatting-shuttle/)
- [needle threaders](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/needle-threaders/)
- [inuit](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/inuit/)
- [needle pack](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/needle-pack/)
- [needle case](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/needle-case/)
- [Acme](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/acme/)
- [Navy](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/navy/)
- [USS Iowa](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/uss-iowa/)
- [Colonial Life Insurance](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/colonial-life-insurance/)
- [Brabant's](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/brabants/)
- [Milward](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/milward/)
- [Susan Bates](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/susan-bates/)
- [Redditch](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/redditch/)
- [England](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/england/)
- [U.S. Census](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/u-s-census/)
- [census-taker](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/census-taker/)
- [Green Howard](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/green-howard/)
- [Rebecca Howard](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/rebecca-howard/)
- [Victory Gardens](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/victory-gardens/)
- [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/eleanor-roosevelt/)
- [White House](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/white-house/)
- [manual](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/manual/)
- [community gardens](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/community-gardens/)
- [real photo postcards](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/real-photo-postcards/)
- [kodak brownie](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/kodak-brownie/)
- [folding camera](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/folding-camera/)
- [Startling Comics](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/startling-comics/)
- [Shadow](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/shadow/)
- [cookbook](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cookbook/)
- [advertising](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/advertising/)
- [booklets](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/booklets/)
- [pamphlets](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/pamphlets/)
- [Duke University](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/duke-university/)
- [Mohawk Valley](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mohawk-valley/)
- [Mohawks](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mohawks/)
- [chocolate pot](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/chocolate-pot/)
- [hot chocolate](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hot-chocolate/)
- [chocolate](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/chocolate/)
- [Aztec](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/aztec/)
- [Mayan](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mayan/)
- [coffee pot](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/coffee-pot/)
- [Garthone](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/garthone/)
- [Limoges](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/limoges/)
- [Nippon](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/nippon/)
- [molinillo](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/molinillo/)
- [cocoa bean](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cocoa-bean/)
- [Scottsboro Boys](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/scottsboro-boys/)
- [Alabama](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/alabama/)
- [Haywood Patterson](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/haywood-patterson/)
- [prison](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/prison/)
- [Victoria Price](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/victoria-price/)
- [minstrel show](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/minstrel-show/)
- [John Cullen](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/john-cullen/)
- [dream book](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dream-book/)
- [Prof. Uriah Konje](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/prof-uriah-konje/)
- [Herbert Gladstone Parris](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/herbert-gladstone-parris/)
- [lottery](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lottery/)
- [numbers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/numbers/)
- [policy gambling](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/policy-gambling/)
- [Professor De Herbert](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/professor-de-herbert/)
- [Aunt Sally](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/aunt-sally/)
- [hoodoo](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hoodoo/)
- [African masks](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/african-masks/)
- [Chokwe](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/chokwe/)
- [Baga](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/baga/)
- [Angola](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/angola/)
- [Dan mask](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dan-mask/)
- [Kuba mask](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/kuba-mask/)
- [Makonde](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/makonde/)
- [Ejagham headdress](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ejagham-headdress/)
- [Carl Kauba](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/carl-kauba/)
- [black boy](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-boy/)
- [bronze figures](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bronze-figures/)
- [T. Curts](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/t-curts/)
- [naughties](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/naughties/)
- [Karl Thenn](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/karl-thenn/)
- [Jennmaur Gallery](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jennmaur-gallery/)
- [Charles Blockson](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/charles-blockson/)
- [African American history](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/african-american-history/)
- [lawn jockey](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lawn-jockey/)
- [lantern holder](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lantern-holder/)
- [Harriet Tubman](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/harriet-tubman/)
- [Underground Railroad](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/underground-railroad/)
- [Abraham Lincoln](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/abraham-lincoln/)
- [George Washingon](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/george-washingon/)
- [Jocko Graves](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/jocko-graves/)
- [John W. Mosley](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/john-w-mosley/)
- [Helen S. Barth](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/helen-s-barth/)
- [paintings](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/paintings/)
- [folk art](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/folk-art/)
- [E. Strong](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/e-strong/)
- [marita thomas](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/marita-thomas/)
- [bidding](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bidding/)
- [yellow furniture](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/yellow-furniture/)
- [Avon](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/avon/)
- [products](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/products/)
- [Skin So Soft](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/skin-so-soft/)
- [Cape Cod ruby red](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cape-cod-ruby-red/)
- [David McDonnell](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/david-mcdonnell/)
- [Avon Calling](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/avon-calling/)
- [Avon collectors](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/avon-collectors/)
- [ladies shoes](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ladies-shoes/)
- [wet shoes](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/wet-shoes/)
- [dry shoes](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dry-shoes/)
- [newspapers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/newspapers/)
- [moisture](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/moisture/)
- [mildew](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mildew/)
- [HBCU](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hbcu/)
- [Robert Scurlock](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/robert-scurlock/)
- [black colleges and universities](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-colleges-and-universities/)
- [Scurlock Studio](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/scurlock-studio/)
- [sex](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/sex/)
- [venery](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/venery/)
- [newspaper clippings](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/newspaper-clippings/)
- [Albert Strelow](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/albert-strelow/)
- [Ford Motor Company](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ford-motor-company/)
- [Model T](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/model-t/)
- [farm laborers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/farm-laborers/)
- [President Roosevelt](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/president-roosevelt/)
- [gas rationing](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/gas-rationing/)
- [rubber tires](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/rubber-tires/)
- [victory stamp](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/victory-stamp/)
- [Vallona Starr](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/vallona-starr/)
- [vases](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/vases/)
- [cookie jars](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/cookie-jars/)
- [salt and pepper shakers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/salt-and-pepper-shakers/)
- [California pottery](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/california-pottery/)
- [Kovels](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/kovels/)
- [Winkies](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/winkies/)
- [ceramics](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ceramics/)
- [appliance covers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/appliance-covers/)
- [lettuce bag](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lettuce-bag/)
- [bread bag](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/bread-bag/)
- [Marjane](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/marjane/)
- [Marday](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/marday/)
- [toaster cover](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/toaster-cover/)
- [Vinylite](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/vinylite/)
- [Kristee sponge face cloth](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/kristee-sponge-face-cloth/)
- [shampoo goggles](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/shampoo-goggles/)
- [Leesport Farmers Market](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/leesport-farmers-market/)
- [Viewmaster viewer](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/viewmaster-viewer/)
- [Kodak No. 2A camera](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/kodak-no-2a-camera/)
- [Mason jar](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mason-jar/)
- [strawberries](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/strawberries/)
- [fried mushrooms](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/fried-mushrooms/)
- [Louis Vuitton](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/louis-vuitton/)
- [Lane cedar chest](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lane-cedar-chest/)
- [mini cedar chest](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/mini-cedar-chest/)
- [furniture stores](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/furniture-stores/)
- [salesman's sample](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/salesmans-sample/)
- [Shirley Temple](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/shirley-temple/)
- [black high schoolers](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-high-schoolers/)
- [black artist](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-artist/)
- [Louis B. Sloan](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/louis-b-sloan/)
- [Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/pennsylvania-academy-of-the-fine-arts/)
- [landscape artist](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/landscape-artist/)
- [Alfred Thompson Bricher](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/alfred-thompson-bricher/)
- [Hudson River School](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/hudson-river-school/)
- [art sale](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/art-sale/)
- [stealing](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/stealing/)
- [lens](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/lens/)
- [voigtlander](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/voigtlander/)
- [thievery](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/thievery/)
- [minolta](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/minolta/)
- [dorothy height](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dorothy-height/)
- [handmade chair](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/handmade-chair/)
- [Eldzier Cortor](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/eldzier-cortor/)
- [tea cakes](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/tea-cakes/)
- [craig claiborne](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/craig-claiborne/)
- [retro food](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/retro-food/)
- [Paul Deen](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/paul-deen/)
- [Food Network](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/food-network/)
- [Samuel J. Brown](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/samuel-j-brown/)
- [Madonna and child](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/madonna-and-child/)
- [WPA](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/wpa/)
- [Crisis magazine](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/crisis-magazine/)
- [Federal Arts Project](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/federal-arts-project/)
- [african american carvings](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/african-american-carvings/)
- [masks](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/masks/)
- [Melbourne Hardwick](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/melbourne-hardwick/)
- [Chris Roberts-Antieau](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/chris-roberts-antieau/)
- [Art Basel](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/art-basel/)
- [art galleries](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/art-galleries/)
- [condos](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/condos/)
- [real estate](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/real-estate/)
- [City Hall](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/city-hall/)
- [Ben Franklin Parkway](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ben-franklin-parkway/)
- [female magician](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/female-magician/)
- [Dell O'Dell](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/dell-odell/)
- [Black Herman](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-herman/)
- [Ellen Armstrong](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/ellen-armstrong/)
- [Richard Potter](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/richard-potter/)
- [Okinu](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/okinu/)
- [Tenaki](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/tenaki/)
- [black magicians](https://myauctionfinds.com/tag/black-magicians/)