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…
Auction Finds Posts
A mother’s poems of a son’s life
Posted in Photos
I see so many discarded photos at auction that I mindlessly flip through them, not expecting to find anything new. I’ve seen the studio portrait shots, the family on vacation shots and the Christmas shots.…
Do you keep old household products?
Posted in collectibles, and Kitchen
Looking at the items on the tray at the auction house, I felt like I had stepped back 50 years. They were products we all use – many still in their boxes, well-preserved. Some were…
Don’t buy that photo, the man said jokingly over my shoulder. He was referring to a lovely and loving picture of three little African girls walking down a road towards us, all tight like best friends…
1864 engraving of President Lincoln
Posted in Art, and Ephemera/Paper/Documents
The engraving was an obvious mess. It had dark water stains in the upper left corner and at the bottom. The sides were nicked and a dark line cut right through the center. The paper…
Who buys globes anymore, I wondered as I stood near one, waiting for some items to come up for auction. This was a floor-model, with a wooden leg and 12-inch ball. With time on my…
Hanging it up with Humphrey Bogart
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Movies
Anyone who’s a movie fan instantly recognizes the image of Humphrey Bogart. See a trench coat and you think “The Big Sleep.” See an old rickety boat and “The African Queen” materializes. Think of an…
I was about to pass right by a large box of flower pots when I did a double take. I stopped to make sure my eyes were not fooling me. But there it was, hard compacted lifeless…
The auctioneer held up the bi-folded photo frame containing a vintage photo of a man and woman. $5, he said to us auction-goers standing in the driveway of a brick home where a thicket of…
Old-time gospel music albums and more
Posted in Music
When I usually come across a stack of albums at auction, I bypass them. That’s what I had done with about six boxes on a table at the front of the auction house. They’re too…