When I first saw the lovely porcelain pot at auction, I thought it was it was a coffee pot. It certainly had the shape, except that it was flared at the bottom like a woman’s…
A classy way to enjoy hot chocolate
Posted in collectibles, and dishware
Auction Finds Posts
The lost art of cookbook advertising pamphlets
Posted in Books, collectibles, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and food
Last week, I wrote about the lithographs on needle packs. They were executed so well that some of them were like works of art. This week, as I was going through my trove of ephemera…
Photos and the stories they do (or not) tell –
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, Photos, and Postcards
As you know, I love old photos. I like to imagine the stories behind each one of them. Who were these people and what were their lives like? I don’t go out of my way…
As spring nudges, a look back at Victory Gardens
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, Gardening, and Home
On my train trips into downtown Philadelphia, I would pass the remnants of a large community garden on a hill right near the tracks. Faded wooden structures, dead weeds, bald patches. It was wintertime and gardening…
At the turn of the 20th century, a census-taker stopped by a rented farm in Monroe County, Georgia, and wrote down the names of my great grandfather, Green Howard; his wife, Rebecca, and their six…
Needle packs: Too classy for sewing
Posted in Art, collectibles, and Sewing
When my auction buddy Janet saw a needle pack among others on an auction table recently, she hunted me down to tell me that it was one that she wanted. She knew that I tended to…
Baseball has traditionally been seen as the national pastime, but for women that may be sewing. At least that’s what it feels like to me, based on the amount and types of vintage sewing items…
I was going through some auction items of a black soldier last weekend with some friends, and we came across the man’s small Bible. It had been given to him by the U.S. Army when…
Whenever I spot a sampler at auction, I always pause a minute to look it over. I wonder about the girl behind it – boys didn’t often stitch them – and what it says about…
My love for Negro League baseball
Posted in collectibles, Photos, and Sports
A couple years ago, I went to a black memorabilia show in a hotel in North Jersey. I wanted to see what was selling and for what price. That was before I discovered auctions. The…