Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do some preliminary research to get them started. So, these are market values, not appraisals for insurance purposes that I suggest for items that have been determined to be of great value.
This week’s questions are about a 1940s postcard from Sugar Ray Robinson’s Harlem restaurant and theater lights found in a school storage closet. I received the Sugar Ray question some time ago, but thought I’d share and update my answer.
Question:
I have one of these original Sugar Ray’s Cafe postcards. I’d like to auction it off.
Answer:
The reader was referring to a postcard of the restaurant owned by boxing legend Sugar Ray Robinson. I blogged about the card three years ago after picking it up in a box lot of items at auction, along with a postcard bearing a poem honoring the state of Virginia.
Robinson opened the restaurant in 1946 right after he won the welterweight title. It attracted celebrities from all over, along with the everyday folks of Harlem. Nearby, Robinson had a dry cleaners and his office, Ray Robinson Enterprises; wife Edna Mae’s Lingerie Shop, and manager George Gainford’s Golden Gloves Barber Shop.
My postcard was likely from the 1940s or 1950s, and I suspected that it was not worth much monetarily. I’d suggest that the reader start with eBay. I found several of the postcards on that auction site and retail sites on the web. Two sold on eBay recently for $9 and $13, and another sold for $30 last year. Others did not sell on eBay at $7.99 and $25. All were unsigned.
An unsigned postcard along with a 16-page program from Robinson’s stint as an entertainer (his shows consisted of comedy, singing and dancing) in the early 1950s sold for $95 in 2010.
A postcard signed by Robinson sold for $50 at an auction in Fort Myers, FL, last year; another sold on eBay for $30, and another with water stains and an asking price of $135 was for sale on a sports site.
I also found two matchboxes from the restaurant: One was on sale for $45, and the other sold on eBay for $9.
So, both of our postcards are worth no more than $10 or nothing at all, depending on who’s in the market for either at any given time.
Question:
I am the principal of a Catholic elementary school in New Jersey and upon cleaning out some old storage closets, I found the exact theatre spotlight shown in the picture above. We no longer have a purpose for it and I am looking to sell it. Would you or anyone you know be interested in purchasing it? The spotlight works, and as far as I can tell is in great condition, no rust or dents.
Answer:
The reader had come across a blog post I wrote two years ago about a stage spotlight by the Times Square Stage Lighting. It had seven multicolored switches on the side that controlled colored screens inside. I could find no similar light like it on eBay at the time, but I did find some newer stage lights selling for up to $1,200 on online retail sites.
In searching the web this time, I came across several lights similar to the one from auction. Four were on eBay: One sold for $435, another for $299, another for $164 and another for $66 (this one had dents).
I’m not in the market for theater lights, but I’d suggest eBay as the easiest and quickest place to start. Be sure to mention in the description of the lighting that you’re selling it for your elementary school. It may spur more bids – and higher prices – from generous folks wanting to support children and their education.
Another alternative is to sell it through a local reputable auction house (which you can find via auctionzip.com), but you may not get as much money as you would on eBay. Most local auction-goers, like me, are looking to buy on the cheap.
Craigslist is another alternative, or you could try a local theater group in your town. A local group may be in need of a theater light, may know of another group that needs one, or may know of someone who collects them or needs one as a prop. Keep in mind that your light may be a little too “vintage” for practical use by most theater groups.
If you have any other suggestions for either of these readers, please leave me a comment in the box below.
