Confronted by so many DVDs at a recent nostalgia convention, my friend Rebecca began looking for some Amos ‘n Andy recordings. She collects African American memorabilia, and a collection is not complete without a few…
Tag: auction
I was expecting to “revisit the past and reminisce about an era that people over the age of 50 remember with fondness” as I entered the hotel space for a nostalgia convention late last week.…
Inside boxing’s fabled old Blue Horizon
Posted in Architecture/Buildings, Businesses, Culture, and Sports
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…
Putting a value on a doll collection
Posted in collectibles, and Dolls
With pen in hand and his wife standing over his shoulder, the auction-goer listened carefully and intently as the dolls were bidded on and bought. He jotted down the price of each of the 500 dolls…
Getting a buzz from just being at auctions
Posted in Culture, and flea market
The man was quite honest about his failings. I’m an auction addict, he said matter-of-factly, as if he’d recognized and accepted this condition of his long ago. I’d seen him around auctions for awhile, as…
Collectibles that may not be worth your money
Posted in collectibles, Dolls, Figurines, Movies, and Toys
An auction house recently retweeted a story about items that people bought as collectibles but are not worth the price they paid for them. I found the list interesting because practically every one of the…
Readers ask about African American art, matchbooks & dolls
Posted in Art, collectibles, Dolls, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Reader questions
Each Friday, I answer readers’ questions about items they own, helping them with research on the history and directing them to resources to determine the value. What I’ve learned is that there is no quick way…
Captain Kangaroo was the morning man from my childhood. I remember well his mutton sideburns, flabby neck and flat-top hair, along with his sidekick Mr. Green Jeans. So, when I came across two books in a…
Black Americana ice cream mold
Posted in Black history, collectibles, and Kitchen
I was wasting some time at the auction, not ready to call it a day, barely listening as the auctioneer started the bidding on more than a dozen ice cream and chocolate molds. I really had no…