When I first saw the bright yellow book with the red band and white lettering, I knew I had to check. Its title shouted out its contents loud and clear, so I was wondering if…
Tag: auction
Discarding old college photos
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Photos
The photos in the album were stunning, not only in their execution but in the stories they told. These photos offered a slice of life at Nazareth College in the mid-1930s: A 1935 commencement of women…
I look good on TV
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents
How could I resist the questions, which obviously were playing to my vanity? “Are you photogenic?” “What would you look like on television?” As soon as I read the words on the small cardboard box I knew…
How can you read this? the auction-goer said incredulously. He was being nosy, trying to read the notes I had written as I made my way through the auction house. I always jot down notes…
The elegance of head vases
Posted in collectibles, and Figurines
I kept bumping into these cute vases with their smooth flawless faces of well-made-up and well-coiffured women. They appeared to come from another era, and they were foreign to me. What were there? My auction buddy…
A string instrument called the ukelin
Posted in Music
The musical instrument lying there on the auction table looked like a fat guitar. It had the right shape: large round curvy body at one end, an elongated neck at the other end with rows of strings…
A handful of old albums were discarded on the table, left behind by the auction-goer who had earlier won a box full of them. That happens pretty often at auction: a buyer wins a box…
A tiger hiding in plain sight
Posted in Toys
The worker was taking a break in the cool recesses of the furniture pieces laid out on the ramp at the auction house. I almost missed him as I headed to check out the rows…
Don’t throw away your family’s history
Posted in Black history, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Photos
Dr. Diane Turner held up a small photo album containing the documents of an African American soldier who had served in World War I. She had found and bought it on eBay, and she was astounded.…
A bride only a mother could love
Posted in Clothing
Two weeks ago, one of my favorite auction houses was selling some beautiful wedding dresses, shoes, veils and gloves. This week, it was selling a bride. It wasn’t your typical bride: She was almost as…