Every now and then, I come across an auction item that draws me to its color or shape. It’s usually a warm color that’s simply beautiful. This sweet little candy dish was among some pottery items…
Tag: finds
Recruiting at Howard Univ., 1949 style
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Photos
Anyone who knows anything about HBCUs knows Howard University in Washington. It’s not the oldest of the historically black colleges and universities but it is among the most august. It has a large web of…
It was raining like crazy outside one of my favorite auction houses a few Sundays ago. But inside, there was this pretty little yellow dining room set that stood out like sunshine on a cloudy…
Doing the cakewalk – in bronze
Posted in Art, collectibles, and Postcards
Back in November, my auction buddy Janet found four neat postcards among a lot of cards she had just bought. They were images of two black couples demonstrating how to do the cakewalk around 1904.…
A treasure trove of African masks
Posted in Art, Carvings, and collectibles
They were lying almost cheek to cheek on a long table, in double rows, at the auction house. Some of the nicest African masks I’ve seen in a while. Some years ago, I was into…
A dream book of lottery numbers
Posted in Books, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, history, and Religion
I get a lot of requests from readers wanting to know where to buy a dream book and asking me to look up numbers for them. Please Google “dream book” to find an online store that sells…
A classy way to enjoy hot chocolate
Posted in collectibles, and dishware
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…
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…
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…