Canadian Pickers’ Sheldon Smithens and Scott Cozens. (photo courtesy Cineflix, Inc.)

ATLANTA – “Canadian Pickers,” the most popular collectibles reality TV show in Canada, and WorthPoint, the world’s leading online resource for collectors, have agreed to work cooperatively in bringing additional expert knowledge to the show’s web site. The site will include articles and other published information from WorthPoint’s Worthologists (subject-matter experts) on a wide range of topics, from a beginner’s guide to auctions to the finer points of collecting specific objects, such as first edition books or duck decoys. Worthologists also may be asked to contribute perspectives on various topics that arise from TV viewers and site visitors.

Worthologists supplement their expert advice with data from WorthPoint’s Worthopedia, the industry’s most comprehensive price guide that includes more than 100 million global auction results aggregated from eBay, virtual marketplaces and leading auction houses. Site visitors will see selected Worthopedia data from time to time in articles as well as in forum postings.

Will Seippel, WorthPoint CEO, said, “We look forward to putting our full complement of resources behind Canadian Pickers. Published material from Worthologists and data from our price guide are just the start. We have just introduced an iPhone/iPad application, and early next year we will introduce an online Marks Library, both of which will be perfect partners for any true ‘Picker’.”

‘Great Big American Auction’ Premiers Dec. 8

“The Great Big American Auction,” starring Ty Pennington, premiers Dec. 8 on ABC.

ABC has announced that it will air “The Great Big American Auction,” in a very special television first made-for-TV auction event, at 10 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, Dec. 8. The show will star Ty Pennington of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” one of America’s leading reality TV personalities, and feature exclusively Heritage Auctions’ experts, auction services and staff.

The special was produced by Cineflix (Auction) Inc. for ABC. Executive Producers are Lisa Levenson, Pennington, Joe Houlihan and Simon Lloyd.

Pennington has been transforming people’s homes and lives for several years now as the host of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and has now found an exciting new way to change lives by turning their memorabilia and assorted hidden finds into treasures worth life-changing amounts of money.

After scouring flea markets, cellars, attics and yard sales to find one-of-a-kind items whose owners have no idea of their real value, Pennington, with a team of experts from Heritage Auctions, tags the best items and brings them to The Queen Mary ocean liner in Long Beach, Ca., for “The Great Big American Auction.” The exceptional collectibles range from first edition classic comic books to rare American currency to an early 20th century baseball icon’s checkbook, and much more in-between, all chosen for their rarity, value and the uniqueness of the consignor’s story.

“It’s a great thrill to be part of this major network, prime time show, to work with Cineflex and ABC and a star the magnitude and class of Ty Pennington,” said Greg Rohan, President of Heritage Auctions. “We went to great lengths with our staff and experts to make sure that all these unique items have great stories and that they live up to Heritage’s exacting consignment standards. We hope that everyone will enjoy the show as much as we enjoyed being a part of it.”

Objects originally bought for mere dollars, or literally plucked right out the trash will go for thousands of dollars as their lucky owners’ lives are changed for the better.

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WorthPoint—Discover Your Hidden Wealth

The U.S. Air Mail stamp #C3 1918 24¢ Curtiss Jenny, printed upside down and known as the “Inverted Jenny,” is the most famous error stamp in the world.

During the first decade of the 20th century, the United State Postal Service conducted numerous experimental trials on ways to effectively carry the mail, including by airplane. The first official USPS Air Mail flight took off on May 15, 1918, on a route between Washington, DC, and New York City, with an intermediate stop in Philadelphia.

The USPS decided to set an unprecedented rate of 24 cents an ounce for the nascent Air Mail service, considering the regular first-class mail rate was only 3 cents. Because of the new service and rate, a new stamp was needed. Because the Curtiss JN-4—a comparatively pokey, 90-horsepower biplane known as a “Jenny”—was chosen to shuttle the mail, it was decided the plane would grace the inaugural Air Mail stamp. The stamp (Scott #C3 1918 24¢ Curtiss Jenny) was printed in sheets of 100 stamps instead of the customary 400 per sheet and in printed in patriotic red and blue ink on white paper.

The process of choosing, designing and printing of the stamp was rushed to meet the deadline. Only six days expired between the engraving and printing. Since the printing consisted of two colors, the paper needed to be fed twice through the printing press. This printing process had resulted in errors before (in 1869 and 1910) and the result was that several sheets of these first Air Mail stamps were misprinted, with the blue Jenny airplane inverted or upside down. Officials discovered the error and destroyed all of the misprinted sheets they could find. One sheet of the 100 stamps (the only one known of so far), however, got through unnoticed. Soon, news of the misprints got out and collectors went in droves too their post offices in the hope of finding the “Inverted Jenny” error sheet. A collector by the name of W.T. Robey went to his local post office on May 14 and was the lucky one. Details of that event are rather uncertain, but after spiriting away his lucky discovery, he contacted several stamp dealers and newspapers to announce his find. The first recorded sale was between Robey and a Philadelphia dealer, Eugene Klein, for the sum of $15,000 for the sheet. Klein, in return, sold it immediately to “Colonel” H.R. Green for $20,000.

On advice of the dealer, Green broke up the sheet into a block of eight stamps, block of four with the plate number center, a block of four with center lines and separated the rest into individual stamps.

This number block of four Inverted Jenny stamps was purchased by U.S. financier Bill Gross for $2,970,000 in October of 2005.

Later, Gross traded the block with Donald Sundham, president of Mystic Stamp Company, for one of only two known examples of US 1867 1¢ Franklin “Z” Grill (Scott #85A).

The story of the “Upside Down Jenny” evolved over the years. In recently years, the unique number block of four stamps was purchased by a unanimous buyer for $2,970,000 in October of 2005. Later, it was revealed that the buyer was U.S. financier Bill Gross. Shortly thereafter, he entered into an agreement to swap the block of four stamps with Donald Sundham, president of Mystic Stamp Company, for one of only two known examples of US 1867 1¢ Franklin “Z” Grill (Scott #85A), as the value of both are about the same. By completing this trade, this, Gross became the owner of the only complete collection of 19th-century United States stamps. (The other 1867 1¢ Franklin “Z” Grill stamp is owned by the New York Public Library and is part of the Benjamin Miller Collection).

On June 18 of this year, Robert Siegel Auction Galleries, held an auction of “Rarities” and one of the items was a 24¢ “Inverted Jenny.” The opening sales price for the mint, never hinged stamp was set at $ 850,000. To the frustration of the auctioneer, no bids materialized. The auction still ended on a somewhat happy note. A potential buyer had forgotten about the sale and was on a bicycle ride. He contacted Siegel and was eager to buy the stamp for the starting price plus 15-percent buyer’s fee.

It is believed that seven of the 100 stamps were lost or destroyed, either through theft or mishandling.

If you are looking to fill your Air Mail collection, an example of a regular #C3 1918 24¢ Curtiss Jenny stamp can be had for about $100 on the low end and a mint sheet of 100 can still be had for upwards of $18,000.

Tonny Van Loij is a Worthologist who specializes in stamps and philately. He is a member of national and international stamp societies and Gold award-winning stamp exhibitor.

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WorthPoint—Discover Your Hidden Wealth

A Scott US #91 Abraham Lincoln 15¢ black stamp, when originally printed in 1868, sold originally for 15 cents—a large sum for postage then. Today’s catalogue value for this stamp $13,500, mint condition.

I first became interested in stamps at the age of 9. Like many, I had a childhood stamp collection and as I grew older, my enthusiasm for stamps has never waned and I have been collecting ever since. But what about those stamp collections, started by your grandfather or uncle, that has been sitting in the attic for all these years. Could it possible hold a hidden gem?

I’m here to say that yes, it could contain a stamp or post card that is very valuable in today’s market. You’ll never know until you pull it out and take a look.

Over the last three years, I have been privileged to appraise many stamp collections that were handed over the years from family member to family members. Most of the recipients have no idea where to start in establishing the value of these collections. Not every collection contains a hidden treasure, however now and then I come across one and am honored to be able to break the news to the lucky owner.

Now, this may be a good time to step back and explain a few things: First off, there is a specific code that identifies every stamp ever issued. Every stamp issued by a country receives a catalogue number according to date of issue. Sometimes a set of stamps is issued over a long period of time and numbers are saved until date of issue and then used consecutively.

Second, the value of stamps—like everything else in the collecting world—hinges on the condition of the stamp in question. All “classic” stamps issued between 1840-1940 are graded as follows: Fine; Fine-Very-Fine; Very Fine; and Extremely Fine (close to perfection). These terms are used when stamps are perfect, little off center on one or more sides, etc. There is no uniform set grading system. Not every dealer or specialist will come to the same exact conclusion.

So, back to those hidden gems. I recently attended a National Stamp Show as an appraiser and I came across a real gem. The stamp in question was Scott US #91 Abraham Lincoln 15¢ black. This stamp, when originally printed in 1868 sold originally for 15 cents. Today’s catalogue value for this stamp $13,500, mint condition.

At another occasion, the gem happened to be an old postal card—Scott catalog UX #17 The cards were priced at 2¢. These cards where preprinted for large mailings by private companies. The postal cards in question where recalled, however, two of them got somehow in the mail. After the authenticity was confirmed—the item was in the collection passed on to my client from his grandfather. The catalogue value is $ 2,900 recently sold for $3,800. According to my notes (appraisal) the company that had them originally printed was Booth, Dailey & Ivins, a garbage company in New York, and one of the two that got away was mailed on Oct 14, 1902.

Now, before you start planning everything you’re going to buy with the profits from Grandpa’s collection, be warned that these examples are the exception. Still, a typical collection can be worth between $500 and $7,500, and even more so if you get lucky.

If you have stamps or a collection that you are interested in having evaluated you can contact me through WorthPoint’s Ask a Worthologist service. You never know . . . you could be the owner of a hidden gem and just need me to tell you.

Tonny Van Loij is a Worthologist who specializes in stamps and philately. He is a member of national and international stamp societies and Gold award-winning stamp exhibitor.

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WorthPoint—Discover Your Hidden Wealth

This portrait of a German woman in oil on canvas is in good condition regarding age, with some scratches on frame and one small restoration on canvas. It is dated 1897.

There is a small strip of paper glued to the back (written in German) detailing the artist’s vitals – born in 1848 and died in 1917.

This column continues my response to a request from Steve Dennis of Orlando, Fla. for a few insider tips that would help him decide whether to buy an oil painting that he might find at a garage/yard sale or flea market for resale. Steve wants to buy low and sell high in a short period of time.

I encourage auctioneers, collectors, dealers, and others to develop a quick sort mentality, i.e., divided objects quickly into a small number of categories, to deal with the infinite variety of items in the antiques and collectibles field. In the case of oil paintings, I use six groups: (1) paint-by-number artists, (2) starving/hack artists, (3) department/furniture store art, (4) self-taught amateurs, (5) local artists with some academic training (emphasis on “some”), (6) and professionally trained artists. I discussed the first five groups in Part 1 of this column.

Most collectors focus on works by professionally trained artists, i.e., those artists who are documented in art texts and whose works are included in museum collections. This sixth group divides into four subgroups: (a) copyists, (b) portraitists, (c) realist painters, and (d) abstract painters.

Copyists: Copying masterpieces by academically trained artists is a centuries-old practice. Thousands of copies flooded into the American art market between the 1870s and 1920s. There is a viable secondary market for these copies, many done by well-trained artists. Do not confuse these exact copies of period art with paintings done by contemporary artists in the style of a famous artist. The market for these latter works is very limited.

Portraitists: Early American portraits, i.e., portraits dating prior to 1820, have appeal. Many fall within the folk art category. Portraits painted after 1820 are tough sells unless the subject is known (ideally someone famous regionally or nationally), the painting has an unusual feature, e.g., a person holding a dog or recognized landscape scene in the background, or is by a famous artist, e.g., Whistler, William Merritt Chase, etc.

Realist Painters: Most collectors favor realistic paintings, generic landscape and town scenes that speak period and are highly decorative. The artist is the key. Name counts more than aesthetics. It is a market where artists float in and out of favor. When researching value, use only sales records from the past three to five years.

Abstract Painters: While pre-1960 abstract art has stood the test of time, more recent abstract art has not. The current economic crisis has greatly tempered prices in the post-1960 modern art market, especially for contemporary painters. Many contemporary artists change styles as they respond to shifts in taste. Always consider if the style of the artist is in or out of vogue.

It is time to return to the hunt. Never buy a painting that is not signed. Ideally, the signature should contain a first and last name (a middle initial is a plus), initials (three is better than two), or one or two initials and a last name. A date is a bonus. Many artists provide title and/or location information via a label on the back of the frame or painted directly on the canvas, a major aid in researching the artist and piece.

Examine the signature area closely to determine if the signature began life as part of the painting or was added later. If the signature area appears disturbed in anyway, be suspicious. The varnish surface surrounding the signature should be identical to that over the signature. The quality of the signature should match that of the painting. If the signature appears above the surface varnish, it is false.

My favorite story involves an abstract painting that I saw at an appraisal clinic in Nashville, Tenn. The signature on the painting was Monet. When asked if it was authentic, my response was “to the best of my knowledge Monet never signed his paintings with a felt tip pen.”

Be suspicious of all oil paintings that have a 3-by-5-inch to 8-by-10-inch preprinted biography on the back, especially if the biography is about a European artist for whom you can find little to no information. Most of these artists are not as well-known as their biographies imply.

Also, never buy any oil painting (or print for that matter) purchased at auction on a cruise ship. This art rarely sells for more than ten cents on the dollar in the secondary market. The art is over-hyped, and the purchase price is elevated by professional shills in the audience.

This large Modernist oil of “Times Square in New York City” was painted by George Schwacha in 1960, which puts it right on the edge of the time frame where the prices for these kinds of contemporary pieces can tumble.

The signature by George Schwacha.

Avoid all oil paintings that are damaged or show heavy signs of repainting or repairs on the back of the canvas. You are not in the painting restoration business. However, if the surface image is dark, the pigments show minimal age cracking, and the canvas is strong, you might want to take a chance. Usually, surface darkness means the varnish has darkened. If all that has to be done to revitalize the painting is remove and replace the old varnish, a purchase might be a worthwhile gamble. Do not attempt to remove or replace the varnish. Have it done by a professional.

Examine the quality of the frame. If the frame is high quality and has aging characteristics that suggest it is 75 years old or older, it improves the chances that the oil painting it contains has strong value. Older paintings can be reframed. Modern copies are put into older frames to make them appear older than they are. Every rule has exceptions.

The frame itself can have value. In the case of many late nineteenth and early twentieth century genre oil paintings, the frame often is worth more than the painting. This assumes the frame has no or minimal damage. If the frame is heavily damaged, discount it from a value point of view but still use it to assess the potential age of the oil painting it contains.

The key information you need is whether or not the artist has a viable secondary market. This market needs to be firmly established and extend over a minimum period of five or more years. The fastest way to check is via an Internet search. Today’s phone technology allows you to conduct a search while standing in front of the oil painting that you are considering buying.

Do a general search before turning to specialized websites. Be creative with name searches. Although an artist may use initials for a first or middle name, the key to finding the artist on the web is to know the full name. In some cases, the first and last name is the key, skipping the middle name even if know.

A number of specialized websites provide auction records of art sales. Most are subscription driven. Artfact.com allows you free access to one year’s worth of records. It is a great offer and worth utilizing. Other sites allow two to five free searches. Use these wisely.

Often there is more than one artist with the same name. When this occurs, seek out images of the artist’s work. If the work’s style does not conform to the oil painting you are seeing, it is most likely not by that artist.

A Still Life of Fish and Lobster,” by Alexander Dalziel (1781-1832), oil on canvas. The painting is signed and dated 1827.

When considering buying an oil painting at a garage/yard sale or flea market, you do not have time to run to your local art museum or library to check out the artists in their reference books and auction sales catalogs. You need to make a decision on the spot. Sellers will not hold a painting until you come back. You must make a yes or not decision on the spot. Library research is an after the purchase activity.

Think auction rather than gallery or private sale if the goal is to turn the oil painting quickly. Do not dismiss eBay. EBay has proven to be a great market for decorative and regional art. After checking eBay past auction results and discovering similar paintings sold well, use it.

If your painting is by a regional artist, then sell it at a middle range auction house in its area of its origin. Otherwise, send it to a middle-level house near a large metropolitan area. One always dreams of a find that is sold at Christie’s or Sotheby’s. However, unless it is a top of the line piece, it will be buried within the sale. Better to be a star in an auction at a lesser house than a peon in an auction at a major house. Today I recommend to clients that they sell at auction houses that have active Internet bidding during the sale. Follow this advice.

Finally, be prepared to make mistakes. You will. View them as tuition. Buying art on the fly is a learned experience, emphasis on “learned.” Once you completed the learning process, you have the one thing that counts more than any other when making the decision to buy or not to buy—your gut.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out his Web site.

You can listen and participate in “WHATCHA GOT?,” Harry’s antiques-and-collectibles radio call-in show on Sunday mornings between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Eastern Time. It streams live on the Genesis Communications Network.

“SELL, KEEP OR TOSS? HOW TO DOWNSIZE A HOME, SETTLE AN ESTATE, AND APPRAISE PERSONAL PROPERTY” (House of Collectibles, an imprint of the Random House Information Group), Harry’s latest book, is available at your favorite bookstore and via Harry’s Web site http://www.harryrinker.com.

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the 20th century. Selected letters will be answered on this site. Harry cannot provide personal answers. Photos and other material submitted cannot be returned. Send your questions to: Rinker on Collectibles, 5093 Vera Cruz Road, Emmaus, PA 18049. You also can e-mail your questions to harrylrinker [at] aol [dot] com. Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered. Please indicate that these are questions for WorthPoint.

Copyright © Rinker Enterprises, Inc. 2009

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The same kind of loose language approach has developed in the language of antique furniture. We have come to use proper names to describe a class or type of furniture and the use of these names have become so commonplace that sometimes the real people behind the generic names no longer exist. But I’m not talking about generally descriptive names that denote a large class or style of furniture, like Georgian or even George III. The Louis XV and Victorian labels fall in that same category. Even Chippendale and Eastlake fit here, but all these terms relate to a particular period or stylistic element.

I am referring to that select group of people for whom a very specific form of furniture has been named and the appellation has become so useful as to be generic. When you use the term no further explanation is necessary. Here are some examples of some generic uses of the names of real people.

Murphy Bed: In today’s market, almost any folding bed is called a “Murphy bed.” It is the Kleenex of beds. However, most folding beds are not Murphy beds at all. Murphy patented his first bed in 1900. Folding cabinet beds were very popular in the last quarter of the 19th century, well before Murphy was old enough to invent things.

This is a folding cabinet bed, not a Murphy bed.

Gov. Winthrop Desk: The story goes that the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 17th century, real man named John Winthrop, had a desk like this. Winthrop was born in England in 1588 and died in the Colony in 1649. This was at least 50 years before the drop front desk appeared in England and about 100 years before Thomas Chippendale gave it the famous form that commonly bears the governor’s name. In other words, Gov. Winthrop did not have a desk like this. So who is responsible for the name given to the form of the drop front desk? The Winthrop Furniture Company of Boston has that honor. The company introduced a new model of the desk in 1924 and called it the “Gov. Winthrop,” a clever play on words that has polluted the trade vocabulary for more than 80 years.

The real name for this form is not “Gov. Winthrop.” It is called a bookcase/secretary.

Breuer (not Brewer) Chair: This is the ubiquitous, bent chrome chair with separate seat and back, usually caned in modern pressed cane or “Viennese weaving,” as Marcel Breuer, the designer called it. Breuer was born in Hungary in 1902 and became an important part of the German Bauhaus school of design in the 1920s, where he helped shift the focus from “Arts & Crafts” to “Arts & Technology.” After stops in Paris and London, Breuer came to America in 1937, where his architectural skill was in the forefront for many years. The most reproduced of his works is the bent chrome chair, design #B32, but his most famous chair is the “Wassily” chair, #B3.

Beau Brummel: This a common name given to a form of dressing table made popular in late 18th century France when men paid as much or more attention to their dress and make up as women did. The form was actually known as a “poudreuse” meaning “powder” in French, or, in French slang, “duster of the man,” referring to the generous use of face powder in make up. It was a very rare example of the combination of an attached mirror and wooden case in the 18th century. Fixed mirrors were not usually a part of the dressing table until the early 19th century. The popularization of the poudreuse predated the heyday of the celebrated English dandy, George Bryan Brummel, 1778-1840, by several decades, but his name became associated with the form merely because of his notoriety.

This is a French poudreuse, commonly called a “Beau Brummel.”

Pembroke Table: The true origin of this form of drop leaf table is rather vague, but most people conveniently attribute it to the Countess of Pembroke, who reportedly ordered the first one in the 1750s or 1760s. Who actually designed it is up for further discussion, but Thomas Sheraton was so impressed he called it the universal table and Chippendale introduced one of the first designs with a drawer in 1766. It has been continuously produced for over 250 years and no matter what the style it is always called a “Pembroke.”

Sutherland Table: This last example is a variation of the Pembroke table. It has a flat middle section so narrow as to be unusable as a table until one or both of its deep drop leaves are opened. It was introduced in 1850, almost exactly100 years after the Pembroke form came to light and, interestingly enough, this form of table was named after Harriet Sutherland, who just coincidentally happened to be the Duchess of Pembroke at the time.

A Sutherland table with a very narrow top is also sometimes called a “tuckaway” table.

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Fred Taylor is a Worthologist who specializes in American furniture from the Late Classicism period (1830-1850).

Visit Fred’s website at www.furnituredetective.com. His book “How To Be A Furniture Detective” is now available for $18.95 plus $3 shipping. Send check or money order for $21.95 to Fred Taylor, PO Box 215, Crystal River, FL 34423.

Fred and Gail Taylor’s DVD, “Identification of Older & Antique Furniture,” ($17 + $3 S&H) and a bound compilation of the first 60 columns of “Common Sense Antiques,” by Fred Taylor ($25 + $3 S&H) are also available at the same address.

For more information call 800-387-6377, fax 352-563-2916, or e-mail info [at] furnituredetective [dot] com.

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Ideally, there are several important pieces of information that a truly enlightening tag should carry, but that is seldom the case. Those tidbits of information should include the form of the piece, the style, the wood, the age, any embellishments or unusual features, attribution (the maker or manufacturer) if known, and of course, the price.

Form: This seems self explanatory, but the real names of objects can enhance their value and add to the buyer’s overall knowledge. There is a difference between a vanity, a dresser and a chest with a mirror, and they are important. A canterbury is a much nicer name than “old magazine rack,” and a nice Arts and Crafts piece should be called a “settle” instead of a couch. Form does count.

Style: In some cases, the style is not important or indeterminate, but that is not often the case. Correct identification of the style can help verify the age or origin of a piece and may even help support the price. Mislabeling of styles is commonplace, and the most common error is the use of the term “Victorian.” Victorian is used to refer to the era between 1837 and 1901 when Victoria reigned as Queen of England. It was an age, not a style. There were a myriad of styles, most of them “revivals,” during the Victorian era and they were all different. You can get style points for correct identification.

Wood: This is perhaps the most difficult category for most people, dealers and buyers alike. It really can be difficult to tell old brown mahogany from walnut or old air-dried red walnut from mahogany. How many people can actually tell the difference between oak, elm and ash? Many people think all light woods are pine and all red woods are cherry. Actually, there are only about seven basic woods and their sub-families commonly used in furniture. They are walnut, mahogany, cherry, oak, maple, pine and the close-grain fillers like gum, poplar and birch. Correct wood identification can often verify the authenticity of a period piece.

The tag says “Solid mahogany chest…” Open up the first drawer and take a look at the joinery. The fact that the drawer is veneered is indicated by the light colored line at the rear of the dovetail. That is the fifth layer of veneer in the lumber plywood drawer front.

Age: This is a key piece of information and goes directly to the heart of what is an antique and what is just old furniture. Since very few pieces actually have dates on them (there are a few), dating to a specific year is almost impossible and most people settle for a range of years or a “period.” Use of the word “circa,” meaning about, covers up a lot of uncertainty but is perfectly acceptable in narrowing down the possibilities to just a few years. Its use is preferable to a strictly arbitrary date without substantial supporting evidence.

The tag says “Early 1800’s Eastlake...” Unlikely. Charles Locke Eastlake was an English architect whose book, “Hints on Household Taste,” was published in 1865 and his style was not popular until the 1870s.

The tag says “200-year-old, hand-carved Renaissance Revival bed...” Renaissance Revival was mid-19th century. It has another 50 years to go before it could be 200 years old, and most RR furniture was factory made, not hand carved.

Embellishments: Items that might be missed altogether or need to have special attention drawn to them fall in this category. Hidden document drawers or concealed spaces are common embellishments. Signatures, date stamps, patent dates and foundry emblems are all examples of embellishments or special features. So are working locks with original keys, original hardware and original old glass.

The tag says “Hand-carved oak headboard...” The tiny nails in the “carvings” attest to the fact that they are applied molding.

Attribution: It is impossible to attribute most older and antique furniture to a specific person or company, but some pieces are marked, and if they are, that should be noted. Even later manufacturers’ labels are important. A Kittinger mahogany chair is certainly more interesting than just a chair, and a Berkey & Gay emblem can double the selling price of an early 20th-century bedroom set. Even proper regional or geographical attributions such as “Appalachian” or “Grand Rapids” can add interest and value to a piece.

Price: Naturally, an informative tag should carry the price of the piece. Sometimes it is written in code so that you have to ask the proprietor, thus initiating a conversation about the piece, but my guess is that this strategy quells as many sales as it makes. If a piece is fairly marked and the price is adequately supported by the evidence of all the preceding information, then the owner’s asking price should be clearly displayed on the tag.

These are the major things that should be on an informative furniture tag. Just a few facts can turn “tagging”—going antiquing just to read the labels—into a hobby all by itself. Enjoy.

Fred Taylor is a Worthologist who specializes in American furniture from the Late Classicism period (1830-1850).

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Visit Fred’s website at www.furnituredetective.com. His book “How To Be A Furniture Detective” is now available for $18.95 plus $3 shipping. Send check or money order for $21.95 to Fred Taylor, PO Box 215, Crystal River, FL 34423.

Fred and Gail Taylor’s DVD, “Identification of Older & Antique Furniture,” ($17 + $3 S&H) and a bound compilation of the first 60 columns of “Common Sense Antiques,” by Fred Taylor ($25 + $3 S&H) are also available at the same address.

For more information call 800-387-6377, fax 352-563-2916, or e-mail info [at] furnituredetective [dot] com.

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Our Fighting Forces #158. A week after ordering on GoAntiques, I have my comic and am quite happy. I have my comic in hand and, to my delight, it is in the described condition. I am now going into a collector's fit, wherein I need to own all the DC Kirby war comics.

About a month ago, I wrote about browsing through GoAntiques, looking at some Bronze-age Jack Kirby war comic (read Testing the GoAntiques Waters – Buying a Comic Book Part I). I had not, at the time, purchased anything from a GoAntiques vendor, but I found several Our Fighting Forces comics and was smitten. I was even more so when I discovered an issue of Our Fighting Forces #158. At the time, I wrote that I was going to knuckle under and order it, and I promised I’d let you know how the whole process with GoAntiques went. Well, I’m here to report.

A week after ordering, I have my comic and am quite happy. Payment was easy and ran a little differently than other auction/shopping sites I have experienced. I agreed to purchase the comic, at which point an e-mail is sent to the seller to make sure the item is in stock. It’s not until the seller responds saying the comic is available that the buyer is asked to pay for the item, which I did using PayPal. There were credit card options offered as well. Shipping is decided by the seller, and most shipping rates can be found in the descriptions of the items. Six days later I had my comic and, to my delight, it was in the described condition, which has now sent me into a collector’s fit, wherein I need to own all the DC Kirby war comics. It’s a condition I’ll have to live with for the time being but one I’ll be satiating with the new hardcover collection of Kirby’s The Losers.

All-in-all, I found my GoAntiques experience to be a good one, with good communication from seller and a product that was represented very well. My criticisms come not with the site, but that some of the sellers are listing items for ridiculous prices. Now, of course, their will always be the school of thought amongst retailers and collectors both that the Overstreet Guide should be used as the bible of comic pricing, not just a “guide” to pricing comics. A theory that, in my opinion, only makes sense for the seller. It would be nice if we could all get top-dollar for our comics, but the truth of the matter is there is a real-world market out there that doesn’t pay much attention to the price guides. It seems that sites like eBay have become the ultimate nullifier to the comic price guide by showing what actual people are paying for comics new and old. Just because your price guide says a comic is worth $200 doesn’t mean you will be able to find a buyer willing to pay that price.

I would argue that GoAntiques could do a better job suggesting prices for sellers, or perhaps allow sellers to list similar books along side each other to allow buyers to pick their price along with their condition. Also, a feedback or reputation score for each seller would help with buyer’s confidence. In recent months, sites like eBay have tightened restrictions on their feedback policies watering down their meaning even more and perhaps GoAntiques would run into similar problems in the future. However, I did find it a little nerve-racking clicking the buy button not knowing how the seller I was buying from grades their comics. As I said earlier, I was happy, but the experience could’ve been even scarier had I been purchasing a $100 comic with no real knowledge of the seller.

Matt Baum is a Worthologist who specializes in comic books.

WorthPoint—Discover Your Hidden Wealth

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Lincoln purchased this English Fusee Lever, key wind, circa1850, housed in an engraved 18K hunter case in Springfield, Ill., and was one of the few possessions he brought with him to Washington.

Jonathan Dillon, working for a watchmaker, was repairing Lincoln’s watch when word reached Washington about the beginning of the Civil War. Dillon inscribed on an interior plate “April 13 - 1861,” and “Fort Sumpter (sic) was attacked by the rebels on the above date.” Another part reads, “Thank God we have a government.”

I came across this article today, which was posted by the Associated Press yesterday. Since it is about Abraham Lincoln’s watch, I was drawn to this story immediately.

It tells the story of a man, Jonathan Dillon, who was working in a watch shop in Washington and was repairing President Lincoln’s watch when word of the South’s attack on Fort Sumter reached the capital. Dillon, the only Union supporter in the shop, picked up a sharp tool and inscribed a series of notes supporting the president. To read the story, click here.

In just about every photograph of Abraham Lincoln, his watch chain is visible. And in artists’ renderings of the 16th president, the chain also appears, as in the statues of Lincoln in Cleveland, Ohio, and in the Lincoln Memorial (below).

The watch is a typical English Fusee Lever, key wind, circa1850, housed in a beautifully engraved 18K Hunter Case. Sold by an Illinois jeweler, the watch had to be imported from England because at the time, the American watch industry was in its infancy. Relatively few American watches were available until 1857, after the founding of the Waltham Watch Co.

This is a high-quality English Lever Fusee manufactured in Liverpool, England, is full jeweled (15-16 jewels), with all the technological achievements available at the time. Watches of this caliber were equipped with a bi-metallic chronometer balance wheel, fully compensated, and adjusted for temperature and positions. The number of jewels, type of balance wheel, number of adjustments, and the composition of the metal used in the watch casement were all custom ordered by the jeweler.

Lincoln’s son Robert mentioned having his father’s watches as late as 1910, and passed at least two along to his children. One watch was given to a museum in Kentucky. The other was donated by Lincoln’s great-great-grandson, along with other Lincoln belongings, to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958.

A gold-cased beauty, it was stamped as coming from the George Chatterton jewelers in Springfield, Ill., where Lincoln was known to shop. Watches of this nature are classified as “contract watches,” with American names engraved upon their plates and dials. They were in fact manufactured in Europe or the United Kingdom. Lincoln’s watch was indeed a very expensive item for the day, being housed in a robust, 18 karat closed face, or hunting case, beautifully engraved with scrolls, leaves and flowers on an engine turned background.

The watch is key wound, as the technical achievement of stem winding was still in the future. The watch is also equipped with its original period gold vest chain, a “Hen’s Tooth” pocket watch vest chain is usually the first part of a watch ensemble to become worn, broken and discarded, along with the key, which apparently has gone missing. Somewhere out there is a watch key that has the intimate touch of Abraham Lincoln (for everyday he wound this watch) lying in a box of junk, just waiting to be discovered!

The cursive etching under the dial on this watch is quite unusual, especially in its personal nature. Watchmakers during this period typically would insert a small piece of round paper inside the back cover advertising his business and penciled in the date of repair, much like the decal inserted on your windshield after an oil change. These are called “Watch Papers” and are highly collectible. This was done by the watchmaker as documented proof of his workmanship, and was later was replaced by a small cursive etching on the inside cover of the watch.

I have personally dismantled literally hundreds of watches, and have NEVER seen anything like this etching; it is quite unique! It is not the place of a watchmaker, in the process of repairing a watch, to engrave a personal message on or in the watch. Imagine your auto mechanic scratching a message on the underside of the hood! You would be horrified to discover this desecration! I’m not so sure ‘ole Abe would have appreciated it either! But, in this particular instance, we have to thank Jonathan Dillon for this very unprofessional indiscretion; it has made an interesting and historic relic all the more interesting and historic!

David Mycko is a Worthologist who specializes in watches.

WorthPoint—Discover Your Hidden Wealth

Early single hand ring watch, circa 1615.

Queen Elizabeth I is said to have worn one. One of the first people known to have worn a watch on the wrist was the noted French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal (1623-1662). He attached his pocket watch to his wrist with cord. Queen Marie Antoinette also was known to have started a style of “wrist watch” by wrapping the gold chain of her lavaliere watch around her wrist instead of around her neck. She subsequently commissioned a diamond-encrusted “bracelet watch.” This new style went out along with her head.

Early gentleman’s pocket timepiece Windmills London, circa 1665.

A close-up view of the dial on the Windmill single hour hand and alarm hand.

Gem-encrusted wrist watches worn by royalty made more frequent appearances in the mid 1800s, but only women wore them. They were very expensive, custom made contrivances requiring miniscule high-tech mechanisms. While their timekeeping was marginal at best, it was considered inconsequential, as “women of leisure don’t need accurate timepieces.”

A pair of jewel-encrusted Key Wind bracelet for Empress Josephine, circa 1806.

The concept of the wristwatch gained acceptance despite the “feminine” association due to the military’s need for an accurate, durable, easily viewed timepiece as warfare became more mechanized. The ability to read time with a quick glance was critical in battle. A lost, broken or fragile pocket watch could prove disastrous to the military timetable. By World War I, the U.S. Army began to request “strap watches” of the preeminent makers. The term “strap watch” was an alternate term intended to distinguish these watches from the effeminate “wristwatch.” Strap watches became especially crucial to aerial combat operations, as timing in navigation and landing is critical. Demand for “strap watches” in warfare grew, and more rugged timepieces were introduced. Hans Wilsdorf established the Rolex watch, based upon this very need. He also went on to produce highly accurate women’s wrist watches.

LeCoultre 1917 military issue.

Wristwatches still did not see widespread public use until the 1920s, or even 1930s. Before that, men still tended to regard the wristwatch as inherently feminine. After World War I, that perception slowly began to change. But it was a long process.

— Frederic J. Freidberg, “The Illinois Watch”

The “wrist watch” lent itself much more readily to the current styles of the day than the pocket watch, being more prominently visible and malleable in form. The watch companies of the day were quick to “jump on the bandwagon” of this new style watch, and several companies distinguished themselves with their unique creations. The Illinois Watch Co. was in the vanguard of this movement, but too late to save itself from bankruptcy; it was subsequently bought out by the Hamilton Watch Co.

Gentleman’s 1940s Hamilton in 14K gold.

Hamilton was quick to pick up the gauntlet and produced hundreds of differently styled wristwatches, all with high-grade mechanisms. The Gruen Watch Co. was close behind, also producing many different styles and models at the cutting edge of style and technology. Dietrich Gruen, a German nationalized citizen, founder of the Gruen Watch co. and the Columbus Watch Co. invented a new and different style of wristwatch mechanism called the “Curvex.” This innovative wristwatch movement lent itself to a more ergodynamic wrist watch case and was immensely popular. Elgin and Waltham also produced good wristwatches, but were nowhere near as successful as Gruen and Hamilton.

But soon the American watch companies were subsequently “run over” by the Swiss watch revolution. Longines, Omega, LeCoultre, Bulova and plethora of sundry watch companies commandeered and dominated the wristwatch market, until the Japanese watch revolution, which was led by Seiko.

The “top end” of the wristwatch market was and is dominated by Patek Philippe, Vacheron & Constantin, Audemars Piguet, and finally Rolex, the king of the Sport Model Wrist Watch. Tiffany and Cartier are the top of the “bling” heap, but do not actually produce watches; they contract with actual watch manufacturers to make watches for them according to their design.

American watch companies have long since disappeared and exist today in name only, incorporated into Swiss Firms. Today, the major Swiss watch firms are all incorporated under a government-controlled umbrella corporation called Swiss Watch Specialties, Inc. This newly formed organization was a result of the Japanese watch revolution of the 1960s-’70s. Nearly all of the old established and previously successful Swiss watch companies floundered under the Japanese competition, and were all on the brink of failure until the Swiss government got involved. The advent of the Swatch finally turned the tide and put the Swiss watch industry back on an even playing field. But, that’s another story.

By the mid 1930s men’s “strap watches” became “wristwatches” without the feminine association, although they were still believed to be a passing fad; much less respectable than the traditional and “manly” pocket watch. Heavy use of the men’s wristwatch during World War II finally earned it a ubiquitous ranking in American culture. In 1914, when a wristwatch was shown at an exhibit in Switzerland, it was called “just a passing fancy.” Today, this “passing fancy” is the number-one jewelry item in the world. About 80 million watches are made around the world each year.

David Mycko is a Worthologist who specializes in watches.

WorthPoint—Discover Your Hidden Wealth

Beloved and coveted by so many little and not so little girls—the average age of female collectors is 40—the beauteous and curvaceous Barbie was born March 9, 1959. That was the day she was first introduced at the American International Toy Fair in New York.

She was conceived, so to speak, a few years earlier. Paper dolls had been popular for a long time. In the 19th century, you had your Dottie Dimple and Jessie Jingle. McCall’s magazine had Betsy McCall. In the 1950s, you cut out clothes and dressed actresses June Allyson and Jane Powell.

Ruth Handler, co-founder of the Mattel toy company, saw her daughter eschewing baby dolls in favor of the grownup paper cutouts, and that got Handler thinking. Maybe the toy world was ready for something different. Touring Europe in 1956, the eureka light bulb went on in Handler’s head when she saw Bild Lilli, a curvy, bosomy doll based on a comic-strip character.

Back in the States, she and engineer Jack Ryan designed a similar adult-looking toy, named it Barbie after Handler’s daughter, Barbara, and voilà, history was made.

1959 Barbies on exhibit in Prague

The popularity of Barbie and company—boyfriend Ken, girlfriends Midge, Stacy, Cara, Lea, the list goes on and on and includes many, many pets—is staggering. According to Mattel, more than a billion Barbies have been sold in some 150 countries at the rate of three per second.

What accounts for this success? Barbie Worthologist Melissa Musselman says, “Barbie was about being popular, about being glamorous. Girls pretended to be that doll with all the fun clothes, the cars, friends, boyfriend and roles to play.”

Early Barbie and Ken shown at a Washington state museum. Photo by Joe Mabel.

1961 Barbie and Ken fashion booklet

To get details on the fashion booklet, visit GoAntiques.

That has translated today into tens of thousands of Barbie collectors.

Shari Caudron, author of “Who Are You People?” (Barricade Books), wrote about attending a Barbie convention and being mystified by the fervor and delight the collectors took in the doll. Then she saw a vintage Barbie, the first— Teenage Fashion Model—and got excited because she remembered her sisters playing with one.

“Oddly,” Caudron related, “I find myself a little thrilled to recognize the doll. I confess this to Sandi [Holder, owner of the Doll Attic]. She laughs. ‘That’s what Barbie is all about,’ she says. ‘It’s about reliving good memories and helping people get back a bit of their childhood.’”

She's in the Army Barbie

Inside Barbie's Friend Ship

If you’re interested in learning about this Army Barbie, click here and here for Barbie’s Friend Ship.

And there are A LOT of different Barbies to collect. Over the years, this has not been a gal afraid of changing professions. Barbie surgeon, career girl, art teacher, aerobics instructor, NASCAR driver, 1976 Olympics gold medalist in gymnastics (which probably came as a surprise to Nadia Comaneci, who took three golds, and Nellie Kim, who won two), Barbie in the army. Why, there was an Astronaut Barbie four years before Neil Armstrong took that one small step for man on the moon. And she’s run for president three times—take that Hillary Rodham Clinton. (Barbie’s platform? World peace, aiding the impoverished and homeless, and caring for animals. That could have been her answers in the Miss America pageant, which she apparently won in 1974.)

All the many incarnations of Barbie over the years, of course, came with numerous accessories and outfits—all the better for collectors.

1968 party outfit

Vintage Barbie straw bag

Vintage Barbie Ballerina tutu

For more information on the party outfit, click here. On the vintage handbag, click here, and the tutu, here.

Despite all the doll’s wonderful attributes, Barbie has not been controversy free. That first swim-suited fashion model had measurements the equivalent of 39-18-33. (Two actresses who came close to those proportions were Jayne Mansfield (40-21-36) and Sophia Loren (38-24-38), though both were obviously a lot hippier.) Some people felt Barbie’s figure gave little girls an unrealistic ideal. She eventually got a little wider around the waist and not quite as big across the chest.

Then there was book that accompanied Slumber Party Barbie—“How to Lose Weight.” “Don’t eat” was the answer. Oops.

And what could Mattel have been thinking when it came out with Oreo Fun Barbie? There were Caucasian and black versions. In Mattel’s defense, this was a promotion with Nabisco. Still, it didn’t go over well in the black community because Oreo was an unflattering term used to describe someone “black on the outside and white on the inside.”

Then there was the pregnant Midge with a little removable pouch that contained newborn Nikki. Despite Midge being married, there was enough of an uproar that Wal-Mart discontinued selling it.

1988 Cool Times Midge

Cool Midge can be found on GoAntiques.

Of course, some of the criticism has bordered on just plain silly. A researcher in Finland, with nothing better to do, calculated that Barbie did not have enough body fat to menstruate. Get a grip. Barbie is a toy.

As one enthusiast said to Shari Caudron, “Anything that allows us to play is a good thing, and I don’t know why people are so critical of Barbie sometimes. I mean, I can’t believe it when people say Barbie is bad for a girl’s self-image. That’s ridiculous. It’s a doll. Kids know that. It’s adults that make Barbie a problem. In the 1960s, America was barely in space, and there was already an Astronaut Barbie. How can that be bad for kids?”

1971 Malibu Barbie

A newer version of Malibu Barbie comes with sunblock. Click here to find out more about 1971 Barbie.

Whatever your opinion of America’s perkiest and leggiest sweetheart, there’s no denying she’s brought a lot of joy to a lot of people. To celebrate her Big Five-0, from March 9 to 14, Mattel is selling a “throwback” Barbie in her original zebra-print swimsuit at the 1959 price of three bucks. And it’s throwing a Barbie bash in a 3,500-square-foot, human-size Barbie Malibu Dream House. Among other festivities will be the Barbie Beauty Pageant at the SideBAR in New York. Contestants will dress up as their favorite Barbie and prance along the bar.

An artist's depiction of a naturally aged 50-year-old Barbie

So here’s looking at you, Babs. Many happy returns.

Sandra Lee Stuart led a deprived childhood without a single Barbie doll, which may be why she can’t accessorize to this day.

WorthPoint—Discover Your Hidden Wealth

About once a year, some small circus would make its way to Council Grove, Kan., and when it did a circus-dazzled kid named Larry Kellogg—now WorthPoint’s expert on circus collectibles, antiques and memorabilia—would be there.

As an 8-year-old, Kellogg would go to the gas station and markets asking if he could have the circus posters in windows once the show left town. Every ticket stub, program and flier would get pasted into a scrapbook. Those circus posters papered his bedroom walls.

When, in 1956, Ringling Brothers closed its “Big Top” tent, Kellogg, now a high-school student, was “crushed.” It was, however, around this time that Kellogg said he discovered girls, and his love for the circus took a backseat for a few years.

1934 Kelty photo of circus folk in New Haven

In 1960, Kellogg moved to Florida, and by 1971, he was the promotions manager at WFLA-TV in Tampa/St. Petersburg when the circus came walking into his office—so to speak.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was appearing at St. Petersburg’s Bayfront Center Arena, and Kellogg helped promote the show—and thus began a 34-season run in helping to publicize The Greatest Show on Earth.

And how does one publicize the circus? Consider the Elephant Santa. One year, the circus arrived at Christmastime—a difficult moment for the show to get the cover of the local newspaper’s weekend entertainment magazine. “But the editor,” Kellogg recounts, “said, ‘If you can get me a picture of an elephant in a Santa hat, I’ll put it on the cover.’”

Larry Kellogg with his pal, Santa Elephant

Santa Elephant makes the cover

A quick order to the circus costume-and-prop department, and Kellogg had an elephant-size Santa’s hat and the magazine cover. Great publicity!

Some of the earliest items he collected were books about the circus, which Kellogg says is a good place for anyone interested in starting a circus collection. Read what Larry has to say about circus books. http://www.worthpoint.com/blog-entry/circus-books-building-solid-foundation-collecting

Ringling's Rough Riders photographed by Edward Kelty

Among the most sought-after items, Kellogg says, are circus posters, which draw a market of both collectors and people seeking to use the posters for decoration. Still, even today posters from the 1920s and 1930s and early 1940s can be bought for $50 to $200. “The problem is reproductions,” Kellogg advises. “Buying a poster without seeking it is risky.” Click here to learn more about posters.

Another popular market is circus photographs. “These are highly prized and can run from $200 to several $1,000,” Kellogg says. For example, large, 12-by-20 inch photos by Edward Kelty from the 1920s to the early 1940s can fetch as much as $7,000.

Everyone loves a circus clown

Sideshow-freak pictures are also in high demand, with price tags reaching hundreds of dollars. “There are freak collectors and well as circus collectors, so that’s what you are seeing in that market,” Kellogg says.

But there are lots and lots of things to collect from a circus. Kellogg’s collection includes thousands of printed items but also gear—from a sunburst circus wheel to an elephant harness.

Sunburst circus wheel

Among the collectibles Kellogg said he finds most fascinating are the marketing, advertising and business records. There are items, such as route books that recorded the travels and financial accounts. For more on route books, click here.

There were circus “couriers”—magazines that were distributed in advance of the show coming to town and handbills and business forms and even canceled checks. A bundle turned up recently signed by some of the five Ringling brothers from 1912 to 1917.

“This gives you the story not only of the circus, but the business that was the circus,” Kellogg says.

Since Ringling Bros. struck its Big Top more than 50 years ago, generations have grown up without experiencing the smell of sawdust and canvas. “I don’t know if young people really have the same romance with the circus we did,” Kellogg says.

Under the Big Top photo by Edward Kelty

And where are those scrapbooks and posters from Kellogg’s youth? “I don’t know what happened to them,” he said. “I sure wish I had them.”

WorthPoint—Discover Your Hidden Wealth

Action Comics #1. An unrestored copy of Action #1 went up for sale on Feb. 27, and experts expect it to draw bids up to $400,000.

The first appearance of Superman in the pages of Action Comics #1, which originally went on sale in June of 1938, has long been considered the birth of the Superhero comics in America. Whether or not Superman was the first superhero is a discussion in and of it’s self, but one thing that is for certain: Action Comics #1 is one of, if not the, most expensive and rare comics in existence. Currently there are 100-150 known copies of Action #1 in varied conditions, and about 80 percent of those have been restored in some way.

It’s been a while since an unrestored copy of Action #1 went up for sale, but today on Comiclink.com, collectors can place their bid on one of the highest graded, unrestored copies of the comic in recent memory.

Graded in Fine condition (6.0 out of 10) by CGC, a professional comic grading service, this copy of Action #1 had not been part of the collectible comic market previously and made it’s public debut at the Comiclink.com booth at the 2009 New York Comic-Con. The owner’s identity is being withheld, but according to Comiclink.com owner Stephen Fishler, the comic was purchased for .35 cents in 1949-1950 in a used book store. The comic was then stored in the owner’s mother’s basement until 1966. Since then the comic’s owner has been waiting for its value to increase. Which it has.

Even though Action comics #1 guides for around $130,000 in Fine condition, experts are predicting this copy to sell for $400,000, due to the low number of unrestored copies in circulation. Another CGC graded, unrestored copy of Action Comics #1 in Good condition (2.0) sold for $85,000 in March of 2007, more than twice the $42,000 it guides for, on a similar comic book auction site. More recently, in May of 2008, a restored copy of Action #1 CGC graded at Very Fine + (8.5) sold for $116,512.50 on the Heritage.com vintage comics auction site. In 2003, Stephen Geppi, CEO of Diamond Comics Distributions, offered a $1-million-dollar reward for an unrestored copy of Action Comics #1 that would grade out in Very Good condition as graded by CGC.

Bidding for the comic started on Feb. 27 at $1 at 12 noon Eastern Standard time and as of 6 p.m. was already up to $200,200 with 36 bids. The auction closes on Friday, March 13 and collectors everywhere will be watching to see how high the winning bid will be. Click here to watch the bidding.

Matt Baum is a Worthologist who specializes in comic books.

WorthPoint–Discover Your Hidden Wealth

This card featuring George Washington’s signature from a clipped document was recently on the market for $75,000.

P.T. Barnum was dead on correct with the famous phrase “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Although this saying can be applied to almost any situation where someone has been taken, it is especially true in the antiques field. When people buy on emotion, sometimes their rational thinking takes a back seat. Or else they just don’t know enough about the field they are delving into.

One area in particular I am referring to is the marketing of clipped signatures, packaged as a trading card and sealed or encapsulated in clear plastic holders. A relatively recent phenomenon, some sports card manufacturers, as well as other enterprising entrepreneurs, go out into the marketplace and buy documents, letters or signatures of prominent figures in history (not necessarily sports) from autograph dealers. These documents may or may not have historic value, but for the these sellers, only the signature itself has a value, as they cut out the signature and encapsulate them in standard plastic cases, which are then marketed by these companies.

These clipped signatures are then offered as limited edition cards, labeled such as 1/1 or some other low-quantity number (depending on the maker of the holders). They then sell them at ridiculously high prices on eBay and other sites. For example, I just saw a clipped Ulysses S. Grant signature converted into a trading card and encased in a simple holder selling for nearly $8,000, which is about 12 to 15 times what a similar clipped signature—not encased in commercial plastic with a so-called 1of 1 edition number—is worth. Not only are these pieces way overpriced, but the dealers of these items most likely butcher and destroy the original documents, letters or notes just for the signature, so history is forever lost in the process!

Since these encased cards can be produced by any company and endlessly produced, I wonder where buyers see any value beyond the clipped signature. Instead of buying an autograph, they are buying a speculation. After all, if a signature is worth about $500 on the open market and the piece of plastic is worth $5, where does the figure $7,500 come in?

A $75,000 Signature

As a matter of fact, I recently noticed on eBay a clipped, simple signature of George Washington in a plastic holder for $75,000! If this signature were not in this holder and priced as such, you would be lucky to get $3,500 for it, especially since the very top portion of the signature was missing. At that time, there were eight offers on it! Yet, I have seen a seldom offered complete George Washington signed document—with date, place and other historical provenance showing that he signed it while he was president—barely get a market-price bid of $12,000 to $15,000 on eBay.

Are people buying these cards because they think the makers of the sets are the only sellers that guarantee the authenticity of the item? Or do they want something they think will appreciate in value? Do they think these pieces are unique? In truth, the answer is no, no, and no! First, there are many autograph dealers who have been in business since the 1960s and ’70s, long before these purveyors of plastic-encased-signatures knew the difference between a George Washington and a George Washington Carver autograph. Appreciation is found in quality, and a full document or letter has far more appreciation potential than a plain, clipped signature. Uniqueness? As long as plastic can be manufactured, the quantity is always available! Plus, how unique is a clipped signature? Whereas, you will never find the exact same letter or document, unless the signer made a rare copy for his/her personal records.

Rick Badwey is a Worthologist who specializes in autographs and historic documents.

WorthPoint—Discover Your Hidden Wealth

I’ve spent hours cycling through countless eBay auctions looking at comics that the seller swears are in mint condition only to receive a comic in Very Good condition at best. If you know what I’m talking about in that last sentence, then you know the difference between Very Good and Near Mint is huge. In fact, I’ve often argued that mint-condition comics do not exist, and even near-mint copies are hard to come by.

Yet, if you search “Mint Comics” on eBay, you’ll currently find more than nine pages of results. Near mint, maybe, but 10.0 mint condition, no way. I’m not saying all these sellers are frauds, but rather they don’t seem to have the knowledge that longtime collectors or even retailers have of their own comics.

This is where GoAntiques seems to have an advantage. Are there some sellers there are asking ridiculous prices for garbage comics? Yes. However, there seems to be a large group of sellers who have professionally graded their comics and actually know what they are talking about.

Our Fighting Forces #158. After browsing like a nerdy shark looking for a back-issue to sink my teeth into, I found this one on GoAntiques. I made the purchase, and will report on what I actually bought when it shows up.

This afternoon, I spent an hour looking at some Bronze-age Jack Kirby war comics on GoAntiques that I would love to own. As of yet, I haven’t made any purchases but will let you know about my experience when I do. I don’t think I can resist these Our Fighting Forces comics much longer. When clicking on the page, I found the layout easy to read and simple enough not to get lost in the details. Most of the sellers I clicked on stated the grade/condition of the comics and that the dealer was using the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide for their pricing.

I’m not saying that Overstreet is the end-all, be-all of comic-book pricing. Remember, just because a comic-book guide says something should sell for hundreds of dollars does not mean you’ll be able to find someone to buy it for that price. I do like sellers who state they are using Overstreet as their guide because it is well accepted and used by most professionals and collectors alike as a way to establish a condition grade and a fair price.

So I’m browsing like a nerdy shark looking for a back issue to sink my teeth into. One thing that could be improved upon is the taxonomy. Rather than just lumping everything into comics, it would be nice to see Golden, Silver, Bronze and Modern-age sections (by the way, if anyone from GoAntiques is looking for a nerd to help with comic-book taxonomy, I’m your guy). Not all of us can afford Golden-age comics or are even looking for them in some instances. Some of the sellers have included ages in their descriptions, and when I searched “Bronze-age” comics, I did find quite a few issues including the Our Fighting Forces #158 I keep coming back to. So maybe my taxonomy gripe isn’t warranted, or at least it wouldn’t be if more sellers would include the ages in their descriptions.

The next step is to buy, I guess. One thing that leaves me a little uneasy is the lack of feedback on the dealers. Maybe I’m missing something, but there doesn’t appear to be any. I’m sure this dealer is a fair-enough guy but reading someone else’s message to confirm this would put my mind at ease. Oh well, this is a learning experience, and I’m getting paid $10 dollars a word (chuckle), so here goes.

Checkout is pretty self-explanatory, paid with PayPal, but had the option of using my credit card, and now I wait. In Part Two of this story, I’ll talk about what happens next (how long the comic took to arrive, the condition, etc.). For now, I wait to hear from the seller to make sure they still have the comic in stock, which is a pretty handy function for store owners who want to have their inventory for sale in their brick-and-mortar store and on the Web. I’ll report back with my findings soon.

Matt Baum is a Worthologist who specializes in comic books.

WorthPoint—Discover Your Hidden Wealth

The fronts of these cards were humorous, decorative or offered some type of political commentary. If printed on two sides, the reverse featured product advertising. People of the late 1800s enjoyed collecting these cards, gluing them into albums along with other period ephemera, such as calling cards.

American Machine Company Trade Card, advertising their Iron & Trivet.	Trade Card for the Ideal Sad Iron with a removable wooden handle.

Most cards were composed of a combination of paper pulp and rag—similar to paper money—making them extremely durable. Because of this, cards can be carefully soaked from the album pages and pressed, dried and redistributed for sale. Look carefully at any card you are considering buying. You may find evidence of discoloration on the reverse where the card was mounted in an album.

Condition is all-important in valuation of these cards. Various defects, which will lower their value, are: stains, tears, creases, chips, fading, scrapes or scuffing. The ultimate card for a collection is one in Very Fine or Mint condition, showing none of the defects mentioned. Interestingly, since trade cards with color images were the most popular with the Victorian public, those printed with black and white images are scarce and often much more valuable than their colorful cousins.

A typical Mrs. Potts Trade Card, advertising her line of irons.	Reverse of the Mrs. Potts Sad Iron card, typical of the company advertising.

Depending upon your field of interest, you’ll find cards that enhance your collection. As a trivet and iron collector, I naturally gravitate toward cards that advertise laundry-day products. There were cards advertising irons, stoves, washers, wringers, laundry detergents and starches. Perhaps the most collectible of this genre are the Mrs. Potts Sad Iron cards, which are becoming harder and harder to find. Cards in fine condition sell today in the $30 to $60-plus range.

Interested in learning more? A wonderful reference is the “Victorian Trade Cards: Historical Reference & Value Guide” by Dave Cheadle.

Lynn Rosack is a Worthologist who specializes in trivets and kitchenalia

WorthPoint—Discover Your Hidden Wealth

When determining the value of a doll, several factors must be considered. These include the doll’s rarity, its overall quality and condition. The quality of dolls can vary greatly, even among the same manufacturer. Collectors prefer dolls made of pale bisque with finely painted faces, featuring multi stroked eyebrows and individual upper and lower eyelashes. Another desirable feature of antique dolls is closed mouths, as fewer of these were manufactured, thus making them rarer. Finally, for most collectors, condition is everything. A doll in excellent condition means that there is no restoration or damage to the doll in such areas as hairlines, chips or cracks, that they have original or appropriate wigs (no synthetics) and they are wearing original or appropriate era clothing. Any damage can have a negative affect on the value of a doll—as much as 75 percent—depending on the type and area where the damage is located. When purchasing a doll, it is always best to deal with a reputable doll dealer, as they will disclose any damage and price their dolls accordingly.

Baby Aero – Noel Barrett Antiques & Auctions Ltd. (used with permission)

Bye Lo Baby

The value of the majority of bisque-head dolls falls into the few-hundreds-dollar range. An example would be Grace Putman’s highly popular Bye Lo Baby, which was know as “The Million Dollar Baby,” and remains a favorite among doll collectors. When they were first manufactured in 1922, they were the first dolls produced that portrayed a realistic three-day-old infant. These highly collectible dolls originally sold from 50 cents to $25, depending on size and features. The heads of these dolls were manufactured by many different makers in a wide variety of materials, including bisque, composition, wax, wood and vinyl. Facial features can be all painted or have glass eyes; rarer examples of Bye Lo Baby include a Schoenhut model with a wooden head, models with a wax head, and the 11-inch bisque head “Baby Aero,” model # 1418.

The bodies of Bye Lo Babies are cloth and have been called froglike, due to the appearance of their curved legs. They have been manufactured in many sizes ranging from the small (4 to 5 inches) to the larger dolls of 20-plus inches. Due to their popularity, one might think that these dolls would sell for a premium. But since large numbers were manufactured, they are easily found for sale on the doll market, which negatively impacts their value. Book values range from $200 to $800 for the more common examples, depending on their size and condition. The more rare wooden-head dolls command a much higher price, with book values ranging from $1,700 to $2,200. It might be surprising to find that the 11-inch “Baby Aero” will bring prices of $2,800 to $3,200. As always a cautionary note on the price listed: book values reflect what a collector might expect to pay a dealer for a doll in excellent original condition.

Many of the German bisque-head dolls, though beautiful, are worth a fraction of what similar sized French bisque dolls will command. This is due in part to the large numbers of bisque dolls produced in Germany. The Armand Marseille (AM) doll company, located in Koppelsdorf, was one of the most prolific of the German firms. I have read that during the peak of their production they were making over 1,000 doll heads per day. AM produced mainly bisque-head dolls from 1885 until approximately 1930, and also produced doll heads for many other firms for use on other doll bodies.

My Dream Baby from my personal collection.

AM mold numbers 370 and 390 are probably the most common found on the market; many collectors will tell you that the first antique doll they purchased was one of these molds. This firm produced many baby dolls, including “My Dream Baby,” which quite possibly is their most famous doll. Realized prices at auction on these dolls are in the $80 to $100 range. Other baby dolls made by the AM firm include: Baby Phyllis, Dickie, Kiddiejoy, Baby Betty and Baby Ellen. Due to the large number of AM dolls produced, and which still available on the secondary market, they are among the most affordable of all German bisque-head dolls. There are exceptions, of course; AM dolls such as their Googlies, Just Me and Lady Dolls can command prices into the thousands of dollars depending on size, quality and in excellent condition.

20th century Dolls

Beginning in the early part of the 20th century, consumers were looking for more realistic facial features in the dolls they purchased. This gave rise to the German character face dolls, which are highly desirable among today’s doll collectors. The faces of character dolls show a realism and a depth of expression which is lacking in the dolly faced dolls. The German firms of Kammer & Reinhardt (K*R) and Kestner and Heubach produced some wonderful high quality character dolls.

K & R Marie, Mold 101. Sheldon and Sophia Gajarian (used with permission)

Kammer & Reinhardt of Waltershausen, Thuringia, Germany, founded its doll factory in 1886 and designed many lovely doll heads, but the company did not own a porcelain factory so it lacked the means to produce them. So many of K*R heads found on dolls were actually produced by the Simon & Halbig firm and may bear both firms markings on their heads. K*R is probably best know for its character children and baby dolls. Most character dolls have painted eyes, although some examples can be found featuring glass eyes. One example of a very desirable child character doll is the K*R mold number 101, dating circa 1909. Mold number 101 was used on both the Marie and Peter character children dolls made by K*R, and they are considered to be brother and sister dolls. It is interesting to note that mold 101 can be found in a rare mulatto doll, as well. These wonderful dolls are usually found with painted brown or blue eyes that have a downward look, one-stroke tapered brows, a closed mouth with full, pouty, coral-colored lips on a fully jointed composition body. The 19- to 20-inch example, if found in excellent condition and with painted eyes, has a value of $4,500 to $5,000. Much rarer is the glass-eyed example which has a book value of $12,500.

While not enough to retire on, owning a few of these dolls would provide a tidy sum to add to that retirement account.

Letha Berry is a Worthologist who specializes in dolls.

WorthPoint—Discover Your Hidden Wealth

It has only been over the last five years that Mexico has gone from a single-design for all license plates across the country to a new registration system with colorful graphic designs, making Mexico’s new license plates, like this one from Sinaloa, much more sought after by collectors.

Mexico, or the United States of Mexico, as it is called in Spanish (los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), consists of 31 states and one Federal District (Distrito Federal—also know as Mexico City).

Aguascalientes

Campeche

Chiapas, old

Chiapas, new

Since the late 1950s, Mexico used a semipermanent style license plate, where each state had the exact same design and colors. The only thing that distinguished one state’s plate from another was simply the abbreviation of the state name at the bottom of the plate next to the abbreviation MEX. Can you imagine all 50 states in the United States having the same exact design and colors on their license plates during a 40-year period? It is because of this single national style that one license plate from Mexico would often serve to represent the entire country in any particular international license-plate display.

Chihuahua

Colima

Durango, old

Durango, new

But what has happened in Mexico in the license-plate realm in the last five years represents a complete 180-degree turnaround, with the result being a sophisticated registration system with new, colorful and fully reflectorized graphic designs. It goes without saying that Mexico’s new graphic license plates are now much more sought after by collectors. Close examination of the new collectible license plates from Mexico reveal several design elements that are required by law. Each plate must have a jurisdiction code (a number from 01-32) that corresponds to the state’s name when all are listed in Spanish in alphabetical order. Each plate must also indicate whether it is for the front (delantera) or rear (trasera) of the vehicle. Motorists, therefore, cannot split a pair for misuse on two different vehicles. Each plate must also have a designation for private cars, trucks, buses, taxis and trailers.

Hidalgo

Jalisco

Michoacan

Morelos, old

Additionally, each Mexican plate must have a bar code. The bar code replicates the registration number for all 31 Mexican states, while in the Mexico City area (Distrito Federal), the bar code represents the vehicle identification number (VIN) of the vehicle. This feature permits police officers to scan the respective bar codes when issuing a ticket. In the upper right corner of the license plate is a small security seal bearing the small letters “SCT” that stands for “Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes” or Department of Communications and Transportation.

Moreelos, new

Nayarit

Nuevo Leon

Puebla

As far as graphic designs and appearance, each individual state may use any colors, styles, slogans, graphics or abbreviations that it likes. Close inspection of the photos of Mexican plates clearly illustrate just how interesting Mexico’s new license plates are. They are truly inviting to all license-plate enthusiasts.

Queretaro	San Luis Potosi	Sonora	Tabasco
Tlaxcala	Veracruz	Yucatan	Zacatecas

Collecting Mexican license plates can be very challenging, also. Often the most difficult states to obtain are the southern states of Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Chiapas, Tabasco and Colima. A full display of all 32 Mexican plates is one of great color and contrast of designs of pyramids, and indigenous characteristics, which include the Aztec calendar, dancers, monuments and even heroes of the Mexican Revolution such as Zapata, Pancho Villa and Morelos. Viva Mexico!

Andy Bernstein is a Worthologist who specializes in collectible license plates.

WorthPoint—Discover Your Hidden Wealth

“It isn’t like putting coins in a slot,” Slicker said. “Each collector puts together a collection no one else has ever done.” It might be the evolution of the mystery novel or the scientific discourse created by the 1859 publication of Charles Darwin’s “Origin of Species.” “It can be anything you are interested in—movie scripts or World War II,” he said.

1859 edition of "Origin of the Species"

“All great collections take on a spherical shape,” Slicker said. “At the core of any collection are high points surrounded by supporting works.”

Taking Darwin’s “Origin of Species” as an example, a collection might include writings of the early 19th-century naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, who posited an early theory of evolution in his 1802 book “Recherches sur l’Organisation des Corps Vivans”; writings of Darwin’s contemporaries, such as Thomas Huxley; and contemporary works, like Harvard biologist Edward Wilson’s 1999 “The Diversity of Life.”

“The collection gets to be creative. You get hooked, and you are really contributing to mankind’s knowledge,” Slicker said. “I know it sounds high falutin’, but that is what you are doing!” The fact that many such private collections end up in university libraries buttresses Slicker’s view.

Looking for a textbook, finding a new calling

Slicker’s career as an antiquarian bookseller began in 1972 when as a young psychology graduate student in search of a text, he wandered into The Old New York Bookstore in Atlanta.

Already a bit disillusioned with academe and the thought of clinical practice, Slicker found the bookstore a haven. “I could see I really didn’t have the patience to work with kids,” he said, “When you have a degree in psychology—basically a degree in reading, talking to people and drinking coffee—a bookstore was perfect.”

Slicker apprenticed at, managed and co-owned a bookstore in California and became increasingly interested in rare and antique books. In 1977, he opened Lighthouse Books in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Book collecting has its own body of knowledge and expertise, and when Slicker, who is one of about 450 qualified members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America, examines a tome, there are things he’ll naturally check.

He will examine the binding, quality of the paper, sewing and whether the volume shows shelf wear or dog-eared pages and the page design and illustrations.

“If you enlarged a page and hung it on a wall, how would it look?” Slicker asked. As for illustrations, one key question is how well they are “married to the text.” The illustrator may also greatly increase the value of a work—be it Renaissance artist Albrecht Durer, the early-20th century’s Maxfield Parrish or highly regarded contemporaries, such as Michael Hague and Barry Moser.

Title page of Durer’s “Vier Bücher von menschlicher”

But that is not all there is to collecting. “Books have a way of becoming part of you,” Slicker said. “A lot of the value in a book is placed there by its owner.”

This is, however, still a market, and Slicker has watched it change in dramatic ways over the last 30 years. “We were very proud 10 or 15 years ago of our international business, as we would send a box of books every few months to England or some place in Europe,” he said. “Today over the Web, we are getting queries from abroad every week and sending books all over, from South Korea to Greece.”

Antique book collecting goes global

“The world is now our audience,” Slicker said. “On the other hand, our walk-in traffic has fallen off. It’s not as much fun to handle an Internet sale. We certainly miss those personal interactions.”

And for books—as for many other collectibles—the Internet has made what once appeared rare easy to find. “It seems that the genuinely rare things have appreciated rapidly. In contrast, books that are relatively common, even those with special interest have plummeted,” Slicker said.

A prime example is James Michener, whose works are widely collected. “When everyone realized how many copies were out there, the books suddenly devalued,” he said. “The $50 book is more likely to sell now for $10.”

In contrast, the 19th-century, illustrated “Views of the Holy Land” by Scottish artist David Roberts, in folio, has gone from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands, and the octavo edition has jumped from about $4,000 to $15,000, Slicker said.

Roberts' Arabs at Jacob's Well

Still, Slicker said he believes that eventually all the extras surplus “will get soaked up” and the market will rebound.

For the collector—especially the new collector—Slicker said, the goal should be the creation of a collection, not the market. “The key thing is to collect what you are interested in,” he advised. But he added, “Approach it as you would any other investment, in that you want to do is some research—get bibliographies, visit bookstores and book fairs, and ask a lot of questions.”

WorthPoint—Get the Most from Your Antiques & Collectibles

Data—millions and millions of items of data—is what WorthPoint and Terapeak, a subsidiary of Advanced E-commerce Research Systems Inc., are offering WorthPoint members.

WorthPoint has signed a seven-year contract with Terapeak, the company that provides eBay users with trending data. That’s how savvy eBay sellers know how to price an item and smart buyers know what to pay for it.

Easy access in one place to the most prices

Under the new partnership, WorthPoint will be able to offer its members more historical prices than anyone in the world—more than 100 million historical prices by the end of 2009 and more than one billion items over the course of the contract.

Will Seippel, WorthPoint’s CEO, promises to make this data accessible in an easy-to-use format. And he is a man of his word! To me, accessibility means whether I am at an antiques store, a show or shopping online, I have access to this information when I need it most. I want to know whether the price I am willing to pay is reasonable and that I am not about to get fleeced.

Almost as good as shopping with an expert

In my perfect world, I’d head into an antique store with the ranks of Worthologists right behind me. If I wanted to buy a clock, I’d whisper to Mark Peer, WorthPoint’s clock expert, “What do you think, Mark? Is that a good deal?” Or if I found a Mary Alice Hadley platter, I’d want our pottery expert, Audra Blevins, with me. And if I were considering buying a Shaker rocker, I’d definitely want to confide in Fred Taylor, our American furniture Worthologist. In the real world, however, Mark, Audra and Fred live east of the Mississippi, and I live in Colorado.

Get info from computers or cell phones

With this new partnership, I can access millions of historical prices with a few keystrokes on my computer. And as WorthPoint also owns PriceMiner, I can also get this data on my iPhone or any other cell phone with Internet access. That means I can have millions of historical price records with me whenever I shop, wherever I shop. I can find out what other people have recently paid for the item I want to buy while I’m right there in the store! I can also access the collective wisdom of these buyers and experts before I make my offer.

Access to data—through WorthPoint and Terapeak’s partnership—will allow me to buy and sell as though I have an expert whispering average prices in my ear. It’s not as good as taking a squad of Worthologists with me, but it is the next best thing!

This is why data is my new best friend.

For more information, see WorthPoint Signs Partnership Agreement with eBay Research and Education Firm Terapeak. For more information about PriceMiner, click here.

On Jan. 20, Warlick’s forecast—as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s dream of racial unity and reconciliation—will come to fruition as the inauguration of America’s first president of African-American descent is held on the Capitol steps before the eyes of the world. Obama’s unprecedented presidency will resonate throughout history, and undoubtedly, the material evidence of his victory, swearing-in and presidency will be treasured for generations to come.

As the owner, producer and curator of the American Presidential Experience’s InauguralFest and with his store, Political Americana, located literally just down the street from the White House, rest assured that Warlick will be at the center of Tuesday’s events (and the inevitable flood of “Obamabilia”) as an estimated crowd of two to five million will be in Washington, D.C., as Obama takes the oath of office.

Crystal paperweight with 2009 inaugural seal

Presidential memorabilia, like many collectibles, can serve as social barometers and indicators of an ongoing narrative describing the times we lived in, are living in and will live in as the future approaches. It is little wonder, then, that “Obamabilia” speaks to messages of hope and change in a dark economic and geopolitical climate.

Jim Warlick’s work in the political-collectibles field as a retailer and an acknowledged authority has helped to preserve this ongoing narrative. From saving campaign literature in childhood to selling buttons at the 1980 Democratic National Convention and on through the opening of his Political Americana store, Warlick’s involvement with political collecting has been lifelong. He has parlayed his keen understanding of the presidency’s significance into a success measured more in the preservation of America’s political heritage and the extension of the presidential experience to everyday Americans than in sales or personal gratification.

Autographed Obama picture

“I’ve always been a student of American political history,” says Warlick. “Being a part of political campaigns and collecting early American political memorabilia, I’ve learned more about American history than I ever did in school. Collecting and documenting political memorabilia is a great way to preserve American history for future generations to share and learn from.”

Those visiting D.C. next week will have an opportunity to share in Warlick’s passion as part of the larger festivities that will be occurring throughout the nation’s capital not only at his Political Americana and five official souvenir store locations selling inauguration memorabilia, but also at the American Presidential Experience’s InauguralFest. As did visitors to the American Presidential Experience in Denver last August during the Democratic National Convention, those attending InauguralFest will get a hands-on look at three centuries worth of presidential memorabilia and collectibles including scale-model replicas of Air Force One and the Oval Office.

A John-John pose in the Oval Office replica

From an exhibit of First Ladies’ gowns to one of the infamous Florida voting machines that introduced the phrase “hanging chads” to the world, the range of exhibits that Warlick has curated tells not only the story of the American presidency but also of the nation itself—a story that will reach one of its defining climaxes as the son of a white Kansas woman and a black Kenyan man accedes to the most powerful office in the world.

First Ladies' gowns

It is a historic moment in American history, and Jim Warlick will be there as it happens to collect, identify and share the significant artifacts that will capture the spirit of this turning point in our national, cultural and social narrative.

The American Presidential Experience’s InauguralFest is located at the old Washington Convention Site at 1001 H. St. NW Washington, DC (Metro Center subway stop). It is open every day from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Jan. 16 through Jan. 23 and from 9 a.m.-5.p.m. Jan. 24. For tickets and further information, visit the InauguralFest Web site.

The Political Americana store is located at 1331 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20004. Four other locations selling official inauguration memorabilia are in Washington, Virginia and Maryland. Visit www.officialsouvenirs.com, www.politicalamericana.com , email info [at] officialsouvenirs [dot] com, or call 202-737-7730 for more information.

Other articles about Jim Warlick and political collectibles:

Jim’s WorthPoint Worthologist profile

Jim’s WorthPoint blogs

Warlick profile by Mark Jaffe

Top Obama collectibles

The American Presidential Experience

WorthPoint at the American Presidential Experience (video)

Jim Warlick’s Political Americana (video)

WorthPoint—Get the Most from Your Antiques & Collectibles