Black Market Antiques Blog

An Action Comics #1 reportedly has sold for $1,000,000, marking the first time a comic book has eclipsed the million dollar mark.  The comic, which marked the first time Superman appeared, originally sold for ten cents in 1938.  The comic sold to a private buyer on Comiccconnect.com

The same comic book sold for $150,000 just 15 years ago.  The million dollar sale of the comic is doubly surprising in the current slow economic market.  The previous record high sale for a comic book was for the same title, which sold over $317,000 in 2009.

Black Market Antiques now has a Facebook page.  We invite you to visit our page and become a fan.  You’re probably wondering what’s in it for you?  Well, we don’t know yet.  But we’re working on it.  We may offer specials for our Facebook fans or we may make special announcements…you’ll have to make us a fan and just stay tuned.

For those of you who are into Twitter, you can follow us on Twitter too.

“Blindfolded, kiss the homeliest person in the room.”  Those were the instructions on one of the game pieces that we pulled from a vintage circa 1930’s party game called Smacks: A Kissing Party Game.  It’s probably hard, or at least undesirable, to imagine your grandparent or great-grandparents having a kissing-orgy as a means of entertainment.

When we found the game, it had already been partially played with a few of the little rolled up pieces of paper removed.  With instructions to seek out the ugliest person in the room to kiss, it seems like the game may have ended in an argument…rather than in an X-rated Depression era orgy of affectionate depravity.

Still lots of good plays left.

If you haven’t heard…The History Channel has a new antiques oriented show on Monday evenings at 9 PM EST.  It is called American Pickers.  The show is a reality based video documentary style program that follows two pickers, Mike Wolf and Frank Fritz, on their treks through the countryside looking for antiques.  If you’re looking for another Antiques Roadshow type program, this isn’t it - too light on info.  If you’re looking for another Bargain Hunt or Cash in the Attic type program, this isn’t it - too light on info and way too light on personality.  Still the show is worth at least checking out.  The History Channel website for the show has clips that you can watch (if you’re worried about wasting an entire hour).

Recently a couple of our pickers stopped in with a load of antiques to the Black Market Antiques office and the show was one topic of conversation during the visit.  Everyone seemed to give the show lukewarm reviews, which is considerably better than many of the posts on the History Channel forum for the show.  One picker was amazed at the relative ease at which Mike Wolfe got one of the sellers to part with merchandise for ridiculously low prices.  Which is one of my main issues with the show.

I have a saying “All auctioneers are going to hell.”  I told one auctioneer that and he replied “…and all antique dealers are going there too.”  After seeing the first three episodes of this series, I believe Mike & Frank will be there for sure, if not for ripping off old people and just being plain annoying, then for revealing secrets of the trade.

Maybe it’s just the way the show is edited, but I find it hard to believe those guys actually make a living as pickers.  Their “shop” (which is a pole building) looks brand new, as does their van and all the decals.  Perhaps those were History Channel incentives.  Mike and Frank’s Antique Archeology website is basically an advertisement for the show and was obviously made after the series was taped.  Mike’s grimacing at the price of the Vespa Ape and reaction to the price of the one seller’s carriages suggests that perhaps he isn’t the world renowned picker that the History Channel describes on their website.

All that said though, American Pickers was relatively entertaining and the consensus here is that everyone will keep watching it, even though everyone likes Pawn Stars better.  Future reviews may even be done on a per episode basis…possibly by the employee that is most annoyed with each episode.

Lone Ranger Atomic Bomb Ring

In 1947 Kix cereal offered a premium that no kid could refuse.  For 15 cents and a single box top, you could get a Lone Ranger Atomic Bomb Ring with a cute little atomic bomb on it.  As a little kid, you weren’t just wearing an atomic bomb on your finger either, it was filled with polonium!  If you removed the tail portion of the bomb you could look through a screen (when the ring was new) and watch tiny flashes of light as the polonium decayed.

As cool as the ring must have been for children in the post war era, it seems a bit odd today, at least to me.  The ring was issued just two years after the US government vaporized 200,000 Japanese citizens with a couple atomic bombs.  There’s evidence that says that by doing so the US army actually saved lives and that without doing so, collateral losses would have exceeded the number killed by the bomb….so anyway, I’m not going to debate the choice to use the bomb.

What I am going to do though, is question the choices of toy manufacturers to capitalize on hundreds of thousands of deaths.  Stop for a moment and image in the uproar that a similar ring depicting airplanes flying into buildings worn by middle eastern children would have made two years after September 11th, 2001.  Today there’s a constant debate about violent video games and whether they desensitize children to violence, yet in the forties it seemed OK to glorify something that killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Here are a couple more atomic bomb influenced toys of the 1940’s…

Nuke Ride-On Toy Bomb

A.C. Gilbert Atomic Bomb Dexterity Game

In the antique business, you are bound to find quite a few diaries while cleaning out drawer or attics or closets.  Most diaries are simple books with trivial notes from their former owners, some are detailed transcripts of the minutia of everyday life - like in the case of the Bain diaries.  And on the rare occasion you find one that is worth reading for more than just its content or historical value.  That is the case of the little diary pictured with the airplane flying through the clouds on the cover.

This diary was found some time ago and it was originally a Christmas gift to a 12 year old girl in 1944.  There are a number of things about this diary that are striking.  First, the author, a young rural Pennsylvanian girl is beyond blunt and direct with her posts, possibly due to lack of space - with entries like “Got a new dog today, Boo, cute.”  Also striking is the fact that there are entries spanning five decades, yet still much of the diary has been left blank, with large gaps between entries.  The final striking thing is the choice of material for the girl’s entries and how through the course of her life, the diary becomes almost a lockbox to keep sorrow as if a two line entry was her way of venting.  The diary gets progressively more sad as it goes on, as you will see as we add entries over the coming weeks.

I’ve decided to type out the diary as it appears in order of the pages, which with five years on each page, skipped pages and random years inserted on their appropriate days, it is a bit, well…you’ll see.   Spelling and grammar will not be edited. Updates will be added to the bottom.

Five Year Diary, By Edith T.

January 1, 1945: Today is New Years, we had sour crout for supper, tomorra school starts, nuts. [Author begins writing January 2nd's post in pen on the Jan. 1 page, has to cross out entry]

January 2, 1945: To day school starts we got a new boy in are room.  Ed came home for Christmas Grace came home to.

January 3, 1945: “Boy” was it cold out we ate up town to day.  It was very good.  I washed out my blouse.  I am going to ware my new dress tomorro, the blue one.

January 4, 1945: I have a bad head ache. Jimmy is very mean tonight.  I am makeing tea and going to eat crackers. Mother and dad is out at moms.  Carol Ann got her own bed.

January 5, 1945: To day is Friday.  I got my hair washed tonight and rolled up for tomorra.  We go down to Margarets for dinner.

January 6, 1945: Me and Ed went down to Margets for dinner we had a very nice dinner margets gave me a peral nectles.

January 7, 1945: We stayed out at moms house for supper.  Jimmy went to the show.  It is almost 11:30.  I don’t know how I am going to get up tomorra.  Shirley and the girls is going to eat in school tomorra, but I am not.

January 8, 1945: To day is Monday.  Tomorra is a baskettball game.

January 9, 1945: To day was a big day for me we went to the show.  Got a bath and rolled my hair up.  We got a milk shake.

January 13, 1945: I am going to Shirleys birthday party at 7:30.  She will be twealve years old.  I look very nice.  I started to — today…

January 14, 1945: I have and awful cold.  I can hardly talk.  Mom and dad went out and Jimmy went to the basketball game.  I am by myself.  I took the twins to the show today.

January 18, 1945: I am listening to the radio now mom is out at moms house.  I wrote a letter to Joan.  I don’t have much more to say.

January 24, 1945: I got the mumps today.

January 28, 1945: I have the mumps.

January 29, 1945: I have the mups.

January 30, 1945: I still have the mumps, Helen M. Brought down a cake.  I have not gone to school for 2 days.

January 31, 1945: Martha & Ed got married at 5:00. I still have the mumps. I Made candy. Ed + Martha are hear.

February 1, 1945: Grace is down here. I fell better tonight.

February 1, 1961: Found perfume bottle in his car tonight.  He likes that old slut.

February 2, 1945: I got a card from Jr. High.  I washed my sweater.  I hope I can wash my hair tomorra it is dirty.

…to be continued…

This post and its contents is copyright 2009 Black Market Antiques.

I had two projects for this weekend, right a blog article and do the recycling.  Got the recycling done Saturday and put off the blog article for lack of a topic.  But now it’s Monday morning and I need to get the blog thing done before the boss has a fit.

Black Market Antiques strives to do our small part to help the environment by being as “Green” as possible.  This weekend, I drew the short straw and, as mentioned, got the task of doing the recycling for the warehouse.  Part of BMA’s green commitment involves recycling as much of our waste as possible.  This includes everything from cardboard scraps and junk mail to tin and other metals.  In addition to recycling, Black Market Antiques also tries to reuse items that do not fit in our online inventory of antiques and collectibles.

I started the recycling by separating all the paper, cardboard and metal scrap.  This included about 400 pounds of pamphlets from doctors’ offices in several large tubs that were found in a recent estate where we had to clear out everything.  If I needed to know about the latest and greatest kidney medications from 1982 or procedures for repairing a prolapsed rectum, I’m sure I could have found that info in the thousands of brochures.  Once separated I loaded the truck and was off to the local recycling drop off center where I put the different types of materials into their appropriate roll-off containers.

After the recycling was accomplished it was back to the warehouse to load up a load of mostly household items for delivery to the local donation thrift store.  Some local coffee mug collector will probably come close to peeing themselves with delight when the store puts out the couple hundred contemporary mugs onto the shelves for sale.  Lots of newer glassware and dishes went to the thrift store…along with what seemed like literally tons of newer children’s books.

In addition to recycling and donating goods, Black Market Antiques is proud of our effort to try to reuse as much packaging materials as possible from other local businesses.  Doing not only keeps this filler out of the landfills, at least for a time, but also helps to keep shipping costs down.

If you have an organization that is in need of second-hand items in the Brookville, Pennsylvania area, contact us to see if we have what you are looking for.  In the process of acquiring antique and collectible items, Black Market Antiques routinely ends up with a lot of household type goods and newer retail goods that just don’t fit our market.

We just got in a collection of hundreds of old photographs, including several dozen tintypes.  Tintypes were the first photographs that employed the use of props and backgrounds or backdrops on a consistent basis.  The photo at the left shows that photographers in the 1870’s, might not have been considered artists as they are today, or at least artists with spacial perception issues.  The kids in the photo all have looks of shock on their faces, perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the sky is also filled with a river and hills.

For the newest tintypes added to the Black Market Antiques inventory, check our Newly Listed Items page or you can browse all the tintypes in the tintypes category.

Normally Black Market Antiques does not give exact measurements of antique photographs, as most 100+ year old photos have pretty uniform sizes.  This page should help you determine the size of an old photograph if you are not familiar with the different size terminology.

Tintype Photographs: Tintype photograph sizes are refered to the size of the photo in relation to the size of a full plate of tin (roughly 6 1/2 X 8 1/2 inches).  So therefore the various plate sizes are as follows, but keep in mind, actual photo sizes may vary because of trimming.  Some antique cameras also allowed the photographer to take photos larger than full plate size.

Full Plate: 6.5 X 8.5 inches
1/2 Plate: 4.5 X 5.5 inches
1/4 Plate: 3 1/8  X  4 1/8 inches
1/6 Plate: 2.5 X 3 inches
1/9 Plate: 2 X 2 1/2 inches
1/16 Plate: 1 5/8  X  2 1/8 inches
Gem: 1/2 X 1 inch

Ambrotype Photographs: Roughly same sizes as mentioned above for tintypes.

Just a heads up to all the photography enthusiasts and camera collectors, we’ve just gotten in a decent sized collection of more than 100 vintage and antique cameras.  Haven’t gotten through all of them yet, but thus far most are mediocre, as expected.  But there are sure to be some nice ones and hopefully some great old collectibles in there somewhere.

We’ll be adding the cameras to our inventory gradually over the next week or so.  The best way to see the new stuff is to visit our Newly Listed Products page.  We get a lot of shoppers looking for cameras and accessories (there’s a pile of accessories too, and some film and flashbulbs, etc.), so be sure to check back daily for the next week.  Lots of camera stuff goes quick!