Catalog (412)

Elaborate graphics which include the California State Seal adds to the importance of this authentic, museum-quality, 1892, TEACHING LICENSE / DIPLOMA issued by the STATE OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY, DEPARTMENT of PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.

Text indicates that the diploma was awarded to Mary L. Downey on January 15, 1892, and certified her to teach the Grammar or Primary Grade for the subsequent 6 years. Signed by 5 members of the California State Board of Education.

Further documentation on reverse reads, "Issued on the recommendation of the Board of Education of San Francisco, in accordance with Section 1521 of the Political Code, upon a first grade or Grammar Grade Certificate of San Francisco, 86.7% (Mary’s test grade).”

With the exception of early fold lines, condition is mint! Measures 8 inches X 10.5 inches.

See my other items for an 1899 Teaching Certificate awarded to Mary's sister, Josephine Downey.

Offered is an antique, C1910, German-made dexterity puzzle that measures 1 15/16" in diameter and 3/8" thick. This delightful game features a fixed, small mouse trap with two, moving, metal mice. The object of the game is to get the mice into the trap.

Colorful detailing of cats on cardboard covered-bottom is marked "Made in Germany". Tin frame holds game with glass cover on one side and mirror on reverse side.

In excellent condition considering age. Glass cover is free of cracks. Game color is still bright. Original mirror has a few spots of silvering and light scratching but is free of cracks. Displays quite well!

Measuring 10.25 inches wide by 7 inches high, this highly-colorful, mint condition, felt American flag is actually a tobacco premium which was awarded as a free bonus to tobacco buyers back in the day!

The flag features 48 stars and is bordered with the stars and stripes as well as a Liberty Bell at each of the four corners.

The Flag is double-sided and looks fabulous when viewed from either side.

Would look just striking if matted and framed!

Offered is an interesting and varied, quality sextet of Patent Medicines as follows!

First is a Munyon's Headache Cure which has a screw cap glass vial in a colorful box. This medicine sports a partial tax stamp, measures 2.75 inches and is in fine condition.

The two Dr. Franklin's Specific Cures measure just over 3 inches long and sport very graphic and appealing labels. The first glass vial marked #24, cures Diseases of the Ear and Hearing and more. The second glass vial marked #31, cures Sore Mouth and Canker, plus Morning Sickness, Syphilitic Sore mouth and more. The condition of both vials is very good.

Next, is a very colorful REQUA'S CUBEB CIGARETTES box of 12--complete! This Brooklyn, N.Y., medicine claims to relieve minor sore throat and bronchial irritations including nasal congestion due to colds. Please note the image of the patient puffing casually on a cigarette to retain good health!!!! The box is in good condition with wrinkling and creases and is 3.25 inch high.

MOTHERSILL'S TRAVEL REMEDY is a cute box of 12 capsules for children. This 2 inch cutie is empty, in very nice condition and is made in N.Y.

Item #6 is a laxative tin, QUINARETS, from the Virginia Chemical Company with partial contents, pamphlet and is in good condition. The tin measures 2.5 inches with some mild scratches and wear.

Together a wonderful grouping of quite interesting patent medicines from the early 1900s to 1940s.

Offered is a scarce, Civil War era, clear glass, hand-blown apothecary bottle sporting an appealing label under glass label that is marked 'SPIR. AETH. NIT.'. The pontilled base, ground glass stopper, and stunning gold gilt label make this bottle very desirable!

The condition of this 10 inch tall bottle is excellent. The label has a few tiny edge flecks, a small chip on the lower right hand corner, and an unobtrusive, top-to-bottom crack on the right side that runs through the letter 'T'. As seen in the photos, the label appears very nice visually, despite what I would consider minimal damage.

An early bottle that displays beautifully!

A representative sampling of pages from this hard-to-find, 1935, hard cover, 1st edition, miniature folio, Little Black Sambo book published by Platt & Munk Brothers, Inc., of New York, has been photographed for one’s viewing pleasure!

In utterly excellent condition with the only flaws noted being subtle wear to the paper dust jacket and a past owner's name and address, this version of the Little Black Sambo story is highly collectible as any item produced by its publisher, Platt & Munk, is aggressively sought-after due to the company’s reputation for use of extraordinarily vivid graphics.

This mini book is sixty-two pages long with 29 vividly colored illustrations designed and executed by the author, Frank Ver Beck.

A must have edition for the collector of Little Black Sambo books!

Offered is a very scarce, circa 1940's, glass, hospital sign acquired many years ago out of a New Jersey hospital that was undergoing modernization and renovation.

This glass SPINAL CORRECTION sign once hung near the entryway of the physical therapy department and is ready for display in your collection!

The sign measures 13 inches long x 3 inches high and is of thick, heavy plate glass construction. The sign sports gold-toned, applied lettering and is finished off in black paint, such as in the style seen in reverse-painted glass objects. There is some paint loss and lifting which is commensurate with older painted glass.

Measuring 7 inches long x 4 inches high x 6 inches wide, this all tin, 1943 copyrighted, WOLVERINE “SEE and SPELL” educational school toy is in fine overall condition! The tin is lithographed with a delightful scene of school children standing at the front of the class during a spelling bee with the teacher seen in the lower left corner holding a spelling book! Just adorable! On the back of the toy, a lone boy is seen drawing pictures and practicing spelling at a portable chalk board.

The toy is operated by pushing either side handle in a downward motion, which makes the words and pictures spin inside the toy. When the motion stops, four different spelling words with their accompanying pictures appear in the eight different windows.

Other than light surface blemishes due to age and gentle use, and the 4 missing tab covers which are supposed to keep the spelling words hidden, this vintage toy is in remarkable condition and makes a very colorful display piece!

Looking for that one item that is a "must have" to add to your collection? Well, here it is! A circa 1930 - 1940 era, graphically appealing, and near perfect medicine tin complete with contents awaits your collection.

This diminutive beauty measures 3.5 x 2.25 x 1.5 and sports an Art Deco inspired label.

Offered is a very striking, Civil War era, clear glass, apothecary bottle sporting a wonderful and quite visually-appealing, gold, recessed label.

It is embossed on the base: W.N WALTON PAT SEPT 23, 1862.

The bottle is just about 8 inches tall and is in excellent condition, containing its original contents!

These wonderful, circa late 1950-early 1960's, TRU-TONE No Roll, school or art crayons manufactured by the Milton Bradley Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, are in mint condition! The crayons are unused and are all original! The box measures 4.5 inches tall x 4.5 inches wide x 1/2 inch deep.

An absolutely wonderful addition to one's School or Artist Memorabilia collection!

Also pictured are two other mint condition, unused, boxed, school crayons that are currently offered for sale. The group of three make a charming, visual display!

This colorful sextet of 1940 - 1950 era medicines includes 4 tins, one inhaler and one bottle.

The REXALL ITCH OINTMENT is unused and is indicated as a treatment for scabies.
Hobson's tin DERMA ZEMA OINTMENT is complete with box and is unused, new-old stock!
The DOAN'S PILLS tin still retains some of its original pills.
The VAPEX INHALER is in original, unused condition.
The BAYER ASPIRIN tin still has 3 pills inside.
The small, empty, Eli Lilly ATROPINE SULFATE bottle once housed 100 hypodermic tablets.

The Doan's, Bayer and Lilly items are in good condition with wear commensurate with age and use. The remaining three items are in very good condition.

For purposes of size perspective, the Hobson and Rexall ointment tins measure almost 3 inches.

Scientific, chemist, laboratory-- these terms all best describe this circa 1930s, unused and most interesting device labeled "Bishops Arsenic Apparatus". Comes complete with original wrappers, jar, black stopper, piping and stained box with label. The box measures 5.5 inches long x 3.25 inches wide x 2 inches high. Condition is excellent.

Perfect for your laboratory, medical or weird science collection!

This is a very nice pharmacy or drug store “female specific” medicine bottle labeled “LUTEIN TABLETS” Corpus LUTEUM Preparation. This circa 1940, Hynson, Westcott & Dunning, Inc., Baltimore bottle measures almost 4” and is in very good condition. The metal cap is embossed with the logo "HW&D" on top. A neat find!

These three darling, 1940's, Japan-made ashtrays all feature laundry themes with little black children playing among the freshly washed clothing hanging on the clothesline!

All are marked "JAPAN", measure approximately 3 inches in height, have great color and are in excellent condition! Please see photos for detail shots!

As each is priced separately (see photos for pricing), please email us stating which item you wish to purchase so that we can customize your order form.

Identical to Milton Bradley's "Jolly Darkie Target Game" manufactured circa 1910, this visually striking dexterity game is very curiously unmarked---quite likely a very rare error in manufacture.

This fabulous game features a brightly colored lithograph target depicting the dapper, banjo-playing, "Jolly Darkie" with a gigantic mouth.

The target box remains in very fine condition, appearing to have seen little, if any, use. It has four openings through which one was to toss the four wooden balls that the game originally came with, but which are no longer present. It measures 13 inches tall x 6 3/4 inches wide x 1.5 inches deep.

As evident in the photos, the box cover shows expected wear given its 100+ years of age, with some pencil writing in the mouth and some surface soiling.

As indicated earlier, the extant game pieces do not retain a copyright year or maker name; however, this game is very similar to two other Milton Bradley Jolly Darkie Target games that were manufactured from 1890-1910, suggesting that this game was also manufactured during this era by Springfield, Massachusetts' Milton Bradley Company. The directions to this game are not present, and it is quite possible that the manufacturer and manufacture date both appeared on the direction card-- as has been found to be the case on other Milton Bradley games of this era.

The game cover as well as the JOLLY DARKIE target box display absolutely wonderfully and would be a colorful asset to one's vintage black Americana game collection!

Measuring 10.5" high x 10.5" deep x 6.5" wide at the widest point, this very unique, circa 1940's, pharmacy, ALKA-SELTZER advertising piece displays just wonderfully!

Cleverly conceived and constructed, this display combines a very, visually-pleasing, accessible medicine display that promoted spur-of-the-moment purchases at the drug store cash register, along with a tape dispenser for use by the pharmacist and his employees! Quite clever--- as it guaranteed that the display would remain in use and visible in the pharmacy as the tape dispenser provided a nice convenience for drug store employees!

In very nice condition with expected scratches, paint rubs, and non-problematic, superficial surface rusting here and there (please see photos) expected of a 75+ year old functional display.

The display retains one of its twelve, original, glass Alka-Seltzer medicine bottles (empty of contents) as well as an older, used roll of tape in the dispenser!

A very unique advertising drug store display sure to start an interesting conversation at your next dinner party!

Offered is a C1900, artistically-executed, hand-painted and hand-stenciled, wooden veterinary medicine advertising sign entitled "TRY VARNUM'S SPAVIN CURE".

The term Bone Spavin refers to the development of arthritic or degenerative changes that create bony growths effecting the lower joints of a horse and often resulting in lameness.

This very unusual sign measures 42" L x 6"W and is in very good condition. The wood demonstrates a few faint hairline, length-wise splits that do not go through the wood, and thus, do not effect sign integrity. Two hooks on the top of the sign facilitate hanging.