Catalog: Popular Collectibles: Memorabilia (187)

This charming grouping of THREE vintage, wooden, Black Railroad Porter and Mammy clothes brushes were all made in the 1930's by the Rhody Brush Company of Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

The two larger brushes have natural bristles, while the small red Mammy has solid red "plastic" brushes. They range in height from the Mammy at 6.5 inches and the Railroad Porter at 8 inches tall, to the smaller Mammy at 4.5 inches tall.

The two larger brushes are priced at $85 each. The small red 4.5" Mammy, is priced at $60.

All three brushes are in very good condition with evidence of having been very lightly used as described below:

Red Railroad Porter(A): small, superficial "dings" to paint here and there, with three teeny specks between the eyes. The majority of paint wear is seen around the bottom of the pedestal that the porter is standing on. The brush bristles are a mix of faint red and natural coloring.

Small Red Mammy(C): paint in excellent condition with only one superficial ding to the paint on her left side. An unusual feature: the black bow painted atop her hat!

Large Green Mammy(B): --paint in very good condition with tiny dings here and there and subtle paint wear to her hat on the right side. Slight bend to bristles, likely due to storage conditions at some point in time. Has a bit of faded green string around her neck which once may have been tied into a bow.

Please note that many of the white spots seen in the photos are light reflections and are NOT areas of missing paint. If one looks closely, the teeny areas of missing paint can be distinguished from the light reflections.

Enter "BRUSH" into the SEARCH BOX to find other Black Americana brushes for sale.

A wonderful and extremely RARE, 1st Edition, hard cover book by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, copyrighted 1938 by Platt and Munk Publishers and measuring 6.50 x 8.25 inches. Platt and Munk Publishers, like McLoughlin Publishers, were widely known to employ the most talented illustrators of the time period. Platt and Munk books are highly sought after for this reason.

Fabulous colored and black and white illustrations (see photos) adorn this 26 page book! The book features the adventures of a little Southern boy who lives with his gran'mammy and gran'daddy in a log cabin set down in a cotton field.

Interior pages are in very nice, near mint condition, are clean and bright and are tightly bound together. The only intrusion is a former owner's name, "Weaver", written in blue ink on the interior cover page (see photo). The hard bound cloth covers are in fine condition, with very, very slight wear to cover spine edges and book corners typical of a book of its age. This is a verified first edition as later editions had the cloth board without the color pastedown. Illustrated on every page, alternating color and black and white. This copy includes a worn, tattered, but nearly complete dust cover, which accounts for the pristine condition of the front and back hardcovers.

A very charming addition to one's Black Americana collection, and a black-themed children's book that is very rarely found in today's collectible market!!

Offered is a near-mint, 1935, 2nd edition of Helen Bannerman's, original Little Black Sambo story, accompanied by five additional and delightful Little Black Sambo stories by noted author and illustrator Frank Ver Beck. Published by the Platt & Munk Company of New York which was renown for hiring highly talented artists and illustrators- of which Frank Ver Beck was one -all of whom contributed to the company's reputation for publishing exquisitely illustrated children's books.

The first story, illustrated by Frank Ver Beck, is the much-beloved children's classic written and illustrated in the early 1900's by Englishwoman, Helen Bannerman, for her two daughters while they lived in India. Sambo, in the original Bannerman tale, was an Indian boy and not an African-American child. He was converted to this race overtime, however, by subsequent story tellers and illustrators. This age-old tale tells of Little Black Sambo and his frightening tiger encounter, which fortunately, has a happy ending!

The following five stories written and illustrated by Frank Ver Beck follow Helen Bannerman's original tale, all featuring Little Black Sambo and his encounters with a variety of different animals, from a Baby Elephant and a Tiger Kitten, to Monkeys, Bears and Crocodiles! Each of Ver Beck's tales were originally published as individual mini-size books, which today, are extremely difficult to come by and are quite expensive to acquire if found. Ver Beck's stories are as delightful as Helen Bannerman's original, and publishing them all together in one single volume proved to be a successful marketing strategy for Platt & Munk. His illustrations are detailed, highly imaginative and just delightful! Representative photos are offered from each of the six stories.

De-accessioned from a school library (the name of the school inside the front cover is indecipherable), this 88 year old book is in wonderful, near mint condition! The only flaws are light soiling to the exterior covers, with subtle edge wear to cover end points and two, teeny indentations into the covers- one on the front cover at the middle top and the second to the back cover at the middle bottom. Both are quite unremarkable. Just fabulous condition!!! A must-have for the lover of Little Black Sambo stories!

To see all of the Little Black Sambo items currently available for sale, simply type “Sambo” into the search box on our website homepage.

Offered is the extremely rare, circa 1930s, children's toy sand pail, marked "HappyNak Seaside Pail No4, Made in England" along the folded tin seam of the pail. This darling toy pail clearly had very limited production as it rarely appears on the antiques market for sale, nor can it be readily found in the many existing Black Americana or Black Memorabilia reference books or online sites.

Measuring a diminutive 3 1/2" high excluding the bale handle and 5.75" high including it, this adorable tin pail features colorful graphics of five little golliwoggs playing kickball! The interior and base are painted a bright sky blue while the interior base features a copper color finish over the tin.

The pail has with very minimal wear, with tiny bits of paint loss noted at each entry point of the bale handle into the pail. Some bits of paint loss are also noted on the rim, and there is crackle to the finish, rating it an 8 out of 10.

A very rarely found and quite visually appealing piece of Black Memorabilia!

To see other Golliwogg items currently being offered, enter "golliwogg" into the SEARCH box on our home page.

A wonderful example of hand-crafted Black Americana Folk Art!

This wonderful Depression Era piece features a whimsical 10 inch long cutout figure of a little wooden black girl with hand-painted smiling mouth and eyes! She is dressed in a hand-stitched cotton costume that has been stuffed with scrap fabric.

Her feet feature two brass-finish hooks, presumably to either hang keys or pot holders from. Her ears each have a punched out hole--whether this is functional or purely decorative remains a mystery. A small brass hoop threaded through a piece of fabric which was then tacked to the back of the girl's head facilitates hanging on a wall. Overall condition is fine with age-related soiling to the dress and minor paint wear typical of a 70 year-old-piece.

One of my favorite hand-made pieces with true folk art appeal!

Offered is a beautiful, C1930s, hand-woven basket plate or tray from the Hausa People of Nigeria, Africa, measuring approximately 13 inches in diameter.

Baskets such as these are made by the women in the Hausa tradition utilizing vegetable fiber, grasses and straw, all of which are typically harvested in the summer. The top of the basket is very smooth, while the base is rougher and unfinished in appearance.

These baskets are often given as wedding gifts and are traditionally used to store grain.

In addition to the natural color of straw, these baskets generally include the colors brown, red, and green, as does this one, which features two individuals joined together (celebrating marriage) as well as colorful triangular figures, one atop the other, representing the joining of two homes or families.

Condition is very good with just four single stitches missing along the basket rim (see photos).

Offered is a scarce, C1930 era, laminated wood shafted, 3 iron golf club. The stamping on the back includes: "SPALDING KRO-FLITE" with the crow cleek mark plus "J.VICTOR EAST - LONGMEADOW C.C. - LONGMEADOW MASS." etc. The club is stamped "3" on the sole and measures 37 inches from the heel to the end of the straight shaft. The club is in very good condition with minimal wear, scratches and some finish loss to the shaft commensurate with age and use.

SOME HISTORY:
Spalding began making clubs in the USA in the mid 1890s. The most successful seller of all their clubs was the KRO-FLIGHT model, first introduced in 1927. This club's unusual features are: (1) A laminated shaft that was patent pending and (2) the club is endorsed by J.Victor East and identified by the country club in which he worked.
J.Victor East, at the age of only 14, became head golf professional at the Royal Sydney Golf Club, Sydney, Australia. He eventually immigrated to the USA and worked as a professional at various clubs including Longmeadow Country Club in 1924. He also was the chief club designer for Spalding until 1941, and later, worked as a consultant at Wilson Sporting Goods Company. His illustrious professional career also included being an author, educator and clubmaker.

Measuring a diminutive 8" long x 5.5" wide, this very sweet Mammy string holder was completely hand-painted and hand-constructed with the sole exception of the machine-stitched opening in her dress that allows placement and/or removal of the ball of string.

The neck opening, arm openings and the hem of her cream and red flowered dress are all hand-stitched. Her head and torso, cut from a piece of wood, are completely hand-painted, and the facial details and head scarf details were executed with a very fine-tipped paintbrush and were very nicely done! Mammy's dress contains a ball of old cotton string which is allowed exit through a small circular hole cut into her mouth.

Paint condition is very good with only slight edge wear and a couple of very subtle, tiny surface scratches. There are no rips, tears or wear to Mammy's dress, but some small staining splotches on the left side edges of her dress in front and in back are evident. A small eyelet was screwed into the top of Mammy's head with a string attached to allow for hanging and easy access.

An interesting and older circa 1940-50's, molded plastic, African female doll carrying a tiny African baby doll in a pouch on her back!

Fine detailing hallmarks this 11.25 inch tall doll. She is dressed in a black native costume -- all handsewn with yellow and black beads, and is adorned with a matching double-strand beaded necklace and single-strand beaded bracelet along with gold hoop earrings. Her lips, as well as the baby's, are painted red and both have inset life-like, plastic eyes. Her hands swivel at the wrists; her arms and legs are jointed at shoulder and hip, respectively.

No identifying marks are evident; clothing is securely attached and could not be easily removed for a further look.

Condition is excellent with the exception of damaged toes on the right foot.

Measuring 2 1/8 inches in diameter x 3/8 of an inch high, this rarely-found, circa 1910, dexterity game depicts a smiling Top-Hatted Dandy! The puzzle is quite colorful and is very visually appealing! The puzzle contains the 3 tiny metal balls along with one white ball of unknown material, that, with the proper manual dexterity, are to be placed in the Dandy’s eyes and as buttons on his shirt!

Constructed of tin with a cardboard lithographed image and a glass cover, this game has a mirrored back. The puzzle is in all-original condition with the Dandy graphic remaining free of scratches and abrasions, and design typical of turn-of-the-century puzzles. The mirrored back shows evidence of 2 tiny areas of subtle, minor chipping along the perimeter edge, and the glass front has a small, very shallow surface chip at the base of the Dandy's shirt and an even tinier one to the left of the top hat. Unless one applies hard pressure to the surface of this glass, I cannot ever imagine this front glass breaking or shattering. (Please disregard any light or shiny spots in photos which are due to flash reflection off of the glass.)

A detailed image and a delightful piece of very early Black Memorabilia!

Published in 1926 by the Whitman Publishing Company of Racine, Wisconsin, this very rare, miniature-size, HARDCOVER book measuring just 4x5 inches, offers a very unique continuation of the original Little Black Sambo story! It is thought that this mini size Sambo book was manufactured as a salesman's sample edition, meant to be strictly used as a marketing prop to sell orders for the full-size edition of the same book.

Entitled A New Story of Little Black Sambo, this tale picks up the story with Little Sambo's mother, Black Mumbo, exclaiming that Sambo, after almost losing his best Sunday clothes to the tigers, would- from now on- only be allowed to wear his every day clothes. Now very unhappily dressed in only a grass skirt, a pouting and naughty Sambo decides to run off into the jungle once again without permission, and climbs a tree to gather coconuts. A tiger soon arrives threatening to eat Little Black Sambo, trapping him up in the tree for the entire day! Eventually, Tusker the Elephant arrives, successfully chasing off the tiger and saving Sambo. Sambo then returns home, where an angry Black Mumbo spanks him with a hairbrush for running off, despite the gift of coconuts Sambo hoped would appease his mother. The conclusion of the tale then moves forward one month later when the family goes to visit Little Black Sambo’s cousins, the Bimboes, who admire his fine Sunday best clothing that he was finally allowed to wear again!

Although no author is attributed, it is thought by some that the tale was co-authored by the book's two illustrators, Clara Bell Thurston, who rendered all of the lovely colored drawings and Earnest Vetsch, who rendered the "black and white" illustrations (which, actually, are done in navy blue ink) as well as the fancy hand-lettering of the text which further embellishes the book.

With 36 unnumbered pages which alternate between the superbly rendered color and navy blue line illustrations, this unique little book is in near mint condition. The original paper dust jacket is present and in wonderful condition, and at some point, it was protectively covered with a contemporary, clear, dust jacket protector that can be removed if so desired. No fading of color, no rips, creases or missing pages. Binding is tight with all three original staples present. Cover edges are subtly worn, and a one-time owner, Neva Merchant, signed her name on both front and back interior covers.

This very rarely-found, miniature-size edition of the continuation of the original Little Black Sambo story is a must have for the collector of Little Black Sambo books!

To see all of the Little Black Sambo items currently available for sale, simply type “Sambo” into the search box on our website homepage.

This wonderfully rare, 1920s piece of Black Memorabilia ephemera is in utterly fabulous condition!

Measuring 7.50 inches long x 3.25 inches wide, this Belgian cigarette or cigar, heavy paper/cardboard box features a fabulous litho of a very dapper Black Gentleman smoking one of the "JOHN" cigarettes. Its small size offers many options for display including framing for shelf or wall enjoyment.

A truly scarce find in phenomenal condition!

Measuring 5 inches wide x 4.5 inches long, this 1920's, brass ashtray represents a very seldom-found offering of vintage Black Americana!

This piece was actually created to serve as an ashtray! It depicts a delightful image of a young black boy in a wide-brimmed straw hat!

In wonderful condition, this piece is stamped "LL" on back.

An uncommon piece of Black Americana that should not be overlooked!

Measuring 1 3/4 inches in diameter x 3/8 of an inch high, this circa 1920’s, dexterity game puzzle depicts a fancily dressed and top-hatted black man! Likely German-made, the puzzle is without markings. Vibrant color and detailing! The puzzle contains 4 tiny white balls, that with the proper manual dexterity, are to be placed in the gent’s mouth, eyes and bow tie!

Constructed of tin with a cardboard lithographed image and a glass cover, this game is backed with its original mirror. The puzzle is in all-original condition with the lithographed graphic remaining free of scratches and abrasions. The glass is rippled but is not damaged as it remains smooth to the touch. A "defective" piece of glass was likely just simply chosen for use in what was once an inexpensive penny game!. The mirror shows some tiny bits of loss to silvering as noted in photos. (Please disregard any light or shiny spots in photos which are due to flash reflection off of the glass.)

An interesting image and a delightful piece of early Black Memorabilia!

In the mid-1800's, an unknown artist painted the face of a young Black boy in warm, soft colors, and unbeknown to the artist, forever immortalized the young boy's image! Since that time a variety of items were been produced in the image of the "Young Black boy with the Torn Hat" or "Johnny Griffin".

This circa 1920-30's Johnny Griffin tie rack is constructed in solid brass. It remains functional for such use today; however, only two of the five original tie hooks remain.

It is in all original condition with fabulous patina- not a reproduction- no replaced parts- and measures 13 inches long.

Johnny Griffin Black Americana collectibles should form the cornerstone of any serious Black Memorabilia collection!

To see all of the Johnny Griffin items currently available for sale, simply type “Johnny Griffin” into the search box on our web home page.

Measuring 12 inches high x 9 3/4 inches long x 6 inches wide, this extraordinarily rare, circa 1920's, Black Americana, wooden pull toy is called Shufflin' Sam!

Demonstrating some degree of age-related paint loss as seen in photos, Shufflin' Sam remains fully functional, shuffling his feet and twirling his blue umbrella when he is gently pulled along a flat surface. His manufacturer is unknown. On his base is written in ink, a very OLD price of $22.00!

The paint loss imperfections do not interfere with the toy's overall charming visual appeal! This exceptional toy has never been repaired or repainted; it remains in all-original condition!

Wooden toys were produced with less frequency than their tin counterparts and also tended to be less hardy, and thus, a far fewer number of them survive today as compared to the more frequently discovered tin and metal toys of the same era.

"Shufflin' Sam" is very RARELY found (The FIRST time I have ever been able to offer him!!!), and the opportunity to acquire him should not be overlooked!

Offered is the 1928, 2nd edition of Helen Bannerman's, Little Black Sambo book published by the Platt & Munk Company of New York and illustrated by one of P & M's noted artists, Eulalie. The Platt & Munk Company was renown for hiring highly talented artists and illustrators, all of whom who contributed to the company's reputation for publishing exquisitely illustrated children's books.

This story is a much-beloved children's classic written in the early 1900's by Englishwoman, Helen Bannerman, for her two daughters while they lived in India. Sambo, in the original Bannerman tale, was an Indian boy and not an African-American child. He was converted to this race overtime, however, by subsequent story tellers and illustrators. This age-old tale tells of Little Black Sambo and his frightening tiger encounter, which fortunately, has a happy ending!

In very fine condition with the only flaws noted to this hardcover book being extremely minor corner edge wear, what appears to be a blue ink stain on one page (see photos), one small 1/2" long tear on the page "Oh, Please Mr. Tiger, DOn't eat me up", and what looks to be an oil stain beginning at the edge of the inside of the front cover, continuing to about the middle of the book. However, the stain is smaller and smaller with each successive page. The colored illustrations are beautifully vibrant, with both the black line drawings and color illustrations demonstrating the superb artistic talent of the illustrator, Eulalie! Unnumbered pages alternate between color and black line illustrations. No creases. Nice, tight binding.

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

To see all of the Little Black Sambo items currently available for sale, simply type “Sambo” into the search box on our website homepage.

Measuring 6 1/2 x 11 3/4, this lovely, early 1900's, Black subject die cut by Enoch Morgan & Sons, England, features three individual Sapolio Soap die cuts used to advertise the company product. Each die cut features the head of a young black boy centered inside a piece of fruit or vegetable- a cabbage, a watermelon and a (?) pear.

Sapolio was a brand of soap noted for its unique and clever advertising, led by Artemas Ward from 1883–1908. Bret Harte, an American short story writer and poet, wrote jingles for the brand, and the sales force also included King Camp Gillette, who went on to create the fabulously successful Gillette safety razor and the razor and blades business model. Time magazine described Sapolio as "probably the world's best-advertised product" of its time period!

This pleasant trio of Sapolio Soap die cuts is in excellent condition and comes protected in an attractive, walnut-toned, oak decorative frame!

This very rarely found advertising trio together create quite a visually appealing decorative piece!