$175.00
The piece has two tiny holes in its bowl suggesting that this was once screwed or fastened into another piece. Logic suggests that perhaps this may have been an advertising display item of some sort.
Remnants of red paint are easily visible on the back of the black boy's hat as well as on his lips, and the giant shoe also displays remnants of black paint. When one looks quite closely, one can see that the entire figure was at one time painted. Some light superficial rusting to the bowl is evident here and there.
Certainly a mystery piece as to purpose, this fascinating Black Memorabilia collectible remains quite intriguing and does reinforce a stereotypical occupation associated with black folk during the unfortunate Jim Crow era.
$295.00
The litho was executed by John Karst with his signature appearing in the lower left hand corner. Highly detailed, the litho reproduces a bustling New Orleans' dock scene featuring numerous slaves at work.
This litho was professionally re-framed using museum-quality, acid-free materials in 2004. The frame is a classic styled, black painted, beaded, hardwood accented with a dark rose, acid-free mat.
A fascinating glimpse into life on the docks of the Mississippi River at New Orleans!
Please note that any white spots or streaking appearing in photos are the result of light reflection and are not damage to the litho.
$95.00
Featuring wonderful, vivid colors, this slide is titled "Two Old Chums" on the paper label attached to the back of the slide. The slide depicts an older black gentleman standing, hat in hand, beside a seated, very despondent-looking, white gentleman- who appears to have been drinking.
The slide has wonderful detailing--In particular, please note the print of a Black Child playing the Banjo which hangs on the wall at the far right side of the room!
Very hard to find Black Memorabilia in fabulous condition!
$595.00
The String Holder is stamped "JAPAN" on the back side, and it has a hole in the center of her mouth to accommodate the string! This wonderful piece has expected and typical glaze crazing and even comes complete with vintage string! On the upper right hand side of her forehead, these is a small white spot about 1/4 of an inch long where the face paint was not applied prior to factory glazing (see photo)- a tiny, insignificant manufacturer imperfection that does not detract from this rare piece! The entire piece is glazed with the exception of Mammy's lips which are cold-painted (meaning that the paint was applied after firing). As such, this area of paint would be the most vulnerable to wear, and Mammy does have 2 microscopically-sized specks on her upper lip where the paint has come off. Too tiny to be picked up in a photo!
Please note that photos were taken with a flash, so any white markings on the piece are flash reflections only and not imperfections.
$125.00
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!
Condition is a 7.5 out of 10! All the wear on this brightly colored hardcover book was absorbed by its cover with wear to book edge points, book cover edges, and splits to the exterior spine. The interior binding is intact and tight as are all pages. No rips, creasing or bends to pages or pen/pencil markings. Illustrations remain very brightly colored and vibrant and are known for their very fine artistry. There is a small spot of brown paint that likely dropped onto the book while it was closed because a tiny remnant of this paint appears on the very edge of each page approximately one inch from the top of the pages (as seen in photos). Interestingly, both the front and back covers are identical in design!
Amazing condition for a nearly 90 year M.A. Donahue Publishers book- a book that is exceedingly difficult to find in today's market!
To see all of the Little Black Sambo items currently available for sale, simply type “Sambo” into the search box on our website homepage.
$795.00
GOLD DUST Trolley Signs are a very rare find in today’s market as they were made of cardboard, a material much less likely to withstand the test of time as opposed to tin advertising signs which were much sturdier!
This Gold Dust trolley sign features the Gold Dust Twins dressed in ruffled, red skirts emblazoned with the words “GOLD DUST”, busily scrubbing the front porch and the kitchen in a vigorous attempt at “Spring Cleaning”. The colors featured in this trolley sign are just stunning—greens, pale peachy-colored orange, pale blue, and yellows with white apple blossoms and red tulips flowering in profusion!! To the left of the Gold Dust Twin scrubbing the front porch, sits a large box of Gold Dust Washing Powder. The advertisement proclaims in black-outlined, peachy-orange lettering: “For Spring House Cleaning”.
The condition of this trolley sign is truly quite fine. Colors are very strong and consistent throughout; please ignore the various glass reflections seen in some of the photos- they were unavoidable and do appear to make the colors appear a bit faded—which is inaccurate! The sign is free of rips or tears although it does have two, early, fold-creases – one running from top to bottom of the sign along the left side of the pail and between the “O” and “L” in “GOLD” and the other vertical crease on the very right edge of the sign, running through the stove in the kitchen to the “T” in “DUST”. The creases are very unobtrusive and do not detract from the wonderful, colorful imagery this sign conveys.
An unusual opportunity to acquire a very RARE piece of Black Americana!!
$425.00
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!
$195.00
The puppet, itself, is 14 inches tall and is colorfully dressed in blue and white checked pants, red shoes, orange and whit polka dot shirt, straw hat and red patterned neck scarf.
The puppet's face is composition and bears evidence of some age-related crackling as noted in photos. He has a tiny piece if composition missing on the left side of his neck partially covered by his neck scarf, so it is very difficult to notice. He bears a manufacturer stamp on the bottom of his right foot, but it is partial and unreadable. His hands which hold colorful pink straw maracas are a heavy molded plastic.
The puppet is free of stains, dirt and odor. He retains his original black strings and wooden airplane controller!
$195.00
A wonderful and rarely found piece of Black Americana!
$245.00
Her cute face is completely hand-stitched and is accented by original celluloid hoop earrings. She wears a flowered bandanna, a cream colored flowered shawl, and an off white apron over her green and black mini-checked dress. She even has a cream colored petticoat underneath all! Her machine-stitched clothes are odor free and are nicely constructed, although her apron does have tiny age holes!
Although her bottle frame is covered by a black stocking, the stocking has risen up revealing her sand-filled milk bottle with red lettering from R.W. Tripp's Dairy, established 1889. The milk bottle lettering is in great shape and even features a graphic of a school boy and girl! Among milk bottle collectors, this particular milk bottle is quite rarely found and quite highly sought after, adding further collectible value to this sweet doll!
This great, early bottle doll is one of 3 currently offered bottle dolls --- all priced separately.
$475.00
These dolls were conceptualized as advertising pieces and were only obtainable from the Aunt Jemima Mills of St. Joseph, Missouri, in return of 24 cents in stamps along with 4 box tops from select Aunt Jemima products for the full set which also included children, Little Diana and Wade Davis, OR for JUST ONE DOLL, 1 box top and 6 cents in stamps! Dolls were then shipped promptly, postpaid upon receipt!
The original purchaser of these uncut dolls, Mrs O. W. Lewis of Ethel, Missouri, clearly only ordered the Aunt Jemima and Uncle Mose dolls, as these dolls remained within the family, untouched in the original mailing envelope, until their recent discovery by the purchaser's descendants.
It is quite unusual to find uncut versions of these dolls -along with the original mailing envelope which typically is quickly tossed away- as more commonly, the dolls are found by chance as "singletons" here and there-- already cut, sewn, stuffed and played with as opposed to the pristine, uncut versions offered here.
The pair is in quite wonderful condition given their 100+ years of age and are suitable for framing. Each doll is printed on a separate piece of linen, and the color of each doll remains amazingly crisp and brilliant! Aunt Jemima measures 10.5" wide by 35" long, and Uncle Mose measures 10" wide by 35" long. (Please note that any variation in color noted in photos is a result of lighting issues and light reflection only. Background of linen remains its original, crisp, bright white with each doll retaining its "like-new" consistent and brilliant color.)
Mild foxing is noted only on Aunt Jemima and not on Uncle Mose, likely due to the manner of storage. The Uncle Mose doll fabric was folded and stored inside of the Aunt Jemima fabric, and then they were placed inside of the envelope, with only Aunt Jemima coming into contact, for decades, with the high-acidic content of the envelope which caused the foxing. Fold lines are evident as well; however, these fold lines are the result of original factory packaging and storage in the envelope for over 100 years. Other than the foxing as described, the pair remain in truly fine condition!
A rare opportunity for the advanced collector to acquire an uncut, complete pair of C1917, Aunt Jemima and Uncle Mose Advertising Rag Dolls, suitable for framing!
This offering will only be sold as a pair; offers for an individual piece will not be entertained.
SOLD
In 1912, in a stroke of advertising genius, Mayo's Tobacco Company packaged their cut plug tobacco in round tins with a lithographed character. Each held 1 pound of tobacco. The tins were opened by removing the head!
These "Roly-Polys" were a unique shape that distinguished them from the rectangular and lunch box-shaped tins that surrounded them on store shelves. There were a number of different characters that were available, and smokers were encouraged to collect the entire set. The six original tins were the Satisfied Customer, the Storekeeper, the Singing Waiter, the Dutchman, Scotland Yard....and Mammy!
Mayo called this packaging a "Brownie" tin...apparently the company suggested that the tins be used as brownie containers after the tobacco was used, and designed them accordingly. They were never a plentiful tin, and today, are becoming increasingly more and more difficult to find.
The Mayo tobacco tins were distinguished by little packages of Mayo Cut Plug tobacco shown somewhere on the character. Notice that the Mammy tin has a tiny tobacco tin tucked into her front pocket.
Mammy's dimensions are 7"x7". She is in very good condition, as evidenced by the photos which clearly detail the very minor flaws she has acquired over her 100+ years of existence. Mammy's front side is nearly flawless, with just the teeniest paint rubs noted. **(Please note, that I was unable to avoid "white" glare in some of the photos which should not be misconstrued as damage.)**
Amazingly, Mammy still retains four separate remnants of the green US Internal Revenue paper tax stamp that are only rarely still found on Mayo Cut Plug "Brownies". They are noted on her back side on either side of the May Cut Plug tobacco package, as well as two smaller remnants directly below it. At first glance, these four tax remnants might be mistaken for areas of paint loss--not so!
Mammy's body has very, very minor, tiny spots of paint loss to the litho as seen in photos- primarily on her back side, and two small and subtle areas of denting on her front base that are noted via "touch" rather than visual appearance. The tin has no repaint. Some very light, superficial rusting is present inside the base.
The exterior base of the tin is labeled "made in factory # 42, in the 2nd District of Virginia".
**The depth of color is better viewed "in person" as opposed to what I was able to capture in a photo.**
A must-have addition to any SERIOUS Black Americana collection! This tin displays beautifully!!
$625.00
From 1901-1924, Bruckner produced this original, 12" Topsy Turvy doll for Horsman's Babyland Rag Doll line that features Caucasian, "Betty", on one end and African American, "Topsy", on the other. The inspiration for this doll is based on the character of Topsy in Harriet Beecher Stowe's classic 1852 novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin".
The Bruckner Topsy Turvy doll was advertised in a 1907 Babyland Rag Doll catalog as follows:
"TOPSY-TURVY---What is this?
Looks like just a pretty miss.
But turn her over and you'll find,
She is quite another kind.
First she's White and then she's Black,
Turn her over and turn her back.
Topsy that side--Betty this--
Yet complete, each little Miss."
The detail on this hard to find classic doll is lovely. Both heads indeed have the pressed, molded mask faces with lithographed features. Topsy's face is in mint condition! Betty's face is very fine with superficial rubs to the flesh-toned coating of her mask; her lithographed facial features, however, remain beautiful. (Such rubs are not unexpected as these particular doll masks are, unfortunately, prone to rubbing.)
Grinning Topsy has red bows tied to her black mohair braided pigtails which are tucked into her red headscarf. Her red blouse, which matches her head scarf, is trimmed with cream banding around the sleeve and neck edges. The cream scarf she wears around her shoulders tucks into her very full, red/cream checked, gingham skirt. Flip her over, and....
Betty's more subtle Anglo face and her hair are lithographed. She wears the same red/cream checked gingham fabric of which both her dress and ruffled bonnet are constructed. Over her very full gingham dress, Betty also wears a sheer, ruffled pinafore.
Both dolls have the typical "mitten" hands of the stuffed rag dolls of this era. There are no other difficulties to report other than the rubs to Betty's face and some tiny, stray (original) glue spots here and there. No rips, tears, soiling, or odors, and she has been stored in a smoke-free home. The photos show it all- these two girls are a charming pair! A very difficult to find doll in near excellent condition!
$85.00
Constructed of celluloid with a metal back and pin to allow attachment to one's clothing, this diminutive mourning pin measures just 7/8th inch in diameter.
The image remains quite crisp with surface crackling of the celluloid that does not effect the integrity of the overall structure of the pin. In the highly magnified photos, the crackling appears much, much more intrusive to the eye than when viewed simply with one's eyes, alone.
The backside of the pin carries the maker's mark and manufacturing locations, some of which is partially obscured: "T. J. M..., Dearborn, Chicago".
$175.00
Her interesting and expressive face is completely hand-stitched and bears a tiny hole in the center of her chin. A similar teeny hole may also be seen (see photo) on her back. Mammy wears a lacy bonnet detailed with tiny pleats and 2 ribbon flowers. Her pink skirt and blouse, also hand-stitched, is presented in various shades of pink as Mammy's outfit has been subjected to light over the years and is in places, quite faded. Although now clean, Mammy's clothing is speckled here and there with teeny dark pinpoint size spots, most particularly in the bust area. Her white apron is pristine and is accented with a small, non-functional pocket. Her lace bonnet is fragile and must be handled with care as it can tear easily.
Although her bottle frame is covered by a black stocking, the stocking has opened slightly under her skirt revealing her sand-filled milk bottle.
This wonderful, early bottle doll is one of 3 currently offered bottle dolls --- all priced separately.
$18.00
$35.00
The stereoview cards are titled: "Hoeing Rice, South Carolina", "Old Slave Market At St. Augustine, Florida", "Native Cane Grinders in Sunny Florida", "Who said quail?" (young man holding English Springer Spaniels) and "Waitin Fo De End Man" (7 Boys Sitting on a Mule).
The cards are priced at $35.00 each or all five cards for $140.00. All are in fine condition, and all but "Waitin Fo De End Man" and "Who said quail?" have a detailed, historical description on the reverse side.
As each is priced separately as stated, please specify which stereoview card(s) you wish to purchase so that we can customize your order form.
$245.00
Cleverly designed, the elephants themselves, serve as the body of each tea pot, while the turbaned Black Natives lift off the elephants' backs revealing their function as tea pot lids. A wicker handle facilitates handling on the two large tea pots. The base of all three pieces are marked "JAPAN".
The largest tea pot measures 7 inches high by 8 inches long; the middle-sized tea pot measures 6 inches high by 7 inches long; the tiny novelty piece measures a diminutive 3.25 inches long by 2.75 inches high.
Condition is excellent on all three pieces with the exception of the wicker handle on the middle-sized tea pot. One end of the handle is missing its looped section of the wicker that would have wrapped around the ceramic loop to secure the handle to the tea pot. As is noted in the photos, that end of the handle can be propped against the ceramic loop to maintain its proper appearance for display purposes.
Handsome and difficult-to-find pieces of vintage Black Memorabilia! All three Good Luck Elephant pieces are offered as a single group, priced at $245.00!