I have a poster advertising Adelaide Kemble appearing in the opera Norma at Covent Garden in 1842. (Also advertises a performance of a play called Dun Cow at the same venue.)
I’ve no idea of its value (if any) but a friend who works in archives said, after a cursory examination, it does seem to be authentic, though some wear and tear (most noticeably about two inches of the bottom right corner is missing- though no text on it) would reduce its value.
Adelaide Kemble was a member of a singing family and was an opera star for a very short time before retiring at the height of her success to marry an Anglo-Italian nobleman and raise a family. She became famous again a generation later when her son married the daughter of President Grant in the White House and she sang at the wedding reception, then returned for a time to public singing.
In any case, the reason I mention it is that while I’ve never had it appraised it may be the best return on investment I’ve ever gotten. It came from the estate sale of an old actor and theater teacher here in town (one I’m pretty sure was gay from the other stuff in his house and leastwise had no widow or kids). It cost fifty cents. (I’d definitely sell or trade it for the right price, but only if I replaced it with something “cool” and didn’t just use the money on rent and utilities and other quotidia.)
Other favorite things include some odd Russian nesting dolls that were a gift from a stewardess who had a little import sideline going on with her Moscow layovers. And while they’re not valuable, I have a pair of porcelain Chang-Eng figurines sold at their 1830s tour, and a carte de visite of and autographed by Lavinia Warren Stratton (aka Mrs. Tom Thumb and “Countess di Magri”) and her second husband, “Count” Primo Magri, from one of her late 19th century tours solo tours (this one I think, but the count’s brother is not in the frame) that I bought at a flea market for $10. I don’t think the person knew that this was Mrs. Tom Thumb (a superstar in her own time, before her first husband died anyway) or she’d have charged more. I’ve never had the signatures authenticated but I’m pretty sure they’re genuine- it looks like her real signature (on the web) and these were pretty standard souvenirs at her appearances and not that rare (and not nearly as collectible as her Tom Thumb memorabilia), but regardless of its value I like it.
I have about 200 Native American artifacts: arrowheads, spoke-shaves and skinning/scraping blades that I’ve found on this farm over the years. If a field gets plowed, walking over it after the next rain usually results in several new finds.
I have a small crystal sphere, faceted with two flat surfaces top and bottom, with the letter “W” etched on one of the flat sides. I was watching the seagulls in my parking lot at work one day about 15 years ago, and one seagull kept picking up and dropping a sparkly thing. He would fly a short hop, drop it, land, pick it back up…I walked up to him to see what he was doing, and he dropped it again, so I took it from him. He was not happy that I took his sparkly away.
I found a blue maglite on the bottom of a river I was rafting down. It turned right on, although it was pretty dim and I had to change the batteries pretty soon after.
I found a full sized Boulder Colorado fire hydrant in the laundry room of my dorm when we where moving out. Not sure if it was there for a gag or what. I think the previous ‘owners’ wanted to get rid of it and did not want to leave it in their room.
So I snagged it. Well, snagged is not the right word. It weighed about 150lbs.
It sat on the porch of my apartment for about a year. Someone stole it. Which is probably a good thing or I would still be lugging the thing around.
A “friend” of mine once found an umbrella at a bus stop and took it home. Two weeks later when it was raining the “friend” opened it up and out fell a bag of white powder and a wad of cash.
The “friend” has spent the cash and flushed the powder down a toilet at City Hall. But the “friend” still has the umbrella.
Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor: In this area, it is common for people to put good used items they no longer want in a box on the curb, so that others may have them. These are “freeboxes.”
The particular one in question is a permanent one established twenty or thirty years ago (or possibly more) that is built out of wood, with a hinged lid and a roof like a well. It’s called “The Wishing Well”, and it’s outside of a large collective household with some pretty firm good-hearted policies.
Recently, some NIMBY or yuppie or other acronym (maybe just a bitch) objected to this free box so much that she actually removed its contents and scattered them up & down the street one night, in an attempt to make it look like some freebox patron had done it and hence the box a nuisance. She dragged the issue all the way to the city council, but for once, populism won out. (This was in Berkeley – Berkeley is now the furthest thing from its reputation of the sixties. It is not a bastion of peace and freedom anymore.)
Everyone knows that baby clothes are expensive, and they grow out of them very quickly. I’m not ashamed to say that when my son was little, he had a lot more cool things to wear because of The Wishing Well. I have found wonderful books there, a fancy water dish for my cat, the telephone right next to me now, and all kinds of things of which we were in dire need at one time or another. And the jacket.
In days of yore, my friend had a small pickup truck. In times of need, he, I, and others, would cruise around rich neighborhoods on Junk Day. Furnished many a home, we did.
