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ANTIQUES
3/8/17
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2-24-19
Posted
9/15/20S
c1905 Racycle Motorcycle Photo
6 1/2" x 4 1/4" inside window
9 1/4" w X 6 7/8" framed
Two days ago Sunday 9/13/20 the Sacramento Antiques fair re-opened
first time since the covid lockdown started…I think everyone was expecting an avalanche of great stuff…but no…the amount of dealers was a little sparse…and the quality wasn’t anything great…I didn’t find a thing…but at least it was something…we’ll worry about getting better later…just glad things are opening….So it wasn’t great…HOWEVER…Later I went to an antiques mall and found this photo of a c1905 Raycycle motorcycle…so I measured, photographed, and thanked the kid for getting it out of the case…and continued around the store…I enlarged the photos I took on my phone trying to see what make it was…you could barely make out the name but it looked like it said something cycle on the gas tank…I could kind of make out the word cycle in the last part of the name….but had to keep enlarging and guessing…I tried a few guesses on
google. Finally the name Racycle came up and it matched…then it was just a matter of time before I found a photo of a Racycle and it all took shape…and I started understanding the photo and what I had…this is the third motorcycle photo I’ve gotten from the same seller…he’s one of those no-tech guys that doesn’t look stuff up… I generally like big photos at least 12” wide…so this is probably the smallest photo I’ve ever bought...but when you get back to the 1905 era that’s really early for motorcycles…and I don’t think there are lot of original ones around…admittedly I’m still learning about early motorcycles...and photos too for that matter…Some would not be happy about the worn frame…but that’s exactly what makes me happy…Finding a photo in the original frame like this with the original old wavy glass...makes it a lot more exciting than out of the frame…or in a new frame…you know from looking at the back it’s the real deal…
One of these Racycle motorcycles sold in Mecum five years ago in 2015 for...which was a giveaway compared to the c1912 Flying Merkel that sold the same year in Mecum for $423,500.00. Racycle and Flying Merkel were both made by The Miami Cycle Company of Middletown
OH...Racycle started as a bicycle manufacturer...and like many bicycle makers they started adding motors...I believe Miami Cycle Company was later acquired by the Westfield Mfg. Co…It’s intriguing to me the orange paint on the Racycle that sold for $38,000.00, seen below…looks identical to the afore mentioned Flying Merkel that sold the same year…you can see photos of it in a feature I did on a Flying Merkel
trophy…click
here…
Holding
his big find at end of 3-Day collecting Blitz
WHIRLWIND
3-DAYS OF COLLECTING
-
SCORED TWICE -
Lott'a
windshield time & wear and tear on
the
ol' bod...but this golf trophy made it all worth it!
DAY
1
Friday
2/8/19
California
Antiquarian
Book
Fair,
Oakland
Calif.
DAY
2
Saturday
2/9/19
San
Francisco Antiquarian
Book
Fair,
South
San
Francisco
Calif.
DAY
3
Sunday
2/10/19
Alameda
Point Antiques Fair & Sacramento
Antiques
Fair
(that's
right both in one day)
Earlier
this month was one of those 3-day marathon collecting weekends…had a good time but boy was I exhausted come Monday….I had to go back to work but I felt like I needed a vacation…Started Friday…I took the day off work to go to opening day of the California Antiquarian Book Fair…That show is so rich I would hate to miss it…It’s truly international with dealers from all over the world…Plenty of European dealers…dealers mostly in coat and tie…it’s that kind of show…I heard the tables are like 9 grand…phew…and the prices are high…I hit the whole place methodically row by row on the hunt for something great…started on one side the room…two hours later I finished my first comb but hardly saw any sports stuff….just a few things…When I first walked in there was a local bay area dealer already making a deal on some UC Berkeley pieces…but I didn’t see any broadsides so phew...Later I picked up a c1900 football team photo from Placerville Calif…nice little find…
Ran into Pat Nester who I’d been texting as I got there half hour after opening…he hadn’t found anything…sat down took a breather and chatted…then went and showed Pat the strongest thing I’d seen…an 1893 Yale Princeton football die cut program for $600.00…Pat passed after taking a good look at it…I liked it but not $600.00 worth…
And then…bingo…I saw what looked like a cigar sign in a case and went over to take a closer look and wham…I looked up and saw the most unusual black print with gold printing of a single sculler holding an American flag…printed in France…Looked 1890…based on the material it’s printed on I think it may be closer to c1900…The dealer Ed Maggs from London…and actually everyone in the booth really made the show…just the coolest most down to earth Brits…Huge booth…and all kinds of classic antiquarian books…The dealer told me he’d gotten it a week earlier at the Pasadena Antiquarian Book Fair in So. Cal…from a French dealer who was set up the next booth over…He even introduced me to him…Then came the arm wrestling…and I ended up with it…It was one of those deals where I didn’t really need it for my collection…but it was too rare and great to leave it…I may keep it now that I got it home…I emailed a very advanced print dealer in London who told me it must be extremely rare as he’d never seen it…which was exactly what I was sensing…and I contacted Bill Miller of RowingHistory.net and he had never seen it…
The next day was the San Francisco Antiquarian Book Fair in South San Francisco…9:00AM and a real dud…hardly any dealers compared to prior years….I guess because the regulars were set up at the California Antiquarian Book Fair across the bay in Oakland…I guess…Man that was one wasted day…all that driving and gas for naught…
And the net day was Alameda…Actually it had gotten rained out the Sunday before and it was a roll-over show….and it was still rainy…kind of right on the bubble…actually the previous month got rained out too…so I was expecting a good turnout of dealers anxious to sell stuff…But nope…very sparse…a lot of buyers were sitting in their car when I got there at 6am waiting to see if dealers would set up…I went in and found a few things for craigslist…I even found something for my own collection…I was at a table going thru a box of photos when I overheard a guy telling another guy he had an 1898 Olympic Club book to show him…I just kept my mouth shut and waited for Mr. Olympic Club book to leave and followed him…Excuse me but did you say you have an 1898 Olympic Club book?...yes he said…can I see it…sure he said…and he took me over to his car and I bought it…It had a great leather cover with “Olympic Club” embossed on the cover…and it was 1893 not 1898…and TONS of photos…The cover was separated but other than that it was all there and in pretty nice condition…bingo…$100.00 bucks and I was walking away with it!!!....So I bagged that one and kept on with the war…found a couple cool signs…I was planning to go to church after but for some reason I felt compelled to take off for the Sacramento Antique Fair…somehow feeling I didn’t get enough antiquing in…I was talking to this one dealer and I said I was thinking of driving to the Sac Fair…and he goes…eh…by the time you get there, there won’t be anything left…I said yeah I know…sort of half thinking it could still happen…
So I saddled up and hit the road for Sac...an hour and a half essentially…I think I did it in an hour twenty…So I get to Sac and there were probably more dealers there than Alameda. And usually Sacramento is about Ľ the size of Alameda…and man phew…did it pay off…About three rows in and I spot the greatest golf trophy I’ve ever seen….18 ˝” tall…English but who cares…The photos don’t do it justice…and it was on the table of a dealer I’ve known about 30 years…I was in shock…ya get out of the car a little rummy from the road…and blam…here’s this incredible piece just sitting there on the table…And this dealer is usually not cheap…He’s one of those kind of dealers you never know what they’re libel to pull out…usually he just brings cool fodder….but once in a while…and this time he really did it…I couldn’t stop looking at it…half out of shock…So I said OK how much…$1500.00 he says…So I’m examining it closely as we’re talking…what’s that I said….$700.00?....$1500.00 he says again…Did you say $800.00? I said jesting…So finally I said OK…$1,200.00…$1400.00 is my bottom he said…I was stuck at $1200.00 figuring I’d let him chew on my offer a while…So right as I’m in the middle of it some guy that looked like he might understand the piece walks up with his wife and starts looking at it and asks the dealer the price…$1500.00 he says…and I gave the seller the look of death…like…uh what are you doing I’m looking at it and I’m serious and I was here first…raised eyebrows mouth open kind of look…he looks at me and looks back at the guy and says…but I think he’s looking at it…So the guy leaves…like in a way the $1500.00 put him back in his seat…Yeah right I’m thinking…that’s all I need is some third baseman cramping me right now…So the seller said he’d hold it for me while I went thru the rest of the show…I came back and offered $1300.00…finally we agreed on $1350.00…He told me he got it at Brimfield in 1995...He said he paid $1,000.00 but he didn’t feel bad about selling it for $1,350.00 because he did real well on Spalding trophies he picked up same trip…Then later that night I went and saw a guys collection that was off the chart…not sports but auto and boat and bicycles and great neon…
his Munsingware Sign featuring World Heavyweight Champion Jess Willard came today....little rough but so rare may be only extant....as I showed it to John Buonaguidi of All American Antiques in Monterey Calif and he'd never seen it...John who I've known many years...going way back over thirty years...when I first got into this...is sort of a done it all, had it all, when it comes to early boxing signs and posters especially...and he hadn't seen it...John pointed out there's no mention of being world champion...so it may be from before he won the championship. Willard knocked out Jack Johnson in Havana Cuba in 1919 to win the title..
Birthplace
of Rugby Football - first rules written 1845
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_railway_station
Here is a railway station sign I picked up earlier this month at the
Sacramento Antiques Fair...it's from the town of Rugby in Warwickshire,
England where the sport of Rugby was invented about 1845 at Rugby
School…which American football was partially modeled after…So I sort
of got a little piece where football originated…Of course nobody knew
those details and the seller didn't seem to have a clue anything about
it…offered it to me for $60.00…Lotta bang for the buck kinda
piece…Not real old but has enough wear...and mounting holes are
correct...so I'm confident it's original...Subsequent research turned up
the Station was named "Rugby Midland" from 1950 to 1970 when it
was used to differentiate from “Rugby Central” railway station which
served the competing “Great Central Main Line 1899-1969”. After Rugby
Central station closed in 1969, the "Rugby Midland" name was
changed to the current "Rugby Station"...So I'm confident it's
pre 1970...Can't believe I managed to squeeze it in!!!
Rugby
Midland sign as found at
Sacramento
Antiques Fair
Rugby
Midland sign in Custody back of truck
1870
Harpers Woodcut Engraving "Football at Rugby"
Managed
to squeeze in - Rugby Midland sign displayed in kitchen
Carlton
hasn't posted anything new in a million years
he's
been so busy...So here's a little of what I've been up to recently...
End
of last month my buddy
Ryan Sims down in So Cal says to me..."Hey dude the Long Beach
Flea puts on a special show whenever there's a fifth Sunday....you should
come down and sell it's gonna be awesome"...So since I had stuff
to move....or I should say get out of my life...I did it...I started
getting ready...OH MY GOSH!!!!...talk about work!...Two days I spent
gathering up stuff and getting everything cleaned up to sell...much of it
stuff I've had packed away...windexing...polishing...waxing...PHEW...and I
had two signs that had to be displayed upright on a post...so I had to
figure a way to do it...So I bought some ring clamps and horseshoe clamps
and a 8ft 2x4 and cut it in half and attached them to the inside my Nissan
pickup bed...worked great...I started out by planning how I wanted my
booth to look...see below
Planning
Stage
And
of course there was more to do than I expected...and instead of being a
nice relaxed leisurely departure for the seven hour drive from N. Cal to
So Cal...time started closing in on Saturday afternoon to get on the
road...one thing after another...and before I knew it....instead of
leaving by noon...I didn't get on the road till 6:00PM...and I was suppose
to be in line at Long Beach at 4:30AM...And so...I get to my hotel and in
bed at 2:00 and up at 5:00AM and at the show by 5:30AM...And I did it...on
three hours sleep...I prayed over my trip before I left and the Lord
blessed me the whole trip...Didn't get too tired driving down...made
it thru the selling day Sunday no problem...I even went to one
of my favorite Cuban restaurants Felix's, in Orange after leaving the show
Sunday evening...It was the first decent meal I had in two days...and man
was it good...got my usual Medallions of Beef...fillet minion cuts wrapped
in bacon topped with blue cheese sauce...with all the usual Cuban
trimmings...Red Bean soup, rice, black beans, fried bananas (plantains)...and
their special Tres Leches cake for desert....phew! Carlton happy...Below
shots of the day...
Carlton's
Busy Corner Booth Long Beach Flea
Setting
up 6:00AM
Setting
up 6:00AM
Later
In The Day
Posted
7/4/17
7/2/17
CARLTON'S
WEEKEND
The
Alameda Point Antiques Fair
was
a bust...didn't find a thing...however...
c1950's
miniture toy bicycle racers (Tour de France) $35.00 each or 4
for $100.00
COOL
STUFF I SAW AT ALAMEDA BUT NOT COOL ENOUGH TO BUY
Close
in left
Close
in right
cool
fencers mask $200.00
1890s
Stanford Band photo, exact year to be researched
o
I dutifully went to the Alameda Point Antiques fair this
last Sunday and zeroed out....didn't find a thing...went
to church...then went to Berkeley to get some Thai
food...Then it dawned on me...I bought an early Stanford
band photo on eBay about six months prior...Seller had a
BIN or best offer and we made a deal...I happen to know
the seller...fellow collector...lived in Berkeley so I
said never mind shipping I'll just pick it up in person
next time I'm in Berkeley...However I never got around
to it....all paid for and everything...all I had to do
was pick it up....but I kept forgetting to go get
it...and then six months after I got it there I was in
Berkeley and it occurred to me I needed to pick it up...Texted
the seller and I went over to his house....Now this guy
is no slouch...has probably the best Cal collection in
the world...plus a lot of other stuff...So I go in and
there in a case among a bunch of Cal stuff is two U.C.
Mixture Tobacco tins...one worn...one very nice...I said
how much for the U.C. Mixture tins?...He goes...Oh I
don't know what these go for now...$XXX.00 he
says...BINGO...done...I had wanted one of them for a
long time...Then!!!!!...he pulls out the band
photo...phew!!!!...for some reason the photo on eBay
made it look beat up...as there is a small part on the
viewers left that is cracked...but other than that
thing's in great shape...and apparently very rare...I
can't find any 19th century Stanford Band photos on the
Stanford website...or any place else...And it's not just
that it's rare...it's a very well done photo!...Well
laid out visually...and very good clairity...you can see
the facial expressions clearly...and maybe the best part
is the size....21 3/4" wide x 13 1/2"
tall...I'm not a big photo collector unless they're big
like this...So Carlton is a very happy camper!!!!!
5"
wide x 3 3/4" deep x 2" tall
Very
rare c1900 U.C. Mixture Tobacco tin
Here's
what else is shake'n
picked
up these items on eBay...arrived last week...
4
1/4" wide x 3 5/16" tall - Printed by Geo. S. Harris & Sons
NY
BOXING
MONKEYS
c1890
Chromolithograph children's
poem
advertising booklet issued by McLaughlin's Coffee
1
2
3
see
monkey audience
4
5
6
And
then there was Gar Wood....
I
picked up this great 1937 magazine with a Gar Wood interview...
Gar
Wood was the biggest name in power boat racing of the 1920-30's
Lithographed
on tin - 16 3/4" tall x 7 1/4 wide x 10 1/2"
deep
Likely
displayed and sold in drug stores
Photographed
on location in Alameda Point parking lot
FRONT
- LEFT SIDE
Baseball
player
illustration purportedly was
Whitey Wietelmann
Whitey Wietelmann 3/15/19 – 3/26/02 Played infielder for the Boston Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates
1939–47. Coached Cincinnati Reds 1966–67 and San Diego Padres
1969–79
FRONT
- RIGHT SIDE
Golfer
illusration purportedly was
Ben
Hogan
Ben Hogan 8/13/12 – 7/25/97 American professional golfer, Considered one of the greatest players in the history of the game.
BACK
Left
side
Right
side
Magazine
print ad
As
found in booth
I
didn't get a lot at Alameda last weekend...I think stuff's just
getting harder to find...However I did pick up this point of purchase advertising
display for PAL athletic supporters made by Bauer & Black of Chicago, New
York, and Toronto. They advertised themselves as "Makers of Sterile Surgical Dressings and Allied Products".
I gather these were sold in drug stores. It was worn but pretty
rare...and c1930's tin lithographed sports advertising is very
tough...So I made the call worn and all...it was coming home with me! I
figure it'll clean up pretty well with some soap and water...then let it
dry thoroughly in the sun...then give it a coat of non abrasive wax.
Whitey's wiped out and not come'n back....but Ben's still in good shape
for his age!!!
So
what else did I get?....more like what I didn't get...this large c1910
theather poster below...Talk about different...couple from Los Angeles
offered it to me for $70.00....I passed and had to ponder it....Later
after i didn't find anything I concluded if it was still there I'd get
it just for the sake of how werid it was...For all the graphics on it
only three things were baseball....the catchers mitt and mask the gal is
wearing....and the word "baseball" "Dealing with
marriage, Money and Baseball"...It was badly stained but a
restorer could probably get that out...So anyway when I came back it was
gone...I was actually glad!
c1910
PAPER THEATER POSTER, APROX. 36" TALL
Wrapping
this FYI feature up...I'll throw in a cool c1903 Hyannis High vs
Falmouth High football broadside I just got couple weeks ago...It's
pretty simple...but it's the neighborhood....Hyannis referenced on the
poster represetens Barnstable High...the only high school then in
Hyannis...That's Hyannis Port Massachustes...where the famous Kennedy
compound is...
c1903
FOOTBALL BROADSIDE POSTER, PRINTED ON PAPER 18" X 13"
at
San Jose Ca consignment store after leaving Alameda
Very
rare 17" x 7 5/8" c1920 die cut
easel back standup advertising
sign,
head torn off needs restored
c1900
porcelain
pitcher
with
U. Pennsylvania FB
player modified
into a lamp
c1950,
32 2/4" tall x 27" wide Falstaff Beer
advertising
sign. Illustrated
by Joseph Francis Kernan 1878-1958
C1896
BOXING SPEED BAG PLATFORM
Here's
a story for ya...back in December 2016 I spotted this speed bag
platform in a consignment store in San Jose CA. It was priced
more than I wanted to pay so I passed...but it stayed on my
mind. This last weekend I went back and it was still there...The
consigner happened to be there as he was a friend of the store
owner...We did some arm wrestling and I ended up taking it
home...
ANOTHER
EXAMPLE FOUND ON EBAY
BASICALLY
SAME SPEED BAG PLATFORM FOUND ON
EBAY
BUT WITH MAKERS MARK AND 1896 PATENT DATE
I
poked around on the internet and found one on directly above
eBay. Very interesting listing...that one had some cross member
mounting boards with the Spalding label...AND...the maker and
seller name stenciled on them. Which means mine may have
originally come with the same cross member boards!
Alameda Point got rained
first Sunday of this month so they had a roll over show following
Sunday March 12th 2017...I hit it and like most roll over shows it was weak...but I did find this Tom Hyer vs Yankee Sullivan boxing print. Though the mat looked newer the frame seemed c1930 and I sensed it was real. The fight took place in 1849 but the print was a supplement of the New York Illustrated Times for February 9, 1884...Today I finally got time to take it out of the frame to find out if it was original...Yes it is original...but trimmed...so hurts value...It's actually an important work in that the fight was considered the first American Championship Fight...and took place in Maryland...Plus it's got other cool aspects in that some of the faces in the crowd are numbered and there is are legends flanking the title giving the names...The layout of the title and other text underneath are classic and it's a great example of an early American sporting print...which were pretty much all inspired by the English sporting prints. My favorite things about this print that had me was that it's American...and the advertising text inside the art work that states "Presented by the New York Illustrated Times the leading and best Sporting Journal in America 15 Murray Street New York"...So it falls within the advertising genera...
The whole print thing is so full of nuances that unless you're a print specialist and know what you're doing you can easily get burned...which I'm not but I took a chance and came out ok...I'll keep it till I get one that's not trimmed...
Feeling like I was missing out on the Sacramento fair I finished up Alameda and peeled out for the hour and forty five miles to Sacramento...stopping on the way for a quick run thru the Concord flea...and some street food a torta Cubana and corn bowl...
...Got to the Sac flea around 1:00PM which is ridiculous...nevertheless I made another little find...a c1950's Lucky Lager advertising sign with golfers...missing the easel on the back so I know it wasn't a trolley car sign...So not a bad day...
Scarce football coin operated vending machine game c.1930. Very fine cast metal cased game featuring a color lithographic interior football game scene with early uniformed players. Titled "Football" on the top of the interior with various scoring receptacles at the base. Raised lettering "Buddy Ball Gum Vendor" on front of casing with football and baseball embossed decor on top. 15" tall with game remaining in working order. Expected light to moderate use visible throughout. First example of this attractive period football game we have encountered: EX
Estimated Price Range: ($1,500-$2,500) GO TO AUCTION PAGE
SportsAntiques.com
has singled out this football arcade game as exceptional. I would say it
would be one the best looking football arcade games I've come across
-Carlton