Hello E,C,FM,and A Group

[pipoman]

grasswire invited me over to look around last week. I have never been here before and have enjoyed reading through the old posts in the group. I look forward to learning here from (and with) all of you.

I started collecting junk as a kid. My parents owned a new and used furniture store in a rural Nebraska town. They sometimes bought estates for good used furniture and antique furniture. They didn't know much about or care about the little junk in the drawers, paper, etc., so I kept it. I really didn't know about it either only that I liked it. Then I went to collage and like many college students began looking at my possessions for items I didn't need, to sell for cigarette money. I began selling some of the stuff I had to dealers at a flea market. The more I learned I soon found some of my junk was worth more than the furniture that my parents had kept to sell.

Over the years since, I have set up at antique shows, flea markets, and antique malls. I have written several articles for Maine Antique Digest in the 1990's and then last year wrote another.

My main collecting interests are postcards, photographs and other paper items, also Keen Kuter brand tools and cutlery. I have a large collection of KK postcards and photographs. This is one of my favorites:

[grasswire]

1. Ha! Fascinating!

I never heard of Keen Kutter before. That's the fun of this business -- so much to learn every day!

And what a nice pair of parents to give you all the smalls. Some of us dream of that kind of windfall. I often have dreams at night of being in a house that is loaded. To buy a whole estate would be a lot of fun, IMO.

So, welcome to you! We look forward to hearing about your experiences in this old and noble work.

[pipoman]

4. Thanks for the welcome

It's funny about KK, a lot of people have not heard of them now days but at the turn of the 20th century the name had as much public recognition as Coca Cola. It was the largest hardware distributor in the world. They had non-stop national full page advertising in every major publication Sat. Eve Post, Nat'l Geo., etc. They were best known for their pocket knives among men and scissors among women but had a complete line of tools, cutlery and household/farm items.

When my parents were doing this (in the 1970's) I was only keeping what I thought (as a preteen/teen boy) was cool. My sister kept some of the more feminine items but I remember throwing away some things which were probably good at the time and are definitely good now. One I remember is throwing out a huge collection of metal clothing buttons. As I remember it was in like 20 shoe boxes. I am sure there were some very collectible military etc in that collection. There were other things too...oh well...the thought of selling the stuff really never occurred to me until desperation hit while I was in college.

[zabet]

2. Welcome!!!

:hi:
Interesting info about Keen
Kuter.

[pipoman]

5. Thanks, here is another piece

I like. My step dad built me the display for my KK puzzle. I was able to integrate one of my photos into the display. Back around 1910 IIRC Simmons Hardware had a national ad campaign where they sent a puzzle to each dealer. The puzzle was to have contests for kids to put the puzzle together with the fastest boy to get a free KK pocket knife, and the fastest girl to get a free pair of KK sewing scissors. The photo shows a boy putting the puzzle together in the window of a store while other kids wait in line for their turn.

About the puzzle, I would consider it very scarce. Back in 1994 one of these puzzles with the box sold for $1,700 at auction. Shortly after that I was talking to Harry rinker, editor of Warman's Collectibles and owner of "The Puzzle Pit" in Chicago. At the time I told him about that sale he said it was a record price for an advertising jigsaw puzzle. Since then a few more of the puzzles have surfaced and the price has settled down a little.

[zabet]

9. Awesome display,

and it protects them
at the same time.
Thanks for sharing!

[Vinca]

3. I love the "stuff in the drawers!" It's amazing what turns up.

I've been trying to determine the value of an official White House photo I have of Eleanor Roosevelt standing in front of the White House with a 4H group. It's black and white, about 20" long and 9" wide and in the original frame. The photographer is someone named "Teachout." Have you ever seen anything like it along the way?

[pipoman]

6. I'm not sure about Eleanor

a couple of months ago the San Francisco Examiner was selling off their photo archives on eBay. There were a bunch of that type/era of historic photos. I have a link to their user ID I will check if they sold any Eleanor when I get to my other computer. The photographer doesn't ring a bell with me. Photography value is very subjective. On a given day a photo might sell for $20 and the next day sell for $300 just depending what collector(s) are present.

I am of the opinion that post daguerreotype and ambrotype photography has not reached it full potential value yet. I have seen good appreciation over the last 20 years but I believe there is a pretty good boom due in the next 20. There are so many really tremendous images which can be purchased very reasonably in comparison to dags or even real photo postcards. A good example of under valued art photography would be George Fiske original prints. Good exposure examples can often be purchased for around $100 up to $300+/-. Fiske was a mentor of Ansel Adams and the first year round photog in Yosemite. He has a very interesting story and I really think his works are set for a nice increase. Even regional subject matter photos don't realize their full potential IMHO. One can buy a lot of great views, occupationals, street scenes, etc. for well under $100..many of the same views on postcards would bring over $100 easily.

[Vinca]

7. Thanks for the info. Last summer was the first time I've ever found

interesting photos while out at yard sales. Nothing earth shaking, but a few that I sold in the $75 - $100 range. (Still searching for an original Alfred Stieglitz - LOL.) I found the Eleanor picture several years ago in a group shop. It was buried in someone's booth for $35 and I thought that seemed cheap.

[pipoman]

8. There has even been a little interest in old snap shots

I have noticed on eBay. They are usually sold in lots of similar subject like pets, kids, bathing beauties, etc. They aren't breaking any records but a few years ago they wouldn't sell at all. My best recent sleepers I bought at a postcard Show Oct. 2006, they were 2 Irwin CDVs from "Indian Territory" (Oklahoma) one was a Cherokee Camp the other was an Apache camp. The dealer was an older postcard dealer and he had those 2 priced at $10 each, which would have not been surprising 10-15 years ago. They were outside of my area of interest so I sold them last fall on eBay, they brought $480 for the pair (which surprised me). This business is great fun sometimes.

[grasswire]

10. I am surprised...

...that the older postcard dealer didn't realize the potential value of those CDVs. He must be pretty isolated from the trade. That was a great find for you.

I once bought a whole postcard collection that was in a library's book sale. It was amassed by an architect in the 1920s who had toured the world and put this collection together with that architectural eye, including many main streets and lighthouses and so on. Thousands of cards that I bought for $75 total. That was a cool find. I kept some of that collection because the B&W photography is just so beautiful.

[pipoman]

11. I was a little surprised myself

Postcard values are very subjective for sure. There are some good books out for identification but really we are each sort of on our own as far as value goes. Real photo postcards are considered the best overall category of cards...there are some exceptions in printed cards though. One area which has taken a pretty good jump over the last 5 or so years are roadside advertising cards from the 1940's thru the 1960's. Motels, diners, etc. When I first started collecting cards these were trading fo $.10-$1, now they are $5 into the sub $50 area..."20/20 hind sight..."

[grasswire]

12. funny, isn't it?

I have quite a lot of those motel and restaurant cards. I suspect that those from Route 66 carry a double appeal, and I have some. They're in my stock yet to be priced. I guess I'll watch eBay to see what's happening currently with them.

[grasswire]

13. keen kutter item in Goodwill auction now

Check this out!

http://www.shopgoodwill.com/viewItem.asp?ItemID=3317962

[pipoman]

14. Thanks for the heads up

This knife is part of a meat carving set which would have included a serving fork and a sharpening steel too. The logo puts it at post-1905. I have seen this set before and believe it to be 1905-1915+/- due to the logo used on the original box. It isn't real common as the logo stamped into the ferrule is fairly unusual. The typical marking on their carving sets were on the blade of the knife and on the tang of the sharpening steel with no mark on the fork. This set when complete has a marked fork. The value of the knife alone is fairly minimal from a collectors standpoint. Again thanks for thinking of giving a heads up. Sorry for the delayed response, I will monitor this forum more closely in the future! :hi: