Black Collectibles
One day, a young dark skinned boy turned his bike into the yard of Elmer P. Thinkwhile. "Mr. Thinkwhile," the boy said, "why did God make some boys black and others white?" The worldly antique dealer extended his right arm and turned it in a slow wide arc, pointing to the towering leafy foliage rustling in the summer breeze all about them: maple, cherry, walnut, oak, ash, chestnut and pine. "The same reason he made all different kinds of trees, my lad," Thinkwhile said. "To make the world a more interesting and beautiful place!"
The important antique category most commonly described, as Black Collectibles are those objects reflecting and strongly influencing the cultural history of black men, women and children in Western society. Many such objects can be construed as offensive for they commonly depict blacks in a prejudicial demeaning light, or in a heartbreaking but factual reflection of those unjust days. Examples include: A Waterbury Clock Co. cast iron ca. 1870 "Sambo" motion clock of black man playing banjo - worth app. $2000 today, Circa 1875 children's book "The Ten Little Niggers" containing numerous color lithograph illustrations-recently sold at auction for $805, an 1859 auction broadside advertising the "Estate Sale of Two-hundred and Twenty-nine Rice Field Negroes"- sold this summer for $4,600, a "Heavy Iron Slave Collar" of early 1800's West African origin - sold for $3,025 in June 1997, and a "Two-inch Brass Slave Tag" (slaves were bound to wear) marked "Charleston, 1836, Servant, 152,"- that brought $1870 in May 1999.
Going back to my childhood, I remember my mother, Daria as being one of the few dealers to seek out such objects, feeling only pride and affection for that line of antiques. As she still does today. "My best customers for Black Collectibles are black people," mom said. "They have a great interest and pride in collecting their past." I concur with mom. To turn one's back on a regretful chapter in time does not erase the pages and deeds of those days. History wrongly remembered is not a true teacher. Moreover, if unjust imagery causes discomfort to any descendent, it would be to the children of those who made it so, certainly not the progeny of those who did the suffering.
Black historical objects not strongly influenced by prejudice and suffering are also hotly contested for in the antique marketplace today. An app. 8" by 10" photograph portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King recently sold for $201. A 1949 picture of the great Jazz and Blues singer, Billie Holiday fetched almost $1500. A "Keep us flying …Buy War Bonds" 1940's Poster portraying a Tuskegee airman recently brought almost $3,000. In an speech delivered at the Tuskegee Airmen Convention Banquet, Atlanta, Aug 12, 1995, C.O.S. Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman described how the primarily black fighting force, "Shot down 111 enemy aircraft and destroyed another 150 on the ground," in WWII. "The Airmen of Tuskegee disabled more than 600 box cars, locomotives and rolling stock; sunk one German destroyer and 40 other boats and barges." In his speech the Chief of Staff talked about how, "In the end, the men and the women of the Tuskegee experience broke forever the myths that allowed segregation, inequity and injustice to exist with a thin veil of legitimacy … But most importantly, the premier aspect of your legacy in the air was that you flew 200 bomber escort missions against some of the most heavily-defended targets in the Third Reich and never lost a bomber to enemy fighters."
Collecting black history is a wonderful investment and hobby. Most importantly because, having overcome great obstacles, such history is still being made proudly today.
