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Collecting a Painful Past: Black Memorabilia - Page 2

© Barbara Bell

There are a number of categories of African-American collectibles from which you can choose to specialize. Some of these are also cross-over categories such as Southern and folk arts, entertainment, dolls and toys, ephemera and advertising. Sports, militaria and political ephemera are especially popular subsections of the collectible scene. You might choose to concentrate on familiar advertising symbols such as Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, or Black children on soap and tobacco products. Or, if you are more inclined to explore the blatantly ugly artifacts of slavery, you might look for slave tags, shackles, runaway slave posters or Certificates of Freedom.

If you are interested in the field of Black entertainers, you could look for posters and other collectibles about famous entertainers like Josephine Baker, Bessie Smith, Paul Robeson, Bill Robinson, early blackface performers, or Amos n' Andy. A good website to start with is Black Satin Collectibles, which has a wealth of available books, posters, and objects covering Black entertainers, militaria, and slavery.

Ester Raye Deen has written another excellent article for collectors of African-American memorabilia, at this website: Kaleden's Collector's News. Of particular interest is her advice on how much to pay according to various factors such as quality, age, condition and scarcity. She states, "Items which portray blacks in a derogatory manner are usually more collectible and thus more costly. Colorful illustrations of black subjects are quite pricey. Pieces that pre-date 1950 without exaggerated features, are usually rare and expensive. Wood, bisque and china dolls, tins, and older pottery depicting blacks are generally high-ticket items."

According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, by Renee Kientz, "Objects and art are sold in flea markets, on eBay, in antiques shops and via upscale auction houses such as Sotheby's, Christie's and Swann. They find homes with celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Bill Cosby and Spike Lee as well as...institutions as grand as the Smithsonian."

If you are interested in authoratative materials on the history of collecting Black memorabilia, or price and identification guides, I've listed below a few which are currently available. This website, TIAS, has a publications list of black memorabilia. Books can also be ordered here.

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Antiques Roadshow article, by Philip J. Merrill.

"Black Memorabilia", by Ester Raye Deen.

"Black Memorabilia Runs the Gamut from Racist to Inspirational", by Renee Kientz, copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle.

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