Hi Everyone,
New to the forum, but because of the forum have a rejuvenated in the hobby, (sure beats wasting money on clothing!! haha)
Several years ago, I went to an antique auction where they were auctioning items from Honus Wagner's estate. The auction wasn't widely publicized, thus few collectors were there. In fact it was Honus's estate and that or a former dentist being auctioned off at the same time. Anyway, I purchased several items at the auction (all of which came from sign affidavits from his great granddaughter stating that they were in fact Honus's and in fact were in his house.
The items of note I ended up buying were
1. Framed newspaper that hung in his den Dated June 21 1909 which features a headline stating "It Takes Pittsburgh Eleven Innings To Beat St. Louis Cardinals". It features a large chacture of Honus as well as box scored and some interesting stories.
2. Postcards in a frame after very very very carefully removed feature handwritten correspondence between Honus and his wife. ( I had a hunch that the framed postcards might have signatures on them...sure enough they did) They date from the early 1900's-1910, can't remember the exact post-markings since I only carefully removed them once just to see what was on the back.
3. His telephone (seriously)
4. Various lot of statues and other random related items (since they were pretty cheap)
All said I believe I spent maybe $500-600 at the auction, and I wouldn’t part with the items since they were a college graduation gift. Recently, however through my work in PR, I met someone from a history museum who asked if I would be willing to donate the items. Now, I surely want to keep the items in my collection, but would really love to have these items on display for others to see because they are very fascinating (especially the post cards with the handwritten notes).
Any thoughts on what I should do? Should I donate but with a caveat that the items would be returned to me at a later date?
Thanks a lot for any help, I'll post pictures in the next few days as soon as work slows down later in the week.
Great forum and I look forward to reading more posts in the future.
Stephen
New to the forum, but because of the forum have a rejuvenated in the hobby, (sure beats wasting money on clothing!! haha)
Several years ago, I went to an antique auction where they were auctioning items from Honus Wagner's estate. The auction wasn't widely publicized, thus few collectors were there. In fact it was Honus's estate and that or a former dentist being auctioned off at the same time. Anyway, I purchased several items at the auction (all of which came from sign affidavits from his great granddaughter stating that they were in fact Honus's and in fact were in his house.
The items of note I ended up buying were
1. Framed newspaper that hung in his den Dated June 21 1909 which features a headline stating "It Takes Pittsburgh Eleven Innings To Beat St. Louis Cardinals". It features a large chacture of Honus as well as box scored and some interesting stories.
2. Postcards in a frame after very very very carefully removed feature handwritten correspondence between Honus and his wife. ( I had a hunch that the framed postcards might have signatures on them...sure enough they did) They date from the early 1900's-1910, can't remember the exact post-markings since I only carefully removed them once just to see what was on the back.
3. His telephone (seriously)
4. Various lot of statues and other random related items (since they were pretty cheap)
All said I believe I spent maybe $500-600 at the auction, and I wouldn’t part with the items since they were a college graduation gift. Recently, however through my work in PR, I met someone from a history museum who asked if I would be willing to donate the items. Now, I surely want to keep the items in my collection, but would really love to have these items on display for others to see because they are very fascinating (especially the post cards with the handwritten notes).
Any thoughts on what I should do? Should I donate but with a caveat that the items would be returned to me at a later date?
Thanks a lot for any help, I'll post pictures in the next few days as soon as work slows down later in the week.
Great forum and I look forward to reading more posts in the future.
Stephen
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