HOST: Coming up on
Chesapeake Collectibles ...
APPRAISER: As an example
of Nimschke's work,
I don't think you
could find any better.
Collector: Wow is the only
thing that comes to mind.
Woo-hoo.
Collector: Got it at
a secondhand shop.
APPRAISER:
Can I ask for how much?
Collector: $10 plus tax.
APPRAISER: I want
to go shopping with you.
Collector: Okay.
APPRAISER: This not only
is a historical document,
but also crosses over into the
history of Pimlico horse racing
and related memorabilia.
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empowering those who are deaf,
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or speech disabled
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located on 1000 Acres.
A destination resort for
weddings, business meetings,
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Information at 410-465-1500,
and TurfValley.com.
The Maryland Arms
Collectors Association's
Annual March
Antiques Arms Show and Sale.
Visit BaltimoreShow.com.
Since 1924,
Alex Cooper Auctioneers
has been serving
the Mid-Atlantic States,
featuring monthly gallery
antique auction sales.
Our staff can assist clients
with a disposition of their
valued possessions.
Alex Cooper Auctioneers.
[Background Chatter]
HOST: This is
Chesapeake Collectibles .
I'm your host Rhea Feikin and
we're delighted to come to you
from Turf Valley Resort
all season long.
Our possessions can reveal a bit
of how individual people lived
and worked decades
or centuries ago,
but whether an object was
utilitarian or a work of art,
its style and substance reflect
the values and habits of our
culture at that moment in time.
Let's see what moments
have been captured today.
JERRY COATES: Well, welcome
to Chesapeake Collectibles ,
certainly glad to see you and
particularly glad to see
the items that you have here.
Can you tell us just a little
bit about the two pieces that
you brought in today?
COLLECTOR: Yeah, I'm glad to be
here because I need to find out
a lot about them.
They stump me in terms of
their value and the pristine
condition.
The first one is a Colt 1876
Army and this is a...
Winchester 1873 rifle and
they made them the same
caliber so that the cartridges
would match.
JERRY: The working cowboys
and so forth liked that.
COLLECTOR: Exactly, exactly.
JERRY: These go a step beyond
the cowboy gun.
COLLECTOR: Thank you, they do.
The gun itself that I do know
about is engraved by Nimschke,
he was sort of the Picasso
of the gun engravers.
Only 35 percent of
them are signed.
This one is not signed
and in terms of the value
that's why I'm here.
They've stumped me.
The condition is beyond my
estimation in terms of value.
JERRY: Nimschke was...
whether he was the premier
engraver of the time period,
but if he wasn't he was
one of the two or three top
in the world.
His engraving is sought after by
everybody that has any interest
in, not firearms, but he
engraved other material too.
COLLECTOR:
Oh, I didn't know that.
JERRY: Yeah.
This Colt is extremely fine.
It's got the ivory grips which
are just absolutely perfect.
As an example of
Nimschke's work,
I don't think you
could find any better.
I've only maybe seen one or two
others that are attributed
to him.
He only put initials on
a very, very few.
This one is exceptional.
You said you really didn't
have a good idea of value.
You have to realize that
something like this,
once it goes into the market,
particularly at an auction
the prices can go anywhere.
My opinion is that a minimum
value would be
45,000-50,000.
COLLECTOR: Woo-hoo.
JERRY:
And it could go up.
It could go to 60, and again,
depending on the auction,
you get two people battling
for it, it could go anywhere,
but as I said a minimum
would be 45,000-50,000.
COLLECTOR: Wow is the only
thing that comes to mind.
JERRY:
Let's turn to the Winchester.
The Winchester has
its own wow factor.
It's the model 1873 and you
did have a letter on this.
Said its got, if you'll
excuse the impression,
all the bells and whistles
that it could possibly have.
Its got the very fine
checkering on the stock.
It's the triple, triple grade,
high grade wood
which very finely engraved.
I think the case hardening
remains on the receiver and it's
the first model which is
indicated by a couple of things.
One is a little mark up here
that they call a thumb mark
and that only existed on the
first several thousand,
what they termed
the first model.
Anyway, in the world
of '73 Winchesters,
you just don't get any better.
Again I'll say that if it goes
to auction it could go anywhere.
A minimum on this is going to
be in the 50,000 range.
COLLECTOR: Woo!
JERRY: Go up to 65,000.
I help with an auction house
that we had one in a couple of
years ago that was equal in
some respects, but not equal,
and it brought over 30 thousand,
but this is an exceptional
Winchester.
It's very fine.
You're very fortunate
to have it.
COLLECTOR: Thank you.
JERRY: I can't tell you how glad
I am you brought it in.
COLLECTOR: Thank you.
You've made my day.
JERRY: Thank you so much
for bringing it in.
COLLECTOR: Thank you.
JERRY: It was a pure treat just
to be able to look at them.
ALLAN STYPECK: So what
did you bring us today?
COLLECTOR: I brought a program
from the match race
at Pimlico between War Admiral
and Seabiscuit.
ALLAN: Really?
And how did you get it?
COLLECTOR: Through family.
I'm in racing.
My wife's family was in racing.
Her uncle gave this to us and
a bunch of other memorabilia.
ALLAN: What do you
do in the racing community?
COLLECTOR:
Right now I'm a steward.
I'm a steward for the
Maryland Racing Commission.
ALLAN:
Did you ride before that?
COLLECTOR: I did.
I was a jockey for
eight years before that.
ALLAN: Where did you ride?
COLLECTOR: I rode... I'm from
Ohio so I rode around Cleveland,
and Michigan, Pennsylvania.
ALLAN: Yeah?
Florida.
ALLAN: Win any big races?
COLLECTOR: No.
ALLAN: No?
COLLECTOR: No.
ALLAN: Okay.
Claimings and stakes?
COLLECTOR: Yeah,
just making a living.
ALLAN: Did you enjoy it?
COLLECTOR: I did.
Winning is...
nothing like it.
ALLAN: Yeah, I've...I used to
own some race horses.
I have to tell you
I miss that life.
COLLECTOR: Yeah,
winning is everything.
ALLAN: Right.
So you brought this in.
It came from your family.
Do you know anything about
the history of the match race?
COLLECTOR: Yes.
ALLAN: November 1st, 1938
Seabiscuit ran against
War Admiral.
War Admiral was the
East Coast patrician horse.
The greatest sire.
Seabiscuit was this West Coast,
under the radar screen horse.
It was called the
race of the century.
The race of all time.
It was so important,
that Franklin Roosevelt was
in a cabinet meeting when the
race was to go off
and he stopped the cabinet
meeting and he made the race
publicly accessible to
40 million people.
There was psychological
reasons why he did this.
He believed that the country
needed something to unify them.
East Coast, West Coast.
The horse race was going
to be an American race.
A West Coast horse versus an
East Coast horse and so he
used it to kind of get people to
forget the depression
and the oncoming war in Germany,
and all the war clouds.
So this was a great PR move
and Seabiscuit,
who was the two to one underdog,
of course War Admiral
was the one to four favorite,
came out of the gate
really fast.
Wound up winning the race by
four lengths and became the hero
of the underclass, I mean
which was really a unifier
for the country.
So there was this incredible
bonding that everybody-
Seabiscuit became the hero
to the working man.
So it has great
historical significance.
I would evaluate it in this
current market for somewhere
between 2,500 to 5,000 dollars.
It's a very interesting piece,
very important piece.
COLLECTOR: Oh, nice.
Thanks.
ALLAN: Thank you.
ROSS KELBAUGH:
Its story, its history.
RHEA: Appraiser Ross Kelbaugh
has immersed himself in
the rich history and culture
of our region and country.
His collection of early
photographs capture iconic
moments in forgotten lives and
illuminate tumultuous times
in history.
Today he's brought us an
intriguing selection of vintage
panoramic photographs that
literally widen our view of
early 20th century
life and times.
ROSS: Today for my segment
I wanted to talk about
a photographic format that
you're liable to see when
you go to antique shops,
antique shows, flea markets,
online, and even when you happen
to go to Cracker Barrel.
These are panoramic photographs
and were commonly known as
yard long photos.
The year of popularity was from
about 1900 to the 1950's
and it was made possible by
technological advance
with roll film replacing the
bulky glass plate negatives
of the 19th century, and also a
unique camera was developed
that would expose the film
as the film moved in the camera.
The biggest business for
photographers who practiced
this type of photography was
photographs of groups
because you hoped that everybody
in the picture might buy a copy.
So schools, churches,
fraternal organizations,
sports teams and even the
military became a big source
of income for photographers
doing panoramic photographs.
The military particularly became
a very big field after 1917
when the United States entered
into World War I.
More than four million Americans
served and virtually all of them
would be recorded in panoramic
photographs of their companies,
regiments, and even
of their divisions.
This example that I brought in
here today from my collection
is a group of Maryland boys from
Company A of the 115th Infantry
of the famed 29th Division.
Their photograph was taken after
they had completed their
basic training, were waiting
to be shipped overseas.
The picture was taken in
Anniston, Alabama
in March of 1918.
These brave young men were posed
ready to go over to fight in the
trenches in Europe unknowing
that sixteen of these
individuals would
not come back alive.
This image was one, actually I
bought last year in an
antique shop
out near Hagerstown.
It was priced at less than a
hundred dollars and visually
it was a very interesting image.
If you wonder how these
photographs were taken it would
look like the people were
lined up in a straight line
but actually they were
put in a semi-circle.
This is a rare photo of actually
the process and the camera was
placed on the top of a tripod
and a clockwork mechanism
rotated the camera taking the
picture sweeping of the crowd
that were there while exposed
the negative that was moving
inside of the camera.
I've heard stories that
pranksters at the time sometimes
would get at one end of the
crowd and after the camera had
gone by they'd run around behind
the photographer and get on the
other end and turn up
in the picture twice.
I've never seen one like that,
but that's one you can keep
an eye out for while you're
out on the antiques trail.
Here you have these gals
in their bathing suits.
Very unusual to come across
this as a subject matter.
I purchased it, brought it home
and began to research
what this was all about.
When I noticed that in the
corner it was signed that this
was the Intercity Beauties
Contest in Atlantic City
in 1924.
Well, consulting Mr. Google,
I found that the
Intercity Beauties Contest
had begun in 1921.
The whole idea was to be able to
bring tourists to Atlantic City
after the seasons had
ended at Labor Day,
and it was so successful
that it continued in 1922,
1923 and 1924.
This one was taken in 1924 and
in doing the research
I found out a very interesting
person who happens to
appear here, and this young gal,
right here, is Mary Campbell.
Mary Campbell won the contest in
1922 and she became the second
Miss America.
That's right, this is the
beginning of the Miss America
Contest.
She was 16 years old,
lied about her age
and continued to compete.
In 1923 she came back.
She won again.
So she was Miss America
two years in a row,
and she then came back
to compete again in 1924.
So what we have in this
photograph here are all of the
contestants from the
cities, not states,
but from the cities that were
competing in what was
the early years of
the Miss America Pageant.
ROSS: Now, a game I like to
play with visitors is show them
this picture and see if they
can pick out who won in 1924.
If you promise not to tell
anybody I'll tell you
that actually Miss Philadelphia
was the one who won in 1924.
Mary Campbell came
in first runner up.
A rule was passed by the Pageant
after that that no contestant
who had won Miss America
could ever compete again.
So she in fact is the only
Miss America who was crowned
twice by the Pageant.
So, you never know when you're
out there on the market,
looking on the antique trail,
keep your eye out for these
yard long photographs and you
too might have a collecting
experience.
APPRAISER:
Yeah it does make a difference.
ROSS: I was really excited to
see what you brought
in here today.
This is the first time
that we've had a panoramic,
or what is sometimes called a
yard long photograph come into
the show, and I was
particularly interested in is
to the subject matter.
Now, what do you have here?
COLLECTOR: It's a picture
of Pimlico Racetrack.
ROSS: And do you know
anything about it?
COLLECTOR: It belongs to a
friend of mine who could not be
here today and he was interested
in finding out more about it
himself.
ROSS: Now here we have
one of the most locally historic
location and also a
nationally important location.
This is the first time that
I have actually ever seen
a panoramic photograph
done of Pimlico.
Now, Pimlico actually gets its
name going back to colonial
times, was named by- the early
English settlers,
named after a popular
tavern in London.
COLLECTOR: Really?
ROSS: And in 1870 the racecourse
was opened and actually now
is the second oldest racetrack
for horses in the United States
behind Saratoga.
The race, they had a dinner
party, Stakes, they called it,
race was one of the biggest
races they had that year,
and the horse that won it was
named Preakness and it has now
been called the Preakness Stakes
race ever since.
COLLECTOR: Wow.
ROSS: What really interested me
was when in the world
could this have been taken
because there's a lot of
people there.
We see some of the landmarks
that are actually gone today.
On the far side of the left
we have the old club house.
That burned down in 1966 and
that belonged to the Maryland
Jockey Club who have
owned the race site.
The old grand stand we
see here in the middle,
which certainly has all
been modified today,
and places that are
not there today.
So we know it has
some aging to it.
I was thinking maybe it was the
Preakness and usually that's
like in the spring, but when you
look at audience very carefully,
I notice that there, a lot
of men are wearing overcoats,
and I was kind of
surprised with that.
Something is going on because
they're all looking down to the
right hand side of the field,
and if you look very, very,
very carefully, a blur down
on the far right hand side.
A race is going on that has
been captured in motion.
Also the name of the
photographer, Brown,
was a photographer who
specialized in panoramic
photographs in Washington, D.C.
Then going online and doing some
further research,
I found that at the
University of Maryland
Baltimore County, in their
collection they have
a glass plate negative copy
of this photograph.
COLLECTOR: Wow.
ROSS: Not the glass plate
that the image was made from.
This was made from a panoramic
camera but there was a glass
plate copy in their collection,
and written on the sleeve
for the glass plate was a
date of December 1921.
Next place that you go
is to the newspapers.
Now, it's amazing with the
amount of information that you
have online: websites that
have complete runs of digital
newspapers from the past.
I went looking December 1921
in the Sun Papers
to see what happened.
All the racing that was going on
at that time had moved south.
So backtracking to
November 5th of 1921,
they had a race there at Pimlico
that was better attended
than the Preakness that spring.
Over 21,000 people came to see
a horse named Morvich run.
Morvich was a two year old and
this was a futurity race
that they had I guess just
for two year olds.
The horse had been in ten races
previously, had won them all.
COLLECTOR: Wow.
ROSS: And people were
hoping that this was going to be
the next Man o' War who had
just preceded all of this.
So people turned out that day
for this race and it was also
the biggest purse for a race
in Maryland there in 1921.
Off they went.
Morvich actually stayed behind
halfway through the race.
As they got past the midpoint,
jockey turned him on and away
he went and he ended up winning.
Purse that he won,
42,750 dollars.
This is the front page
from the Sun Papers
reporting about the race.
That was the biggest purse at
the time and the writer for the
newspaper had mentioned that
this was more money than
ten average workers with a
college graduation would make
in a year.
So they made a big deal about
the owner of this horse
being able to pocket
all that money.
COLLECTOR: I'll bet.
ROSS: The horse went on to win
the Kentucky Derby
and everybody thought this is
really going to be something.
Then after that the horse
didn't win any more races.
Didn't win any more races, and
later they attributed it,
maybe he had problems with
his ankles or with his leg,
or something like that.
COLLECTOR:
Still quite a history.
ROSS: Yeah, quite a history
for finally being able to
nail down when I believe
this photograph was taken.
So, had any valuation been put
on this photograph
that you know of?
COLLECTOR: Not that I know of.
ROSS: Knowing what we can
connect to now,
I would say probably at least
750 to 1500 dollars,
or more because this not only
is a historical document,
but also crosses over into those
people who are interested in
horse racing and related
memorabilia and the history of
Pimlico now that we know what
it's connected with
that the valuation could
really go from there.
All you need is two people
who want it really bad.
COLLECTOR: All right.
ROSS: So I thank you
very much for bringing this
piece of history in today
for us to be able to see,
find out from the mists of
history this incredible race
that took place for
poor Morvich, who, well,
almost made it...
all the way to the end.
COLLECTOR: Amazing.
Well you're welcome and thank
you for taking the time
and doing the research.
It's impressive, really.
ROSS: Thank you.
AMORY LECUYER: I want to thank
you for coming out to
Chesapeake Collectibles today,
and when you walked up to my
table and began to open this up
I knew what a wonderful little
thing I was intrigued for.
Can you tell me a little
bit about what you brought?
COLLECTOR: Well, it's just a
miniature painting on ivory,
in a tortoise shell
and ivory frame.
Not original frame, and I
got it at a second hand shop.
AMORY: You got this at a
second hand shop?
COLLECTOR: Yep.
AMORY:
Can I ask for how much?
COLLECTOR: Ten dollars.
Plus tax.
AMORY: I want to go
shopping with you.
COLLECTOR: Okay.
AMORY: All right,
this is kind of an interesting
moment.
What we have here,
we do have ivory.
Now ivory is a highly
controversial topic around our
industry these days because of
certain bans that are in place,
and while we could look at this
and say because of the artist,
because of the portrait, because
of the style it dates probably
late 1700's, early 1800's.
COLLECTOR:
I would think so, yes.
AMORY: That is not enough
in most cases to satisfy
the current climate of
regulation and requirement
to make it safe to sell.
COLLECTOR: Right.
AMORY: Now, you could sell it
to your neighbor
across the street and
that's no problem.
You give it to me to sell to
your neighbor across the street
at auction, that's where the
problem begins to be created.
It is on ivory.
It is a wonderful portrait
of a royal female.
It is signed by Fuge, and if it
were not in this controversial
category right now, at auction I
would be looking for this to do
maybe between
500 and 700 dollars.
Miniature portrait, particularly
one of this quality,
is just pretty exceptional.
The detail work on here is
exactly what you'd want to see.
Wonderful subject matter,
and prior to the controversy
surrounding the ivory, the ivory
would have added another premium
value.
In today's market it
is very controversial.
I'm glad you didn't pay...
I mean the 10 dollars
certainly worth that just to
hang it on the wall at home,
but it may be something where
the attitude toward particularly
older pieces like this in the
future is going to change,
and then that's where you're
going to be able to reap
the benefit of some really
brilliant buying.
AMORY: But I want to thank you
for coming out because
it's one of a...
extraordinary piece.
COLLECTOR: Well thank you.
[Background chatter]
RHEA:
We've come to the end of another
Chesapeake Collectibles and
it's really been fun.
You're never going to guess what
we have planned for next week.
Here's a sample.
ROSS: When I saw this,
really knocked me out.
It is an important moment
in Maryland history,
in Baltimore history,
and in photographic history.
JERRY: A pistol like this
sort of can speak for itself.
It's got a history that
it's wanting to tell you.
COLLECTOR: My heavens.
COLLEEN: Oh yeah, with
the pieces of the turquoise,
the corral and the
bear claw on that one,
I haven't seen something
like this is a long time.
COLLECTOR: When I buy a
piece of art, I go by, (gasps).
That's the reaction so I must
get it and I encountered
this piece and I had a big,
(gasps).
RHEA: Thank you for watching
Chesapeake Collectibles .
I'm your host,
Rhea Feikin.
Goodnight, and we'll
see you next time.
ANNOUNCER: Major funding is
provided by...
Since 1924,
Alex Cooper Auctioneers has been
serving the Mid-Atlantic States,
featuring monthly gallery
antique auction sales.
Our staff can assist clients
with the disposition
of their valued possessions.
Alex Cooper Auctioneers.
The Maryland Arms
Collectors Association's
Annual March
Antiques Arms Show and Sale.
Visit BaltimoreShow.com.
Turf Valley, located
on 1000 Acres.
A destination resort for
weddings, business meetings,
and spa, and golf getaways.
Information at 410-465-1500,
and TurfValley.com.
Closed Captioning has been made
possible by Maryland Relay,
empowering those with
hearing and speech loss
to stay connected.
*