Saturday Morning, March 14, 2026
You're the Best Thing that ever Happened to Me
Mom? It was never the question, always the tone. Mom? Any phrase presented this way from her daughter always set her back. The topics, often delicate, demanded honest answers. Any less and trust between them would evaporate. She did her best.
What better item to define 1950's teenage years.
Stromberg- Carlson desk top model.
Though inexperienced in life, teenagers had instinct, knowing the difference between frankness and bloviation. Yes dear? She said sliding into a chair at the kitchen table. This, their talking-place. No Man's Land. Literally. Her daughter spoke How did you know? Opened ended questions were common. She waited to answer.
How did you know Dad was the one? She relaxed in her seat. This one she could handle. Well, I knew a lot of boys, dated some. When I met your father, something stood out. Her daughter slid into another chair. And that was? Always a good sign when she sat down. No barriers. Attentiveness at its peak. Should I be asking this question? They started laughing. No, no, you can get that from anyone. Their laughter rose to raucous. A tightening bond, she thought. Teen years were hard enough. Self-doubt. Acceptance. Difficult to navigate. She continued. Difference was your father made me feel good about myself. There was a calmness whenever we were together. We felt we could trust each other. This is how I knew.
Photographs and Memories
Saturday, we enjoy a rare insight into a woman's early years. Dating. Courting. Altar. Letters and photographs, interwoven with souvenirs pressed between the pages of time. She was a beautiful woman, a flower attracting many bees. Her dates spanned sailors to race car drivers. From each relationship she meticulously saved tidbits. A most interesting timeline.
Signed Louis Armstrong Program.
Also, autographs of his concert group include singer Velma Middleton, trombonist Trummy Young, clarinetist Barney Bigard, pianist Billy Kyle, & drummer Danny Barcelona.
Birdland Jazz Club. Center of the industry during the 1950's, located at Broadway & 52nd Street, New York City. Anyone who was anybody from musicians and singers to entertainers and celebrities frequented the club. This brochure contains a souvenir photo of our subject and her Navy date. B & W photo 8" x 10".
Marriage would arrive at 33. She chose well. From that point on all memories were relegated to attic boxes, wayward dressers, basement shelves, never to be revisited again. Secrets unrevealed until we arrived. Now her keepsakes are talking, breathing history, clues to her past so similar to the present. Surroundings may change, but never the human soul? Gibraltar solid.
August 20, 1953 WFIL-TV ticket to a special event at Woodside Park for a Bandstand picnic. Woodside Park was located on Monument Road, Belmont Plateau. This was the first year Bandstand aired on television.
Our subject was fifteen years old.
Rite of Passage
One small envelope, a ticket and receipt stub resurrect one of Philadelphia's most popular teenage adventures. American Bandstand was a legendary television show, first broadcast in the city. Remembered as the home of Dick Clark, there was a bit of history before he arrived.
18k yellow gold ruby & opal ring. Selection of gold jewelry.
To promote itself, radio station WFIL started a dance show in 1952 called Bandstand. It featured lip-syncing pop singers and a live dancing audience of teenagers. By 1953, the production aired. The response was overwhelming. Teenage membership grew to 10,000. For a chance to appear on television, members lined up on the sidewalk outside the studio in West Philadelphia. 200 were allowed in, each for a thirty-minute session with four completed in the two-hour show. Such was the status of appearing the sidewalks were packed. To dance with your favorite singer and appear on television was a lure impossible to resist. The first Deejay, Bob Horn, hosted then roasted for immoral behavior. The incident evoked response from parents, even teenagers. To save the show, producers sought out a youthful and wholesome replacement. One who was beyond reproach. Enter Dick Clark. It was then the show went national, moving to Los Angelos, losing that wonderful Philly connection.
See the Pyramids Along the Nile
Years ago, a magazine, called Omni, published an intriguing story. It was Sci-Fi based and themed around the ability to download a person's brain, recording all of his or her life's experiences. Fascinating. Such an ability would underscore archival history. We may be approaching this quicker than one thinks. Imagine all that could be retrieved. A video feed like no other
Beyond the dating and courting, all ends up either at the altar or before the Justice of the Peace. Painted wood sign - 22" x 38"
Perhaps we could void the teenage years. Fun. Furtive. Better left untouched. Memories are far more secure than reality. We do need space to grow up, not have every nuance recorded forever. Oops. Too late. But the adventures are fun. As timeless as time, relationships are a complicated animal. Feed them too much and they become lazy, lethargic. Mind them too little and they take flight. No one really knows the key to success in this endeavor. Perhaps we should not over-analyze and just live. Navigate the world. Seek safe harbors. Our docks are open and waiting each Saturday morning.
Doors open at 8 AM. Auction starts at 9 AM. PA AU 1265L [bb]