♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Major funding is provided by Alex Cooper Auctioneers, appraisers and auctioneers of fine art, jewelry, and collectibles.

Online and in-person gallery auctions every month.

Serving buyers and sellers in Maryland and around the world for over 100 years.

♪ ♪ Second Story Books, celebrating 50 years of dedicated book-selling.

RYAN STEVENSON: Coming up on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

ROSS KELBAUGH: I have yet to have anybody bring in a collection like this one.

GUEST: We've read a little bit of it, but we've been nervous because it's a fragile object.

RYAN: Sure.

DENNIS HARTER: They are masks that are part of one of the most famous court dances based on a tale from the Ramayana.

GUEST: This is a collection of different items, all associated with the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey."

Once the bone turned into a spaceship, I was in heaven.

LEX REEVES: Now imagine this in one book, and the size of the book.

GUEST: Huge.

♪ (theme music playing) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ LEX: Well, welcome to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

GUEST: Thank you very much.

LEX: Tell me about this print that you brought to us today.

GUEST: Well, my husband purchased a group of five... LEX: Okay.

GUEST: ...of these Audubons, and at the time, it really wasn't of an interest to me, and I really didn't pay much attention to it.

When I was looking at them recently, I realized that this one's a little special.

LEX: Sure.

GUEST: This one had this Havell name somewhere.

LEX: Right, right.

GUEST: And all of these numbers and names and... LEX: Sure.

GUEST: ...and it's old.

LEX: Right, right.

GUEST: And it just so happened that I was listening to MPT, and they were mentioning that you could come on this program.

LEX: Great.

GUEST: And I thought, "You know what?

I'm just going to take this over there."

LEX: Okay, well, let's shed a little light on it.

GUEST: Please do.

LEX: So, this is an Audubon engraving done by Robert Havell.

Now, Robert Havell was an engraver in England, and he did the original watercolors were done actually by Audubon, and then Robert Havell was an engraver.

GUEST: Okay.

And he would faithfully reproduce the watercolors in engraving and then have them hand-tinted or aquatint.

So they were done, this group, there were 435 from this folio.

Now imagine this in one book, and the size of the book.

GUEST: Huge.

LEX: And what happened over the years is people would just cut them up and frame them.

Now, when it's the entire book, I mean, I think the last one sold for over $12 million for the book... GUEST: Wow.

LEX: ...of the 435.

Interestingly enough, when these do pop up, they are based on the desirability of the bird.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LEX: What people like as birds.

And the woodpecker, it's nice and colorful, so it's desirable.

The most desirable are things like the flamingo and the turkey and things like that.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LEX: Now, the prices for these vary widely.

What's nice about this one is, and, and all of these, the reason they're so large, and a lot of people ask that question, "Why would you make a print this large?"

All of the birds were done in life size, and that was really a pretty rare thing to do because most of the little folios were about yea big or that big, and that's why they call it the elephant folio.

GUEST: The elephant.

LEX: So, condition looks pretty good.

I think we've lost a little bit of color in the red, and that happens.

That's a, a, a medium, you know, in watercolor, sometimes reds tend to fade a little bit with, with, light, with being what we call a little bit light struck.

But otherwise, it's pretty crisp.

I think it's probably been restored at one time.

There's some areas that have been a, a bleached a little bit, and that's fine.

GUEST: Mm.

LEX: Have you had it valued ever?

GUEST: We had someone look at the grouping a long, many, many years ago.

LEX: Uh-huh.

GUEST: And honestly, he was talking to my husband, so I really wasn't paying much attention to it, but 3,500 sticks in my mind... LEX: Okay.

GUEST: ...per piece.

LEX: Okay.

GUEST: But I can't say that that's the exact... LEX: Okay.

Well, so Audubon's from the Havell folio, the elephant folio.

So from 1827 to 1838, this is at the end, so it took him that long to compile all these.

GUEST: And you said 1838?

LEX: Yeah, 1838... 1827 to '38.

It took that long to do all the 435.

So it was an exhaustive process.

And again, as I mentioned, the desirability is based on the bird.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LEX: Now, I haven't found this one to go up at auction, but I found the pileated woodpecker... GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LEX: ...and some others.

And I would say because of the condition, I would say conservatively in the $15,000 to maybe $20,000 range.

So much better than 3,000.

GUEST: Oh, my.

LEX: Yeah.

GUEST: That's totally different.

LEX: Yeah, so your, your husband... GUEST: Wow.

LEX: ...had a good eye.

GUEST: Yes, he did.

LEX: And you told me that he bought the whole group for not a whole lot.

GUEST: He bought, yes, yes.

LEX: So.

GUEST: Yes.

LEX: Nice find.

GUEST: Yes.

LEX: Really pleased to have it here, and thank you so much for bringing it.

GUEST: Well, thank you, and thank you, darling, for making this happen.

(laughter).

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ RYAN: Well, hello, thank you so much for coming in today.

GUEST: Thank you for having us.

RYAN: Hey, good to see you, thank you.

So, what did you bring for us to look at?

GUEST: This is a, a Civil War diary from a soldier.

My father found it in an antique store, an old bookstore, and he had it and gifted it to me.

And I'm hoping to give it to my son.

We've read a little bit of it, but we've been nervous because it's a fragile object.

RYAN: Sure.

GUEST: And we wanted to learn more about it, so we brought it in today.

RYAN: Well, I'm really, really glad that you did.

So, I was able to do a little bit of research on this item, and this is a diary belonging to someone by the name of George H. Warner, who served in Company G of the 177th New York Infantry.

It was just a nine-month infantry, so he was called in December or January, uh...December of 1862 or January of 1863, and then that infantry mustered out in September of that year.

Now, they were mostly focused on the Union's focus on trying to secure the Mississippi River.

In 1862, the Union had taken back New Orleans, but then there was the long, hard work of needing to recapture significant points all the way up the Mississippi.

And so the two main campaigns they were on, well, included the Fort Hudson campaign, which was actually, if I'm recalling correctly, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River.

Now, what's really sort of heartbreaking and really connects us to George Warner is the very last entry here, September 2nd of 1863, and he's right, he's on his way home, right, they're all returning home, and he's reporting on fevers and chills that he's had.

He's ill.

He's not feeling well.

And one of the things that you find out about this infantry unit and the other units that were part of these, these campaigns is that illness took an extraordinary toll.

And actually, Warner was no, was no exception.

Three weeks after writing that final entry, he passed away, and he did die at home in, in New York, in Bern, New York.

And tragically, about nine months later, his brother died in Andersonville Prison.

GUEST: Oh, wow.

RYAN: ...so as a prisoner of war.

GUEST: But what we have here is just a great account of the day-to-day.

He was very consistent.

That's not something you see all the time with these diaries, this diary in this format.

Not, not uncommon.

And actually, you know, if you look inside, you can see what, what the general format is here.

GUEST: Beautifully written.

RYAN: Yeah, he has beautiful, beautiful handwriting.

And this opening day is actually, you can see how personal this is.

He's talking about waking up on, onboard ship, probably en route down to the campaigns, and talking about not being able to stand up on, on the ship, and sort of laughing at his comrades and himself.

And um, but you know, tragically, nine months later, he was, he had passed away.

Now, generally, for an item like this, if we're looking at an insurance val, what we'd value this for insurance, we'd be looking at about $750.

For retail, probably $350 to $400.

But no, one way or the other, this was a great find from your dad, and I think it's great that you're going to be gifting this to, to your son.

I think that's great.

GUEST: Well, one thing I will add is I'm a physician, and I'm on faculty at the Uniformed Services University, which is located at Walter Reed.

RYAN: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: So I'm very aware that in the Civil War, they lost more lives to disease than they did to combat, and that's been a constant throughout most campaigns in, in history.

So it's particularly meaningful for, for me to hear that story.

RYAN: Yeah.

GUEST: And I thank you very much.

RYAN: No, absolutely, I'm really, really glad I was... GUEST: No, I appreciate it.

RYAN: So thank you so much for coming in.

Really appreciate it.

GUEST: Thank you.

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ DENNIS: Welcome to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

GUEST: Thank you.

DENNIS: You've got some pretty exciting and dramatic items here.

What can you tell me about them?

GUEST: These are Taiwanese headdresses, demon mask headdresses, and basically for parades.

And I believe they're from the 1950s, but I'm not totally sure.

They're all, both are handmade paper-mache with faux jewels and gilt, a gold coating or a gilt on it.

DENNIS: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: And I saw these, and I loved them, I had to have them.

Because I think the artwork on these is exquisite.

DENNIS: Yes, absolutely.

And you said that they were Taiwanese, but they're actually from Thailand.

GUEST: Thailand, oh, wow, okay, sorry.

DENNIS: Yeah.

So they're from Thai... GUEST: Great.

...they're from Thailand, and they are masks that are a part of one of the most famous court dances that has been used for centuries based on a tale from "The Ramayana," which is a Hindu story of the, the time period of the 12th century.

GUEST: Wow, wow.

DENNIS: So these masks are worn by demons and ogres.

GUEST: Hmm.

DENNIS: There were masks also that used to be worn for the lords and the kings in the previous dance periods, but now those dancers just wear makeup.

GUEST: Oh, okay.

GUEST: Oh.

DENNIS: And you can see the dancer and the dancer performances.

The demons and the ogres, on the other hand, remain within these masks.

GUEST: Oh.

GUEST: Wow.

DENNIS: I think your timeframe is correct, that it's probably from the '50s or '60s.

They're in marvelous condition.

GUEST: Yeah.

DENNIS: And as I say, these would be worn in the dance, and the dance is called K-H-O-N, Khon.

GUEST: Yes.

DENNIS: And that dance, as I say, comes from a story that the Thai developed out of "The Ramayana," which is from, from India.

The masks are in excellent condition.

You'll see a few missing pieces of the little glass... GUEST: Right.

DENNIS: ...appliqués that are on there.

GUEST: Right.

DENNIS: And a couple of the little flames that the glass is mounted on have the, have the tops broken.

GUEST: Okay.

DENNIS: But the painting itself is in magnificent condition.

Can you tell me what you paid for it and how you acquired it?

GUEST: I purchased them at a local auction recently this year.

I paid $85 for the pair.

DENNIS: Okay, well, again, as I say, because they are contemporaneous art that would be used at the current time, even though it was made, say, 60, 70 years ago... GUEST: Right.

DENNIS: ...there is a provenance that goes with that that will increase the value of it.

And so, uh, since you bought it so recently, I presume you've never had it appraised.

GUEST: That's correct.

DENNIS: Okay, well, I would say that it would be in the neighborhood of $300 to $400 a piece.

GUEST: Okay.

DENNIS: ...for each of the masks.

Again, because it's a craft item as opposed to a, a, an actual piece that, like a porcelain... GUEST: Right.

DENNIS: ...or a statue or a carving.

GUEST: Right.

DENNIS: Now, I talked to your daughter earlier about this, and the one thing that I'm really glad about is that the individual connection that you have, this is something that is not going to end up in a garage sale.

BOTH: No.

GUEST: Absolutely not.

Absolutely not.

DENNIS: Your daughter also appreciates it, and that's one thing I try to tell people when they bring stuff in to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

Make sure these things are out where your friends, your relatives, your children get a chance to see them.

GUEST: Yes.

DENNIS: Because only then do you have a chance of getting them out of the garage sale... GUEST: Oh.

DENNIS: ...and into another member of the family.

GUEST: Exactly.

DENNIS: But these are meant to be worn.

Would you be willing to put one on?

GUEST: Yes.

DENNIS: And as you can see, there are little eye holes there at those black circles, and so the, the dancer can actually see the other performers on the stage and know what they are doing.

GUEST: Like that?

DENNIS: Thank you very much for bringing them in.

I think... GUEST: Thank you.

DENNIS: ...they're a marvelous way to, to start the day.

GUEST: Excellent.

Thank you very much.

DENNIS: My pleasure.

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ ROSS: I welcome you to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

GUEST: Thank you.

ROSS: Over the years that I've been on the show, I have yet to have anybody bring in a collection like this one, and particularly to have it has a local connection.

What's your story?

GUEST: Well, when I was 12 or 13, which was probably 70-plus years ago, because I'm 86, I would go down the YMCA via streetcar, and then when I was finished there, I would go down to Baltimore Street, which is known as The Block, where the strippers and the Gaieties, Gaiety was.

And any cigar bands that I found, cigar butts that I found laying in the gutters or in spittoons of bars, I would take off the cigar bands, and over the period of about two years, I collected a tremendous amount of cigar bands.

So, probably 25 or 30 years later, when I was married, we decided to have these things framed.

So they took them out of a, my uh, notebook that I had and very carefully framed the, the better ones.

And there are cigar bands here from, from Baltimore and from Fredericksburg, I mean Frostburg, and a lot of them are here.

So I just thought I'd take my chance and come down, and you guys take a look at it.

ROSS: Now, what motivated you to do this?

GUEST: Well, apparently at that point, some of the guys in... I lived in the Howard Park area of Baltimore, and we started collecting cigar bands, and I don't know how it originated, but I know there were others collecting cigar bands also.

ROSS: Hmm.

Did you enjoy smoking cigars?

Did you try them?

GUEST: I never smoked a cigar, it makes me sick.

ROSS: Ah.

(laughter).

I've never seen a collection like this have been done and been brought in, particularly that has some of the Baltimore and other Maryland-related cigar bands.

What amazes me is the condition that they're in.

What wonderful condition.

Did you, did you literally pick them out of the gutter?

GUEST: Sometimes I did.

They weren't necessarily wet.

ROSS: Okay.

GUEST: They would be laying in the gutter.

In the spittoon, that was sort of another story.

You know, a spittoon is where you sit at a bar and then you would spit into the spittoon, and they would drop the... But that was only a couple.

I found most of them are actually in the gutters.

ROSS: Ah, did you ever go into a bar and pull some out of a spittoon or... GUEST: Uh-huh, my parents didn't like that, so they sort of gave me a hard time on that one.

ROSS: Well, at that time of day, the, The Block was several, several blocks, wasn't it?

GUEST: That's correct, correct.

ROSS: Now, did you ever have any of the uh, the gals come out and want to entice you into... GUEST: No.

ROSS: ...the den of sin?

GUEST: No.

ROSS: No?

Never had that happen.

GUEST: But interesting story is my father saw my grandfather coming out of the Gaiety back in, and my grandfather was very embarrassed about that.

ROSS: And that was kind of an institution in town.

What was the Gaiety?

GUEST: That was the stripper joint.

(laughing).

ROSS: I have to confess that I got to go into the Gaiety.

That was about 1967.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ROSS: It was still in operation.

GUEST: Yeah.

ROSS: And at that time, it was like a vaudeville club.

GUEST: Yeah.

ROSS: They had a pit band that played because we were there in the afternoon.

They had, it was a stage show.

The gals would come out and do a show, and in between their shows, they came out and did routines with the comedians.

GUEST: Wow.

ROSS: And that whole vaudeville era that had existed was, was uh, was just gone after the Gaiety burned down.

GUEST: Yeah, yeah.

ROSS: And you had really the most famous of the Blaze, uh... GUEST: Blaze Starr.

ROSS: Blaze Starr and the Two O'Clock Club.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ROSS: And I went into, I went into Two O'clock Club one time, and it was a nightclub, and there were couples in there at the tables.

And the gals who were the strippers were put on a show.

And of course, in those days, there were laws in Baltimore about how much of during the show that they could show.

But, so I experienced kind of the tail end of that and never, like yourself, I never told people where I had been to be able to see that era.

Did you ever have to wrestle anybody who was trying to pick up the cigar butts... GUEST: No.

ROSS: ...and still smoke them?

GUEST: Nope, nope, didn't have any of that kind of problem.

ROSS: Well, this is graphically a very interesting collection.

Of course, a number of the bands for cigars are from Havana and, certainly, you're aware, what's significant about Havana cigars?

GUEST: They're the best cigars around.

ROSS: And of course, they're illegal.

GUEST: Illegal.

ROSS: Still.

GUEST: I think they still are illegal.

ROSS: I believe they are, too.

GUEST: Yeah.

ROSS: So those people who are able to enjoy them today, it's always an interesting story how they ever got them.

But, what an interesting collection and... GUEST: Thank you.

ROSS: ...have you ever had them appraised?

GUEST: Never.

ROSS: Well, with your story and the grouping that you have here, I would think these should ought to be in the range of $300 to $500.

GUEST: Good, thank you.

ROSS: And it's so attractive that would make anybody be interesting to hang in their, their, in their house.

You know, I'm just amazed at the quality of the art, and you look at the quality of the printing that went in to make these little bands that would go on a cigar that sold in fact, the old saying was what America needed was a good 5-cent cigar.

With that, certainly those days are long gone.

GUEST: Yeah, for sure.

ROSS: So, I thank you very much.

GUEST: Thank you.

ROSS: ...for being able to share your story and your controversial collection with "Chesapeake Collectibles."

GUEST: Thank you.

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ ZACHARY GREEN: Thank you so much for joining us here on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

GUEST: Thank you for having me.

ZACHARY: So why don't you tell us a little bit about your collection?

GUEST: Um, this is a collection of different items, all associated with the movie, "2001: A Space Odyssey."

ZACHARY: What first drew you to "2001?"

GUEST: As a child of six, I was taken to see the movie.

ZACHARY: Okay.

GUEST: Some friends of my parents were taking their kids, and, because a lot of people might think it's not appropriate for a six-year-old, but we were all going to see the spaceship movie.

I was a little confused at the start.

I had heard of "Planet of the Apes," I hadn't seen it.

ZACHARY: Okay.

GUEST: And if you're familiar with the movie at all, it starts off with apes.

ZACHARY: Right.

GUEST: But, once the bone turned into a spaceship, I was in heaven.

ZACHARY: And that clearly guided, guided what you, what you do here.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ZACHARY: You've gathered a whole collection of items, books, artifacts... GUEST: Yes.

ZACHARY: ...relating to the movie, which is one of the pivotal science fiction movies of the 20th century, right?

I mean... GUEST: I think so.

ZACHARY: ...it's really influenced so much over the years.

But you've really gone a broad spectrum of what you've collected.

I mean, everything from a signed British first edition.

We have an unassembled Moon Bus toy.

We have a watch from the, a reissue watch from, what year was it?

GUEST: 2001.

ZACHARY: 2001, very appropriate.

And then we have, we have magazines.

We have a Howard Johnson's menu that's "2001" themed.

I mean, you really took the idea of collecting "2001" in a direction that isn't focused on a part, but is really focused on the whole and the cultural aspect of it.

GUEST: The watch, for instance, is by Hamilton.

ZACHARY: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: It was, the original prop watches that were used in the movie were also made by Hamilton.

But in the year 2001, the company, which still exists, decided to come out with this watch.

ZACHARY: Yeah.

GUEST: And I was able to get one, so I was very pleased with that.

ZACHARY: That's very, very cool.

And one other item I specifically want to draw attention to is the Wedgwood plate right here.

GUEST: Yes.

ZACHARY: Because, as you told me, it came out a the same, for the premiere of the movie.

But Kubrick was very tight-lipped about what was going on.

GUEST: That's correct.

ZACHARY: So you want to describe what's going on on the rim there?

GUEST: Well, it's interesting.

The plate is decorated with what is clearly Apollo space mission artwork.

ZACHARY: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: And as I understand it, the reason that they did that was Stanley Kubrick didn't want to release any of his models, and that went on for you know, he wanted it to be a mystery, and they had to order these well ahead of time.

These were distributed as tchotchkes, I guess... ZACHARY: Yeah.

GUEST: ...at the premier parties that were held at the different theaters, including the Uptown downtown in Washington, DC... ZACHARY: Yeah.

GUEST: ...which is one of the places that it premiered.

ZACHARY: Yeah, very, very cool.

So, my, my question for you is, have you ever had this collection appraised?

GUEST: No, I have not.

ZACHARY: Okay, so, the way I want, I would approach this collection is not to take the individual pieces apart and give them individual values because a lot of the value comes from what you've assembled together, and it's a very nice assemblage, and it gives itself a, it kind of bulks itself up.

If you were going to insure this collection, I would insure it for $4,500.

GUEST: Oh, goodness, okay.

ZACHARY: Okay?

GUEST: Thank you.

ZACHARY: Of course, thank you so much for coming in.

GUEST: Thank you.

(cash register bell).

AMORY LECUYER: Next time on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

ROSS: One of the things that makes my involvement with the show exciting is when I meet people who have been involved with making history.

GUEST: We found a collection of toys that belonged to my husband's mother.

LISA JONES: We took a little bit of chance, pulled all the money out of your wallet, and paid for this, and that was... GUEST: $3.

LISA: A whole $3.

GUEST: The dog was what really sold us on the whole thing.

AMORY: You have a number of pieces that are sterling silver.

That always escalates things up.

NARRATOR: Major funding was provided by Alex Cooper Auctioneers, appraisers and auctioneers of fine art, jewelry, and collectibles.

Online and in-person gallery auctions every month.

Serving buyers and sellers in Maryland and around the world for over 100 years.

♪ ♪ Second Story Books, celebrating 50 years of dedicated book-selling.

GUEST: We had a great experience.

It was educational, it was interesting.

It was a lot of terrific expertise that we got access to; it was wonderful.

GUEST: I had a wonderful time; everyone was professional.

It was exciting seeing everyone's collectibles.

GUEST: This was great fun.

It is really neat to see how it all works, how it all comes together.

GUEST: It was wonderful.

I watch MPT and, and "Chesapeake Collectibles" all the time, and this was just magical.

Everybody's so kind and considerate.

GUEST: I would recommend others to sign up for "Chesapeake Collectibles" because they have excellent appraisers who are extremely knowledgeable, friendly.

It's a great atmosphere, and I brought my whole family this time.

NARRATOR: Stream anytime, anywhere with the free PBS app.