History Bound, LLC

Scrimshaw is an art form that dates back over 200 years to the whaling days of New England.

Walrus Tusk Whaling Scrimshaw 1866

The making of scrimshaw began on whaling ships around 1745 to 1759. It is most commonly made out of the bones and teeth of sperm whales, the baleen of other whales, and the tusks of walruses. It takes the form of elaborate engravings in the form of pictures and lettering on the surface of the bone or tooth. Originally, candle black, soot or tobacco juice would have been used to bring the etched design into view.

Under the scene is marked "Harpooner".

Original antique walrus tusk. Fine scrimshaw work. Carved by F.S. Redfield and dated 1866. Carved on the 1865-1866 whaling voyage of the Brig Manuella. Hailing Port - San Francisco, California. Measures Measures 16″ in length. Weight 1 lb., 10oz. Includes Large scene of the Brig itself. Also has a handsome scene of the brig with a sailor with his harpoon. Under the scene is marked “Harpooner”. The name of the ship, carver’s name and date are also scrimshawed. This remarkable piece of whaling history came from the estate of an advanced collector. The Master of the Brig Manuella was R.S. Redfield, brother of the sailor who carved this piece. Master Redfield took the Manuella on two whaling voyages - 1865 and 1866. The third and final voyage of the Manuella was in 1871 with Alonzo Herendeen as its Master. The Brig Manuella was lost in a storm in 1871 off the Baja Coast. There is an area on the West Coast of Baja Mexico called Laguna Manuela. This was named after the wreck of the Brig Manuella which sank near there. The data on this ship and her voyages is in the National Maritime Library. Unique, scarce, investment grade piece of whaling history.

Dated 1866

The Brig Manuella. The name of the ship

Carved by F.S. Redfield

Detail

During World War I, Walt joined the American Red Cross. He lied about his age being only sixteen years old at the time. After he returned home, he won a scholarship to the Kansas City Art Institute. There, he met a fellow animator, Ub Iwerks. The two soon set up their own company. In the early 20s, they made a series of animated shorts. Their company soon went bankrupt, however.

Walt Disney and his brother, Roy, started the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in October 1923. They worked on a series with Disney’s first original character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. This series was successful, but in 1928, Walt discovered that M.J. Winkler and her husband, Charles Mintz, had stolen the rights to the character away from him. They had also stolen all his animators, except for Ub Iwerks.

While taking the train home, Walt started doodling on a piece of paper. The result of these doodles was a mouse named Mickey.

Mickey and Goofy go on a space adventure.

Two Mickey Mouse cartoons were quickly produced. (Plane Crazy and The Gallopin’ Gaucho) They didn’t sell, so Walt added sound to the third one, Steamboat Willie (1928), and it was immediately picked up. It became the first cartoon to use synchronized sound. With Walt as the voice of Mickey, it premiered to great success.

From the Walt Disney Silly Symphony collection of titles. 1933

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was Disney’s first feature-length animated film. It was based upon the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale. Taking three years to complete, the movie premiered in December 1937 and became the highest-grossing film of that time by 1939. An honorary Academy Award was given to Walt Disney for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. (One big and seven little special Oscars for Walt)

The studio continued releasing animated shorts and features, such as Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942), Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953).

Vintage 1960s Walt Disney Peter Pan figurine.

Walt Disney’s company continues to thrive producing animated and live-action films.

"Pluto" hand puppet. Produced 1950 ca.

Before Hot Wheels, the market for small car models was dominated at that time by the British company Lesney with their Matchbox cars. Elliot Handler, co-founder of Mattel, decided to produce a line of die-cast toy cars. He was able to capture much of this market by introducing a number of innovative features, including low-friction wheels suitable for racing on a track, and styling in tune with the times of customized, racing and show cars. These cars first arrived on the marketplace in 1968 with a smashing success. They came out with sixteen various cars, which are now commonly known as the “Sweet Sixteen”.

1968 Hot Wheels Silhouette Redline

“Sweet 16″Cars released in 1968

* Custom Barracuda

* Custom Camaro

* Custom Chevrolet Corvette

* Custom Eldorado

* Custom Firebird

* Custom Fleetside

* Custom Mustang

* Custom T-Bird

* Custom Mercury Cougar

* Custom Volkswagen (designed by Ira Gilford)

* Deora (based upon a real custom surf-truck designed by Harry Bradley for Dodge)

* Ford J-Car (based on the real race car that became the Ford GT40 Mk IV)

* Hot Heap (based upon the Model T roadster known as “Tognotti’s T”)

* Python (originally called the “Cheetah” - based on Bill Cushenberry’s “Dream Rod”)

* Silhouette (based upon Bill Cushenbery’s custom car)

* Beatnik Bandit (based upon Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s custom show car)

1968 Hot Wheels Beatnik Bandit Redline

Hot Wheels made between 1968 and 1972 are know as “Redlines” because of the red stripes on their tires. (Some of our Redlines are marked 1967, but the info we have found says that they were not sold until 1968.)

1968 Hot Wheels Python Redline

There was one notable difference in the first run production cars and that was a lack of “Door Cuts” in the molded cars. This was thought to be more accurate to the scale as door openings would be nearly invisible at that scale. Later they were added due to public preference.

1967 Hot Wheels Custom Volkswagen redline

The metallic “Spectraflame” paintwork also separated these models from drab enamel of Matchbox cars. The attractive finishes were achieved by firstly polishing the bare metal of the body shells and then coating them in a clear colored lacquer.

Spectraflame Color Guide

1968 Hot Wheels Twim Mill redline

1968 Hot Wheels Lola GT70 Redline

1968 Hot Wheels Custom Corvette Redline

1968 Mustang Redline

1968 Cuda Redline

1968 Fleetside Redline

1968 Deora Redline

1968 Camaro Redline

1968 Eldo Redline

1968 Cougar Redline

Botanical artist and royal flower painter Pierre-Joseph Redoute (1759-1840) gained international recognition for his precise renderings of plants. Redoute, contributed over 2100 published plates depicting over 1800 different species, many never rendered before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre-Joseph_Redout%C3%A9

P.J. Redoute "Olea Fragrans" print.

Populus Graeaca - Peuplier d'Athenes.

"Celtis Occidentalis "

In our line of work we are always getting into old homes, buying estates, finding treasures for our customers.

Recently we were called to a home in the Kenwood area of Minneapolis. The home was built in the 1890s. Upon entering we thought we had found the home of an advanced antique collector. There was a Player Piano in the parlor. Next to it was a wind up phonograph. There were antique statues on the mantle, old books, Victorian furniture and decorations and a crank-up phone hanging on the wall. In fact, all of the rooms were filled with wonderful antiques.

As we were going through the home the owner showed us the china and crystal in the breakfront, the walk-in cooler with the outside door for the ice man to make deliveries - still in use! At that point the telephone rang. The owner walked over to the wall and picked up the old crank telephone and answered the call. I asked later if the phone was modernized. She told me that it was the original telephone that was installed in the home around World War I. They had never bothered to update or replace it! I asked how she was able to call out with no dial on the telephone. “We just click the handle up and down a few times and eventually an operator comes to help us.”

At this point it dawned on me that the entire home was still furnished with the original furniture and personal property. The owner, well into her eighties, had inherited the home from here parents. She had not updated the home since it was built.

Talk about entering the Twilight Zone!!!

Valhalla for an antique collector.

Old crank telephone similar to the one in the house.

Trunks have been around for thousands of years. In the early 20^th century trunks were supplanted in the market by the cheaper and lighter suitcase. Trunk came in different shapes and sizes.

Car trunk rack

Car trunk

In the earlier 20^th century automobile manufacturers build racks on the back of cars for trunks. The “trunk” of the car was literally a removable piece of luggage, not like the integral part of the car today.

1920s Deco Antique Car Trunk. Great estate find. In storage since the 1930s. All metal construction. Black with chrome straps and clasps.

Manufactured by the Laher Auto Spring and Electric Car Company of Oakland, California. 1915 ca.

Discovered under 1" of dust in a nice dry attic.

Laher Auto Spring and Electric Car Company opened for business in 1912 and finally closed in 1957.

Throughout history the names of locations, and who controls it, change. Cues the song “Istanbul (Not Constantinople).” Here is a look at some bygone places of yesteryear.

Kiauchau was a former German colony on the southern side of the Shantung peninsula in China. Seized by Germany in 1897 and subsequently leased to Germany by China until 1914. The land was returned to Chinese control after WWII.

Kiauchau Colonial German postage stamps. 1905. Former German colony on the southern side of the Shantung peninsula in China. Seized by Germany in 1897 and subsequently leased to Germany by China until 1914.

Lourenco Marques was a Portuguese possession in Africa. Portuguese Lourenco Marques is now known at Maputo, this is the capital and largest city of Mozambique.

Lourenco Marques. A Portuguese possession in Africa.

Nauru: An island nation in the South Pacific. Nauru was annexed and claimed as a colony by the German Empire in the late 19th century. After World War I, Nauru came under the protection of the League of Nations. During World War II, Nauru was occupied by Japanese troops who were bypassed by the Allied advance across the Pacific, and after the war ended, it entered into trusteeship again. Nauru was declared independent in 1968.

A former German possession in the West Central Pacific Ocean.

The Congo Free State was a corporate state privately controlled by Leopold II, King of Belgium, through a dummy non-governmental organization, the Association Internationale Africaine. Leopold was the sole shareholder and chairman, exploiting the land for rubber, copper and other minerals. The state included the entire area of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo and existed from 1885 to 1908. The Parliament of Belgium annexed the Congo Free State and took over its administration in 1908. The Belgian Congo became an independent country in 1960.

Congo Independent State - 1887

Inhambane Republic: The town of Inhambane existed in the 10th century, and was the southernmost port used by Arabs for slave trading.The region was visited by Vasco da Gama in 1498, who claimed Inhambane Bay for Portugal. The Portuguese established a trading post at Inhambane in 1534. A former Portuguese province is now a province in Mozambique.

Inhambane Republic. A former Portuguese province. Now a province in Mozambique.

Manchukuo was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia. In 1931, the region was seized by Japan following the Mukden Incident and in 1932; a puppet government was created, with Puyi, the last Chinese Emperor, installed as the nominal regent and emperor. Manchukuo’s government was abolished in 1945 after the defeat of Imperial Japan at the end of World War II. The southern part of the Liaodong Peninsula was ruled by Japan as the Kwantung Leased Territory.

8 fine stamps: Manchukuo 1939.

The United Confederate Veterans is a national organization established in 1890 for Confederate veterans, their sons, and their close relatives.

Its mission was to “unite in a general federation all associations of Confederate veterans, soldiers and sailors, now in existence or hereafter to be formed; to gather authentic data for an impartial history of the war between the States; to preserve relics or mementos of the same; to cherish the ties of friendship that should exist among men who have shared common dangers, common sufferings and privations; to care for the disabled and extend a helping hand to the needy; to protect the widows and the orphans, and to make and preserve a record of the services of every member, and as far as possible of those of our comrades who have preceded us in eternity.”

Original United Confederate Veterans 19th reunion medal. Memphis, Tennessee. 1909.

Leon Jastremski, a member of the Association of the Army of Northern Virginia, claimed to have suggested to E. D. Wilett, president of that association, the idea that led to the organization of the United Confederate Veterans Association (UCV). After having witnessed a reunion of the Grand Army of the Republic in 1888, he approached Wilett with the notion of a federation for the Confederate veterans.

The UCV organizational structure was based on an elaborate military hierarchy, with a national office, three departments, divisions within the departments and local camps; there were appointed officers throughout the entire association.

The organization was active from 1889 to the mid 1940s.

Belleek ware is a form of pottery with a highly lustrous and often iridescent glaze. This type of pottery was started in the village of Belleek, in Northern Ireland.

The Willets Manufacturing Company started manufacturing Belleek in 1879 with the help of the traveling Irish artisans. The company made belleek in the late 1880s and 1890s in shapes similar to those used by the Irish Belleek factory. The firm became so proficient that it was soon competing with Limoges, Dresden, and other foreign companies.

Wonderful American Belleek Willets vase. Hand painted "pinecone" design. 1890 ca.

Their wares included small picture frames, openwork bottles, pitchers and items similar to the Irish wares. The company went into receivership in 1909. There is some history to indicate that they attempted to operate for a while longer but finally stopped production in 1912.

Makers mark

An individual’s writing style can change throughout their life. The degree of change may vary greatly. After Admiral Nelson lost his right arm at the Tenerife sea-battle in 1797, he switched to using his left hand. The signatures of Washington and Lincoln changed only slightly during their adult lives, while John F. Kennedy’s signature was different almost every time he signed.

Original Leonard Bernstein autographed card.

Many individuals have much more fanciful signatures than their normal cursive writing, including elaborate ascenders, descenders and exotic flourishes, much as one would find in calligraphic writing.

Original 4"x6" autographed photo of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.

As an example, the final “k” in John Hancock’s famous signature on the United States Declaration of Independence loops back to underline his name. This kind of flourish is also known as a paraph. John Hancock’s signature on the Declaration of Independence is so unique and well-known that the phrase “John Hancock” has become a synonym for “signature” in American English, and a prominent piece of American iconography.

Original 1961 Robert Kennedy autograph on a 3"x5" card.

Some of the most popular categories of autograph subjects are Presidents, military figures, sports, popular culture, artists, social and religious leaders, scientists, astronauts and authors.

Senator Ted Kennedy signed 8" x 10" photo.