Antiques & Collecting: The spooky side of antiques

When Halloween approaches, it’s time to look into the spooky side of antiques. While there are plenty of antique decorations and toys made specifically for Halloween, you can see related symbols in more everyday pieces.

Skulls in particular show up on all sorts of collectibles, from poison bottles to Victorian mourning jewelry to toy pirate ships. Memento mori objects such as jewelry, timepieces and figurines have been made since the 16th century.

Latin for “remember you must die,” memento mori served as reminders of the transience of life and encouragement to live virtuously. They often included skulls or skeletons as symbols.

Apparently, this style has yet to die out, as seen in this bronze paper clip with a three-dimensional skull decoration. It sold for $625 at Rago Auctions.

I have my great-great-great-grandfather’s Civil War diary. He enlisted in the CSA in 1861 and was part of the 7th Texas Infantry. He was captured at the fall of Fort Donelson in 1862 and held as a POW at Camp Douglas in Chicago. He was freed in a prisoner exchange and reenlisted. We have his papers from his unit’s surrender and a diary he kept while at Camp Douglas. I’d love to donate these to a museum in Texas that would preserve them and share them with the world. Do you have any suggestions?

Camp Douglas opened in 1861 as a training camp for Union soldiers. The first prisoners sent there were those captured by Ulysses S. Grant at Fort Donelson in 1862.

Personal diaries and letters from Civil War soldiers are of great interest to historians. There are several museums that have collections of Civil War items.

If you want to keep your great-great-great-grandfather’s papers in Texas, contact the Texas Civil War Museum in Fort Worth at texascivilwarmuseum.com or the Historical Research Center at the Texas Heritage Museum in Hillsboro at www.hillcollege.edu/museum/Divisions.html.

If there is interest in the papers, find out how they will preserve them and display them to the public before deciding where to donate them.

Tip: Put books in the freezer overnight to get rid of many types of insects.

Current Prices

Halloween candy container, jack-o’-lantern, papier-mâché, paper inserts behind eyes and grinning mouth, wire handle, 7 inches, $65.

Boot scraper, black cat, walking, elongated tail, cast iron, black paint, early 20th century, 16 inches, $185.

Steuben cocktail shaker, clear glass, rounded cylinder form, wide mouth with two pour spouts, round stopper with overhanging top, marked, 10 inches, $370.

Map, globe, terrestrial, J.L. & Cie, Paris, hand-tinted map, papier-mâché, metal stand, late 1800s, 9 x 4 inches, $550.

Bank, building, palace, cast iron, japanned finish, original tower, Ives, 7 3/4 x 8 x 5 inches, $985.

Cane, walking stick, Turk’s knot handle, whale ivory, crosshatched and twist carved whalebone shaft, brass ferrule, c. 1850, 32 1/2 inches, $2,765.