Antiques & Collecting: Advertising bookmarks

Avid readers, do you find yourselves in a pickle when you lose your place in a book? All right, maybe that’s a little labored.

Still, a brightly colored pickle-shaped bookmark can get your attention no matter what you say about it.

And that’s exactly what the Heinz brand counted on with advertising premiums like these die-cut cardstock bookmarks.

This set of nine was sold by Morford’s Antique Advertising Auctions for $130. On one side, you have a bright green cucumber with a smiling child or chef holding a Heinz product.

On the reverse, there’s a reminder of how “Pure, Clean, Good” Heinz products are, along with a list of a few of their “57 Good Things for the Table,” like, of course, pickles, baked beans, tomato soup and various relishes and sauces.

Heinz introduced the “57 Varieties” slogan in 1892. It wasn’t exactly truth in advertising; by that time, the company had over 60 products.

There are a few different stories about why the number 57 was chosen: because 5 and 7 are lucky numbers, or because it makes a memorable slogan.

Considering that the company has been in business for over 150 years, with the slogan still easy to recognize, either one may be true.

Do you know of anywhere or anyone that buys old photos? I have an antique framed black-and-white photograph with another photograph on the back of the frame.

Old photographs often sell for low prices at thrift shops and estate sales. Some collectors will buy antique framed photographs just for the frame.

If you want to sell your photos for a higher price, you could try contacting an antique photography collectors club like the Daguerreian Society, at daguerreiansociety.org, or looking up photography classes, clubs or shows in your area.

Some used or antiquarian bookstores also sell antique photographs. In the 1990s, some dealers and art galleries started taking interest in “found” photographs, or antique photographs, usually of ordinary people and everyday life, taken by amateurs.

Tip: Don’t write on the back of a print with either pencil or ink. Eventually, the writing will bleed through to the front.

Current Prices

Dollhouse, diorama, living room, 19th-century style furnishings, desk, secretary, two chairs, prints on wall, rug on floor, cat figurine, demilune display case, lights, 10 x 15 x 9 inches, $170.

Advertising, sign, Providence Washington Insurance Company, George Washington portrait, Gothic lettering, tin, frame, early 1900s, 26 1/2 x 20 inches, $250.

Cowan Pottery, paperweight, elephant, on square base, red glaze, Margaret Postgate, c. 1930, 4 1/2 inches, $830.

Silver-American, mug, reeded bands, textured border, applied handle, scrolled, engraved, chased, coin, marked, “A.E. Warner, Baltimore, Mar.,” 1820s, 3 3/4 x 3 inches, $925.

Rug, Feraghan Sarouk, dark blue medallion, vines and leaves, white field, red spandrels, dark blue border, leafy vines, palmettes, mid-20th century, 11 feet, 11 inches x 8 feet, 8 inches, $2,460.