In my last blog, I referenced a ‘vintage’ book I found in our home library called “Encyclopedia of Political Buttons United States 1896-1972.” It has numerous pictures of political buttons and gives a little history on the Presidential candidates, winners and losers. The values in this book have most likely changed quite dramatically and we understand there are a lot of reproductions out there.

It is quite a fascinating and a great way to view our country’s history. My last blog ended with FDR being elected in 1944, for a fourth term. While candidate Wendell Willkie did not win in 1940, his buttons were a hoot! I found one with an elephant ‘blowing away” the competition (a Democrat/donkey.) This was rather unique!

Another theme in his buttons was in reference to not being capable of serving a third term. One example is “Confucius say…man who stand up twice, no good third time” and “No Man is Any Good the Third Time.”

I would not have thought any message this ’suggestive’ would have been acceptable way back then. Willkie’s button with a critter in a barrel, denoting poverty under FDR’s administration did not work either.

In 1944 the candidate against FDR was Thomas E. Dewey. FDR beat him by a substantial margin. In February, FDR met with Stalin and Churchill to lay plans for peace. Upon his return, it was evident that he was tired and ill and on April 12, 1945, he died. Harry S. Truman then became President.

Truman was not very popular and had to work very hard. He was determined not to lose the election in 1948 and made numerous campaign trips throughout the country and presented himself as “the plain people’s President against the privileged people’s Congress.” His plan worked and he beat out Thomas E. Dewey.

The 1952 election had Dwight D. Eisenhower vs. Adlai Stevenson. Ike won in ‘52 and then again in ‘56. It sure looks like the pinbacks became more fun – smiling faces , nicknames of Ike and Dick, sounds more warm and fuzzy than Adlai and Estes, don’t you think?

Then came the JFK election, 1960. You cannot help but think that folks wanted to wear his buttons just for the smiling, handsome face on their lapels.

Kennedy won the election (vs. Richard Nixon) but sadly, was assassinated and did not get to finish the term. Lyndon B. Johnson became President. He ran again in 1964 and won, with Hubert Humphrey as Vice President. He ran against Barry Goldwater. Goldwater’s slogan was “In your Heart, you Know He’s Right..” LBJ had another take on this philosophy with “In Your Guts You Know He’s Nuts.” We imagine that this button is a hard one to find!

I am sure you political button collectors are always on the look-out. You will know which ones are real, or ‘fantasy’, or reproductions. It is helpful if you know the early makers of celluloid buttons such as Whitehead & Hoag, American Art Works, Bastian Bros., St. Louis Button Company and Torsh & Franz. Lithographed buttons were heavily produced starting in the 1920’s and the Green Duck Co. of Chicago, Illinois has been the largest manufacturer. I actually got a ‘lot’ of buttons at an auction once and was fooled until I carefully read the side of one. They had been reproduced by Kleenex in the 1970s. As is true with any collectible, do your homework, know the source you are buying from and enjoy!

An interview with Marty Weil, an award-winning journalist, ephemera researcher, and SEO content strategist. He is the editor and publisher of ephemera, a blog that explores the world of old paper.

#1 What do you collect?

Although I do have a small collection of specific pieces of ephemera, I function primarily as an ephemera researcher. My blog covers all aspects of ephemera and how it relates to the popular culture, history, and the human condition. The purpose of the blog is to broaden the awareness and appreciation of ephemera. Over the years, I’ve display and highlight a wide range of ephemera on the site. My mission is to increase the appeal of ephemera by informing and educating the public on its value as a collectible and research tool. The blog discusses services related to the collection, preservation, and grading of ephemera. It’s not intended to display items from my personal collection, although a few items from my collection have been featured. In regard to my personal collection, it consists mainly of ephemera relating to Asheville, NC (my adopted hometown) and a few other odds and ends that speak to my personal interests and sentimentality.

#2 Do you collect other things not considered ephemera? If so, what?

No, not really. I have two vintage Fedoras. If I acquire one more, than I guess it becomes a collection, according to the popular definition.

#3 Did you begin consciously, knowing what you would collect, or did you just one day discover what you were doing?

I’ve always been interested in history. My fascination with ephemera grew out of my love of history. I consider ephemera to be “raw, unedited history.” I felt there was a need to educate people about ephemera and show its importance, not only as a collectible, but as a tool for researchers, authors, and artists.

#4 Ephemera is a lofty word for such elusive, fragile and ’surprised this survived’ bits of this and that… I find many collectors who are indeed collectors of ephemera do not describe themselves this way. They say, “Oh, I just hoard old magazines,” or, “I just have old papers & junk”. While many collectors are self-deprecating this way, I think it’s worse in this category… Do you find this to be true? Anything you’ve noted about this? Any stories of collectors who diminish the value of what they have — yet have outstanding ‘bits of paper junk’?

This is a great question. It is something I’ve covered on numerous occasions on the blog. I’ve often talked about the ‘one man’s treasure’ aspect of ephemera collecting. I wrote a post called “trash or treasure” that I think illustrates this point best.

In it, I wrote about a postcard I’d found in the trash that turned out to be worth $100. In the world of ephemera, there’s a thin line between valuable and worthless. Too often, old paper is not recognized as collectible and is tossed out with the trash.Most experts will tell you that approximately 90 percent of old paper is relatively worthless and that’s the truth. So, it’s not surprising that people don’t take the time to separate the baby from the bathwater when faced with an accumulation of old paper. Too often, people simply back a dumpster up to the house and pitch out old paper with reckless abandon.

That’s probably how the $100 postcard gem ended up in the trash. It might have been obvious to the person who tossed this postcard that it had some collectible value, if they’d bothered to look at it. However, when faced with a pile of old paper most people do not closely examine individual items. Even when they do, many pieces of ephemera appear worthless to an untrained eye. It’s these not-so-obvious collectibles that most often wind up in the landfill and are lost to collectors forever.

#5 If approximately 90 percent of old paper is relatively worthless, what is it about the remaining 10% which makes it valuable?

The remaining 10 percent has collectible, historic, sentimental, and/or research value. For example, please refer to this post.

#6 We spoke about collectors who play down the importance of their ephemera collection, have you noticed any particular category this is even more prevalent in — or where collectors tend to over-value their collections?

Collectors typically don’t play down the importance of their collections. Non-collectors (e.g., parents in the 1950s who tossed out their kids’ comic book and/or baseball card collections) don’t understand the value of old paper. In other words, people who have a collector’s mindset typically value ephemera, but the general public doesn’t normally ascribe a value to it—that’s why so much of it winds up in the trash. Each day, countless piles of old papers are discarded all across the United States, sending one-of-a-kind documents to their unnecessary demise. An important discussion of this phenomenon can be found in this post as well as this one on estate lawyers.

#7 So, in your experience you’ve never met a person who say has boxes and boxes of magazines, but doesn’t necessarily collect by title, theme or anything; they just like the old magazines, the ads or graphics etc., but wouldn’t consider themselves a collector of ephemera. Well, technically you have — me. I just don’t feel comfortable calling myself an ephemerist. (Hubby? Yeah, he does.) If 90% is deemed of no value by experts — and you and I both agree that the value often lies in how, as you said, it “speaks to you on a personal level,” I think this might be part of my perception problem.

I want to be clear on this point. If someone is truly a collector of a particular type of ephemera, be it magazines, chop stick labels, or cereal boxes (yes, I’ve met someone who collects cereal boxes and chop stick labels), they prize their collections. They do not diminish them. They may agree that it is quirky or odd that they collect cereal boxes or chop stick labels, but I have not met one serious collector of ephemera that feels that their collection has no value. The 90 percent of paper that isn’t collectable doesn’t fall into this discussion—just as 90 percent of old furniture isn’t collectible. When you ask if I’ve met any collectors that belittle their collection—I have not spoken with any ephemera collectors that have belittled their collections. If anything, the case is quite the opposite. Speaking of which, Slip of a Girl, talks extensively about her passion for lingerie ephemera in our upcoming interview (scheduled to appear on 3/22). This is typical. People care a great deal for their ephemera collections.

Where there might be some confusion on this matter lies within the realm of non-collectors who inherit or otherwise find themselves saddled with a load of old paper that seems random or meaningless to them. This often happens when a collector dies and leaves his ephemera to his heirs who find it completely senseless, and discard it without thought. In these cases, ephemera is most certainly not highly valued.

[Inteviewer's Note: Well, I wouldn't throw my boxes of magazines out; and, as I've said, I'll mercilessly haunt my kids if they do! So I guess that value alone makes me officially an ephemera collector -- even if much of the 'value' lies in their fodder for mocking. Speaking of value...]

#8 Do you have or recommend any collecting ‘bibles’? (Price guides, reference books, magazines etc.)

No, there really isn’t a viable price guide for ephemera, and it is unlikely there ever will be one.

#9 Do you have a ‘crowning jewel’ or ’show stopper’ in your collection? If so, what is it?

To me, ephemera has value only if it speaks to you on a personal level. In that sense, I have several items that qualify as crowning jewels.

For instance, shortly after my grandfather died, I was handed a scroll that he’d kept for nearly 60 years. Until then, I’d never known the scroll existed.

When I unrolled it, I discovered for the first time that my grandfather had been a leading Freemason. He never mentioned anything to me about his affiliation with the Masons, a somewhat secretive society that is generally thought to have descended from the Knights Templars. The Masons were an aspect of his life that I knew nothing about until after he was gone. And the scroll provides very little information–other than a date, lodge name, and a few signatures. The scroll was presented to my grandfather in 1930. He was a very young man then. Along the way, something must have happened for him to have left the Masons. Yet, he saved the scroll, and he kept it close throughout the years. So, I have it now. I have a few pieces that might technically have more monetary value than the old Mason’s scroll, but it’s my show-stopper.

#10 Let’s talk about paper as provenance. What sorts of paper, aside from ‘certificates of authenticity’, are especially important at provenance? Do these papers have importance &/or value on their own?

There can be value in owning paper that was once owned by someone famous. Provenance can turn an otherwise ordinary piece of old paper into something truly special. For example, please see this post.

#11 What ‘Holy Grail’ are you currently seeking for your collection?

I don’t have an item that I’m looking for at the moment. Instead, I’m trying to find other collectors seeking Holy Grail items to interview for my blog. I think that would be fascinating–it could also be a book project, I think. In any case, I’m always looking for collectors or authors who are involved with ephemera in some way to interview–these are the Holy Grail ‘items’ I seek.

#12 What do people need to do to share their items with you?

To share items with me, people merely need to send me an email. If I think there’s a good fit for the blog, I’ll often ask to interview them about their collection or feature a specific item in a post. I may also invite them to write a guest post.

#13 Do you find yourself saving ephemera from today for the collectors of tomorrow?

Yes, in fact, I find that a very interesting aspect of ephemera. I couldn’t resist picking up a promotional flyer from Origins, which features my family surname. The company’s 2007 campaign for Dr. Andrew Weil’s line of skin care products features the tag line, “Live and Be Weil”. It’s a blessing that my fairly rare surname has such a good ambassador in Dr. Weil. He’s a wonderful addition to the pop culture landscape. I hope his growing fame and popularity will help alleviate the mispronunciation of Weil (rhymes with smile), which has been a life-long source of irritation.

So, if you’ve got ephemera to show Marty Weil (pronounced to rhyme with ’smile’) contact him via his ephemera blog or his CQ community profile.

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Dear Diary :

Yes, it was only over one month ago that I began to chronicle my nascent love affair with piles of interlocking plastic bricks, but it’s been a wild month. Things just started moving so fast, and before I knew it… well, let me explain.

It all started when I found some boxed Lego sets in my closet during a spring clean. In a moment of much-needed toy therapy, I tore them open, ruined their inherent mint-in-box collectability, and began to assemble. Sometimes, play just outweighs pay.

After that day of building, I never stopped. As soon as my existing sets had been assembled, I found myself needing more, and I needed it fast. A collection of 100 bricks wasn’t even enough to make a small, rainbow-colored shanty out of. It was late, and the stores were closed, so I tore into a small Mega Bloks lobster that I’d also found in the recesses of the closet, but it wasn’t the same. It kept on falling apart, and it bore only a passing resemblance to a lobster. It was like heading out to a club to find a hot chick and then coming home with one that didn’t have all of her own teeth. And didn’t even bother to replace the ones that had escaped.

When you collect to a degree that you forget about half of what you have, your own residence is a constant wonderful surprise, if it doesn’t kill you first.

I was so dissatisfied with the non-Lego lobster that I decided to create my own. When I see a creative problem, I will inevitably throw all sensibility away and throw my whole life into engineering a near-perfect solution, while I still remain indifferent about balancing my bank account. In this case, a new and improved lobster cost me a few hours of sleep, as I learned my way around the free Lego Digital Designer (which works on both Mac and Windows, and can be downloaded from free from the Lego website). By the time I was finished, I had created a wonderful Lego lobster that was all mine - and best of all, it didn’t take up any physical space! Within the LDD, you have the ability to click on a ‘how much will this cost me?’ button, and the program will calculate your total price based on which bricks you’ve used. While my Mega Blocks lobster was about 7 inches long and $2, my Lego lobster was a far more intricate, detailed, and large $35. My creation, however, was articulated with a curling tail, pinching claws, and 8 moveable legs. Such points of movement are important to an action figure geek like myself. Ol’ Blok lobster didn’t even have any legs.

I contented myself by going out into the real world and picking up a variety of under-$20 Lego sets from the store. I’d put the ‘correct’ items together, look at them for a moment, and break them apart to make them other things. I went on eBay about bought mysterious lots of thousands of mixed, used Legos. I didn’t know where they’d been, but at this point, I didn’t even care. Our love affair was getting dark and kinky, but we both knew what it was.

I lost three days’ worth of free time after I saw a picture of Iron Monger from the new Iron Man movie. With a toy magazine propped up next to my monitor, I dove into the LDD again and built a semi-accurate effigy of the Iron Monger robot, complete with moving parts (including moveable fingers), and space on the inside for an AA battery and a small light, so that he might emit a glow. I estimate that he’s about a foot tall, and has over 500 pieces. The price, after three days of intense e-labor that overtook all of my thoughts and gave me a fun project to look forward to? $95.

It was like giving intellectual birth, and it turned out really nicely. When it was done, I felt empty and directionless. Sure, I had more Lego ideas, but I was still no Nathan Sawaya. Still, visions of being employed by Legoland filled my head, as I skimmed the application process and job openings for possibilities. Unless I wanted to move to Sweden, the options were pretty limited - and the Legoland Master Builder interview process required that the applicant build a both a spontaneous model and a rollable ball of Legos on the spot, under the watchful eyes of Lego Masters. This was a situation that I felt very unprepared for, after my recent three day excursion into Legoblivion. I could traverse the Legobstacle course, but it was at my own speed.

The emptiness persisted, and my local toy store shelves were empty or only filled high-end sets and Bionicles, which are largely incompatible with your standard Lego brick. On a trip to Marshalls with my mother, I wandered over to the toy section while she browsed the pottery and spices, banking on a tip that I heard over in the Lego Facebook group. It was there that I came across my Lego holy grail, and marked at 50% off. I’d always wanted the Lego Ultimate Collectors’ Edition Batmobile, both because it was Lego and it was a batmobile, but the original $60 price tag was too steep. There were three on sale, and I bought them all. I remained awake until 2 AM, being accosted by the horribleness of the Transformers Movie, and assembling the Batmobile.

As the pieces came together, I got a sinking feeling. See, once I’d put together a handful of base plates to serve as the undercarriage of the car, I thought that would be the size of things - but no, the two thick instructional manuals that came with the Batmobile kept on adding more and more baseplates, until the size of the thing completely overtook my who designated assembly table. Bags upon bags of bricks were gently cut open at their corners, to avoid spillage onto the floor. Gears were added, sleek and curvy black bricks were stacked in ziggurat patterns, and 5 hours later (including 2 hours past my bedtime), I had a massive, solid, awesome Batmobile - and no plans on how to safely keep anything this huge. It’s too large for a Lego-sized figure or a 3 3/4 scale figure, and too small for your average 6” figure. Not only is is a masterpiece of smart construction and a testament to the power of Brick, but a handful of Lego Technic pieces cause fiery blasts and visible turbines to spin while the car’s wheels roll, and a turn of the steering wheel causes a bat-symbol on the front of the car to pop up. I’d be happy if it just sat there looking pretty. I don’t require fancy action features for my Legos.

I guess that brings us up to date, Diary. That was Sunday, and I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but I think we’ve decided to spend a little time apart so that I can get other parts of my life back in order. You know, eating and sleeping, some painting. The Digital Designer keeps on beckoning to me, though - promising me other buildable sea creatures and cthulhus, and making a mini-model of my dream house. Do I really have $100 to buy a Lego-bot of my own devising? Looks like I’m gonna hafta pull an extra shift at work. Lego, you’re worth it, and I can always rationalize it as a ‘creative expense’, which I set no spending limit on. I know, once you start making excuses for Legos, you know you’re in trouble. But it’s awesome trouble.

With all the news focusing on the upcoming major elections, including our president and vice president, I thought I would take a look back at some of the early ways of supporting your candidates. I see a lot of bumper stickers with names of the favorites, even an oldie for Ralph Nader the other day, pretty sure it was original! But I have not seen a lot of buttons lately. Do you recall when these were very popular?

I went to our ‘extensive library’ of books on collectibles and came across an “Encyclopedia of Political Buttons-United States 1865-1972.” This was a discarded library book and is quite interesting! Of course, prices have changed dramatically in 35 years!

I learned that celluloid political buttons were first successfully made in 1896. Although celluloid was invented 20 years prior to that time, it turns out that attempts to make campaign ‘medalets’ failed. The image was embedded in the celluloid by striking it with a die. But at that time, celluloid was too brittle and the efforts were abandoned. These buttons, as made today, were first patented by Whitehead & Hoag Co. of Newark, New Jersey.

They used the celluloid as a thin, transparent covering to protect the paper the image was printed on. They followed up and received patents on the process. W&H produced an amazing variety and number of buttons that first year, 1896.

Production was stimulated by the intensity of the McKinley and Bryan presidential campaign battle over the issue of the gold and silver coinage ratio. When viewing the sampling of buttons, you’ll note the large ‘bugs.’

The Republicans came to be known as “Goldbugs”, while the Democrats were the “Silverbugs.” Democratic Candidate,William Jennings Bryan, tried a ‘middle-of-the-road’ tactic with a pin showing “True Bi-Metallism, No Straddle Bug.”

As history tells us, McKinley and Hobart won the 1896 election. McKinley won a second term, partially because of the improving economy and the pledge of “four more years of the full dinner pail.”

Theodore Roosevelt’s campaign in 1904 brought some extremely interesting buttons! His Rough Riders gave manufacturers some super graphics to work with from Hats to Rifles to Indians on the run! And we cannot forget ‘The Teddy Bear.” Poor Alton Parker, who ran his campaign as a “safe and sane” candidate, did not stand a chance!

The next presidential race was in 1908 and William Howard Taft, a Republican, was the winner. One of my favorite ‘buttons’ was the one that read “It’s Up to the man on the other side to put this tried & safe man at the head of the government.” I presume it had a mirror on the reverse side.

The next two terms belonged to Woodrow Wilson, “the man who kept us out of war” and then in 1917, had to commit the US to WWI.

The 1920 election was the first that women could vote in and Harding was the first President to ride an automobile in his inauguration parade. Pretty progressive! Harding had two buttons referring to the 19^th Amendment and Women’s votes.

Harding’s death in August of 1923 made Calvin Coolidge the new president and he was later elected to that office in 1924. It was noted that very few buttons were made for this campaign, and they are quite valuable. His opponent was John W. Davis and his buttons are extremely rare and desirable.

The election in 1928 was won by a landslide! Herbert Hoover against Alfred E. Smith, the first Catholic nominated to be president.

FDR, Franklin Delano Roosevelt spent 12 years and 40 days in the Presidency. His political career started in 1910 when he ran and won the race for the New York State Senate. He then supported Woodrow Wilson at the 1912 Convention which led to his appointment as Assist. Secretary of the Navy, then was chose as running mate to Presidential candidate, James Cox, an election that was lost. FDR joined a law firm and was suddenly struck by infantile paralysis. He had a tough battle ahead and once said “If you have spent two years in bed trying to wiggle your big toe, everything else seems easy.” He went on to be elected our President for four terms; 1932, 1936, 1940 and 1944. Some pretty unique jugates, and they command big prices. We’ve heard of ‘mud-slinging’ in campaigns and this one is pretty unusual. It shows a pair of lady’s bloomers with “Dewey’s All Wet” on them. Definitely mild by today’s standards.

I’ll add to the collection in my next blog. If you have a rare or unique political button you’d like to describe, Collector’s Quest would love to hear about it!

Almost a year ago, I wrote an article about what happens when the collectibles and antiques you own turn out to be owned illegally. It’s largely an unintentional act, but people have found their fine art was stolen from its rightful owner and made it through several layers of dealers before it was tracked down. Nations argue over whether an artifact should rightfully belong to the country, or whether it should be in private hands. There’s lots of cases where an object turns out to be illegally owned, through no fault of the current owner.

The article turned out to be prophetic; last fall, the wifey and I received an official communication from a law office.

They claimed we had no right to own an item we had purchased in Wisconsin a few years ago, and had for sale on our website.

The story starts in the 1940s. 20th Century Fox lent several large, hand-bound books to the University of Southern California library. These books were educational “sample” books, showing examples of the various documents and forms used during production of films and in normal studio operations. We presume they were most useful to the film school or theatre courses.

Someone, it seems, thought it was of more value to themselves. The book was taken from the library, and disappeared.

Fast forward to 2005 in Wisconsin. The wifey were browsing an antique dealer’s wares, doing as a lot of resellers do: making a big pile and trying to make a deal with the proprietor for the whole lot. Not knowing the book’s origins and history, it caught my eye immediately as something very unusual and valuable. We paid more for this book than we probably should have, but its obvious obscurity and rarity looked well worth the money. We bought the book and numerous other things for several hundred dollars. We didn’t put it up for sale right away; I went through each page and took a close look at everything enclosed — the contents were amazing; copies of studio call lists, production reports for movies, a photo and map of the studio…all kinds of stuff, rare stuff, things that are probably not seen outside of the Studio’s own archives. We tried selling it on eBay, but it didn’t hit the reserve. Figuring we had to wait for the right buyer who both understands the value of the book plus has deep enough pockets to afford it, we listed it in our online store for what I figured it was worth, and waited.

It never caught the eye of a buyer, but 20th Century Fox Film Studio’s legal department found it first. In these days of the internet, between eBay and personal websites there’s a lot for a movie studio to be concerned about. People using copyright-protected materials on their websites, for free, must be stopped. Props stolen from movie sets need to be recovered. Disclosure of information covered by non-disclosure agreements must be hidden. A Fox lawyer, using Google, found the book’s listing in our store. He immediately contacted us.

The lawyer told us the story of the book, asked us how it came into our possession (he was most intrigued how it made it so far across the country), and informed us that it was stolen property and we had no right to own it.

Before the Fox representative said anything more, I knew we had several options:

1. Turn the book over to the studio, with our apologies, and be done with it;
2. Decline to accept the studio’s explanation, and ignore their request for return of the book;
3. Sue the studio for the book, claiming it abandoned/not the book the say it is/was bought through proper channels;
4. Have the book forcefully removed from our possession on court order.

Any combination of the above could have happened, in any order…if either us or the studio wished to be difficult about it. Fox could have chosen not to contact us at all, instead filing for a judgement, thus requiring us to present our case to a judge. Upon filing the judgement, they could have had the Sheriff seize the property during the proceedings. Both sides would have to do their work to meet the burden of proof to validate their claim of ownership. We risked criminal charges if found in court to be breaking laws covering possession of stolen items.

Fox, recognizing the situation, understood that such action would probably be overkill, and they risked them losing their rights to the book if a judge felt their case wasn’t solid enough. Putting us through the legal expense and wranglings would create ill will with us, when simply asking would be the best first option.

The wifey and I briefly discussed challenging Fox’s claim, due to the fact that they didn’t provide any hard evidence that this was a stolen book, let alone the stolen book they claim it is. If Fox were to take their case to court, they’d have to provide firm evidence to prove their case to convince a judge to return the book to their possession. I’m sure Fox has proof somewhere, but we had to weigh the value of fighting the legal claim versus working out a deal.

This point here is the tipping point whenever it is found that a collector has illegal property in their possession. Even if a court motion is the first knowledge of the disputed ownership, working out a deal with the rightful owner is the first step. Unless a collector knows indisputably that the other party has no rightful claim, a reasonable agreement should be met in the middle. In nearly every case listed in my previous article, the current owner attempted, or was in the process of, working with either law enforcement or the party claiming ownership. Stephen Spielberg has discovered a stolen painting in his collection, and he went to the FBI for help in working out ownership; I highly doubt legal action will be taken against Spielberg, but he is definitely at risk of losing the painting…but not all stolen items end up returned to the original owner. Acting in good faith is likely to encourage a amicable resolution, and if the problem has no other recourse but to go to court, the judge may view the attempts to resolve the situation in a positive light.

Neither side has a guaranteed win in cases like this, so Fox’s first step was to offer a resolution of the problem: they would pay us what it cost us to acquire the book, plus shipping and handling, and we would send it to them, no strings attached. There was one problem, from our point of view: we didn’t purchase this item individually, and, because we bought it ‘under the table’ as a entire lot, for cash, we didn’t even have a receipt for it. I explained the situation to the Fox lawyer, outlining a reasonable estimate of our expense in obtaining the book, along with what I expected it would cost to return it to Fox.

The Fox lawyer made no arguments, and accepted my price. He had two requests: An official invoice for purchase of the item, and our business’ tax ID information for the account department’s records.

Each side had to make concessions in the situation. We ended up losing our expected profit on the book, and Fox essentially transacted the deal as though we were rightful owner, purchasing it from us as any customer. If we accepted Discover cards, it would have been a faster transaction, but because the lawyer had to requisition a cheque it took more time to proceed. The cheque arrived last Friday, and I will send the book out on Monday. Fox will have their book back, the wifey and I have been reasonably reimbursed for our part in the deal, and no court time occurred.

The moral of the story is that, while owning a stolen antique or collectible is a serious problem, acting responsibly and negotiating with the other party can reduce potential problems and hopefully avoid any legal action. When I wrote the article originally, I had no idea we owned anything that would be considered stolen. It was eye-opening to find out that even the wifey and I, who watch out for potential problems like these, still ended up in the position of possessing an item that we weren’t supposed to have.