EBAY PAY FOR STOLEN
GOODS
Stolen antiques and collectibles are often sold on eBay. But we hear
complaints from our readers each week that the folks at fraud@ebay.com are very slow to
respond. Often the sale is over before anyone checks to see if it is
legal. Last week eBay, while admitting no liability in the sale of
stolen artifacts, agreed to offer buyers the amount they paid to get
some stolen documents back. For over six years, a 30-year employee at
the New York State Archives took hundreds of documents dating back to
the Civil War, then sold them online. He said he used the money to pay
off his daughter's credit cards. The buyers did not know they were
stolen and do not face criminal charges. The government could just
confiscate the documents and the buyers would lose their money. But Ebay
estimates the papers sold for a total of $68,000 which it will pay.
Kia, the car company, has an amusing TV commercial about the first
American bathtub in the White House. It belonged to President Millard
Fillmore, says the announcer. The huge mahogany tub was installed in
1851. After more lecturing, the announcer shows a soap bust of Fillmore
as an interesting "soap on a rope." We can't figure out what the tub has
to do with the car except that the car is on sale for President's Day.
But we do know the whole story of the tub is a myth written in 1917 by a
famous journalist with no ideas for the day's column. If Kia had read Kovels Komments (August 2007)
or a more indepth article in Kovels on Antiques and Collectibles
(July 2003) they would have known it was a myth...
RIGHT ABOUT WRIGHT
Don't be confused about the name Wright--just be sure you have the
right one. All of these men named Wright are mentioned in collector
publications: R. John Wright is a well-known dollmaker in Bennington,
Vermont. He has been making dolls since 1976. Richard Wright appraises
dolls on the Antiques Roadshow and owns a shop in Birchrunville,
Pennsylvania. Wright is an auction house owned by Richard Wright in
Chicago. It specializes in 20th-century art and designs. John Wright Co.
of Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, is a manufacturer of cast-iron hardware,
cookware, toys, garden ornaments, antique reproductions and more. Then,
of course, there's Frank Lloyd Wright, the famous architect, and Russel
Wright, the famous designer.
TUNE IN AND TALK TO
TERRY
Terry Kovel will be doing a live interview on Martha Stewart's
"Living Today" show on Martha Stewart Living Radio.
When: Thursday, February 21, 2008 at 2:00 PM EST
Where:
Channel 112 on Sirius Satellite Radio
Topic: How to use antiques for
storage.
This is a live call-in show, so tune in and talk to Terry!
