Atlantic City, New Jersey – Part III

… continued from last month

We were amazed at the variety of items offered at the Atlantique City show. One booth featured Spanish movie posters. Another had a French designer ocelot coat, size 8. Original price, $10,000; asking price, $2,700. A 1930s William and Mary style high-back carved chair was offered for $600. We were surprised that the dealer included a 1930s photograph of a woman sitting in the chair.

An entire booth was filled with playset figures from the 1960s. The 2- to 3-inch plastic figures, from a mint warehouse stock, were selling in a bag for $16 a dozen. Reamers used to squeeze orange or lemon juice and sprinklers to dampen clothes before ironing were selling if they were unusual. “Myrtle,” the wash-lady or washerwoman, was a $325 sprinkler bottle. Victorian games were going for $50 to $2,000. Boxed games sell at prices determined by the quality of the graphics. Of course, all game pieces must be included.

We never thought of collecting Evinrude boat motors. There were eight in one booth, each displayed in a specially made stand copied from old ones. The motors, with shining chrome and perfect paint, had been cosmetically restored and probably wouldn’t run, the dealer said. Price, $1,500 to $2,200. A rare one had the picturesque name, “Evinrude knuckle-buster.” The dealer also had World War II miniature outboard motors that originally sold in hobby shops for $4.95. Now they sell in the box for $250 to $475 each. The models were either true copies of a popular brand of motor or generic examples. If motors aren’t your thing, collect toy helicopters like one shopper we met. Dealers said Japanese buyers were looking for high school rings, fraternity pins, and 1940s lady’s watches decorated with diamonds.

to be continued…