More November 2005 Hotlines

Ever think of collecting Halloween trick or treat bags? Most of us remember using pillowcases or baskets, although commercial decorated bags have been sold since the late 1940s. Look for cloth bags from the 1950s, plastic from the 1960s, and decorated department store shopping bags. Prices of old bags are low even though they are hard to find. New ones should be on sale right now. Old and new make a nice display.

The not-yet-completed Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi, Mississippi, was badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina when a gambling casino-barge landed on the museum site. Parts of a new building and all but the chimney of a restored house on the site were destroyed. An email from a museum board member included aerial views showing the museum’s canopy “sticking out of the side of the casino like the witch’s feet in the Wizard of Oz.” The good news is all of the staff is safe, as is most of the George Ohr pottery. The museum that will showcase American artists of the Southeast will continue to be built.

Toys of the recent past that created long lines at retail stores-toys like Cabbage Patch dolls, Beanie Babies, and Tickle Me Elmo-have not gone up in value. The hot new toy this year is Amazing Amanda, a doll that recognizes your voice and can answer your questions, show emotions, and talk, sing, and play for an hour. She even understands English words spoken with an accent. She is fun to play with if you want to spend $99, and is probably the first of a new type of doll that will be historically important. Will the first Amanda dolls grow in value? Time will tell.

Vintage clothing from the ’50s to the ’80s sells well. Clothes from the 1920s do not. Perhaps that’s because buyers often plan to wear their purchases and ’20s styles aren’t among the revivals seen today.