When Flying Saucers Attack!

[sdreid]

Jeff-Your profile is up! Hooray - Hooray - J. Hartigan

What sort of coins do you collect? I'm not a collector but I kept up on it some because my brother has been (primarily U.S. coins) most of his life.

[Mayerling]

Hobbies and Mythbusters

Hi Stan and Mike,

My hobbies are hit and miss types, based on opportunities. Most of my coins are American, but over eight months in 2007 I kept going to a small coin shop that was going out of business and picked up a lot of old British, British Empire, German Empire and Russian and even one Persian coin. But they were being sold at reduced prices! Similarly years ago I'd save money and buy a sheet of definitives. One I paid $200.00 for (a definitive is a small stamp like one with a flag on it that is used for regular letters, as opposed to commemoratives which celebrate some historic milestone or event). The $2.00 stamp was of William Jennings Bryan. The sheet may be worth something like $800.00 now.

The same with the autographs (a recent habit I picked up). I got one of an American diplomat (Undersecretary of State Adee, in the McKinley and T.Roosevelt administrations) which fascinated me. Dated September 10, 1901, Mr. Adee talks to his correspondent of the "ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION" of President McKinley. Don't forget, McKinley was shot by Czolgosz in Buffalo on September 7th, 1901, but operated on (as it turned out poorly), and they thought he was recovering! On September 10, 1901 Mr. Adee (like most Americans) felt Czolgosz a dangerous pest, but that the McKinley Administration (his second) would end on March 4, 1905. It was not for another two days that McKinley began to die of gangrene. Mr. Adee is hardly a household name, but the letter was a fascinating snapshot of a moment of history that we have forgotten because of total hindsight that recognizes that the 25th President died on September 14th, 1901.

By the way, I also enjoy collecting Models of Yesteryear or Corgi model cars - especially of old models (up to 1940).

Mike - I enjoy the Mythbusters. They had a great show about the theories concerning the distruction of the Hindenburg (was it the coated metal skin, not the hydrogen?), and another about a legend that the Confederates managed (with help by Lord Kelvin) to construct a guided missile in 1865, and it ended up in orbit bearing the letters CSA on the side!

Jeff

[Mike Covell]

I have seen both those episodes of the programme and loved them, the little people stood in front of the burning Hindenburg was great!

I was clearing out our spare room to turn it into my daughters room over the weekend and was sorting through my boxes of collectables.

I remembered that I had a lot of old and rare stuff but just boxed it up and ignored it.

That is until I opened a box containing several newspapers covering the sinking of the Titanic!

They had been passed down, and I boxed them and forgot about them.

Do you reckon they are worth much?

I think there is 6 covering the full week the vessle sank, all in very good condition.

We were thinking of framing them but I am dubious of thieves!!

take care

[steje73]

Mythbusters is superb! And I wish I had found those newspapers about the Titanic.

[sdreid]

Hi all,

I enjoy Mythbusters although I don't watch it much.

Last night's UFO Hunters was about police sightings, both in the States and England.

[Mike Covell]

Just finished watching Stardust with my son, and we both loved it.

It is well shot, well cast, has some great effects and some fantastic action sequences.

Well worth watching.

Roll on UFO Hunters TV show coming to the UK!

[Celesta]

Hi Celesta,

No DVR or VCR?

I thought the Mothman show was a sort-of a low budget affair. The rendition that played on the old Unsolved Mysteries show was great. I guess that spoiled me.

When someone in their 80s doesn't re-register, it sounds a little dyer.

I use the VCR so infrequently that I have to look up how to set it every time, which takes time. As for the 80 year old, he was still posting towards the end of last year and the first of this year, too, I think. He is pretty sharp. I hope he is still with us.

[Magpie]

I got a DVD recorder for Xmas--all I can say is hallelujah!!

Now I can transfer all my cheesy old VHS movies to DVD (No way I'm paying out big bucks for "Cannibal Holocaust" or "The Howling 2-9" when I've already got them).

But for now my wife uses it to record "Little Mosque On The Prairie" for me when I'm working evenings

[Celesta]

I have seen both those episodes of the programme and loved them, the little people stood in front of the burning Hindenburg was great!

I was clearing out our spare room to turn it into my daughters room over the weekend and was sorting through my boxes of collectables.

I remembered that I had a lot of old and rare stuff but just boxed it up and ignored it.

That is until I opened a box containing several newspapers covering the sinking of the Titanic!

They had been passed down, and I boxed them and forgot about them.

Do you reckon they are worth much?

I think there is 6 covering the full week the vessle sank, all in very good condition.

We were thinking of framing them but I am dubious of thieves!!

take care

Mike, Put those in archival containers. You can find info about those on the net. I have some old prints, original Gibson girl prints and a Sarah Bernhardt photo, all over 100 years old, that also need the same care. There are some UV safe frames you can get, or at least there were. The material used was not glass but a sort of UV protectant plastic.

I saw one Titanic paper on ebay but never saw if it sold, but there were old postcards, signed by the survivors that went for a pretty good price. You probably won't retire on these papers, but who knows? You have 6 of them. You might could sell the lot to someone. I think you can get sleeves of the same archival plastic that is used to store and protect antique postcards. You don't want anything that will stick to the paper or expose the paper to light. You might could frame them if you keep them on an interior wall away from light. I'll see if I have the links to preserving this old stuff and post them for you this weekend. I need to get moving on protecting my stuff, too.

[Mayerling]

I have seen both those episodes of the programme and loved them, the little people stood in front of the burning Hindenburg was great!

I was clearing out our spare room to turn it into my daughters room over the weekend and was sorting through my boxes of collectables.

I remembered that I had a lot of old and rare stuff but just boxed it up and ignored it.

That is until I opened a box containing several newspapers covering the sinking of the Titanic!

They had been passed down, and I boxed them and forgot about them.

Do you reckon they are worth much?

I think there is 6 covering the full week the vessle sank, all in very good condition.

We were thinking of framing them but I am dubious of thieves!!

take care

Hi Mike,

I imagine the newspapers are worth a great deal. I have some historic headlines (like JFK's Assassination) but the Titanic is nearly a century old.

Celesta's advise about special safety containers is the best bet. Whether you sell them (eventually to a collector) is up to you, but I keep thinking if they should be sent to your college or some archive. But the money from the sale of such items would be tremendous.

Best wishes,

Jeff

[Mike Covell]

Thanks for the advice guys, they are stored in an airtight box at the moment with card between each edition, and no light getting in.
Although the idea of selling them had crossed my mind, i might store them until the kids are of age and sell them or pass them on to them.

The paper and ink is in pretty good condition with little or no faults anywere on the papers.
Both my father and grandfather were collectors and my dad has a chest full of old spoons, from various ages.

[sdreid]

I'm not really a big collector of anything. I do have some quite small collections of guns, games, cameras and watches.

[Mike Covell]

I collect junk, or so my wife says anyway, she is into arts and crafts and all the rubbish i throw out, will end up as some sort of creation, and she will make money off it too!

[Celesta]

Hey Gang,

The thing I collect the most and am best at collecting, with little or no effort, is:


DUST!




Y'all have a glorious weekend.


PS, Sounds, like you are on top to the issue of the storage, Mike. I recommend you look and see what you find on ebay, as I have seen several Titanic items over the last couple of months.

[Mayerling]

Hey Gang,

The thing I collect the most and am best at collecting, with little or no effort, is:


DUST!




Y'all have a glorious weekend.


PS, Sounds, like you are on top to the issue of the storage, Mike. I recommend you look and see what you find on ebay, as I have seen several Titanic items over the last couple of months.

Hi Celesta,

The only thing I have relating to the Titanic (aside from a gag key chain my sister gave me - it is labelled "Captain's Office, TITANIC" - I can't imagine "E. J." Smith using it), is a letter from Walter Lord I got in answer to a letter I wrote to him twenty years ago (he had just written his second TITANIC book, THE NIGHT LIVES ON). Otherwise nothing.

Jeff (also collecting dust)