Antiques Thefts

In the May 27, 21013, issue of Antique Week, Robert Kyle has an article on the dangers of theft of antiques and collectibles coming from contractors and handymen. In fact, Kyle has been doing a series of articles on crimes, scams, etc. in the world of collecting, auctions, etc. and while they are unhappy issues, I highly recommend reading them precisely because there are, unfortunately, negative aspects in our lovely world.

A case in point, this recent case in the UK in which at least one of the parties involved in the thefts took tours of the historical places and homes in order to case them, later returning to burgle them.

Vintage Joseph Jasgur Photos Up For Auction

A number of original Joseph Jasgur photographs are up for auction from Grapefruit Moon Gallery right now. Astonishingly, along with winning the vintage photographs now being auctioned off via Grapefruit Moon, the winner owns the copyright for the images, meaning that the buyer will be legally allowed to reproduce and sell copies of the photographs upon purchase. Most of these vintage photographs are of pinups, film stars, etc.

Jasgur is most know for the previously unseen photos of a 19 year old Marilyn Monroe, during her during her Blue Book Model Agency days as Norma Jean — photos caught up in a costly legal battle, which left the photographer penniless upon his death in 2009.

His estate, including archived file copy proof photographs, were sold in 2011 at a Hollywood auction to pay off creditors, where the Monroe photos fetched $352,000. Jasgur is credited with creating the urban legend that Marilyn Monroe had six toes for the optical illusion seen in a photograph of young Marilyn on a beach. His early photographs of Marilyn can be seen in The Birth of Marilyn: The Lost Photographs of Norma Jean. (Photo below taken by Angela Peterson, Orlando Sentinel, September 26, 1995.)

Joseph Jasgur stalked Hollywood celebrities and crime scenes alike, driving “his tricked-out Lincoln Zephyr, which had running water, a cot in the back and a radio-telephone, a rarity in the 1940s.” So who knows what other photographs of his will show up at this auction?

Fashion Crimes: A Vintage Scrapbook

At first look, this vintage fashion catalog from the 1930s is just a cool piece for ephemera and fashion collectors… But as you know, you should never judge a book by it’s cover!

This is an incredible and unique vintage scrapbook as the 1931 Carlton Fashions catalog used as a scrapbook for crime clippings. According to the seller, Light Years Vintage, the vintage fashions catalog “was used for the purpose of collecting child abduction, murder, and violent crime clippings.”

The very juxtaposition of the graphic crime news against happy illustrated fashion models makes this a fascinating work of altered art! The fact that it’s a vintage voyeuristic preservation of crime news as well as a time capsule of fashions makes it even more rare and collectible.