♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Major funding was provided by... Alex Cooper Auctioneers, appraisers and auctioneers of fine art, jewelry, and collectibles online and in person gallery auctions every month, serving buyers and sellers in Maryland and around the world for over 100 years.

♪ ♪ Second Story Books, celebrating 50 years of dedicated book selling.

ROBERT HARRISON: Coming up on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

ROSS KELBAUGH: You brought a suitcase in that has stunned me.

KATHLEEN HAMILL: This is Melvin Miller, an iconic Baltimore artist, very well known for his scenes of the city.

GUEST: My grandfather was the manager of a club in Washington, D.C. called the Crystal Caverns.

PATRICK REDDING: What we found out was what you got is an early 20th-century Indonesian warrior body armor.

GUEST: Oh wow.

AMORY LECUYER: These are your family's photographs, which were taken with this Kodak.

ROBERT: I was absolutely floored when you brought these in because it looks a lot like a Baltimore sampler, then when you told me the story, it made it all the more interesting to me.

(theme music playing).

♪ ♪ ROSS: I'd like to welcome you to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

I've been on the show for 11 seasons as an appraiser, and you brought a suitcase in today that has stunned me.

Now, we pulled a sample and things out here to share with our viewing audience.

What did you bring in today?

GUEST: Well, my grandfather was the manager of a club in Washington, D.C. from 1935 until 1960 called the Crystal Caverns, 11th and U Street Northwest.

U Street was the mecca for Black folks during the Jim Crow era.

I mean, businesses flourished entertainment, it was like the, the hub for Black folks to go for businesses and their entertainment.

He was the manager at the club, and I have a suitcase that was under our steps in Banks Place, NE, for years.

And my father would pull it out every now and then to show us the pictures.

He told us that our grandfather was the manager of a club, and I started noticing pictures like of Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, people I would see on TV, Louis Armstrong, and I remember I said, "Wow, we have those pictures, and grandfather was the manager."

So as the years went by, the collection became my collection.

I'm like the archivist of the family.

I keep everything, I keep pictures, I keep jewelry, I keep everything from our family.

So this is how I became the curator of the collection.

ROSS: Now, one of these pictures has your grandfather in it?

GUEST: Yes, right there.

ROSS: Right there?

GUEST: That's him in the center.

ROSS: Mm-hmm.

And there was this picture, here is the interior of the club?

ROSS: This is the interior of The Caverns.

It was made like a cave, a cavern.

The caverns opened in 1926, and it had many names before they named it The Crystal Caverns.

By the time my grandfather became manager in 1935, it was called The Crystal Caverns.

The Crystal Caverns ran from 1926 until 1970, reopened in 1998 under new management.

And then it closed again, like five years ago.

The actual caverns don't exist anymore because they became like a fire hazard.

But the actual building is there, and it's a national landmark.

ROSS: I'll be darned, hmm.

It looks like everybody who was anybody in African American music at the time came through the club and performed.

GUEST: Everybody, I mean everybody.

Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Moms Mabley, Louis Armstrong, uh, Taft Jordan, Jimmie Lunceford, I mean, you name it, they were there.

ROSS: One of the things you mentioned was about this group photograph here.

GUEST: Yes, the International Sweethearts of Rhythm.

They were from Piney Woods, Mississippi.

Mr. Laurence Jones was an educator in Piney Woods, Mississippi.

He wanted to build a school for Black kids.

ROSS: Hmm, and didn't one of those people who played in the band grew to be a big business?

GUEST: Yes, the one of the trombonists was his daughter, and his granddaughter is named Cathy Hughes, and she owns Radio One, Urban Radio now, and she's the second richest African American woman in America because she's the head of her own corporation.

ROSS: Wow.

And there had been a Duke Ellington with a letter here, can you summarize what was that about?

GUEST: My grandfather was the manager of another club called the Club Bali in Northwest before he went to The Caverns.

And this letter is from 1929 from Duke Ellington's manager stating that Duke Ellington will be available for a matinee performance only.

Because you know, he was heavily booked, and if you won him, book him now because after this, they were going on break.

So I know my grandfather hurry up and wrote a letter because it's not like today, you couldn't text anybody and all that.

So he had to get a letter to him quick, and Duke Ellington appeared.

My mother used to go to the club because my grandmother was dating Mr. Alonzo Collins.

My mother was a teenager and she could go to the club, but she couldn't drink.

And she told me she met everybody.

She had met all of the people.

And I said, "Ma," I used to ask her "Ma," as I got older, because when I was younger, it wasn't really as relevant as I wish I would've been.

But as I got older, I used to ask her questions, "Ma, so you met Duke Ellington?"

She said, "Yes."

"Ma, you met Louis Armstrong."

"Yes."

ROSS: There's so much in this collection that we're just kinda give everybody a sample of what there is.

This has to be one of the, amongst the largest collections relating to a Black club from that period of time, even down to, we did pull out some of the menus there, and again, the photographs of the people performed.

They had this bulletin, now this was like a local magazine for D.C.?

GUEST: A magazine for African Americans that had information about it was called "Nite Life."

So it covered the movie theaters, it covered the clubs, it even talked about Harlem, the clubs in Harlem.

It covered everything for us.

ROSS: And so there's literally thousands of pieces of history that have been in your suitcase.

Have you ever had it appraised?

GUEST: Never have had it appraised.

I say that you are like the fourth person who has ever seen this whole collection.

ROSS: Well, it's one of a kind, incredible, and I would put a value of at least $30,000 to $50,000.

And it's the kind of thing that should be an institution, you get some, some competitive bidding in an auction, that it could very well go up much higher.

GUEST: Mm.

ROSS: 'Cause it's, it's an incredible piece of African American history.

Incredibly rare.

So incredibly complete that there's a lot of study to be done here.

Probably somebody could get their PhD degree on African American history on the story...

GUEST: Oh, that's great.

ROSS: ...Of this club and all of that.

GUEST: I would like to see that.

ROSS: So there, there's a lot of future for your collection when you decide what you want to do with it.

GUEST: Okay.

ROSS: So it is, it's kind of blown me away to be able to see, have the opportunity to be able to see all this I've been in when running the roads, you might see a one photograph, two photograph once in a while of Bessie Smith or Moms Mabley.

But actually, to see this all connected to this one institution in Washington, D.C., is really an incredible opportunity.

And want to thank you very much for bringing that in.

GUEST: Thank you for having me.

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ AMORY: You know, I want to thank you for coming out to "Chesapeake Collectibles" today.

And when you, when you came up to my table, I was immediately struck by the camera bag with the Cunard Line shipping label on top of it, but it's when you popped it open and all of a sudden, all these items sort of spilled out on the table.

And, and can you tell me a little bit about what you brought me?

GUEST: Well, I thought it was just bringing you the stereo camera... AMORY: Right, and then this thing popped out, and what, what really struck me is these are sort of kitsch pieces from mid-century.

GUEST: Right.

AMORY: Very few people understand that when the, the stereo card was produced, it actually was produced for the camera with two lenses.

We've got phones that are coming back around, trying to produce this very same image and technique.

But what was really interesting to me about your stereoscope cards were these are not historic pieces.

These are not images from the Civil War, or World War I or, or later.

These are your family's photographs, which were taken with this Kodak.

And so we get all of these very, very personal images, which are very unusual to find.

This was not a technology and technique that was available to most families.

But equally sort of on the other extreme end is this piece, which is, it's both a transistor radio and a record player.

You know?

And since we're all using our phones these days, this just struck me as being completely in the opposite direction.

We've got the AM radio transistor, but then we take this small disc, put it on top like that, and you can play a regular album.

GUEST: It's 33 or 45, it says.

AMORY: Let's flip this over, and there's the hole for the 45, and then here's our playing arm.

This is all part of the industrial recreation of Japan Post World War II.

Transistors were being put in everything.

But the fact that you can actually get an album, albums are coming back, I hear.

GUEST: They are, nothing better than vinyl.

AMORY: That that's the absolutely perfect portable unit.

Interestingly, probably all of it together actually, these are have got kind of a hot little bit of a uptick.

But you're probably looking somewhere in the $300 range on the camera.

Probably another 300 on, on the transistor.

Now, obviously, the family photographs, they're absolutely priceless.

But when I have seen these kind of images come on the market, they do tend to bring a premium.

One, they're in exceptional condition, but two, they show an intimacy of life on a daily basis that most people couldn't recreate.

And, and so as a group, we're probably looking at maybe $1,000 for all of the group, but it's just what it represents as a part of our industrial past, that's really pretty cool.

Thank you for coming out today.

GUEST: Thank you very much, appreciate... AMORY: Right.

GUEST: ...The information.

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ ROBERT: Well, welcome to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

We have some special guests here today who brought something very special in.

GUEST: I'm the archivist for the Oblate Sisters of Providence, and this is Sister Rita Michelle, she's the superior of the order.

We brought three of the samplers that we have in our archives, and they were all made by 19th-century Black school girls who went to Saint Frances School for Colored Girls.

That was a school that was started in 1828 in Baltimore by the Oblate Sisters of Providence.

And it's still, actually, it's still in business today, educating students in Baltimore.

ROBERT: And where was the school located originally?

GUEST: Originally, the school started at St. Mary's Court, which is off Paca Street.

ROBERT: Okay.

GUEST: The building's no longer there.

Then they moved to Richmond Street, which is now Read Street.

And finally 1871, they moved to East Chase Street, and that's where they are today.

That's where the school is today, the convent, the mother house, is out in Catonsville.

ROBERT: I was absolutely floored when you brought these in because when one looks at the, especially the center sampler, it looks a lot like a Baltimore sampler.

And then when you told me the story, it made it all the more interesting to me.

Samplers, as you probably know, generally are schoolgirl art.

They showed off the needlework, the fancy needlework of young girls, usually between the ages of nine and 11.

So when one looks at these pieces and determines that someone that young actually produced these pieces, it's really amazing.

They are usually silk threads on linen, and we can see that especially in the center piece and the piece over closer to you, ladies.

What's really amazing to this is not only that it's free African American handwork, but we also know the name of the person who did the center one.

GUEST: Mary Pets.

ROBERT: Yes, and we have not only her name on this center sampler, but also on a ledger which was done in French that shows she was actually at the school in the 1830s.

This particular piece in the center, as you pointed out to me when we first came in, is from the 1830s, I think it's 1831 and as I said, there are some things that are pointed out on it that make it really look like a Maryland sampler, including this really distinctive border in the center that's known as a strawberry border.

We find that on a lot of Maryland samplers, the one on the left has a little bit more distinctive border, but not a strawberry border.

The image in the center piece also shows a brick home or a brick house with fireplaces on the end and the distinctive tree on one side, which we also see in Maryland and Baltimore samplers.

So even if we didn't know who did these, when we first see them, we know the region they came from.

The colors have faded a little bit on the center piece.

The one on the left is, again, not a traditional sampler; it's focused on the pot of flowers, it looks almost English when one first sees it.

And these are all in the permanent collection right now...

GUEST: Oh yes.

ROBERT: Of the Oblate Sisters.

GUEST: Right.

ROBERT: The last piece, the piece that's closest to me, is a more untraditional piece as sort of a, a biblical scene that's worked in, looks like wool on the...

GUEST: Yes.

ROBERT: ...On the sampler, but it too is signed and it's 1849 by yet a third student.

Now, what makes these really interesting again is the African American free Black perspective.

A lot of these that were done traditionally were done at what's known as dame schools.

So how did the Oblate Sisters differ in terms of their, their clientele and who was coming to, to live there?

They, these were children who lived at the school, correct?

GUEST: There were boarding students and there were day students.

ROBERT: Okay.

GUEST: So we know Mary Pets was a day student.

ROBERT: Alright, have you ever had these valued before?

GUEST: We have 'em insured just through the insurance company, but I've never had 'em appraised.

ROBERT: Alright.

So, in terms of value, it's very difficult because there are very few comparables for free African American samplers.

So I talked with some of my colleagues and looked at the comparables.

The one in the center, I think, is probably the most important.

And based on comparables that I see and we're talking about fair market value and what it would go for in the open market.

We're probably looking somewhere in the $4,500 to $5,000 range for the centerpiece.

The one on the right, whose colors are really magnificent, probably in the $2,500 range.

And the one here closest to me, I would say 1,000 to $1,500.

GUEST: Oh wow.

ROBERT: So you're looking at quite an interesting collection with a history for Baltimore that I think far outpaces the value on something like this.

I really appreciate you bringing these in, sharing this part of Baltimore history, and letting us see these.

GUEST: Thank you.

ROBERT: Thank you very much.

GUEST: Thank you for having us.

ROBERT: Sure, thank you.

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ KATHLEEN: Hi, welcome to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

What have you brought me today?

GUEST: Hi, good morning, Kathleen, well, I've brought you a painting that I got from my great aunt Kathleen, same name.

KATHLEEN: That's great.

GUEST: And I don't know much about it, I was hoping maybe you guys here could gimme some more information on it all we think we know about it is we think it used to be the all-girls Catholic school.

KATHLEEN: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: Um, in Baltimore City, I believe, Federal Hill with the shot tower in the background.

So she went there as a young girl, and her mother went there.

KATHLEEN: That is so neat.

So this is Melvin Miller, an iconic Baltimore artist, very well known for his scenes of the city, buildings, some water scenes also, I mean, he's just, he's just so well-known and so important to Baltimore art.

And this actually, it's not Federal Hill, the shot tower is on President Street leading into the city.

GUEST: Oh, okay.

KATHLEEN: And the all-girls school might've been in Federal Hill.

I haven't been able to figure out what this building is, but we do know what this one is, and this one is.

Tell us how Aunt Kathleen came to get this piece.

GUEST: Well, my Aunt Kathleen got this because on her walk to work every day at Johns Hopkins... KATHLEEN: Was she a nurse?

GUEST: She was a nurse, yes.

KATHLEEN: Fantastic, okay.

GUEST: So every day she'd walk past his studio, and one day she went in and eventually they became friends, and she purchased this painting.

KATHLEEN: So it was really fun, 'cause you also gave me this, it's correspondence from the artist, Melvin Miller, and it's dated 1968 and it says, "I Melvin O. Miller, Jr. agree to sell an oil painting on canvas entitled "Towers" to Miss Kathleen T. Linsenmeyer for $400."

And what is so cute is, this was in 1968, and she paid a $10 deposit, and then she paid it, looks like, in monthly installments for a year, between 40 and $50.

GUEST: It's amazing, isn't it?

KATHLEEN: I know, I know.

GUEST: I just love the whole story behind it.

KATHLEEN: It's so great, and then he ended up sending her a Christmas card, and we've got another letter from him.

They really did begin to be friends.

GUEST: Yeah, and she would always go into his lunch, uh, on her lunch break and go into his studio, and hang out.

KATHLEEN: That's so wonderful.

And then, where was this piece?

GUEST: This was actually in her house, and after she passed away, we inherited it, and my mother asked me if I could bring it in.

KATHLEEN: That is so wonderful.

GUEST: We saw this advertised on MPT and we thought, "Man, what a great idea."

KATHLEEN: It's great, I'm so glad you brought it.

GUEST: Who knew I'd be here?

KATHLEEN: I'm so glad you are.

So, have you ever had it appraised or valued in any way, shape, or form?

GUEST: No, nothing.

We had no idea about who we could even go to about it.

KATHLEEN: Well, you came to the right place, so Melvin Miller, a piece this size with such iconic landmarks in it would probably go at around $2,000 at auction.

GUEST: Really?

KATHLEEN: $2,000 to $3,000, yes.

GUEST: Wow, that's amazing.

KATHLEEN: Yeah.

GUEST: Unbelievable.

KATHLEEN: Well, thank you so much for coming.

GUEST: Thank you for having me.

This was awesome.

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ PATRICK: Hi there, welcome to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

GUEST: Thank you.

PATRICK: I appreciate you coming in today.

Could you tell me a little bit about what you might have here?

GUEST: Yeah, it's just a vest that I picked up about 20 years ago at an antique mall and had no clue as to where it might've come from in the world, and... PATRICK: Oh, okay, what attracted you to it when you first seen it?

GUEST: Largely that, that it's clearly hand done, you know, the, the woven, and I just had this sense that whoever had this felt really special when they wore it.

PATRICK: Well, you definitely had a good eye, 'cause it's very interesting.

When I first seen it, I gotta tell you truthfully, I was kind of puzzled too, what did you have here?

And after doing some research and talking with some colleagues, what we found out is what you got is an early 20th-century Indonesian warrior body armor.

GUEST: Oh wow.

PATRICK: And what's interesting about it is how it is all put together.

And I was trying to figure out what it was made out of, at first, I thought it could have been some type of shell.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

PATRICK: Or something type of, of material.

But as we did more research, we realized that this was actually made out of water buffalo bone.

GUEST: Oh.

PATRICK: So when we got to looking at it and you kind of see how they kind of taper down as they come down there, and they carved that out of water buffalo to layer it, to give them more protection.

Everything about this was made from Mother Nature.

GUEST: Yeah, okay.

PATRICK: So you got the water buffalo bone, you got the cane woven part of the vest.

GUEST: Okay.

PATRICK: You got the buttons, which I truly don't know what they are.

This type of body armor, I've never quite seen this before.

Because you were used to stuff of, of more solidness made outta steel, you know, it could be made out of brass, some type of harder material.

GUEST: Okay.

PATRICK: And, you know, what's really unique about it is how big the buttons are, now this does open up.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

PATRICK: And of course, you have these pieces here as you come down, and there also is a piece on the back, largely resembles the button.

GUEST: Okay.

PATRICK: But overall, I think for it's how old it is, it's in really, really good shape.

GUEST: Good.

PATRICK: Have you ever had this evaluated?

GUEST: No, no.

PATRICK: Well, it's very intriguing, but this is probably the most unique piece of body armor that I've ever seen.

GUEST: Wow.

PATRICK: And the fact that I think that being made out of water buffalo bone, that I'd appraise this in that anywhere between that $900 to $1,200 range.

GUEST: Oh wow.

PATRICK: So I might ask you, what did you pay for it?

GUEST: I paid $117 for this and the stand that it was on and a and a pouch, actually, so.

PATRICK: So that was about 20 plus years ago.

GUEST: It was, yeah.

PATRICK: Well, that was a pretty good investment, so you have a very good eye.

GUEST: Okay.

PATRICK: Well, I really do appreciate you bringing it in today.

GUEST: I'm tickled to, to learn where it's from, yeah.

PATRICK: Well, it was a great piece of history.

GUEST: Yeah.

PATRICK: And a different part of the world's history.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

PATRICK: And we do appreciate you bringing it in today to share it with us.

GUEST: Okay, well, thank you.

PATRICK: Nice having you.

GUEST: Thank you, thank you.

(cash register bell).

LEX REEVES: Next time on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

KATHLEEN: Well, you have an amazing return on investment on this piece.

GUEST: What this is is a letter from George Armistead from 1811 bragging to his friend that he just put up a flagpole at Fort McHenry.

LEX: Now, the neat attribute, which is kind of hard to see, is that on the back of the cane is a Gibson girl.

GUEST: Yeah.

GUEST: I wish I knew.

I mean, I use it as a hat rack, but I'd like to know... ED MORENO: You use it as a hat rack.

GUEST: ...How expensive my hat rack is.

FRANK SHAIA: It's a very special rug, across the room, I saw it and said, "I want to see that rug."

NARRATOR: Major funding was provided by... Alex Cooper Auctioneers, appraisers and auctioneers of fine art, jewelry, and collectibles online and in person gallery auctions every month, serving buyers and sellers in Maryland and around the world for over 100 years.

♪ ♪ Second Story Books, celebrating 50 years of dedicated book selling.

GUEST: Oh, my experience was awesome, what a cool thing to be able to do, and come here and see and be a part of all this after watching it on TV for so many years.

GUEST: Oh yeah, this was a lot of fun.

GUEST: I would like for someone to have it who can appreciate it and show other folks, 'cause it's a lot of American history that folks just don't know about.

GUEST: Yeah, I may have to try it again next year.

GUEST: If you have anything you're not sure about or something old and cool you'd like to get answers on, this is definitely the place to come.

NARRATOR: Stream anytime, anywhere with the free PBS app.