NARRATOR: Major funding is 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.

ROSS KELBAUGH: Coming up on "Chesapeake Collectibles..." AMORY LECUYER: You almost never know what's coming through the door next.

ALLAN STYPECK: Early illustrated illuminated manuscripts.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: Specifically, those which were made for royalty can sell in the millions of dollars.

ROBERT HARRISON: I was really fascinated with it because it has all this detail...

GUEST: That's the best mystery in the world.

AMORY: This was commemorating the '83 Orioles winning the World Series.

And then the next time that they won, it was, oh wait, they haven't.

(theme music playing).

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ROBERT: Welcome to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

GUEST: Thank you.

ROBERT: Thank you for coming in.

What have you brought in today?

GUEST: I have a safe here.

It's a desk safe.

It's wooden, and it was made by my great-great-grandfather in his factory in Rochester, New York.

ROBERT: Okay, and his name was?

GUEST: His name was Martin Briggs.

ROBERT: Alright.

GUEST: It's a Briggs safe.

And it came from my, got it from my mother.

ROBERT: Okay.

GUEST: And it came with this pamphlet here, which includes a list of many people who, and companies who have bought the safe.

ROBERT: And as we looked at it, there are lots of subscribers in there, so I'm gonna talk about that in a second.

This is actually very interesting; you called it a desk safe?

GUEST: Yes.

ROBERT: Did you store things in it?

GUEST: I haven't used it at all.

I just got it from my mother, and it's been sitting in my home for a couple of years.

ROBERT: Okay.

GUEST: And she's had it all those other years, but I've never used it for anything.

ROBERT: It is very interesting, it's very colorful.

And when we looked at it, and I opened this door, I was really fascinated with it because it has all this detail of what one would expect to find on a full-size safe.

GUEST: Uh-huh.

ROBERT: Which started the wheels turning because we were talking about desk safe.

And I actually think that's something a little different.

When I looked on the front, of course, we had this nice decal or painting of a scene, a typical Victorian scene.

And then your great-grandfather, it's your great-grandfather, right?

GUEST: Great-great.

ROBERT: Great-great-grandfather's name emblazoned on the front.

And the location, it's made of wood, it's made of oak, and then it's hand-painted of, in black, red, and yellow.

So, putting all these things together, I don't think it's a safe.

GUEST: Uh-huh.

ROBERT: I think it's a salesman's sample of a safe.

And when we started looking at the booklet, we see that your great-great-grandfather had sold these safes to lots of different people.

In fact, in the book, there's a subscription to people including in Maryland.

GUEST: Yes.

ROBERT: Frederick County, Maryland.

GUEST: Frederick, Cecil... ROBERT: Cecil County, exactly.

Actually, had these safes.

So, this is very typical from the period, I think it dates till about 1880, about the same as the, the manual.

I think he probably, or one of the people who worked for him used it to go to banks and various areas to sell the full-scale model of the safe, which I obviously would've been made in iron or steel, with an intricate lock.

But as you look at these things and, and you see the painting and so forth, it's got a little wear on it, of course.

GUEST: Sure does.

ROBERT: But we call that honest wear, so I'm excited about that.

GUEST: It's patina.

ROBERT: Patina, exactly right.

With the panels on the side, I'm sure it was patented.

And if you had some time and effort and you looked it up in the patent office...

GUEST: I got time.

ROBERT: Okay, well, then you can probably find a patent date to go with it.

GUEST: Oh.

ROBERT: So, do you know of any other safe that you've seen like this?

Have you seen a full-scale model or anything like that?

GUEST: I have, any other safe I've seen, I have no idea if it was one of these safes or not.

ROBERT: Right, right.

But I mean...

GUEST: I've seen big safes in banks.

ROBERT: Sure, that's, that's the concept.

GUEST: Wooden one, um... ROBERT: But you've not seen one with his name on it?

GUEST: No, sir.

ROBERT: Okay, so again, I really like this salesman samples; sample salesman models are highly desirable.

GUEST: Oh.

ROBERT: Have you ever had this appraised before?

GUEST: No.

ROBERT: I think if this were to go up for auction, and if people didn't even know who Marcus was, I think you'd probably see this sell between 675 and 775.

It's really interesting.

It's highly detailed.

And I'm sure when people saw it in, in 1880 or 1881, they were sold on the concept immediately.

It's a very interesting little piece.

GUEST: That's nice.

ROBERT: Yeah.

GUEST: Would it... ROBERT: And you should, I'm sorry...

GUEST: Would it have more value in upstate New York than it would anywhere else?

Here in Maryland?

ROBERT: Uh, it, it might, anytime one sells something in the locale, there's always a local interest.

GUEST: People in Rochester are very interested in local history.

ROBERT: That might simply generate a little bit more interest.

Generally speaking, they sell about this regardless of where they are.

So, I, again, I appreciate you bringing it in, thanks for sharing your family story.

GUEST: You're welcome.

ROBERT: And take care of it.

GUEST: Okay, thank you.

ROBERT: Thank you.

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ ALLAN: Welcome to "Chesapeake Collectibles," what'd you bring us?

GUEST: We brought you a book that we picked up in Lucerne, Switzerland, on a trip many years ago.

And we were just taking a nightly scroll down, a stroll down the, avenue, and found an ancient bookstore, antique bookstore, and the bookstore was closed, but he had a pamphlet on the outside.

And both of us being musicians, we'd love to have this book, so when we got back to the States, I contacted him, made the deal, and he sent it to us.

ALLAN: And what kind of music do you teach?

GUEST: We taught vocal music in Baltimore County for a combined 63 years.

ALLAN: Really?

And why was, why were you interested in buying this specifically?

GUEST: It meant so much being both vocal teachers and seeing that it was monk's prayer books that had the script, had the music actually shown.

It meant a lot to us.

ALLAN: Right, have you ever used the, the antiphonal here to sing together?

GUEST: Not together, but we have looked the book, page by page.

And it's better on a page thing.

ALLAN: Right, well, it's more than just a, antiphonal and with music.

It is, uh, a partial "Book of Hours" that has been, it looks to me, and I think you suggested when I first spoke to you, that it is in the hand of multiple monks.

GUEST: Yes.

ALLAN: And in the catalog description, when you purchase this from the antiquarian bookseller...

GUEST: Yes.

ALLAN: We're not antique booksellers, we're antiquarian booksellers, right?

GUEST: Very good.

ALLAN: Okay?

You, he suggested that based on the differences in the hands, he believed that multiple monks worked on it.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: Together, or it was handed over one to one to one to one.

GUEST: Right.

ALLAN: So, if Barbara, if you wouldn't mind, start from the beginning of the, the manuscript, and you'll see that the first portion of the manuscript are the morning prayers.

And if you go through the pages, you'll see that after the morning prayers, it'll turn into, it'll change timing to afternoon prayers.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: And then probably evening prayers before it goes into the antiphonal and the reverie with the music that would be sung in the monastery.

Now, did the proprietor of the antiquarian bookstore ever mention to you where he, he believes this monastery was located?

GUEST: He did not.

GUEST: Did not.

ALLAN: He, did he give you any idea who the order of the, the monastery was?

GUEST: Not a thing.

ALLAN: Not a thing.

But we know that it's dated 1778.

GUEST: Oh.

ALLAN: Does it have any indication of the names of any of the brothers?

GUEST: I, I do not know, but I know it began in 1775.

ALLAN: Right.

GUEST: And the last entry was 1779.

ALLAN: Nine.

So, it's a four-year period...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: Purportedly in an area in Switzerland.

GUEST: Yes.

ALLAN: Or you're, you're, you're making a, basically a, opinion of location based on where you purchased it.

GUEST: Right.

ALLAN: The proprietor never told you if it was German, if it was Swiss, if it was French.

GUEST: No.

ALLAN: Because in Switzerland, you have Italian, French, German.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: You have so many different influences and, and the orders in Central and Western Europe would've primarily been, at this time, probably Benedictines.

That would be my first choice.

But I would be doing research on, on this "Book of Hours."

Now it's rather late because "Book of Hours" manuscript start as early as the 12th century.

GUEST: Mm.

ALLAN: And the orig, not the original, but the early illustrated illuminated manuscripts specifically, those which were given, were made for royalty, can sell in the millions of dollars because they are treasures on top of being theologically important.

But as you get later into the late 1600s, 1700s, and you are dealing primarily with unrubricated, unillustrated, internally used manuscript material for prayer, for spiritual purposes there, the importance of it is more the continuity of the monastery and the use of it internally.

So, from my perspective, based on the page, page count, and the fact that it's primarily black, black on white, and with some red rubricate, not even rubrication, just red, um, titles, it wouldn't be something that would fall in the fine arts category, which many "Books of Hours" are.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: It would fall in the use category, and historically, that would be more from a legacy value for me and a time period of the particular monastery.

Since we don't know the monastery and we don't know the order, we have to put in perspective that at this point, without further research, it would be a, and I, I, I, I, I, I caution to use the word "generic."

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: But it would be a period "Book of Hours" versus a specialized "Book of Hours."

So, I would like to know how much you paid for it.

GUEST: About 300.

ALLAN: 300 what?

GUEST: Dollars.

ALLAN: Dollars.

GUEST: Dollars in 2002.

ALLAN: Right, right.

I would probably appraise this for insurance presently for about 2,000.

GUEST: Okay.

GUEST: Ooh.

GUEST: Very good.

ALLAN: Okay.

GUEST: Ooo nice.

ALLAN: So, thank you very much for coming to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

This is a very nice piece.

GUEST: Thank Allan, it was a pleasure.

GUEST: Thank you, thank you.

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ AMORY: I want to thank you for bringing this on to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

I mean, one of the fun things about this show is you almost never know what's coming through the door next.

You want to describe to me what you got here?

GUEST: Sure, so this is a shirt with Spuds MacKenzie on it, it's from 1987, and he's dressed up as Pope John Paul II.

AMORY: Okay.

GUEST: And this was in celebration of Pope John Paul II coming to America.

AMORY: Okay, now, now, Spuds MacKenzie was the one at one point the spokesperson for Budweiser.

GUEST: For, for Budweiser, that's right, so you can imagine there was probably a few people up in arms of him dressed up as the Pope.

AMORY: Even to begin with.

GUEST: Even to begin with.

So, I found out early on that these got pulled from the shelves really quick when, when people found, you know, people might have found this shirt a little offensive.

AMORY: Well, wasn't that also the year there was an assassination...

GUEST: Assassination attempt.

AMORY: I think that also had something to do with the pull of the shirt.

GUEST: Yeah.

AMORY: It's a fa, it's fabulous and, and there's kind of a weird subculture of t-shirt collecting that Spuds MacKenzie occupies, actually.

GUEST: Really?

AMORY: I mean, he's, he is got several t-shirts out there, there's Club Spuds and, and, and a variety of other icons, the iconic moments that Spuds MacKenzie has been viewed in.

Where did you find it?

GUEST: So, I love going thrifting, and I found this at a thrift store, and I found it for an amazing price, I recognized Spud, immediately, and I knew I had to have it in my collection.

AMORY: Okay, how much was it?

GUEST: $2.

AMORY: Okay, well, you know, you have really opened my eyes to a new area of collecting.

I, I, I was very aware of the, the vintage rock t-shirts and their, a lot of their values that are reaching into the hundreds and sometimes even some of the rare ones, some thousands of dollars.

I was not aware that Spuds had a subculture, but on, you know, at, at an interesting, auction site, probably dealing with memorabilia of this timeframe, you're looking at about $100 t-shirt.

GUEST: Wow, really?

AMORY: And, and, and it's one of the great educational parts of our program, because somebody is bringing something that they're interested in all the time.

GUEST: Yeah.

AMORY: And without you, I would not have known about Vatican Spuds.

GUEST: Well, I'm glad I could bring a little bit more Spuds MacKenzie into your life.

AMORY: Well, it is something that I will cherish forever.

GUEST: Well, thank you.

AMORY: Thanks for coming out.

GUEST: Thank you.

(cash register bell).

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

I have been a fan of The Beatles ever since I saw them on "The Ed Sullivan Show" the first time, and my mother told me to turn the sound down on the TV.

They reached me that quickly.

The next day I went into school, combed my hair for, forward to look like a Beatle.

And I remember this teacher who I didn't have, stuck his head into my room, uh, the classroom I was in, and made fun of me.

The Beatles have went on to be remembered much longer than he ever will be and has been.

GUEST: Oh.

ROSS: So, you brought some things in here that, for interest in as a Beatle-ist in Beatle collectibles, you have stumped me today.

What did you bring in?

GUEST: I brought in three, three items that, that I put together over the years, that being a collector, like you, The Beatles always played in the background of everything I've ever done.

They, they were playing there.

And then of course, I'm a part of a lot of Beatles societies and collect all just the authentic stuff from the '60s.

But these are three items that are the collectible of the collectible.

The skateboard's an unusual item of all the items that were licensed out there; we know that there was one skateboard that was licensed to the Norfolk Skateboard Company.

Then there's the Indy skateboard, that someone shot me an email and says, you gotta take a look at this, this image on, on the internet.

And there was this great skateboard, found Indianapolis in the, in the garage of his mother.

And he had it, and it just lit the, lit the internet up.

I wound up talking to him and he wound up selling it to me for very, very inexpensive amount.

Everybody wants it as soon as they saw it, everyone knows what it is.

This is the only other image that we know exists of this skateboard here.

And this would here someone sent me, and it was part of his collection.

ROSS: So, there's one in another collection.

GUEST: Somewhere.

ROSS: Somewhere.

GUEST: Somewhere, we, I don't know who this gentleman is... ROSS: That It didn't have any feet on it.

GUEST: Exactly.

ROSS: And it was produced, you call it the Indy board, because this...

GUEST: Yeah.

ROSS: ...this was the company in, in Indianapolis...

GUEST: Indianapolis... ROSS: ...that made that style.

GUEST: Exactly, and that's where it was found.

And this was, here is the same exact style, just missing, sans the faces of The Beatles.

Now, you know, very few records were kept of this.

Everyone thought this is gonna be a flash in the pan, The Beatles are gonna last... ROSS: They did too.

GUEST: They're gonna last six to eight months, and then that was gonna be it.

Ringo was gonna be a hairdresser, John was gonna write, you know, songs, and Paul was gonna write show tunes, but they didn't; they kept going.

So sometimes the records just really weren't kept, no matter what.

So, we know that this license showed up, but this license here is yet to be found.

You know, Terry Crane, who's a great author, who wrote the book on The Beatles NEMS stuff, he's searching everywhere for that thing.

ROSS: And you mentioned NEMS for people in our audience might not know what that means.

GUEST: Yeah, NEMS was the, north, Northern End Music Store, that was the, the production company... ROSS: Is that Brian Epstein's company?

GUEST: Yeah, that was the, he set up a couple things, a publishing end, and then, and he set that up to handle The Beatles, marketing ad.

Brian Epstein is, is as, as smart as he was, and he cared, you know, the Colonel cared for Elvis, but Colonel took a lot of Elvis' money.

Brian Epstein cared for The Beatles, but he just made some really bad deals.

He really, really made some bad deals.

And some of the deals that wound up in court that he made bad, he actually paid for things out of his own pocket.

But there's just not many records of this.

So that's where we're at right there, so I'm hoping someone will see this and go, I have that in my, my garage or something in there.

ROSS: What can you tell us about the dress?

GUEST: Now the dress is really interesting too, that came up in an auction in the UK.

A friend spotted that at an auction, and it was a very, very poor picture of what they were selling.

So, it went underneath the radar when it actually went to the hammer.

And the hammer price, I think, was 600 pounds, $800, 900 with the... but it could have went up a lot more if everyone saw what it is.

Now, the only images that we have of that, are this right here; this is a picture of The Cavern, where The Beatles played 292 times.

This dress was licensed to Littlewoods Mail Order Catalog.

And it was licensed five days after The Beatles actually played their last show at, at The Cavern.

So August, we know it's August 8th, 1963, was the license when this went out.

But once again, these dresses just don't exist; no one could find them.

This one here popped up, we had this image here, and then in, Sudley's in Liverpool, in the Museum of, of Industry for textiles, one of these dresses, not for The Beatles, even though it's Liverpool, but because of the textile that was in there.

ROSS: Oh.

GUEST: It's called, it's called tricel, which was '58 it was patented.

It's, it's a fabric that doesn't get wet, doesn't wrinkle, new face, age, you know, it is a wonderful time in there for new inventions.

But once again, we have this here that came up, and we just don't find any more of them out there.

That's in there.

And I, I have a large Beatle collection, and there's people with larger Beatle collections than mine, and they have never even seen these dresses before.

ROSS: Wow.

GUEST: So, these things are out there and really is there, you can really catch the light on there, you can see The Beatles, but it's a beautiful piece.

ROSS: Amazing.

GUEST: Yeah.

ROSS: And then you had this bag, now what's... That's the best mystery in the world.

This one here was made by Abercrombie and Fitch; it's the old trademark underneath, it was the trademark they used from '58 to '66, it says, made in England in there.

And this showed up at an estate sale of a collector of movie props.

There was not one other Beatle item there.

This was the only Beatle item, but there was all moo, movie props.

So, it led us to believe that this was somehow in the movie, so we're working with that, and we believe through the society, through, through the Beatle groups and through, Jeff Augsburger, who's written a book on Beatle memorabilia and everything, that just more or less a movie prop in the movie "Help."

Now we know that her Majesty's mail service at the time period, they use a canvas bag, but it's red.

But the military, which was in the movie, protecting The Beatles in three or four scenes when they sang out in the field, we had the military, the tanks, and all the guns and armory.

This is for, for the military.

But once again, this is one of those things that just is out there; we know it.

I was working with a lady from Abercrombie and Fitch pre-COVID, and the lady was a historian, and she was looking into this thing.

But every, they keep losing records there too, every time that they were sold, it went belly up.

And I mean, she was hot on the trail of finding something, some receipts for where this came from.

But then COVID hit, and when it, it was all over; she was no longer with us.

But of all the thousands and thousands of things in my collection, these things here, you know, they had my eye, they, they've got my heart.

And hoping there's something out there that, that, you know, I was hoping maybe you could tell me, but, but it's, you know, but even the Beatle people can't tell me.

ROSS: Yeah, well, you stumped me, so this is the opportunity we have to be able to reach out to our audience.

If there's anybody out there in video land watching our program, if you have any insight into any of these objects or happen to have any of them sitting in your house, if you would, if you would contact the show and let us know to be able to get in contact with you with what you have and what you can find out.

GUEST: And that would be great, it really would be, without a doubt.

ROSS: Yeah, I did a piece earlier today on a World War I grouping.

I asked for my audience if they could find a photograph of the guy whose stuff I own, so kind of this falls into the category of all these people out there watching the show.

Please, if you were able to help us, as for the Beatle collectors of the world, to be able to, fill us in on all of that.

And I would add one thing too, that I have always been wondering about, and that I mentioned to you, that when The Beatles stayed in Baltimore, they visited in 1964, they stayed at the Holiday Inn in Baltimore.

And I remember that after they stayed, their sheets were cut up and attached to some cardboard explanations, and those were sold.

And then one of the radio stations advertised that they had the pillows that they slept on, and they were given away as prizes for the radio stations.

And so, I've always wondered about where are all of those items?

GUEST: Yeah.

ROSS: Nobody's ever brought 'em into the show.

So, if you happen to be sitting on some of those out there, if you sign up for "Chesapeake Collectibles" next year, bring them on in 'cause I want to see that stuff.

GUEST: Absolutely, my friend.

So, I, hopefully will get some kind of return and some information.

GUEST: I hope so.

ROSS: So, we'll be able to help to flesh out these stories any more than they are, so thank you very much for entertaining and enlightening us about the unknown Beatles.

GUEST: Oh, it's my pleasure, my friend, absolutely.

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ AMORY: I want to thank you for coming out 'cause this is one of the most fun things that come across my table today, you wanna describe for me what you have here?

GUEST: It's a commemorative baseball for the 1983 World Championship Orioles.

And it has caricatures of Eddie Murray, Scott McGregor, and Rick Dempsey.

AMORY: Rick Dempsey.

GUEST: Rick Dempsey, yeah.

AMORY: And it's by a noted artist...

GUEST: George Sosnak.

AMORY: George Sosnak.

Sosnak has done a lot of baseballs.

GUEST: Right, right.

AMORY: And, and this was, commemorating the '83 Orioles winning the World Series, and then the next time that they won, it was, oh wait, they haven't...

GUEST: They haven't.

Oh, that's correct, 41 years.

AMORY: This is the last time the Orioles won the World Series.

It's a wonderful piece of, of, of contemporary art in the modern sense, and it's commemorated a great occurrence in the city of Baltimore, which is gonna reoccur in 2025, right here, you heard it here first.

GUEST: Okay, I believe you.

I believe you.

AMORY: Have you ever had anybody look at the, the balls?

GUEST: No, actually, I, I bought the eBay auction about 25 years ago for $47.

AMORY: Okay.

Well, his, recently, some of his baseballs that are commemorating other similar events, have reached into the 3,500 to $4,000 range, so your $47 has now converted into several thousand and a prediction for the Orioles in 2025.

GUEST: So, after 2025 series that... AMORY: Even more, get another, get another ball, then you can have a pair of George's balls.

(laughing).

Thank you for coming out.

GUEST: Thank you very much.

(cash register bell).

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: I tell you, I really enjoyed my experience today from beginning to end.

GUEST: We had a great time, everybody knew everything about everything, and we had a wonderful time.

GUEST: I would tell anybody if you, whether you watch "Chesapeake Collectibles" or not, to sign up for something like this.

GUEST: I would encourage other people to do it because it was very interesting and a lot of fun too.

GUEST: Who knows what you have in that drawer, that closet that's just could be worth something.

GUEST: Absolutely off the charts.

It's, it's different being on the other side of the camera.

Being here at MPT is wonderful.

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