This is certainly an unusual archive: A collection of envelopes that were mailed TO THE WHITE HOUSE during President Herbert Hoover's administration. We're very dubious even about how the material came to be outside the White House; our guess is that it was intended to be thrown away and some enterprising employee just put a couple dozen envelopes in his briefcase/her purse and they've been handed down to family members over the intervening 80 or so years. This collection has nearly two dozen envelopes; most have postmarks and stamps and most are from foreign government offices. Examples of the items include: •  To President Herbert Hoover from the Royal Hungarian Revenue Office, Debrecen, two attractive stamps and postmark •  To Presidente de la Republica from Mexico with a 10 centavos stamp and a postmark from Michigan! •  To Mr. Herbert Hoover, Prasident d U.S.A., from Chekoslvakia with three stamps and a postmark that reads Jauernig. The envelopes are mostly typewritten, but some hand-written. There are stamps on most, but not all of the envelopes. We can only speculate on the letters that might have been enclosed to the president. Some, based on the envelopes, were from high-ranking government officials and could have contained either classified or intriguing information; some appear to have been more fan mail than political/governmental. It's quite a mix and certainly rare that this group escaped the government shredder. Complete lot as described, $75.00

Seattle World's Fair Art Poster, very rare small size about 9x12; the larger sizes including the purple Arts Since 1950 Seattle Art Museum Poster are scarce but show up from time to time. We have NEVER seen this small size poster except when we were the seller. We purchased a handful of these posters years ago from the estate of a printer who had printed them for Century 21. We've seen pictures of them pasted around the fair grounds, but other than that, none have ever shown up. We have two left after having sold about 6 or 7 in the last decade. As shown and in mint condition. We will notify you of exact shipping/postage totals once we complete packaging. We will ship this poster in clean wrapping and then in double-strength and reinforced cardboard to ensure it is not bent during shipment. Assume that your total shipping cost will be in the $7–$12 range. $32.00

A political statement that most definitely could be from this decade, making views about Iraq and Afghanistan quite clear. But the pin dates from approximately 1939 when a strong isolationist movement vocalized opposition to the U.S. entering "other countries'" war. That all changed, of course, December 7, 1941, 68 years ago to the day as we draft this copy! Irony, indeed. You need not agree with the politics to collect the buttons and memorabilia from the era. Mint condition. As us about the stand-up cardboard pin display, also, which is for sale with about 10 original pins still on the board. $8 (the single pin)* $145 (original stand-up counter card with 10 pins still remaining)

Mark Twain was, after all, a traveling journalist, and he seems to have popped up across the globe on many occasions. While researching our first book on the World's Columbian Expo, we discovered very Twain-esque writing about the fair, its visitors and its concessions. He reveled in the international environment. We found this document in, of course, Philadelphia! Twain relaxed (we assume) in the audience of a Twelfth Night at the Chestnut Comedy Theater-on Chestnut Avenue not far from Independence Hall-when a fellow theater goer probably spotted the famous author. The program no doubt stayed in Philly in possession of the family for many years before we found it for sale from an Americana and autograph dealer there. The cover is creased, as you can see, in the lower right, which does not affect the dark, rich signature on the inside page. We won't be too effusive, but Twain is one of our favorite American authors/writers and his signature (in our prejudiced opinion) ought to be at the top of any quality autograph collection. $1150

We specialize in tickets from all fairs as well as from other historical events. Within a few months we will assemble an inventory of several dozen world's fair tickets to be available only on this website. In the meantime, we're offering just a taste in this first listing of items for sale to start 2010. This is a printer sample, specimen complete ticket book from the 1933 Chicago Century of Progress world's fair. We do not know if it was originally part of the printer's sample file or the actual fair management's permanent file. But either way, it is prohibitively rare. One can be assured that ANY specimen document is rare-if not unique then one of only a small handful in existence, and perhaps the only one extant 75+ years later. World's Columbian specimen admission tickets, with 4-8 of each design known, average $500-$650 in prices realized in recent years. See the current issue of PERSPECTIVETM on the website for more on ticket pricing. * $35  — SOLD —

One of the better known, yet rare tickets from the world's Columbian Exposition, Chicago 1893. Elevators, remember, were a novelty at the time and not a day-to-day conveyance. It was the very rare building that had an elevator—or enough floors to need one! At the WCE you had your choice of experiencing more than one elevator ride, but it took a ticket to do so. No free rides yet! The Vertical Transit elevator ticket was virtually unknown in the marketplace until several years ago when we acquired a stash of eight—bringing the known total to 10 or 11. Subsequently a couple of others have been found, but there are no more than 15 VT tickets known; Hale is rare, but not quite to the same level. Still, sales over the last 30 years would indicate that no more than 30-50 Hale tickets exist and many collectors believe strongly that the total is at the low end of that range...or lower. Small tear out of the lower margin drops the value of this ticket by as much as 30% from the $400-$500 price often seen. We're lowering our asking price even further—to just $285. * $285

Another outstanding World's Columbian Expo ticket. This, one of two from the Wild East concession (the other a 25-cent denomination), is in mint condition and moderately scarce. Remember, tickets such as these and many others from the WCE and other fairs, will highlight our March auction. Look at the current issue of PERSPECTIVE™ for information on prices realized for WCE tickets. The market remains unsettled, or perhaps more accurately, schizophrenic. Even in a tight economy, several collectors are typically ahead of the pack financially and can afford to build their collections while others pull back. Priced to accommodate the current market! * $185

SHIPPING
All shipping charges will be calculated based on destination, item size and shipping method. All shipping is per package, never per item. Items marked with an asterisk * can be shipped First Class in a properly padded envelope or box for a flat $3.00. Insurance is available for an additional charge.

To Order or Inquire about items listed here, please contact Norm Bolotin at
norm@thehistorybank.com or toll-free 1-877-585-8818.

Antiquities, Artifacts & Ancient Coins

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