Auctions: Clothing, memories, some Biedermeier surprises

Two suburban sales over the next few days will offer costumes and memories. A third will feature a piece of furniture made in a style whose name was meant as mockery.

The first costume sale will take place beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday in Horsham, where Andi Charkow will offer more than 900 lots of vintage clothing and accessories at the Horsham VFW, 324 Sawmill Lane.

The top item is a dress worn to the 1909 inaugural ball of President William H. Taft by a guest named Rosemary Arnold, who later became an actress. The dress, which is simple enough in its design but comes with a souvenir program, menu/dance cards, and photos, has a presale estimate of $300, Charkow said this week.

The women's clothing in the sale spans the eras from the Victorian period to the 1970s, including Edwardian, flapper, and 1940s styles. Nothing is expected to sell for more than $325 and most of the clothing is in "excellent" shape, Charkow said. "People can come buy it and wear it right away."

Among the men's apparel are an early-1920s baseball uniform, a beaver top hat, expected to bring $75 to $150, and "a lot of fedoras" from the 1950s.

Preview is from 8:30 a.m. to sale time Saturday. For further information, call 215-356-8413, or to see items go to www.auctionzip.com.

Clothing, nostalgia at Bunch's. William H. Bunch Auctions and Appraisals will also offer clothing, about three dozen lots including many beaded purses, at its August catalog auction of decorative and fine arts. The sale begins at noon Tuesday at the gallery in Chadds Ford. Bidding has already begun online at www.liveauctioneers.com.

But the prime interest in the 600-lot sale is likely to be in the many items dating to the 1940s, '50s and '60s.

There are, for instance, three Schwinn bicycles dating to around 1960: a five-speed green tandem bike with original whitewall tires and a red Spacemaster, each with a presale estimate of $200 to $400, and a classic 1958 boy's Red Phantom with a single gear and coaster brakes, with a presale estimate of $600 to $800.

Advertising and promotional memorabilia include a variety of Coca-Cola items, a Canada Dry advertising chalkboard sign promising "a flavor for every taste" ($50 to $100), and a Jack Armstrong shooting plane (actually a propeller disk) offered by Gold Medal Foods of Minneapolis ($40 to $60). If memory serves correctly, the 1940s radio show about Armstrong as "the All-American Boy" was sponsored by Gold Medal's Wheaties, "breakfast of champions."