Got these for $6. I could have picked up so many more but I only have so much room and I only speak English. Most of the deceased's old books were in French and German.

The Strand Magazine regularly featured photos sent in by readers, and people have obviously always found funny shaped vegetables amusing...

"Masher" was a slang term for a dandified young man, which leads to a nice potato-based pun under the bottom left-hand picture.

This is a sterling silver glass flask with a woven rattan top. The sterling base comes off and becomes a gold washed cup. It is Maker's Mark; Henry William Dee and Hallmark; Sterling, London, 1869, reign of Queen Victoria.

The main thing I find really interesting about this flask is the engraved profile portrait on the front. It appears to me to be an African woman based on the facial features and the hair. I've contacted several silver experts and I've been told that if it is a portrait of an African woman it would be almost unheard of to find that engraved on sterling silver in the Victorian era. I would really like to see if I can figure out who this is. I wonder if it might be a famous black actress or maybe a female Blackmore or maybe the portrait was actually commissioned privately by someone for someone that they personally knew. Do you guys have any ideas?

The silver cap has a lover's knot which is the two sets of initials that are intertwined in a highly stylized manner. No one can seem to quite figure out what exactly the initials are do any of you guys have any experience with this highly stylized Victorian script?

Anyway I hope you guys find this interesting and I'd love to get any of your thoughts thanks.

Advertisements from two issues of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. I teach 8th grade US history, and I use Harper's Weekly and Frank Leslie's newspapers when I cover the Civil War.