Favorite of the Week - Rum and Coca Cola, or -- Morey Amsterdam, Songwriter

Did you know that Morey Amsterdam of The Dick Van Dyke Show was a songwriter? I didn't, and I thought this was interesting trivia! He wrote "Rum and Coca Cola." I had no idea ... until I listed this Andrews Sisters sheet music last week:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260327828491&ih=016&category=43387&ssPageName=STORE:PROMOBOX:NEWLIST#GALLERY

Favorite of the Week - Vintage Framed Prints and Antique Photos

I hope you'll take a look at the wonderful framed photos, prints, and ads that I posted this past week. They are from an old Ruby Tuesday's restaurant, and they have a great variety of vintage themes. You'll find the pictures at:

http://search.stores.ebay.com/Birdhouse-Books_ruby-tuesday_W0QQfcdZ2QQfciZQ2d1QQfclZ3QQfromZR10QQfsnZBirdhouseQ20BooksQQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQftsZ2QQsaselZ81052548QQsatitleZrubyQ20tuesdayQ2aQQsofpZ0

These wonderful vintage pictures include:

• Victorian print of a woman on an old-fashioned telephone
• Victorian print of a woman with a gramophone
• 1940's photo of a young woman roller skating
• 1930's to 1930's photo of a little boy fishing - and he has caught a big one!
• 1945 photo of the graduating class of B.F. Lee Seminary at the historic black school Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, Florida
• Very interesting photo of Goodman's newsstand in Louisville, Kentucky. You'll see a number of baseball related publications. I would date this 1930's to early 1940's ... and it has a great Walker Evans quality. (Unsigned photo)
• 1950's vintage advertising poster for Brunswick Bowling - lots of fun!

Favorite of the Week - Vintage Christmas Ornaments, including Shiny Brite Decorations

Wow! It's raining Christmas ornaments here -- or should that be it's snowing Christmas ornaments?

I've enjoyed reading about Shiny Brite ornaments and learning more about vintage Christmas decorations this week. I love retro Christmas -- these ornaments always just look like Christmas to me.

A tip for new sellers or collectors -- always look at the silver cap on the ornament. Shiny Brites are labeled there, and other maker's marks appear on the silver cap. Vintage ornaments made in Germany are also very sought after.

I went through a liquor box full of vintage ornaments yesterday and listed them separately and in small lots. My very favorite -- the beautiful pale blue glass tree topper pictured here. It has two indents (front and back) and is exceptionally pretty. I could not find a maker's mark, but it is the style and era of Shiny Brites. Really a lovely decoration!

You'll find lots of my ornaments here:
http://search.stores.ebay.com/Birdhouse-Books_ornament-ornaments-shiny-brite-topper_W0QQfciZQ2d1QQfclZ3QQfsnZBirdhouseQ20BooksQQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQftsZ2QQsaselZ81052548QQsatitleZQ28ornamentQ2cornamentsQ2cshinyQ20briteQ2ctopperQ29QQsofpZ0

Christmas Rush - Tips for Improving Sales

The Christmas rush has begun on eBay! I have had slim listings the last week because I've been busy packing and shipping.

A few tips to improve sales:

(1) Raise prices.
(2) Lower prices.
(3) Pull some store items to Fixed Price 30 days (higher visibility).
(4) Run a series of short sales (i.e. cookbooks on sale for 5 days, then children's books on sale for 7 days, then jewelry on sale for 4 days).
(5) Use Best Offer on your Fixed Price and Store listings. I am a huge fan of Best Offer ... it generates lots of sales!
(6) Be sure all Christmas items have the word CHRISTMAS in the title.

Just a few ideas ... I've done these for several years and they work!

Favorite of the Week - A Very Young Dancer by Jill Krementz

A Very Young Dancer by Jill Krementz is a rare and especially lovely book about ballet for young readers. The photographs by Krementz, of a young dancer who is chosen to perform in the New York City Ballet's Nutcracker Ballet, are wonderful.

Jill Krementz was a Vietnam War photographer, and she is the widow of Kurt Vonnegut. While I like all her children's photography, I especially like her A Very Young series of books.

http://cgi.ebay.com/A-Very-Young-Dancer-1979-Jill-Krementz-RARE-Ballet-Book_W0QQitemZ360103253960QQihZ023QQcategoryZ279QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247QQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247QQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247