Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

September 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction

Sat, Sep 19, 2026 11:00AM EDT
  2026-09-19 11:00:00 2026-09-19 11:00:00 America/New_York Michael Lehr Michael Lehr : September 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction https://auction.michaellehrantiques.com/auctions/michael-lehr-antiques/september-2026-vernacular-photo-history-auction-24380
Our September 2026 auction is anchored by two remarkable private collections, together making up about half the sale, alongside a broader selection of consignments spanning early photography, Civil War material, and vernacular imagery. The Soffer Collection, built with an eye for rarity and historical significance, is particularly strong in vernacular portraiture, Native American photographs, and Iowa Civil War imagery. The Palmer, Massachusetts collection, much of it found at Brimfield, centers on maker-marked daguerreotypes from the golden age of the American daguerreian studio.
Michael Lehr Antiques info@michaellehrantiques.com
Lot 642

Postcard Album, Puppets and Marionettes, World Culture to American TV

Estimate: $200 - $300
Starting Bid
$100

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$100 $10
$200 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
A purpose-built collector's binder houses an extensive assemblage of postcards, press prints, CDVs, and related ephemera united by a single subject: puppets and puppetry in its many international and domestic forms. The collection spans multiple continents and eras, from early printed cards depicting Javanese wayang golek figures photographed at the Mission Inn in Riverside, California, and North African marionette performers, to British Museum-issued cards of Turkish and Greek shadow puppets, to American television press material. No single publisher or photographer accounts for the whole; imprints include Oriental Photo Papers, Dexter Supreme, Picturegoe Post Card series, VUE-ALL Archival Photo File mounts, and British Museum publications by P.J. Graphics Ltd., London.

Color and monochrome cards appear throughout, depicting costumed Javanese puppet-play scenes, a Stage Scene of Puppet Play annotation visible on one card reverse, marionette circus acts with red-and-white striped stage surrounds, shadow puppet figures including a stork form identified on the reverse as a Greek hide shadow puppet from the British Museum collection, and Bozos Circus material with handwritten "Garfield Goose" inscriptions. American television subjects include signed promotional prints for Franz the Toymaker from WJW-TV Cleveland, press photos captioned Betty Percy and Joe Allen, Capn Ken's Showboat on WOC-TV, Puppet Time Cincinnati OH, and multiple Howdy Doody, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Sesame Street, and Muppets cards including Miss Piggy, Kermit, and Fozzie Bear examples.

Franz the Toymaker was portrayed by character actor Ray Stawiarski on WJW-TV beginning in 1964 and running through the rest of the decade, and the signed press print present in the album inscribed "to my TV Pal, Franz" represents a direct piece of that Cleveland children's television legacy. The Mission Inn is a historic landmark hotel in downtown Riverside, California, developed by Frank Augustus Miller from 1880, who acquired antiques and art from travels around the world, giving context to the Javanese puppet pair documented there in the cards annotated "168/169 Java Puppets, Mission Inn, Riverside California."

Reverses include pencil and ink inscriptions, catalog notations such as "168/169 Java Puppets Mission Inn Riverside California," British Museum catalog numbers ET157 and ET159, Bozo's Circus printed correspondence text, handwritten "Garfield Goose" signatures, dealer notations, and date stamps ranging across multiple decades. Cards housed in clear polypropylene sleeve pages within a three-ring binder; the seller notes additional material beyond what is pictured.

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