Art Deco Parker Beacon Chrome Table Lighter in Original Box

PRESENTING A VERY RARE and Original J Mack Moore Photo of Virginia Memorial in Vicksburg, MISS and probably taken circa 1907/08, after it’s dedication. Paper photograph mounted on board, on it’s original matting. Taken by famous photographer John Mack Moore of Vicksburg and signed by him in red ink on bottom left “J Mack Moore’ and “Vicksburg, Miss” on the bottom right (also in red ink). Hand-noted in black ink on rear as “Virginia Tablet, Vicksburg National Military Park” and also signed again by J. Mack Moore in red ink on left center on the rear and “Vicksburg, Miss” on the right center (also in red ink). Newly framed and matted and under glass. Original photos by J. Mack Moore are ‘highly’ sought after and have performed very well at auction. John Mack Moore, born in 1869, was the son of prominent residents of antebellum Vicksburg. He was only a toddler when the famous 1870 race between the Robt. E. Lee and Natchez had his hometown in a state of excitement as the big sidewheelers passed upriver en route from New Orleans to St. Louis. As a young man, he became an avid and skilled photographer, spending much time at the wharf along the Mississippi and Yazoo, recording on glass plate negatives the daily activity of the busy river landing. Conversations with masters, mates, mud clerks and roustabouts were his daily fare. Moore learned photography from an elderly master of albumen, wet plates and homemade printing papers. He had a disdain for newfangled gadgetry and held fast to utilizing the old methods of previous decades in the making of photographs, with sparkling results. J. Mack Moore was considered the dean of photographers as well as a colorful character around Vicksburg. In later years, owing to his white hair and moustache, he was said by many to bear a close resemblance to Mark Twain. Moore’s Clay Street home, where he also operated his photographic studio, was built from the top down, a most amazing feat accomplished by a unique individual. Originally it was a rambling residence in a Southern, park-like setting. However, when paved streets eventually came to the city, the house was left at the base of an embankment, the large oak trees removed to make way for an unsightly culvert. Singlehandedly, Moore raised the house to street level. As the edifice gradually rose, Moore fashioned lower floors, accomplishing the feat with heavy timbers and screw jacks...

Presenting a very important Teddy Roosevelt Letter of June 1911 . On ‘The Outlook’ letterhead. Typed and personally signed and amended by President Theodore Roosevelt. Dated June 20th 1911. What makes this letter so important is the author, the office and the content. It refers to the beliefs and opinions of the then President and First Lady (Edith) towards the women’s sufferage and empowerment movement that was the ‘hot topic’ of the time. It is addressed to Eliza Calvert Hall/Obenchain who was a well known author at the end of the 19th Century and Early 20th Century. In 1905, Teddy referred to her book “Aunt Jane of Kentucky’ in a speech and recommended that every man in America should read it to understand ‘the plight of their womenfolk’. He regularly corresponded with her and we have a number of those letters in our collection. It appears that both he and Edith became big fans of Mrs Hall/Obenchain who was also heavily involved in the Suffragist movement. The letters also provide a fascinating and historic record of Roosevelt’s personal beliefs and feelings on female empowerment. The Letter Reads: The Outlook 287 Fourth Avenue New York Office of Theodore Roosevelt June 20th, 1911 “My dear Miss Hall: I am touched by your sending me “To Love and To Cherish”. But then, I am one of those included in the dedication, for I well know and dearly love ” Aunt Jane of Kentucky”. Mrs. Roosevelt and I do not feel that the hero ought to have yielded to his wife’s feelings ! Ultimately it was doing an injustice to her and to his children, as well as to the State. It is a good thing to have a Governor’s wife a woman who can be as gracious a hostess, and of as fine a type, as Dolly Madison...