More Stuff
Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Sun 12 Feb 2012 23:37
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More Bits in the Lightner
Collection
Otto Curtis
Lightner: Newspaper editor and publisher, collector of the Victorian Era.
Otto began his career as a typesetter at newspapers and soon discovered that he
had a talent for rescuing newspapers that were in financial distress, turning
them into profitable operations and in the process made himself a very wealthy
man. During the Great Depression he remained financially well off as the owner
and publisher of "Hobbies," one of the first antiques and collectibles magazines
in the world. He is remembered for saying, "Even with no money, everyone could
collect something," and is known for saying "Everyone should have a hobby.
Everyone should collect something". Always a
great collector he began buying other peoples' collections, especially those who
had to sell to realise some capital. He started buying large homes and estates
in the Chicago area to house his growing collections.
In the 1940’s, he moved to Saint
Augustine, to recover from an illness and stayed in the Ponce de Leon Hotel,
across from the then defunct Alcazar Hotel, which had closed during the Great
Depression. He purchased the Alcazar Hotel in 1947 and filled the hotel with his
treasures, opening it to the public as a museum. It became known as the
"Smithsonian of the South". Upon his death, he requested to be buried in the
courtyard of his hotel.
He is remembered as "America's King of
Hobbies” and is buried in front of his now popular collection.
Napoleon on a lamp. Malachite urn and pedestal from the palace of a Russian
Czar, circa 1830. A gorgeous window
downstairs.
Never would we have expected to be face to
face with Rota; this African lion was presented by
the Zoological Society of London to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, KG, OM,
CH, TD, PC, DL, FRS, Hon RA, MP in 1943 as a war mascot and to commemorate the
magnificent victories in North Africa. He was the first person to be made an
Honorary Citizen of the United States.
Late
19th century German porcelain: Lidded Urn by Carl
Thieme, Potschappel, Saxony. Candlelabra by Royal
Porcelain Manufactory, Meissen, Saxony. Lidded Urn by
Schierholtz, Plaue, Thuringia
Some Tiffany
Four Arabian Horsemen in bronze by the Frenchman Eugene A. Lanceray (worked in Russia) dated 1884. Rocker, carved and gilded wood, English Regency from the 19th century.
The toaster
collection of Leonard H. Baer, given by his wife Doris and family. Bear with Francis I King of France and a full sized Bear
ALL IN ALL QUITE A
COLLECTION
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