Portobello Pete’s Posts

Collecting Cakes (Which Is the Fruitcake?)

Last November, a boxed remnant of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer’s 1981 wedding cake brought $1,375 at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills. Quite a bargain compared with the $50,000 paid at Everything Royal in Los Angeles for a piece of Queen Victoria’s wedding cake from 1840 – the fruitcake had totally disintegrated into powder.  Continue Reading »

Why QWERTY? (It’s not what you’ve been told)

Two reasons are usually given for the QWERTY layout of typewriter and computer keyboards. One claim is that the layout was deliberately chosen to slow down typists because early typewriter mechanisms jammed if the typing was too fast. The other common story is that the layout was designed to make it easy for salesmen to  Continue Reading »

Why Are They Called “Grandfather Clocks”?

Did you know that “grandfather clocks” are named after the song “My Grandfather’s Clock”. In the 19th century, floor-standing clocks were known as “longcase clocks” and were generally not very accurate. But one particular clock, in the George Hotel in Yorkshire, was exceptionally accurate. The hotel was owned by two Jenkins brothers. When one of  Continue Reading »

Baseball Card Sold for over $2 million

On April 5, 2013, Goldin Auctions in New Jersey set 30 record prices for baseball memorabilia including a Honus Wagner baseball card which sold for $US 2,105,770.50, the highest price ever paid for a baseball card at auction. Only 57 of the 1909-1911 T206 Honus Wagner cards are known and this one is thought to  Continue Reading »