Thursday

eBayers: Maybe You Should Read This Book...

With only eight hours to go, a recent auction of the Kaloma print on eBay stood at less that $100 with 15 bids. The honest seller remarked that the print was "rumored to be Wyatt Earp's wife." But for some reason another eBayer wrote in with this message:
"No rumor. That's Josie."

For a slightly different take on the matter, see the Old West blog.
The author has this to say: "Most people will tell you that the picture shown here is that of Wyatt Earp's wife Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp. Why is it that we believe this? Well it all started with a lie and has grown to the point that the movies Tombstone and Wyatt Earp virtually made it a fact."

Saturday

Paging P.T. Barnum! More Evidence for You, Sir!

Maine Antique Digest reports on a recent sale by Classique Erotique Auctions, Phoenix, Arizona: "A great deal of interest was shown in a 20th-century American school 1914 vintage hand-tinted silver print titled Kaloma, sometimes believed to depict Wyatt Earp's wife. The 12" x 5" print, blind-stamped in the lower margin "Copyright 1914 - P.N. CO. Pastime Novelty Co.," sold for $3300, (est. $2500/ 3500).

'There always has been a lot of hype surrounding this image," gallery director Amanda Collins said, "but it pretty much has been proven that she is not Wyatt Earp's wife. Nonetheless, there was great interest in it.'"

As this is written an eBay auction of the same print has 15 bids for the same print, with the high bid at $115.