There is a sucker born every minute. Evidence? The poor joes who fell for these recent ebay auctions.
The bloody clock sold for $550
The breadmaker/icepick/cup sold for $500
The jury photo sold for a whopping $1600
WOW!
Don’t Waste Your Money
...now browsing by category
Update on Lizzie Borden Auction Items
Friday, December 5th, 2008
Lizzie Borden Owned Items for Sale?
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008A few new auction items caught my eye today. They are being sold on eBay as a LiveAuction, which means you have to register for the sales through the auction house that is selling the items.
There is one really cool item and the rest are without provenance, and therefore probably hooey.
Up for your consideration:
1. The Bloody Clock. This item appeared for sale many years ago with the bold assertion that this ceramic timepiece was on the Borden mantle at 92 Second Street on that fateful day in August of 1892. The red stuff on the clock is the blood of Andrew Borden that spattered there as he was murdered. If you believe this, please, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
Lizzie Borden: A Mantle Clock Purportedly from the Murder Room, with Red Spatters Said to be the Blood of the Victims. By oral tradition this clock was obtained from the Fall River Police Department many years ago. A label on the inside, which would appear to date from c. 1930-1950, carries the handwritten notation: “Clock from the famous Lizzie Borden estate after the trial in 1892. The blood spots never left.” To the consignor’s knowledge, the blood deposits have never been analyzed in a laboratory.
The clock itself is a hollow, glazed ceramic piece, height 13.5″, with no maker’s markings. However, the style appears consistent with that era. The sketchy provenance requires a bit of a leap of faith, but if it can be matched to a crime scene photo, or if a laboratory analysis confirms the blood spatter, the purchaser may claim a real coup!
Starting bid: $500
2. Lizzie’s Kitchen Stuff. This lot has also been up for sale previously. They state the items were from Maplecroft, Lizzie’s home on the hill. However, there is zero provenance on these pieces, and instead, some sort of surety that you can trust they are what they say they are. Buyer beware!
Lizzie Borden: Three Items Owned by Borden or her Family.
(1) A bucket-sized brass or copper dough maker which was found in Lizzie Borden’s home, Maplecroft, where she resided from 1893 through 1927.
(2) An ice pick found in the home during its 1995 renovation.
(3) A silver plated child’s cup engraved with the name “Emma.” Emma was Lizzie’s elder sister who lived with her from 1893 through 1905.All three items were displayed in the now-closed Lizzie Borden Museum in her former home, and come with signed certificates of authenticity from George E. Quigley, president of the International Lizzie Borden Association and a former curator of the museum.
Starting bid: $500
3. The Jury. Now here we have something of true value and importance. A very large glass plate photograph of the Borden Jury! Very cool!
Lizzie Borden’s Jury of 1893: Mammoth Plate Photograph, image measures 16.50″ x 11.75″, in a period gilt frame 26.75″ x 22.50″. Lizzie Borden’s jurors posed in this photograph, taken by O’Neil, New Bedford (Ma.) bottom right lower corner. These are the twelve jurors that were chosen of the 145 polled. They tried and acquitted her for the axe murders of her farther and step-mother in 1892 in Fall River, Massachusetts. Although Lizzie Borden was acquitted, she was widely believed to be guilty; no one else was ever arrested or tried for the murders. Borden died in 1927. These huge photos were reportedly distributed to the jurors and key trial participants, and of course, are quite rare. But the image itself is an iconic one, reproduced in many printed accounts of this bizarre affair.
Starting bid: $600
Watercolor of Lizzie Borden for Sale
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008Well . . . that got your attention, didn’t it? It got mine! When I went to the auction site, I found, to my dismay, that this image is not Lizzie Borden at all. At least not the Fall River woman who this blog is named for. Not the accused hatchet murderess. Not this lady. Not in a million years.
So sorry Smith Auction Gallery in Providence, RI. Nice try. Better luck next time!
Lizzie Borden Soil
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008You can now own genuine sand from the Lizzie Borden B&B, or so they say, in addition to practically any other place you can think of, all preserved in a keychain or magnet.
FootWhere Link. Wholesale only.
Haunted Lizzie Borden Purse Appears Again
Saturday, October 6th, 2007
It didn’t sell on eBay the first time because people saw it for what it was. Now it is for sale again. And the seller really wants to get rid of it, they say, but hasn’t lowered the price of $350. Alas.
You too can have bad luck if you buy this purse. And not from any curse on the purse, but by the reduction of your bank account for purchasing it!
Freaky things happen with this purse….Must Sell!!! Please!!!!!!!!!!!!
As told to me by my mother, this purse was given to my great grandmother by Lizzie Borden.
My great grandmother immigrated from Italy via New York. Her journey to Boston/Maine led her to Fall River/New Bedford area, where she worked for Lizzie Borden doing laundry and sewing for a few weeks. Upon her departure Lizzie Borden gave my great grandmother this purse which has been handed down from generations.
Inside this purse were 2 coins : a silver dollar dated 1890 and a one cent penny dated 1853.
The purse is in immaculate condition as well as the coins. Black sequence with (I believe )is a silver base.
The problem with this beautiful purse is that when it is taken out of storage, strange things happen to the people and those around them that have handled it. We have had strange sensations of being watched, touched, strange sounds, shadowy figures as well as weird feelings, especially when alone. Circumstances seem to occur- that things even break.
We just no longer want this in our house. The purse itself is of real antique value, but the paranormal activities makes this purse more interesting in value.
Lizzie Portrait for Sale?
Monday, January 1st, 2007
On eBay right now is a framed image of a woman for sale: Vintage Oval Convex Curved Bubble Glass Picture Frame.
Seems the interest was not going as well as the seller wanted so they added this note on December 29th: “Could this photo be of Lizzie Borden? I did a Google search and the similarity is amazing! Look on Google for yourself and decide.”
13 bids so far. Hmmm. Namedropping Lizzie Borden on eBay seems to have its advantages.
Is it Lizzie? Nope. But then the seller doesn’t say it is, do they?
New Porter Reprint (pricey!)
Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
I found this somewhat new publication: a 2006 reprint of Porter’s Fall River Tragedy, by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. It is overpriced at $95, but I really like the cover!
Porter, Edwin, H. The Fall River Tragedy. A History of The Borden Murders. 1584775467.
2006 ISBN 1584775467 Porter, Edwin, H., Reporter. The Fall River Tragedy: A History of The Borden Murders. A Plain Statement of the Material Facts Pertaining to the Most Famous Crime of the Century, Including the Story of the Arrest and Preliminary Trial of Miss Lizzie A. Borden and a Full Report of the Superior Court Trial, with a Hitherto Unpublished Account of the Renowned Trickey-McHenry Affair Compiled from Official Sources and Profusely Illustrated with Original Engravings. Fall River: J.D. Munroe, 1893. 312 pp. Illustrated. Reprinted 2006 by the Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN-13: 978-1-58477-546-1. ISBN-10: 1-58477-546-7.
Cloth. * Compiled nearly contemporaneously with Lizzie’s sensational trial, the author aims to provide “a connected story of the whole case, commencing with the day of the tragedy and ending with the day that Miss Borden was set free.” He touches on such topics as the discovery of the murders, the adjournment of the preliminary hearing and some the many theories that were advanced before any arrests were made. The book is handsomely illustrated with photos and line illustrations of the deceased, the accused the jury and others. Porter was the Police Reporter of the Fall River Globe.
Lizzie in the Library
Monday, July 10th, 2006This auction is for a book that is quite interesting but if you wish to read it I would suggest that you Interlibrary loan it for free. It really isn’t a book to buy at a premium as it is a very short reference work that is only 18 pages long. Starting bid is $49.95 and BuyItNow is $99.95.
LIZZIE BORDEN AND THE LIBRARY CONNECTION. RARE
LIZZIE BORDEN AND THE LIBRARY CONNECTION by John David Marshall. 18 page softcover book. Published by the School of Library and Information Studies, Florida State University. Frontis of Lizzie Borden. 18 pages.
INSCRIBED TO KENNETH SOUZA AND SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR ON THE TITLE PAGE
A very rare Lizzie borden item, the theme of this is Lizzie’s connection with three librarians, a judge and, of course, her connection with books
Lizzie’s Houseplans?
Saturday, June 24th, 2006Says the auction title: Lizzy Borden Mansion. Orig. Blueprints. One of a Kind. Only $3000! Not an auspicious start to a very expensive offering when they get the spelling of the main character’s name wrong! Lots of errors in the listing too. See if you can spot them.
Up for auction is a piece of American History and perhaps the end to a 100 year old mystery?
The images in this auction are photos of a one of a kind set of blueprints that Lizzy Borden requested of a prominent architectual firm for the design of a victorian mansion that she wanted to have built for her and her sister. There are eight blueprints to this set. They were designed by the very fashionable architectual firm of ANGELL and SWIFT Architects of Providence, Rhode Island. The design depicts a very elaborate (even for victorian times) mansion that Lizzy Borden wanted built with her fathers money. These are authentic documents and gauranteed to be the only set in existence. The title block says: “Plans for the Residence of Misses Borden Fall River, Mass. Angell and Swift Architects, Providence, R.I..”
The real intrigue here is that this design was contracted before the murder of her parents. Had they been available for admission as evidence in her court trial, she might not have been acquitted. How do I know this? These blueprints were given to me by a friend of my mother. His Grandfather was a contracter in Fall River, Mass.. and was asked to quote on this design. The story that goes with these documents is that when Lizzy Borden approached her father with the plans he absolutely refused her the money. He had a reputation as playing his bank account very close to his vest.
We cannot specifically identify the exact date that these documents were drawn up (as they are not dated), but the contractor who originally handled them for quote claims they were before the parents were murdered. According to the many books written about this sensational trial, when it was over Lizzy had paid off so many Lawyers and judges (and jury members) that she had little money left to build such a grand home. She settled for something much more modest in the area.
These documents have been examined by Sotheby’s and the Lizzy Borden Museum in Fall River, Mass.. They are claimed to be authentic. Sotheby’s quoted a verbal auction estimate of $5-6,000 dollars. ANGELL and SWIFT Architects designed some of the most prominent homes on the East Side of Providence and can be gooogled on the internet.
There are eight 19″ x 26″ blueprints in this set. I only photographed seven. The missing one is the Second Story Plan. This is a tremendous collectors opportunity. Think about it; had these documents been admitted as evidence for motive would you acquit her?
Final note: On the tombstone of the Borden family housekeeper it reads: “Secrets Never Known”.
Balderdash. Lizzie never paid off jurors or judges. Lizzie’s housekeeper (unnamed here) did not have this written on her tombstone.
And since there is NO DATE on these drawings, how are we to know “that this design was contracted before the murder of her parents”? Plus, if the seller had these appraised through Sotheby’s, then why are they not handling this auction? And last, but not least, Borden was a common name in the Fall River area. Don’t you think that these might have been made up for someone else?
No true provenance, no true date, no true connection, facts wrong in the auction listing, incorrect understanding of the case. All this adds up to trouble. Stay away!
Not Lizzie Borden
Friday, June 23rd, 2006
It all started with a stolen sign. On March 17th, 2006, a seller on eBay, one leejeansct (powerseller) put up for sale one Lizzie Borden B&B metal street sign. From their auction ad:
Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum Mass Metal Sign. There really is a bed & Breakfast with Museum, located in Fall River, Massachusettes – in the restored Victorian home of Lizzie and her parents Andrew and Abby – site of the famous 1892 hatchet murders. Guilty or not guilty? Hmmm. Sign measures 12″ by 18″. Sign has a picture of Lizzie and part of a hatchet. Has 2 holes in the center to mount it. Blank white back. Great conversation piece. Get this one and make your parents nervous.
I contacted the current owner of the B&B inquiring about the provenance of this object and whether she had others for sale. She told me that as far as she knew, the sign was one of eight that were made, and three that were stolen off of Columbia Street, back when the city of Fall River put up directional makers to 92 Second Street. The seller said they got it from a flea market. The sign was sold to capecollector (also a PowerSeller on eBay) for $93.
Then a photo, supposedly of Lizzie Borden, appeared. What do these two things have in common, you might ask? Well, the person running around town trying to sell the photo was none other than capecollector, one Dan Dunn of Dan Dunn Collectibles. According to his AboutMe page on eBay, following graduation from college, Dan spent two years working for Leland’s Auction House in NYC.
Dan offered the image to the owner of the B&B but wasn’t happy with the price offered and so went along his way, attempting to get some Borden person to authenticate the image as Lizzie. As far as I know, the Fall River Historical Society did not offer him their blessing, nor did several other experts on the case. Some were unsure, and said so, but none were willing to say that this was definitely her.
Recently, the image appeared on Leland’s auction site online, with a description stating unequivocally that it is an image of Lizzie Borden. Here is that description:
Lot 1026. Newly Discovered Lizzie Borden Photograph. Lizzie Borden took an axe. Gave her mother 40 whacks. When she saw what she had done she gave her father 41. This recent find is an image that was not known to have existed until 2005. It’s a cabinet photo taken around the turn of the century that shows Borden standing in a studio by a small table. On the table are a basket and a book. Her right hand sits atop the book while her left hand grips another book. Image was taken in the Robinson photo studio in New York and marked on the mount at the bottom. Lizzie was quite wealthy and known to travel to NYC quite a bit. This photo is one of only a handful known to exist of her. It is one of only two to show the large, masculine hands that gripped the axe that allegedly felled and massacred her father and stepmother. Looking at her it is not difficult to picture her doing the deed. . . . Photo is EX-MT while mount is VG.
This woman is not Lizzie Borden. The ears, lips, chin, and eyes are different from any of the known images we have of her.
When tying to confirm whether an image is someone, the most telling feature is the ear. According to a paper “Shape Model-Based 3D Ear Detection from Side Face Range Images”, authors Hui Chen and Bir Bhanu (University of California, Riverside) assert that the human ear is an important recognition biometric because “it is a stable structure which does not change with age; it doesn’t change its shape with facial expressions, cosmetics and hair styles.” (Study, PDF)
Elementary, my dear Watson. Simple examination shows without doubt that this “new” photo is someone other than Lizzie Borden. The ears never lie!
So back to the sign. This same Dan Dunn who bought the sign for $93 on eBay in March, turned around in May to offer it up for sale on eBay, this time with a BuyItNow price of $200. It isn’t a timed auction, so it looks like the seller has it up for sale until someone purchases it. His description:
ITEM DESCRIPTION: Authentic USED Fall River street sign from in front of the Bed and Breakfast made famous by the August 1892 Axe Murder that is still unsolved. Sign was used in front of he building for years then replaced. It is heavy guarge metal and measures 12 x 18 inches. Light wear. Definite use!! Shipping $12.
Unfortunately, this ad is misleading. According to the current owner of the B&B, the sign did not come from the front of the B&B, although that hatchet arrow pointing up might make you believe it did. The seller has no proof that it was used and then replaced.
And the beat goes on.
Gay’s Studio Photo — Lizzie?
Friday, June 16th, 2006
BACKSTORY: In the January 1998 edition of The Lizzie Borden Quarterly there was a story titled “Lizzie Yes, Lizzie No,” which debated the question as to whether the woman in the group shot was Lizzie Borden. The image was thought to have been taken by the Gay Studios of Fall River (date unknown), and was then on sale by the photo’s owners through the auction house Swann Galleries. The owner had the image posted on the web stating “Gay’s Studio was the most important photographic studio in Fall River in the late 19th century. The quality of the image does not come through when reproduced here. When viewed in person, it becomes immediately apparent that the photo is indeed Lizzie Borden.”
Seances give doorprizes?
Thursday, June 15th, 2006
Odd sales item. The auction title says it is A Visit with Lizzie Borden Evidence Bag. And it is rare. I’m intrigued. What could this mean? Oh, it says that it was a giveaway at a seance at the Lizzie Borden B&B. They give prizes at seances? What for? The most blood-curdling scream? The first one who sees the ghost of Abby? The person who can correctly guess who is making the most money off of this seance? At $15 and $5 shipping, I think the person selling this bag is the one who is trying to make the killing.
