Rare Contract Signed by Jim Morrison of The Doors

Photo by Frank Lisciandro

An extremely rare contract signed by Jim Morrison of The Doors has become available for sale through The Rare Collections on the 69th anniversary of Morrison's birth. The piece is the only known 1968 contract regarding the editing of the film “Feast of Friends.”

Released March 13, 1970, this tour documentary was edited from more than 20 hours of performance and backstage footage from The Doors 1968 North American tour. Directed by Paul Ferrara, edited by Frank Lisciandro with sound recording by Babe Hill, the cast includes Jim Morrison, John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek and Pastor Fred L. Stegmeyer. Actor Harrison Ford, a friend of Ferrara, worked as grip for the crew for one or two days. In March 1969, the production was halted and what had already been filmed and edited was released as "Feast of Friends."

The Spirit of Giving at The Auction House in Canton, Texas

Auctioneer Kevin Sherrard and wife Stacy

Over the years, my husband and I have attended hundreds of auctions looking for rare and unique items. We've seen everything on the auction block from valuable artwork to vintage toys, and household junk. And each Friday at 5:30pm, The Auction House in Canton puts some thousands of these types of items up for bid. But we've never seen anything as special as what we witnessed at The Auction House in Canton, Texas last Friday.


Up on the block was a 1942 Beretta  Rifle with Bayonet. This beautiful piece of history had the firing mechanism removed, but was otherwise original and could easily be restored to a firing weapon or admired as a wall hanger.  Auctioneer Kevin Sherrard announced, "This is going for our little 14-year-old waitress Jaycie Cassidy who has been in Children's Hospital for 27 days. Expenses are mounting for her family, so we are going to be auctioning several donated items over the next few weeks to help them out. All the proceeds from these sales will go to the family, 100%, so let's go, right here, right here."

Digging up History

While looking for antiques and collectibles at Canton First Monday Trade Days in East Texas, we came across a historian we had met before at Buchannan's Market in Lewisville held each third weekend (next show is Oct 20-21, 2012). Scott Freeland, author of "They Too Were Americans: The German-American Bund in Words, Photos and Artifacts,"  is a very knowledgeable historian with a vast collection of Militaria, Toys and more. His collection spans earliest civilizations to post-modern era artifacts. 

Among the most modern, an original 1962 Little League uniform. His specialty being Bund History, WWII weaponry is largely represented in his collection. But for me, perhaps the most interesting is his early civilization artifacts, including ancient celtic bronze ring money dated 7th Century B.C.

Fall Photo Micro Session at Hawkins Oil Festival Oct 13

Two Moons Productions, producers of The Rare Collections magazine, will be hosting a micro photo session for individuals and families in their booth (W7) at the Hawkins Texas Oil Festival October 13th 2012. The event theme is "A Fall Walk in the Park" and the photo session will feature a fall backdrop where families or individuals will be able to have professional photographs taken for a very affordable sitting fee of $25 which includes a re-touched and finished 8 x 10 photo. Additional photographs may also be purchased for an additional fee.

Lone Ranger Frontier Town circa 1948

 In my day of eating lots of cereal, Lucky Charms was my personal favorite, I would get excited about toys found inside the box. I also loved it when the box itself could transform into a mask or some other cardboard cut out toy. But I never had a long-term relationship with my cereal box toys. Now I wish I had. Long before my childhood, advertisers centered these toys around loveable characters from daily radio programs and it made for a powerful interactive experience, long before the internet.

Rare Finds at Canton Trade Days

Most everyone in Northeast Texas knows about Canton Trade Days, the event that boasts itself as the "World's Largest Flea Market." Lately the reviews have been mixed about what types of items you can find at Canton. It seems more people are finding craft items than collectibles. So this month, The Rare Collections decided to scour the vendor booths in search of some truly rare finds.

Barrett-Jackson's 'World's Greatest Collector Car Auction' at Mandalay

Las Vegas Sun

Las Vegas Sun - ‎17 hours ago‎

Tens of thousands of visitors and car enthusiasts from around the world start invading today for the start of the prestigious fifth-annual Las Vegas Collector Car Auction. Barrett-Jackson bills it as “the World's Greatest Collector Car Auction,” and in ...

Chamber seeks vendors for collectibles show

Chamber seeks vendors for collectibles show

CROWN POINT | The Crossroads Regional Chamber of Commerce Merrillville and Northwest Indiana. is seeking vendors for its  Fall Antique and Collectibles Show, which will be Nov. 3 and 4 at the Industrial Arts Building at the Lake County Fairgrounds, 889 S. Court St.

Simpson Adds Finest Known 1943-S Bronze Cent, PCGS MS62BN, To Finest Off-Metal Collection

Simpson Adds Finest Known 1943-S Bronze Cent, PCGS MS62BN, To Finest Off-Metal Collection

Well-known collector Bob R. Simpson, co-chairman of the Texas Rangers baseball club, has paid $1 million for the finest known 1943-S bronze cent in a transaction arranged by Legend Numismatics of Lincroft, New Jersey. It was successfully acquired by Legend after "determined negotiations" with an East Coast dealer representing the seller who is described only as "a long-time collector," according to Legend President Laura Sperber.

Photographer/Author/Filmmaker Frank Lisciandro joins The Rare Collections

Frank Lisciandro, noted photographer, author and filmmaker is the latest artist to select The Rare Collections to help represent his 1960’s Rock and Roll themed Fine Art Photography to collectors in the United States and Worldwide. 

45th Anniversay of Monterey Pops Celebrates with the opening of The Monterey Rock and Roll Experience

The Monterey Rock and Roll Experience Gallery celebrates the grand opening on the 45th anniversary of the Monterey Pops Festival, June 16th 2012 at 380 Alvarado St. Monterey, CA 93940 with select exhibitors and notable guests legendary rock photographer Ron Raffaelli and Fine Artist Randy Chavez.

Authentic Native American Art becomes a part of The Rare Collections

Authentic Native American art including pottery, paintings, kachina dolls, baskets, rugs, sculpture and fetishes from Hopi, Zuni and Navajo artists join The Rare Collections. Many of the Native American art pieces are from a collector who owned a gallery in Dallas and traveled extensively to Native American communities of Lower Moenkopi near Tuba City.

Dick Clark dies April 18, 2012 at the age of 82

This is truly the end of an era. Dick Clark died the morning of April 18, 2012 from a heart attack at the age of 82. This pop culture icon was instrumental in so many artist's careers and brought Rock and Roll into the American mainstream. He will be sorely missed.

Rare Elvis Presley Acetate Recordings from his Hollywood movies have been discovered by The Rare Collections

Rare Elvis Presley Acetate Recordings from his Hollywood movies have been discovered by The Rare Collections. The collection features movie studio recordings of songs from the Elvis Presley movies; Follow That Dream (1962), Kid Galahad (1962), Flaming Star (1960) and Love Me Tender (1956). The recordings were discovered in a private collection in Orange County, California and are available for sale through The Rare Collections.

Letter written by Jim Morrison of The Doors to Dave Marsh of Creem Magazine during the recording of LA Woman

The Rare Collections recently uncovered a letter from Jim Morrison written to Dave Marsh of Creem Magazine in a private collection of memorabilia in Los Angeles, California. In the letter Morrison writes about his time in LA, making films and making music with The Doors. It stops without close or signature, so the five-page letter could have been a bit longer, but these pages are as they were discovered in the collection. 

The Rare Collections adds Authentic Militaria to their collection.

The new Militaria collection starts with a dozen unique bayonets from a private collector. The bayonets from the French, German, British, US and Japanese military date as early as 1871 and as recent as World War II.  The addition continues the recent expansion from primarily music memorabilia to other areas of pop culture.

The Rare Collections adds Authentic Sports Memorabilia

The new sports memorabilia collection comes from a private collector who purchased the items over many years and is downsizing and ready to part with the majority of his collection. The collection boasts autographed baseball bats, hockey sticks, autographed photos, artwork, figurines and more than a dozen authentic jerseys in excellent condition. 

2012 is The Year of The Doors

The year-long celebration of the iconic 1960's rock band, The Doors kicks off with a release of a new, never-before released track from the LA Woman Sessions titled "She Smells So Nice." The track will premier on the band's Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/thedoors) January 9th and on various radio stations the next day.