Lynnfield-Related Items on eBay, 3/4/12

Here are some of the latest items connected to Lynnfield that can currently be found for sale on eBay:

A Small Coffee, For Here: You know how in the past, people used to drink much smaller cups of coffee? Well this is clearly the case looking at how tiny the coffee tables used to be.  Ok, just kidding. Apparently back at the dawn of the 1950s, there was a company named Lynnfield selling miniature dollhouse furniture. According to the seller, the Lynnfield company eventually was renamed to Blockhouse and then to Sonia Messer.

Ballot Box: This is a unique Lynnfield related item even by this column’s standards. It appears to be a ballot box, possibly from the time when Kevin White was Massachusetts Secretary of State in the early 1960s, not long before he went on to be elected mayor of Boston. The ballot box also appears to be in several pieces and has “Lynnfield” scrawled on it.  The seller started off asking $150 for this piece of local history but seems to have knocked it down to $113. This thing is also in fairly rough shape. I’ve seen pictures of things taken off the ocean floor that seem to have less wear on them.

The Old Ship: The Dockside Pub was part of the former Ship restaurant on Route 1. The seller says that this matchbook dates back to the 1950s and apparently mentions John Zappala as the “Captain,” or manager.  The matchbook also shows the former restaurant with a two-masted logo. As noted back in September, the longtime Route 1 landmark is a replica of a 17th century brigantine ship.

The Kenny Home: Back in 1924, Lewis Kenny of Lynnfield apparently got his home featured in a magazine ad for the Higgin Screen Co. I’m not sure who Mr. Kenny was or why or how his home ended up featured by a screen company. That house also appears vaguely familiar but off the top of my head can not say for sure whether it still stands.

'70s Dog Tags: This is a rather weird and random item to be selling on eBay, unless there is a bunch of collectors out there under the radar. Basically, somebody is selling a set of Lynnfield dog tags from 1973 – and no, I’m not talking about the military dog tags that became household images around that time during the Vietnam War. These are apparently real dog licenses that somebody walked into town hall and picked up back in 1973 and proceeded to put on their dog, who would be nearly 300 in dog years by now.