The Council Room

[DavidAyars]

It's been awhile since I've checked eBay for Wyanoke memorabilia. You can see the currently listed items here:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=camp+wyanoke&_sacat=0&rt=nc

In the "they can ask whatever they want, but that doesn't mean it's worth what they're asking" department, I had to laugh out loud at four currently listed Wyanoke items and asking prices at the link above at this date. If the items I discuss below no longer appear there, maybe the sellers proved me wrong and actually got their price. You can scroll down and tick the Sold items checkbox on the left to see Wyanoke items that sold on eBay in the last few months. But if a listing below is MIA, it's more likely the seller took the offer down or repriced it. Anyway here are the ones that made me laugh today:

(All prices rounded to the nearest dollar)
Asking $40 plus $6 shipping for a 1942 Wyanoke Christmas Log. I'm a little suspicious as to how genuine and original this one is, because the seller shows a color cover (in wartime?? when camp was struggling to stay alive??? We never had a color-cover Christmas Log in the 1960s+ except for the blue mimeo ink. Plus the paper in this one is suspiciously white; I'd expect some yellowing.) The seller says it's original and not a repro, but color me skeptical until someone sets me straight. OTOH the type shown in the WHB intro letter is unmistakably that of the office typewriter Bea Stone used, so if it is a repro, it's a repro of the real thing (but still not worth much money).

Asking $100 plus $5 shipping for a copy of the Walter H. Bentley blue-covered book all councilors and JCs got copies of at precamp, "Brass Tacks for Councilors." I'm sure that one's genuine, but if that sells for a hundred bucks, we all missed out on a windfall.

Asking $230 plus $5 shipping for a "STERLING" dime-sized 1941 Sr. Archery Award medal. Too rich for your blood? Then how about:

Asking $100 plus $5 shipping for a "Sterling" dime-sized 1940 Jr. Archery Award medal. Clearly the Senior Camp prewar archery medals are more collectable{??).

Also of interest, maybe overpriced, maybe not, is an asking $80 plus $6 shipping 1932 camp catalog. Even with the art deco color cover, which if it's real certainly adds value, this one looks like the Real McCoy to me.

Fairly priced IMO and of interest, assuming they're genuine, are two different takes on the same mid-1910's photo of the Dining Hall, shot halfway to the Chapel and closest to the Director's table. I don't remember seeing this postcard look before now. One's an RPPC (Real Photo Post Card) black and white photo, asking $20 plus $3 shipping. The other is a colorized post card of the same shot, canceled (which means it could have camp content in the message area of the postcard, but camp postcards were also sold in Wolfeboro to visitors with no connection to camp). This seller is asking $4 plus $2 shipping. It was common for postcard makers to colorize B&W photos back then, so this one's likely genuine too. RPPCs are often of more value to postcard collectors than colorized postcards.

The other postcards shown today are more common and reasonably priced.
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Camper: J-8 1965 (Kevin Ryan), J-8 1966 (Mike Freeland), S-6 1967 (Russ Hatch), S-3 1968 (Jeremy Cripps), and JA-2 1969 (Dan Mannis).
JC: J-2 1970 (Bill Bettison) and J-3 1971 (Gene Comella). Councilor 1972, J-5 1973, and JA-1 1974 & 1975