Raffles hotel
Singapore part 1
by Jilliana
Ranicar-Breese
Once upon a
time I saw an advertisement in the American
collectors paper called PAC. The advert was more
like a blog with the advertiser trying to find
out the value of the collection of hotel labels
he had inherited from his mother.
The value of the collection? I was probably at
the time one of the few collectors in the world.
The value of these wondrous works of art that
would be stuck on luggage to identify the
destination of the passenger. The best quality
were the examples by Richter of Naples. The
printer had the top clients such as the hotel
Raffles in Singapore.
I asked to see photocopies of part of the
collection.
This was the era before faxes but in any case it
was not for sale.
Enter Martin, my husband, to the rescue who owned
a mail order conjuring business mainly selling
his books to America! Plus, bien sur, he had a
dollar bank account. He advised me to make an
offer which was accepted and when the labels
arrived, they were dated mainly 1900-1920. They
were stuck down with a delicate stamp hinge so
there was no damage. That day, from being an
international Ephemera dealer, I became a hotel
label collector. They were so beautiful, I just
wanted to keep them all.
Amongst the prestigious hotels in the collection
were two labels from the Raffles hotel. I already
had one in a collection I had previously bought.
Anyhow I was not selling.
The average price in Paris was 10-15 old francs
so I was informed by a surprised French collector
at my stand in Portobello Road. I had repriced my
ordinary stock labels at 5 each and put each one
in a sachet. I explained we were in London and
not Paris and 5 was my price!
Needless to say the price was for the mundane
labels. Raffles had been moved to Retrograph
Archive and was not for sale!
Two things happened. The collector came back to
my flat to see the labels. He was in shock and
said he must come back from Paris the following
week with Mark, his French label colleague. I
arranged a room for their stay. The boys, as I
called them, were pleased with their purchase. I
ended up seeing both their separate collections
in Paris as I was now recognised as one of them .
Next a woman turned up on my stand. Sat down and
grabbed the hotel label box. She hurriedly
flicked through very professionally.
Do you have any labels from the Raffles hotel?
She asked.
Yes but not here or for sale. I have three but
only for hire . I replied confidently.
Are you by chance Jilliana?
My name and reputation had got as far as
Singapore.
Written
16/12/24 at Nightingale.
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