Part of an ongoing look at items of local interest appearing on eBay.
A postcard of a baseball team at Comaplix postmarked August 12, 1909 sold recently for $113.50 US.
Comaplix was a sawmilling town on the Beaton Arm of Upper Arrow Lake that burned in 1914. What remained was inundated in the 1960s following construction of the High Arrow dam.
The message on the back, addressed to John Emmerson of Edmundston, New Brunswick, reads: “What do you know about this? Better run an excursion out here and give us a chance to clean up up. Why don’t you write. D.A.C.”
The auction attracted six bids, with a starting price of $75. The seller was in Port Perry, Ontario.
The Arrow Lakes Historical Society has a different picture of the same ball club from about the same time, which can be seen online at the Virtual Museum of Canada exhibit From the Bow of the Minto.
On the site, local historian Milton Parent writes that finding space for a diamond was the biggest obstacle for teams from both Arrowhead and Comaplix.
“Matched against teams from Nakusp and Revelstoke, Comaplix fared well winning their share of the contests, showing class in both ability and appearance,” he says.
• A small druggist’s bottle embossed “William Rutherford / Nelson B.C.” inexplicably drew 17 bids and sold for $223 US recently.
True, the light blue aqua bottle was in excellent condition and very attractive, but the last time a similar bottle popped up, in 2005, it went for $37.
The seller was in Grand Forks.
This story will appear in the February 23 edition of the West Kootenay Advertiser.
