Contemporary Collectibles by Linda Rosenkrantz

Even though they often have great graphics and sometimes the extra added attraction of a historic or celebrity connection, vintage sheet music remains one of the most accessible and affordable collectibles around. For $5 or $10 or even less (with some notable exceptions), you can find examples that are rich in nostalgia, conjuring up a communal, pre-tech era, when a pleasant evening's entertainment might consist of gathering a group of friends around a parlor piano for a songfest.

There is such a diversity of material readily available in shops and flea markets that concentration on a single specialty is strongly advised. A few of the more popular areas include music of black interest (much crossover demand by collectors of black memorabilia), ragtime and blues, movie and Broadway musicals (with photos of stars), cartoon images, Prohibition songs, transportation — particularly railroad, ships and aviation songs — sports-related themes, and work and union songs.

Here are a few other ideas:

POLITICAL SONGS: Campaign and other political songs form an interesting historical subcategory, as almost from the beginning, just about every presidential candidate — winners and losers alike — had a campaign song. Some specific examples: "Man of the Hour" (William Howard Taft), "Happy Days are Here Again" and "March in With Roosevelt" (FDR), "I'm Just Wild About Harry" (Truman) and "I Like Ike" (Eisenhower).

DISNEY: "Some Day My Prince Will Come," "When You Wish Upon a Star," "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" ... it's amazing how many pop classics originated in the animated films produced by the Mouse Factory. The first to be released in sheet music form was the original Mickey Mouse theme song, "Mickey's Yoo Hoo" in 1930, but the first Disney song to really sweep the country was "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" from the Silly Symphony cartoon "Three Little Pigs," which became so popular, it became the unofficial national anthem of the Depression.

WARTIME: Military items date back to the Civil War, with songs like "When Johnny Comes Marching Home." Patriotic fervor produced a barrage of chauvinistic popular songs during World War I, including several versions of "Over There," one of which was illustrated by Norman Rockwell, and other ditties such as "The Army's Full of Irish," Irving Berlin's "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning," "I Didn't Raise My Boy to be a Soldier" and "When the Kaiser Does the Goose Step." Things got a little more serious during the Second World War (with the exception of "Der Fuhrer's Face"), with "Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer," "Johnny Zero" and "Victory Polka."

FAMOUS ARTISTS: The Golden Age of illustrated sheet music covers dates from about 1885 to 1952.

Some of the most accomplished American fine and commercial artists have applied their talents to the covers of sheet music, from the lithographs of Nathaniel Currier to the paintings of James McNeill Whistler to the drawings of James Montgomery Flagg, Harrison Fisher, Palmer Cox, Grace Drayton and the aforementioned Norman Rockwell to the pin-up girls of Albert Varga.

COMPOSERS AND SINGERS: Among the most popular songsmiths to collect: John Philip Sousa, Victor Herbert, Scott Joplin, George M. Cohan, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Rogers & Hart, and Rogers & Hammerstein. Crooners and canaries whose cover photos are particularly in demand: Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Shirley Temple, Doris Day, and of course, Elvis and — at the end of the timeline — the Beatles.

Or you might just go for pure camp, as in "I'm in Love With a Mystic Shriner," "Your Lips are No Man's Land But Mine" or "Keep Away from Fellows Who Own Automobiles."

One caveat: Sheet music should not be stacked, as inks tend to bleed; ideally, acid-proof paper should be placed in between.

Linda Rosenkrantz has edited Auction magazine and authored 18 books, most recently "Beyond Ava & Aidan: The Enlightened Guide to Naming your Baby" (St. Martin's Press). Visit her baby names website at http://nameberry.com. She cannot answer letters personally. To find out more about Linda Rosenkrantz and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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