Christie's Punks Out

The New York Times has a little fun with the Punk memorabilia sale at Christie’s:

Mr. Alexander, 47, groused that the New York Dolls were under-represented. Still, he said, sounding a bit surprised: “Punk has finally made it into acceptability. It’s just as important as Elvis and the Beatles.”

(Sober reality after the jump.)

Maybe not:

Only two dozen or so people turned up for the sale on Monday, about four of them in suits. Even with the addition of Internet and phone sales, bidding was not fierce, and few lots sold for more than their estimate; many sold for less. A collection of Velvet Underground postcards, fliers and a psychedelic handbill from the Canadian club Retinal Circus, estimated at $400 to $600, sold for $100. A set of three photos of Mr. Reed went for just $50; same with a yellow flier for a 1973 Los Angeles show billed as a “Punk Rock Invasion.”

Among the top items was an autographed cheesecake poster of Debbie Harry, the Blondie singer, inscribed with the lyrics to “One Way or Another.” Its high estimate was $1,500, but it sold for $7,000. A group of Sex Pistols posters — including “Anarchy in the U.K.,” “God Save the Queen” and “Pretty Vacant” — also sold for that amount. But the “God Save the Queen” T-shirt fetched only $300.

By contrast, a sale of more traditional rock mementos later in the afternoon was more successful: three Jimi Hendrix tapes and handwritten notes that became the basis for the album “Electric Ladyland” sold for $38,000. Even the stuff that an eBay hound could probably uncover, like a collection of vintage concert T-shirts, many of them stained, for the likes of Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles, went above estimate, $2,800 instead of $2,000.

On the Block: Anarchy and Nostalgia (The New York Times)