Sometimes a hat is just a hat. Sometimes it is a black fedora worn by Michael Jackson at the dizzying height of his popularity. And it could very well fetch over $3,500 next weekend at John McInnis Auctioneers in Amesbury.
“He used this hat during the ‘Victory’ tour,” McInnis gallery director Dan Meader said. “It is a black wool fedora and it was made expressly for Michael Jackson.”
Worn by the self-described King of Pop in 1984 and thrown into the audience where a fan’s uncle snagged it (and held onto it for 32 years), the hat is a custom-made 71/8-inch fedora by Maddest Hatter of Los Angeles and is accompanied by a signed letter describing how the uncle came into its possession after winning a radio contest.
“This is what he would use when he was on tour,” Meader said. “And we didn’t clean it or anything. You will find that there is a little bit of staining here and there.”
The fedora will be among a number of Jackson-related memorabilia up for bid during a three-session Memorial Day weekend auction beginning Saturday. Also up for bid are a collection of five painted latex masks used in the production of the ground-breaking 1983 music video for “Thriller.”
“That was a huge thing and broke all of the records,” Meader said. “Everyone turned into zombies during one portion of that and we have five of the original masks for the different characters that were in the video. They are from the special effects department. They are deteriorating now, but they are there. With the names of the people in the cast and what they were for, the whole thing.”
One of the masks was worn by Jackson himself during his transformation into a werewolf. The collection will start bidding at $150 with the potential to surpass $500.
A simple pair of Jackson-related (non-sequined) white gloves used for a unique purpose could also go for up to $500 next weekend.
“He sent these out to invite people to the Thriller party at the American Museum of Natural History in New York on Feb. 7, 1984,” Meader said.
The Jackson memorabilia will be on display throughout the holiday weekend, which will kick off Saturday with a collection of vintage clocks, pocket watches and timepieces including French, English and American examples as well as a collection of model steam engines.
Sunday will see the weekend’s second session, which will feature Continental items and decorative accessories, bronzes, jewelry, paintings, porcelain and silver as well as an Asian collection and a framed 15th-century watercolor and gouache on vellum painting titled “The Ascension” that was once owned by the first curator of the Frick Museum, James Howard Bridge. That is estimated to hammer for between $4,000 to $6,000.
Memorial Day itself will feature an Americana theme and is when the Jackson pieces will be up for auction. Also to be auctioned is a straw fedora worn by the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir.
SOURCE: Newbury Port News
