316
●
(FRATERNAL.) KNIGHTS OF
PYTHIAS.
The Uniform Rank,
Knights of Pythias North America,
South America, Europe, Asia, Africa
and Australia, Organize Now!
Large
photolithographic poster 23 x 17
1
⁄
2
inches,
with bold title in red.
Chicago, circa 1918
[600/900]
An elaborate poster for this fraternal organiza-
tion. Denying membership to a black lodge
caused a group of African Americans to form
The Knights of Pythias North America, South
America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia in
1869. By 1897 the KPNSAEAA had
40,000 members, with Grand Lodges in
twenty states and other lodges in the West
Indies and Central America. They distributed
$60,000 worth of benefits annually and had a
woman’s auxiliary and uniformed rank. So
much for segregation. The first time we’ve seen
this poster.
316
317
●
(FRATERNAL.) SORORAL DAUGHTERS OF RUTH.
Ledger for the
Leominster Massachusetts lodge of the Household of Ruth number 5. *
[together with] 10 programs from anniversary events.
85 pages. Tall 4to, original
ledger style
1
/
4
red cloth and black cloth covered boards; rubbed, but firm.
Leominster, MA, 1925-1934
[400/600]
318
●
(GAMBLING.) “NUMBERS”
The Cuban B.O. Dream Book by Prof.
Konje * Aunt Sally’s Policy Players Dream Book * The Magical, Spiritual
Dream Book. . . By Madame Futtam.
Three volumes, small 8vo, all in their original
covers, the first title lacking the rear cover; the last title with old cello-tape at the spine;
overall, in very good condition given that these volumes were printed on cheap pulp
paper, and were never intended to last very long.
[New York, 1935-1940’s
[500/700]
Three “Dream-Books,” were very popular in the black community for generations, they were
guides to help one guess the winning “number” in the vast illegal lottery called the “policy
racket,” “Italian lottery,” and “n****r pool.” These books would interpret your dreams in
terms of numbers: A dream of a cat might mean the number 13, and so on. Two of these books
are quite scarce. That of Mme Futtam, a fortune teller and candle shop owner, is not located by
OCLC. The author of the Cuban B.O. book, Professor Uriah Konje (pseudo. Of Herbert
Gladstone Parris) wrote a number of these books, from the 1920’s through the 1940’s (the pre-
sent one not located).
