A Chicago flea market turned into an unlikely display case for pieces of Koko Taylor’s life this week, with photos, stage dresses, awards, and stacks of handwritten lyrics laid out on folding tables. Shoppers pulled items from plastic bins and recognized the name of the “Queen of the Blues” — who died in 2009 — among memorabilia that looked as if it had been stored for decades. The find touched off a scramble among collectors, museums, and members of Taylor’s circle to identify what remains and to get irreplaceable items back to the family.
According to the Chicago Sun‑Times, Chicago junk dealer Luis Gonzaga bought the contents of a storage locker in Orland Park at an online auction and later sold large portions of the haul at the Swap‑O‑Rama flea market in Back of the Yards. Gonzaga told the paper the stash included a 1985 Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album, two 1985 W.C. Handy awards, photographs with presidents and other musicians, stage outfits, and several dozen handwritten song lyrics. Taylor’s daughter, Joyce “Cookie” Threatt, told the Sun‑Times she’d rented the unit in 2005 and missed a payment this year while undergoing heart surgery and treatment for cancer, which led to the unit’s liquidation.
Taylor’s place in Chicago music
Koko Taylor is widely regarded as one of Chicago’s defining blues singers — her 1965 version of Willie Dixon’s “Wang Dang Doodle” became a signature, million‑selling hit, and she won a Grammy in 1985. She recorded extensively for Alligator Records and remained a central figure in the city’s blues community for decades. For a summary of her career and awards, see Wikipedia, and for label and catalog context, see Alligator Records.
Collectors and industry push to reclaim items
Ben Lewis, an artist who discovered the items at a Swap‑O‑Rama booth, told the Sun‑Times he bought a batch of handwritten lyrics for $15 and plans to donate most of his purchases to the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum. Bruce Iglauer, founder of Alligator Records and Taylor’s longtime producer, told the paper he’s been trying to reach Gonzaga to buy what’s left and return it to Taylor’s family. Threatt said she has already donated other Koko Taylor belongings over the years to institutions, including the Blues Heaven Foundation, the Delta Blues Museum, and the Blues Hall of Fame Museum, and she’s asking people who bought items to contact the foundation.
Legal tangle around storage auctions
Illinois law allows self‑storage operators to sell unit contents after following notice and auction procedures, a framework that typically transfers title to the purchaser and helps explain how personal artifacts can move from a family locker to a third‑party buyer. That statutory process also leaves room for families, collectors, and institutions to negotiate repurchases or returns in cases involving culturally significant items. See the state code for the procedures and notice requirements in the Illinois statutes.
