STICKER SHOCK

The Velvet Underground - and their yellow bananas - go on the auction block.

Got an empty sticker book and $10,000 to burn?

Then be prepared to raise your paddle at Christie’s upcoming Pop Culture sale.

The auction, which starts on June 23, features ephemera from some of our favorite icons. There is the trademark “L” embroidered sweater that Penny Marshall wore in Laverne and Shirley, a Sterling Linder-designed flyer for the Buzzcocks, and a bass guitar Kurt Cobain used to record his early demos while staying at his Aunt Mari Earl’s house.

But the coolest find of the batch just might be a sheet of seven “unpeeled” banana stickers Andy Warhol designed for the Velvet Underground. While we can’t imagine Lou Reed ever playing with stickers, we’re certain that his followers (and, yes, even Nico) stuck a banana or two on the walls of Max’s Kansas City.

And if you can’t scrape together the $10,000 the stickers are expected to go for? The Rockford Peaches uniform Madonna wore in A League of Their Own should sell for a mere $5,000. Now that’s a winner.
REBECCA WILLA DAVIS

Visit christies.com for more info.

This story was published on May 27, 2009.