‘Lost’ Shirley Temple dresses sold in KC under mysterious circumstances

Was it a crime, or a costly foul-up? All Tonya Bervaldi-Camaratta knows for sure is that the valuable cargo she’d shipped through UPS — five movie costumes worn by 1930s child film star Shirley Temple — were sold at auction in Kansas City shortly after the Florida collector was told they’d been lost in the mail.

“I’ve been calling for four weeks with my hair on fire,” Bervaldi-Camaratta said. “These are one of a kind!”

The costumes were on their way from her home in Gainesville, Fla., to Vermont for exhibit at a convention celebrating early Hollywood. Temple had worn the dresses in such films as “Little Miss Broadway” and “Wee Willie Winkie.”

An avid collector of all things Shirley Temple, Bevaldi-Camaratta had paid $50,000 for the items, three of which she bought at an auction in Kansas City two years ago. More than 550 items, including 100 of Temple’s film costumes, were sold then on behalf of Temple’s estate.

The fact that those three dresses and two more would be sold off without her knowledge at a Sept. 14 unclaimed packages sale in Kansas City, Bevaldi-Camaratta sees as a cruel irony.

“Same stuff, same place,” she said by phone.

Via Facebook, she first told the story of her loss to fellow Shirley Temple collectors and admirers:

“UPS got my box on August 28, lost my box, found my box and shipped my box to an unclaimed goods warehouse, sold my box to unclaimed goods, the unclaimed goods warehouse put my box up for auctions, and unsuspecting buyer bought my box — all in LESS THAN 2 1/2 weeks!!”

Seventeen days, to be exact, which United Parcel Service officials find unusual, if not suspicious.

“We are investigating the situation right now,” UPS spokesman Matt O’Connor said. “We are working for a resolution with her.”

He declined to say whether it was unusual for the company to sell off lost and unclaimed packages as quickly as in this case.

The whereabouts of four of the five dresses have been traced, Bevaldi-Camaratta said. Someone within the tight-knit community of Shirley Temple fans notified Bevaldi-Camaratta when the person who bought them in Kansas City inquired about their value.

But she still hadn’t gotten those costumes back as of Monday, while the last one remains unaccounted for.

That’s the royal satin gown 10-year-old Temple wore in the 1939 movie “The Little Princess.”

“It was just in mint condition,” Bevaldi-Camaratta said.

All five dresses, in a bright green box, were insured for $10,000, but Bervaldi-Camaratta said the princess dress, like the others, is an irreplaceable piece of history from Hollywood’s Golden Age.

“I am not wealthy,” she posted on Facebook, imploring collectors to be on the lookout for anyone trying to sell “The Little Princess” dress. “I saved and saved and bought these to share the magic of Shirley Temple with as many people as I could. From the start, the incompetence of UPS has been mind-blowing.”

A Shirley Temple fan since she was a kid watching old movies in the 1980s, Bevalid-Camaratta has remained an avid collector of Temple memorabilia. A decade ago, she published a 368-page catalog for fellow fans, “The Complete Guide to Shirley Temple Dolls and Collectibles.”

The five dresses were bound for R. John Wright Dolls Inc. in Bennington, Vt., when they disappeared, possibly in Orlando, Fla. They were to have been part of an exhibit at the company’s Hollywood Convention Sept. 7-9 at the Hilton hotel in Albany, N.Y.

A box containing the cape that goes with “The Little Princess” dress did arrive. But when the rest of the shipment failed to arrive, company vice president Susan Wright grew concerned.

“It was a beautiful exhibit, even if it wasn’t as extensive as we’d planned,” said one of the company’s owners, Susan Wright. “I really hope she get (the dresses) back.”

This story was originally published September 25, 2017 at 2:22 PM with the headline "‘Lost’ Shirley Temple dresses sold in KC under mysterious circumstances."