The modern Olympic Games began in 1896, with athletes from 14 nations competing in Athens, Greece. In addition to producing champions, the Olympics -- Summer and Winter -- have always generated a steady stream of collectibles. For instance, the Greek government issued a set of commemorative postage stamps for those first games. In today's What's it Worth? we answer a reader's question about a printed program from a now-obscure 20th century pre-Olympics event. We'll also be heading over to the world of tobacciana to look at a terrific advertising sign.

Q. Back in the 1920s my mother lived and worked in Los Angeles. She and her friends regularly went to many, many interesting events; annual dinners, movie openings and the like. She put together a large scrapbook and in reviewing the contents, we found this program and ticket stubs from the 1928 Olympic Tryouts. Were these part of the Olympics? What can you tell us? -- David in Kennewick

A. The modern Olympic Movement, which started with the 1896 Games in Athens, was the subject of revival talk for most of the 19th century. There were even Games held in Athens as early as 1870, with athletes from only Greece and the Ottoman Empire participating.

The fledging Games, based on the 4th century Greek city state competitions, nearly died out after the 1896 competition. The Games of 1900 and 1904 were really just sideshows to the world's fairs in Paris and St. Louis, respectively.

Because of World War I, the 1916 Games were not held. It wasn't until 1920 the Games started to gain real traction and by the late 1920s, the 10th Olympic Games of 1932 had been awarded to Los Angeles.

And that brings us to the program in this scrapbook and the "Far Western Trials." These "Tryouts" as the program calls them, were an elimination event for the final team-selecting American Olympic Trials competition, held at Harvard in early July of 1928.

In addition to athletic events at the Coliseum that day, there were various entertainments, featuring everything from music to radio and motion picture stars; even a demonstration of bullwhip cracking by an expert from Australia.

This program would interest collectors of Olympics memorabilia and is a hard-to-find item. That it is glued into the scrapbook is a detraction from value, otherwise the condition is excellent. We have seen printed programs for the actual Trials of 1928 sell for $125 to $150.

With the ticket stub as part of the package, this should retail for $150 to $200, maybe more to a motivated collector.

Q. Several people have offered to buy my advertising thermometer. I'm not inclined to sell, but would like to know what it might be worth. I got it from my barber in Pasco decades ago. It's a little more than 3 feet long and is in excellent condition. -- Ray in Pasco

A. This is a great collector's item, one that falls into both the advertising and "tobacciana" categories. Tobacciana is the term used to describe everything from pipes, cigar molds and vintage cigarette packs to lighters, humidors and signs such as this one.

The Mail Pouch brand was the original "chewing tobacco." The idea sprung from the entrepreneurial minds of brothers Aaron and Samuel Bloch. They opened a cigar factory in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1879 and soon after started packing the until-then-waste cigar clippings as a flavored tobacco to be chewed.

The idea caught on and within a few years the brothers found themselves owners of a multimillion dollar company.

Mail Pouch brand has always been a keen advertiser and heavily promoted their products. Among the new advertising ideas was the "Mail Pouch Barn," a barn painted on one or more sides with advertising for the company.

They were certainly noticeable, being literally as "big as a barn." The first barns were painted in 1890 and at the campaign's height, there were about 20,000 Mail Pouch barns in 22 states, mostly in the East and Midwest. Today, some are listed as state or national historical landmarks.

This thermometer -- which still registers accurate temperatures -- is an excellent example of the company's logos and advertising color schemes. This one most likely dates to the 1930s or 1940s

In excellent condition, these are priced between $250 and $400.

-- Terry Maurer, a Tri-Cities personal property appraiser, is a member of the Certified Appraisers Guild of America. For possible use in a future column, email questions on your antiques and collectibles to What's It Worth? at tchwhatsitworth@gmail.com