Laminates Built a Better Belter Chair
Charles and Ray Eames made innovative furniture in the 1940s from molded plywood. The multiple layers of wood, glued together, were stronger than a single thick piece. The furniture was inexpensive, attractive and durable.
The Eameses were not the first to use laminated wood for furniture. In 1856, John Henry Belter patented his process of laminating six to 18 layers of rosewood veneer to make thin, strong panels. The panels were steamed and shaped in molds and carved with decorations. Belter’s furniture was among the highest-quality, most expensive and most popular of his day. It was imitated by others, but the copies never had the quality of the Belter pieces.
It is said that Belter dropped one of his chairs from a fourth-story window to prove that his laminate was stronger than solid wood. We are not sure whether an Eames chair would pass that test.
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Question: I was given a box filled with antique bottles. Many of them are dirty on the inside. Their necks are so small I can’t fit a brush inside. Do you have any suggestions?
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Answer: It depends on how dirty the bottles are. If the insides are covered with a hard crust, fill the bottles halfway with BB-gun pellets or gravel, then lightly shake. Be careful, because once the crust is removed, the pellets or gravel can scratch the glass. Discard the pellets and soak the bottles in diluted dishwashing detergent, denture cleaner or ammonia. Repeat the soakings until the dirt loosens.
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Q My 10-inch Charlie Chaplin tin windup toy still works. The key-wind is in the back, and when you wind it, Charlie walks. His painted jacket is blue, his pants and hat black, his tie red, and his shoes and cane brown. Can you tell me when it was made?
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A Your toy probably dates from the 1930s. Chaplin’s famous “Tramp” movies were made between 1914 and 1940. Another Chaplin tin windup toy made in Germany about 1930 was dressed in a fabric suit. When wound up, he walked and swung his cane. Your toy, like the clothed one, is valuable. It would sell for $300 to $1,000, depending on condition.
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Q About 25 years ago I bought a china pitcher, bowl and chamber pot. The pieces are hand-painted with gold trim and pink and green flowers. The mark on the bottom says, “W.H. Tatler Decorating Co.” Can you tell me anything about the company?
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A The W.H. Tatler Decorating Co. worked in Trenton, N.J., from 1887 to 1953. It was founded by William H. Tatler, who had worked with his parents at a china decorating business they started in Trenton in 1874.
All three of the Tatlers learned to paint china in England.
The W.H. Tatler Decorating Co. had china-painting contracts with several New Jersey potteries, including Ott & Brewer and the Columbian Art Pottery Co.
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Q I collect old tools. Recently I bought a couple of heavy metal lawn sprinklers at a yard sale, so I decided to start a collection of those too. Can you give me any history?
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A The inventor of the first lawn sprinkler is unknown, but the residential lawns familiar today did not exist until after the invention of the lawn mower in 1830.
A decade or so later, vulcanized rubber hoses replaced leather hoses. Then came the invention of the electric water pump, which was necessary to get water pumped to the front lawn.
Water pumps were expensive, and so were the first sprinklers. They were used by the wealthy or by greenhouses. By the 1920s, the water was easier to deliver, and sprinklers became smaller and more affordable. Many different styles were made, including simple brass rings with holes, oscillators with multiple nozzles, and figural sprinklers shaped like alligators, flowers or frogs.
Until the 1940s, sprinklers were made mostly of molded iron or steel with brass fittings. After World War II, aluminum sprinklers became common. Today many are plastic.
You can find 20th-century metal sprinklers priced at $15 to $250.
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Q I have an 8-foot-long fiberglass tiger that once sat on an Esso gas station. I think it dates from the 1960s. Is it valuable?
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A Collectors of gas station memorabilia probably would be very interested in your tiger.
The Esso brand name was first used in 1926 by the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey. The word “Esso” is the sound of Standard Oil’s initials. The new brand was so successful that in 1934 the company gave the name Esso to all its gas stations.
The Esso tiger was introduced in 1964. Esso gave the tiger a successful advertising slogan: “Put a tiger in your tank.” Esso became Exxon in 1973. The tiger helped advertise the name change.
For a listing of helpful books and publications, include a self-addressed, stamped (55 cents) envelope to Kovels, Los Angeles Times, King Features Syndicate, 235 E. 45th St., New York, NY 10017.
Current Prices
Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary because of local economic conditions.
* Russel Wright vegetable bowl, Casual pattern, avocado, 8 inches: $25.
* Muhammad Ali potato chip bag, unopened: $30.
* Nichol Kola store display, embossed tin, 1930s, 14 inches by 10 inches: $55.
* Royal Winton porcelain charger, birds and tulips, round, chintz center, cream ground, raised border, 12 1/2 inches: $80.
* Carnival glass orange bowl, grape and cable outside, Persian Medallion inside, ruffled edge, footed, 10 inches: $95.
* “We Have Fed You All a Thousand Years” sheet music, 1918, by Rudolph van Liebich, published by Educational Bureau, Chicago: $135.
* Pan Am Boeing 747 jumbo jet toy, automatic stop and go, see-through cockpit, flashing jet engines, original box: $225.
* Madame Alexander McGuffey Ana doll, composition head, painted blue eyes, closed mouth, braids, child’s body, pink dress, 9 inches: $250.
* Cast-iron rooster windmill weight, Hummer E184, by Elgin Wind, Power & Pump Co., 13 1/2 inches: $330.
* Nickelodeon oak upright cabinet with leaded glass front, musician with mandolin, J.P. Seeburg Piano Co., Chicago, 64 inches by 34 inches by 57 1/2 inches: $2,200.
