If You’ve Got the Bread, Old Toasters Are Hot

Old toasters are good sellers at shops and flea markets nowadays.

The first spring-driven pop-up toaster was introduced by Toastmaster in 1926. Pop-up toasters from the 1940s and ‘50s usually sell to people who want to use them to make toast. They are dependable and can be easily repaired. Prices are reasonable, ranging from $15 to $30.

Toasters from the first three decades of the 20th century sell to collectors who are interested in their design or technology. A few early toasters were made with porcelain parts.

The Eclipse brand model, made about 1905 by the Electric & Ordnance Accessories Co. of Birmingham, England, is one of the rarest. A detachable cord was plugged into the prongs on the bottom. It is valued at about $2,000.

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Question: I paid $10 for a small, blue-and-white pitcher that I found in an antiques shop 20 years ago. The blue decoration on the pitcher pictures a Chinese sailboat. The piece looks like Dutch Delft to me, but the mark on the bottom reads, “Germany” below a crown and a superimposed “GW.” Who made it and when?

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Answer: Your pitcher was made for export by the W. Goebel Porcelain Factory of Rodental, Bavaria, Germany. That’s the same company that makes the popular Hummel figurines. The company was founded in 1871. The mark you describe was used from 1935 to 1937. Your pitcher, which is probably a large creamer, is worth about $50.

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Q My father’s aunt gave him an unusual table lamp in the 1950s. His aunt loved the lamp, and we have kept it safe all these years. It is made of gold-painted ceramic, and it depicts two young men in classical dress holding up a large ball on a pedestal. The lamp gives off a soft backlight when it’s turned on. On the base are the words “The Twins.” Can you tell me what the lamp was used for?

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A Your lamp is called a “TV lamp.” They were popular in the 1950s, when black-and-white televisions hit the U.S. mass market. People thought their eyesight would suffer if they didn’t have a soft light on while they were watching television. The lamps were usually placed right on top of the TV set. The “Twins” on your lamp are the Greek mythological deities Castor and Pollux. Kitschy TV lamps from the ‘50s are big sellers at shops and flea markets. Yours is worth $75.

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Q What is “eggshell art”? I saw the term used in reference to valuable works of art.

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A The use of eggshells to create art dates back at least 2,000 years. It was developed in Southeast Asia and became a traditional Vietnamese form of lacquer work. Artists separate the shells by shape and color, arrange the shells on a flat surface, then apply layer after layer of lacquer made from the sap of the Asian sumac tree. French Art Deco artist Jean Dunand admired the Asian art form and used crushed eggshells to create geometric and abstract designs on ceramic vases.

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Q I know that many dollhouse collectors like old wooden dollhouses. I collect metal dollhouses--I guess because that’s the kind of dollhouse I played with as a child. Most of my metal dollhouses were made by Marx. Can you tell me when Marx first made metal dollhouses and how much they cost originally?

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A Louis Marx Co. was founded in 1917 as a manufacturer of lithographed tin mechanical toys. In 1949 when the American economy was booming along with the birthrate, Marx made its first sheet-metal dollhouse. It sold for $3.95 in the Montgomery Ward catalog. It came with a plastic car, furniture and outdoor play equipment. Other American makers of postwar metal dollhouses included Meritoy Corp. of Boston, T. Cohn of Brooklyn and Playsteel, which was the toy division of the National Can Co. Today, prices for the early metal houses range from $50 to $175.

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Q My water pitcher has three raised designs of golfers on its side. Vines and leaves frame the golfers. On the base is the mark “Doulton, Lambeth, England.” Does it have a value?

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A Doulton potteries made many sports-related designs from 1880 to 1914. Rugby, bicycling, football (what we call soccer), jumping and golf were popular. The designs were used on jugs, mugs, beakers, tobacco jars, loving cups and other pieces of pottery that would be used by men who enjoyed the sports. One famous artist at Doulton who designed these pieces around 1900 was John Broad. He did a line of pottery with golfers and trailing vines like yours. Collectors like Doulton, but they pay even higher prices for good pieces with sports figures. Your pitcher is worth $700.

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

Figures are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary because of local economic conditions.

* Fibber McGee & Molly game, Wistful Vista Mystery, Milton Bradley, 1940, $20.

* Casper ring, tin, Post Toasties Corn Flakes, 1949, 2 1/2 inches, $35.

* Sears Roebuck catalog, 1927, Fall & Winter, $120.

* Carnival-glass compote, Blackberry Bramble, amethyst stem, $125.

* Advertising sign, “Drink Pop Kola,” white lettering, 1940s, 10 by 27 inches, $135.

* ABC plate, Franklin proverb, “Now I Have a Sheep & Cow,” Staffordshire, 1830, 8 inches, $175.

* Whiting Davis purse, mesh, ivory, hot pink and lime green, silver frame, 7 by 4 inches, $220.

* Effanbee Howdy Doody doll, sleep eyes, box, plaid shirt, jeans, cowboy boots, neckerchief, 1948, 23 inches, $400.

* Clarice Cliff Honolulu jug, stylized trees, green and black trunks, stamped “Bizarre,” 11 3/4 inches, $575.

* Oak hall stand, umbrella holder, brass hooks, 1900, 77 inches, $610.