Some Will ‘Buy Their Childhood’
Collections are personal, often inspired by childhood interests. It is not surprising that men like sports memorabilia and collectibles related to transportation. Popular items include gas-pump globes, license plates, hood ornaments, bicycles, military items as well as toy cars, motorcycles, airplanes and boats.
Women lean toward such things as home furnishings, dolls, teddy bears, compacts, perfume bottles and accessories.
Visit a toy show and notice the buying patterns. Collectors tend to “buy their childhood.” Older men buy toy trains and cars from the 1930s, younger men want the toys of the ‘50s, and boys are buying the comic and movie characters of the ‘90s.
If you want to start collecting, visit a flea market, antiques mall or antiques show and walk around. Decide what sort of collectible appeals to you and buy that. Don’t let fashions and fads influence you.
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Question: What is a “wake” table? I heard someone on television describe a table with that name.
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Answer: The term is not in general use. It describes a long, narrow table just the right size to hold a coffin during a wake. The term is sometimes used for Irish tables, usually in the Chippendale style.
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Q My table lamp is marked “Royal Art Glass.” It has a metal base and a pierced metal-and-glass shade. The glass is plain, but it’s bright yellow and green. Have you ever heard of this company?
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A The Royal Art Glass Co. operated in New York City during the mid-1920s. Today, most lamps made by the company sell for less than $500.
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Q My pair of matching 5-inch ceramic vases are light green with applied pink rosebuds. Each one is marked with the letters “WB” in a shield, surrounded by the words “Heirlooms of Tomorrow, Manhattan Beach, Calif.” What can you tell me about the maker?
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A Heirlooms of Tomorrow was founded in the mid-1940s by William Bailey (the WB in the shield). During the 1950s, the company’s name was changed to California Originals and production was moved from Manhattan Beach to a large plant in Torrance. Your vases probably date from the late ‘40s or early ‘50s.
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Q My husband inherited a pair of cast-iron andirons. We don’t know how old the andirons are, but they are shaped like a man and woman. The man is 16 inches tall, and the woman is an inch shorter. Can you help?
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A Your andirons date from the mid-1800s and were probably made in a foundry in the South. Figural sets made even earlier include Hessian soldiers and Colonial men.
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Q Now that hotels are using electronic cards as room keys, I wonder if old hotel keys are collectible.
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A People collect everything. Some hotel keys are more collectible than others. Serious collectors prefer 19th and 20th century hotel keys that have an attached heavy, metal tag identifying the establishment and room number. The more famous the hotel, the better. Modern keys with plastic tags are becoming obsolete, so they will also become more collectible. A key from a famous hotel is always the best.
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Q I collect old flower frogs. I recently bought a plain brown-and-green pottery flower frog that’s 4 1/2 inches in diameter. The incised mark on the bottom is “WELLER.” Can you tell me who made it and when?
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A Weller Pottery, one of the great American art potteries, operated in Zanesville, Ohio, from 1872 to 1948. Because the company made so many vases in various sizes, it also made flower frogs in a range of sizes. Many vases were plain round shapes with holes for flower stems. Because your plain flower frog was made by Weller, it is worth $25 to $50.
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Q We have inherited a few old photographs mounted on heavy cardboard. One seems to be a publicity photo for actor Edwin Booth. Another is of two unidentified men, and still another pictures a small boy in a Union Army uniform. Different photographers’ names are on each photo, but they’re all portraits of about the same size, 4 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches. Are they valuable?
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A Your photos are called “cabinet cards.” They were mounted on cardboard and just the right size for display in a middle-class family’s parlor cabinet.
Cabinet cards were produced in great numbers throughout the United States from about 1875 to 1905. Any paying customer could get a photograph taken. Stock photos of actors, politicians and athletes were sold at stationery stores.
Original cabinet cards of people who are still famous today, such as Annie Oakley or Susan B. Anthony, sell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. An Edwin Booth card recently sold for $70. Common cabinet cards picturing unknown people sell for a few dollars.
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.
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Current Prices
Figures are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary because of local economic conditions.
* Feb. 26, 1966, TV Guide with Charles Briles, Linda Evans, Barbara Stanwyck of “The Big Valley,” No. 674, Linda is hugging Charles, $30.
* Silk scarf, tennis theme, blue print with allover male and female tennis players, navy, brown nets, “Made In France,” 1930s, $60.
* KO-KO mechanical Sandwich Man, carrying a large sign that reads “Eat At Joe’s Steak Sandwich Delicious,” Normura, 1950s, $200.
* Sterling-silver flatware buckwheat server, Oak Leaf and Acorn pattern, c. 1870, Canfield Bros. & Co., 8 inches, $295.
* Libby water pitcher, large Hobstar with Strawberry-Diamond pattern, triple-notched handle, 8 inches, $200.
* Brass fireplace lighter, Arts & Crafts, hammered starter and tray, Pat. May 2, 1916, $410.
* Pintel Fils white mohair teddy bear, black stitching, swivel head, jointed limbs, large snout, shaved muzzle, shoe-button eyes, silver medallion on chest, c. 1925, 18 inches, $770.
* Wiener Werkstatte ceramic figure of dandy with his green dog dandy in blue jacket, white pants with brown oval designs, stamped, 11 1/2 inches, $1,150.
* Dutch Delft plate, blue and white, center is two hands clasping over the date 1650 below a heart pierced by two arrows, 8 1/4 inches, $1,250.
* Pie safe, punched tin panels, drawers over two doors, painted, Virginia, 1820s, 42 inches, $2,750.
