A 1950s battery-operated tin toy sold recently for $390. It wasn’t working, was missing parts and wasn’t marked with a maker’s name. But it was colorful and attractive, and when working, it showed a baseball player swinging a bat.
Bidders knew it was in poor condition, but it had original paint and parts. It represented the “great American game,” and those who like baseball liked the toy. It was a good size — 4 by 6 by 7 inches — to display on a shelf. The pictures on the side of the toy showed more ballplayers in bright colors. It was even marked “Champion All Stars,” and the player was wearing a Giants uniform.
A nostalgic fan who went to the 1961 All-Star game in San Francisco hosted by the Giants might have wanted the toy. If it had been working, made by an important maker and had all its parts, it could have sold for $800 even if it was less than 60 years old. If it had been a perfect tin toy showing a man drinking, it might have sold for less than $100. Value depends on emotion and supply as well as condition and age. If no one wants your old, pristine toy, it won’t sell.
A car commercial recently mentioned that the first bathtub in the White House was installed for President Millard Fillmore (1850-1853). I thought that was a myth. When was a bathtub put in the White House?
The President Fillmore tub tale is a fiction created by journalist H.L. Mencken in 1917. It was copied in all sorts of reference books and newspapers, and it still fools people today. The most accurate information seems to be that President Andrew Jackson had a tub installed in 1831 that used water pumped by hand through iron pipes. Tubs were installed later in other rooms, but it was not until 1902, during the administration of Theodore Roosevelt, that modern plumbing was available in most of the White House. Indoor plumbing and bathtubs were not used in most homes until the 1920s.
My mother enjoyed refinishing antique furniture. For our wedding in 1951, she gave us a commode marked “Chittenden &Eastman, Manufacturers of Furniture, Burlington, Iowa.” What can you tell us about the commode’s age and maker?
Chittenden &Eastman’s history goes back to 1866, but the Burlington company did not start manufacturing furniture until about 1890. In the 1920s, the company made a lot of reproduction furniture — furniture in early-American styles. A commode is a cabinet designed to hold a wash basin and water pitcher on the top and a chamber pot behind the cabinet door. It’s not a furniture form commonly made from the 1920s on, so your commode might date from as early as the 1890s. Chittenden &Eastman eventually became Eastman House and concentrated on making mattresses.
I have two pieces of Harker Pottery in the Orange Blossom pattern. The backstamp is a bow and arrow with the words “Harker 1840.” Are they really more than 160 years old?
No. Harker Pottery Co. was incorporated in East Liverpool, Ohio, in 1890, but members of the Harker family had been making pottery in the area since 1840. The company was sold to Jeannette Glass Co. in 1971, and operations ceased in 1972. Several different bow-and-arrow marks were used. The bow-and-arrow mark with just the word “Harker” and the year 1840 was used from about 1930 to 1945.
I am painting the utility room where I do laundry. I want to decorate with old laundry-related things like irons and signs. Any suggestions?
Many old laundry items are unfamiliar today. Ceramic sprinkler bottles, used to dampen clothes before ironing, come in many figural shapes. Most common is a Chinese man, because in the early 1900s most commercial laundries were run by Chinese. Hundreds of types of irons can be found. Oldest are the wooden “smoothing boards,” flat paddles that were rubbed over sheets. Many are examples of folk art, with painted decorations that include flowers, initials and a date. Iron trivets were made that attached to early irons. These look good hanging on a wall. Large items include old wooden washtubs with wringers that took the water out of wet clothes, copper tubs used to boil clothes and flat wooden stretchers shaped to hold knee-high socks. Small collectibles include clothespins, found in many shapes, and bluing paddles. Signs, boxes and other advertising pieces also are interesting. One sign pictures a woman in a maid’s uniform and apron with a wooden washer and wringer. It has the slogan, “Washing in six minutes with a 1900 washer, hand or power.”
Write to Kovels, The Herald, King Features Syndicate, 888 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10019.
&Copy; 2008 by Cowles Syndicate Inc.
On the block
Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.
Mickey Mouse scissors, attached die-cut tin Mickey figure running down the top of the blades, 1930s, 3 1/2 inches, $60.
“Wallace for President” political button, silhouette shadow of FDR, white and navy blue, 1948, 2 1/8 inches, $95.
Kool cigarettes sign, cardboard, penguin as mail carrier with leather pouch holding large pack of cigarettes, 1950s, 20 x 30 inches, $185.
Steuben Pomona lemonade glasses, stenciled mark on base, set of 4, 6 inches, $280.
Coin-silver ladle, oval bowl, rounded handle, marked “Michael Gietler, Richmond, Va.,” 1806-1813, 11 1/2 inches, $635.
Royal Worcester serving set, pitcher, 3 matching mugs, fitted tray, gilt Japanese-style design, cherry blossoms and cranes, blue ground, purple mark, 1883, 61/2-inch pitcher, $690.
Hitching post, yard jockey, white pants and hat, red jacket and boot trim, black boots, holding ring in left hand, 1940s, cast iron, 42 x 24 x 8 inches, $865.
Babe Ruth doll, composition head, wood bat, leather belt, stuffed body, felt “NY” Yankees logo on jersey, Sterling Doll Co., 1930s, 29 inches, $980.
Tennessee sampler, 15-line alphabet and verse, “Martha Ann Ensors, work in her 9th year,” flowers, tree and animal design, silk on linen, c. 1821, 16 x 17 inches, $4,400.
Gustav Stickley sideboard, plate rack on rectangular top, 2 cabinet doors, 3 drawers and 1 long drawer, copper hardware, paper label, c. 1912, 49 x 66 x 23 inches, $5,290.
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