Thanksgiving will be here soon, and while the best organizers among us may already have everything in place, most of us are probably still working through our shopping lists. Let’s see … turkey, seasonings for stuffing, ingredients for side dishes, pumpkin pie spices — oh, and don’t forget a six-pack of Coke! Well, that last item might not be on the menu for most Thanksgiving dinners, although this circa 1950 advertising banner, which sold for $150 at Woody Auction, shows it’s not from the company’s lack of trying. Coca-Cola is a favorite brand among collectors of vintage advertising. Their holiday advertisements are especially beloved; after all, their Christmas ads from the 1930s to 1960s by painter Haddon Sundblom are credited with creating the popular image of Santa Claus. The company’s script logo has appeared on soda fountain glasses, trays, signs, calendars, napkins and more since it was trademarked in 1893. Even if it doesn’t make it to every holiday table, Coca-Cola has become an icon of everyday American life.
Q: My sister has a handwritten letter and handwritten envelope dated Dec. 10, 1997, from Harper Lee. Is this worth contacting an auction house?
A: We think so. Harper Lee was the author of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961 and is still considered one of the greatest American novels of the 20th century. Her signature sells well at auctions. Several examples have sold for high prices this year. An autographed bookplate sold for $130. A typed excerpt from “To Kill a Mockingbird” with Lee’s signature sold for $530, and a first edition of the novel accompanied by a handwritten letter from the author sold for an impressive $14,400. Look for auction houses that specialize in autographs, books or Americana. Get references before you sell anything. If you prefer to sell locally, you can look for antiquarian book dealers as well as antiques dealers. Some coin and stamp dealers also buy and sell autographs. The dealer usually sets the price. If you decide to send the letter and envelope to an out-of-town dealer or auction house, send it with tracking. You may want to get it insured as well.
Q: Would you give me an estimate of this coffee table with two matching end tables? The round table may need some restoration. They are all from Germany.
A: The carvings of rustic forest scenes, plants and animals on your tables look like Black Forest style. Black Forest furniture has been made in Germany and Switzerland since the 1880s. It is popular with tourists and has cycled in and out of fashion throughout the 20th century. Tables like yours, with carved and painted tops under glass, were made in the 1950s and ’60s. Sometimes the tops were removable and could hang on a wall as art. We have seen sets of tables like yours sell for about $100 to $200. They will sell for more if the maker is known.
Q: My cousin has a set of hand-painted dishes she’s trying to identify that was handed down through her father’s family. I have attached pictures of one of the pieces.
A: The picture you included shows a mark with “H & Co” over a capital “L” in green. This mark was used by Haviland & Co. of Limoges, France, in the 1880s and ’90s. The dish in your pictures is rectangular with its corners folded over, which is a shape Limoges made. We have seen it described as “Folded Napkin” or “1118.” Your pictures show another mark that looks like a conjoined C, M and E with the number 1885 underneath. This is probably the decorator’s mark. Many porcelain factories, including Haviland & Co., made blank pieces of porcelain that were painted at other factories. Some were sold blank for hobbyists to paint at home. Yours is marked, so it was probably painted by a professional. The “1885” may be the year the piece was painted or the year the decorator’s company went into business.
Q: I was hoping you’d be able to give me an idea on the worth of the following item: vintage 1900s antique metal dental cabinet in good condition. It has four shelves and is 54 inches high, 17 inches deep, 24 inches wide.
A: We have seen dental cabinets like yours sell for about $200 to $500 at auctions. They are sometimes described as “industrial” or listed as apothecary cabinets. Cabinets with known makers or unusual features like a rotating or figural case sell for higher prices.
TIP: Hands can damage paper collectibles by leaving fingerprints and traces of oil or salt. All will cause stains eventually. Store paper in protective plastic holders made of inert material.
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. Marble, clambroth, alternating blue and teal stripes, white ground, bubbles, handmade, ⅝ inches, $50.
Paper doll, boy, five outfits, football uniform, tennis uniform, coat, farm clothes, cut, $60.
Auto, sign, Agip Motor Oils, thermometer, six-legged dog on yellow ground, red and black lettering, embossed, metal, midcentury, 19 inches, $150.
Basket, Penobscot, birch bark, cylindrical, scalloped rim, signed, Butch Phillips, 10 inches, $155.
Perfume bottle, Schiaparelli, Shocking, dress form shape, satin tape measure over shoulders, red “S” logo in center, ball shape stopper, factice, 15 ½ inches, $325.
Silver plate, turkey server, dome lid, warmer base, pierced finial and handles, embossed flowers, wreaths and scrolls, four-footed, 14 ½ by 26 by 17 inches, $720.
Furniture, bookcase, Chippendale, mahogany, two parts, pierced scrolled crest, turned finial, carved molding, slant front over four graduated drawers, shaped bracket feet, 96 by 44 by 23 ½ inches, $940.
Clothing, wig, white, braided back, curled front, label, on stand, Anthony Boch, Phila., 1800s, stand 29 ½ inches, $1,195.
Pottery-Asian, vase, dark brown glaze, flowering branches, shoulders, narrow neck, flared lip, earthenware, character mark, Japan, 21 inches, $2,175.
Sampler, alphabet, verse, unfinished indoor scene, figures, border, silk on linen, Hannah Cox, In The 11 Year of Her Age, Marblehead, 1797, frame, 26 by 23 inches, $2,375.
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