Q: I inherited an “Archie Bunker’s Grandson Joey Stivic” doll, made by Ideal. It’s in its original box with an instruction sheet and has never been played with. Is there any value to it?
A: The Joey Stivic doll was made by Ideal Toy Co. in 1976. Joey Stivic and Archie Bunker were characters on the TV series “All in the Family,” which ran from 1971 to 1979. Joey’s birth was featured on the show in December 1975.
Ideal advertised the drink-and-wet doll as “physically correct.” It caused a stir at the time because it was the first anatomically correct boy doll. Value: about $50.
Q: Can you tell me anything about Artistic Pottery in Whittier, Calif.? It was on Workman Mill Road in the 1940s. My father worked there prior to going to Franciscan Pottery in Glendale, Calif. He was a chemist and glaze maker.
A: Artistic Potteries operated a factory in Whittier and a showroom in Los Angeles. Little is known about the company, except that it was in business from about 1945 to 1948. The pottery made vases, bowls, figurines and other art pottery. Pieces are marked “Artistic Potteries California” or just “Artistic California.”
Items made by Artistic Potteries show up on the Internet periodically and usually sell for under $50.
Q: I found an old bottle that has “The Boye Needle Co.” on the front and “3 oz. full measure” on the side. Any idea who made it and how old it is?
A: The Boye Needle Co. was founded by James H. Boye and two associates in 1906. The company’s first product was the “Rotary Case,” a revolving cabinet for sewing machine needles and supplies. Later, Boye Needle Co. made sewing machine parts and oil for sewing machines, typewriters and clocks.
It was the first company in the United States to make crochet hooks and knitting needles. The company merged with Wrights in 1989 and is now part of the Simplicity Creative Group.
Q: I have a folding rocking chair that’s marked “The Telescope Folding Furniture Co., Inc., Granville, N.Y.” I would like to know something about the company.
A: The Telescope Folding Furniture Co. was founded in Granville, N.Y., in 1903. The company is still in business making outdoor furniture.
Q: I recently acquired a pair of antique opera glasses. I hope you can tell me something about their history and value. The glasses were made by “Hirsch, Kahn &Co., Manufacturing Opticians, 333 Kearny St., San Francisco.” That’s what’s embossed on the inside of the lid of the black leather case they came in. “Hirsch, Kahn &Co.” is also imprinted on the eyepieces. The barrels, eyepieces and focus knob are mother-of-pearl. There’s an engraving on the front plate that readss, “Frank to Kate, 89.”
A: Opera glasses were very popular during the 19th century, when theater and opera played a larger part in the public’s social life than they have since the advent of movies and television. The firm of Hirsch, Kahn &Co. was in existence for only 10 years, from 1886 to 1896.
So the “89” engraved on your glasses probably means that the glasses were purchased and engraved as a gift in 1889. It also is likely that the glasses were sold by Hirsch, Kahn &Co., but were manufactured by another firm, probably a French one. Many American opticians ordered opera glasses from France but marked them with their own name. Most antique opera glasses like yours sell today for $100 to $200.
Write to Terry Kovel, (The Herald), King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.
&Copy; 2010, 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.
Shirley Temple “Ready to Wear Hair Bow &Band,” on card, baby-blue satinlike bow, black-and-white photo of Shirley sitting on chair, Ribbon Mills Corp., 1930s $85.
The Great Charlie Chan Detective Mystery Game, Crime cards, Go cards, 64 Evidence cards, game board, Milton Bradley Co., 1937, original box, 21 x 22 inches, $190.
Shop bell, gilt brass, steel and iron, springwork mechanism counter balanced by a pendulum, mounted by brass rosette, 1830s, 13 x 5 1/2 inches, $425.
“Welcome Lindbergh” banner, navy muslin, silk-screened on black, American and French flags crossed in front of image of Charles Lindbergh, 1927, 43 x 35 inches, $480.
Gilbert Rohde Telehron table clock, burlwood veneer, chrome-plated steel trim, designed for 1934 Chicago World’s Fair, Model 4082B, Herman Miller Clock Co., 7 x 13 inches, $500.
Galle cameo-glass vase, bulbous bottom, mint-green cameo leaves on frosted white-to-rose ground, signed, 1920s, 6 inches, $575.
Rookwood ginger jar, vertical blue and rose flowers above green leaves, turquoise ground, 2 lids, Lorinda Epply, 1921, 10 1/2 inches, $940.
Georgian hanging cupboard on stand, mahogany, bowfront, two doors, two shelves inside, 1790-1800, 70 x 25 1/2 inches, $1,115.
Coin-silver goblet, oval bowl with scroll rim, landscape on base, egg and dart banding, Gale &Hayden, New York and Charleston, S.C., engraved “June 30th 1848,” 5 1/4 inches, $1,315.
Woody Woodpecker cowboy prototype telephone, hard red plastic, white receiver, pushbutton, 14 x 10 inches, $3,500.
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