The monsters are out for Halloween, so be careful. You might even find vintage monsters lurking in your house. Look out for Soaky bottles in the shape of Frankenstein, Wolfman, the Mummy or the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
All four bubble-bath bottles were made in 1963 by Colgate-Palmolive. Although the name “Soaky” belongs to Colgate-Palmolive, collectors now use it for all plastic figural bubble-bath containers.
| 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.
Halloween costume, Wonder Woman, mask, red, blue and yellow, box, Ben Cooper, 1987, size medium, $45. Mercuric Chloride poison bottle, embossed “poison,” coffin shape, cobalt blue, label, $90. Barbie-doll clothes, Black Magic ensemble, black sheath, cape, ribbons, shoes and gloves, No. 1690, $130. Gee Wiz Bait Co. lure, frog, rubber over wood core, flexible legs, box, $255. Amputation saw and knife, medical operating tool, wooden handle, c. 1861, 17 inches, $270. Haunted House board game, 3-D board, hidden doors, Ideal, 1962, $310. Telephone stand, teak wood, black Formica top, two sliding trays, drawer, 1958, 22 x 29 inches, $635. “It Came From Outer Space” movie poster, Richard Carlson and Barbara Rush, 1953, one-sheet, 27 x 41 inches, $870. Frankenstein toy, tin and vinyl, walks, bends over, raises, lowers, opens and closes arms, battery, Marx, 121/2 inches, $2,115. Needlework, silk, memorial, woman in mourning, church, cemetery, tombstone, 1870s, 17 x 15 inches, $2,300. |
The first “toy when empty” bottle was probably Betty or Bobo Bubbles, made in the 1950s. In the 1960s, Purex made Bubble Club bottles that looked like Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound or Quick Draw McGraw.
Most bottles were made to stand on a shelf or the ledge of a tub, but Wally Gator, Touche Turtle and Spouty Whale were designed to lie down. Early Soakies include Bugs Bunny, Tweety and some Disney characters.
“Sesame Street” characters and Barney, the purple dinosaur, were used in the 1990s for other brands of bubble bath. Save figural bottles as well as related bottles called “toppers,” which are plain bottles with figural tops. A rare old Soaky like 1965’s Dick Tracy can be worth $50, and the very rare monsters can sell for $100 each.
My parents got a glass-shaded table lamp as a wedding present in 1924. I have the lamp today. The only name I can find on it, “The Charles Parker Co.,” is sewn on a label on the green felt bottom of the brass base. The lamp is 22 inches tall, with a gray metal body and a six-panel shade. The frosted glass panels are curved and textured, and they’re decorated inside with hand-painted flowers. The panels are held together by an overlaid metal frame. Can you tell me something about the company?
From around 1900 until the Depression, many American lamp manufacturers sold fancy table lamps with leaded glass or reverse-painted glass shades. The most famous of those lamp makers were Tiffany, Pairpoint and Handel. But the Charles Parker Co. of Meriden, Conn., was a respected manufacturer of lamps with shades made of leaded glass or of decorated bent glass, like yours, with pierced metal frames. The value of your lamp depends on its condition, so an expert would have to look at it in person. Charles Parker lamps the age of yours, in excellent condition, sell for about $1,000.
I am curious about a 7-inch porcelain vase my neighbor gave me. He bought it when he was stationed in England during World War II. The vase is decorated with a portrait of King Edward VII on one side and a woman seated on a throne on the other. Phrases painted above and below the portraits include “Triumph of Peace,” “Beloved of his people,” “Edward the Peacemaker” and the dates of Edward’s birth (Nov. 9, 1841), accession (Jan. 22, 1901) and death (May 6, 1910). Inside the rim, there’s a purple ribbon decoration with the names of other royals. The bottom is dated 1910 and is marked “No. 24 of 100, edition deluxe, limited to 100 copies, T. Goode and Co., South Audley St., London, W. Copeland, England, Rd No 571410.”
You have a limited-edition British royal commemorative honoring King Edward VII at the time of his death. King Edward, Queen Victoria’s oldest child, became king when she died in 1901. Your vase is called an “In Memoriam Exemplar,” and the number at the end of the mark is its English registry number, dating its design to 1910. The 100 commemorative pieces were made for Thomas Goode and Co. by W.T. Copeland &Sons of England. Thomas Goode is still in business. Copeland became part of Royal Worcester &Spode. Your vase, in perfect condition, could sell for more than $2,500.
For a long time, I have been trying to find information on my Shirley Temple mechanical pencil. It’s 4C\, inches long with a plastic green-and-gold marbleized case. “Shirley Temple” is printed on the metal clip and on the bottom half of the pencil in gold block letters. Some dealers have suggested that it did not have a pen mate since it was made for a child.
Your Shirley Temple pencil did have a matching fountain pen. The pair was marketed to little girls as a Shirley Temple “writing set.” The plastic child-size pens and pencils came in at least two colors: your marbleized green and a marbleized red. They were made in the 1930s by Wearever, a company founded in North Bergen, N.J., before World War I. Wearever started out as a producer of low-end plastic pens and pencils, but product quality improved over the years. But even if the quality of your pencil is not high, collectors of Shirley Temple memorabilia would be interested in it. We’ve seen the pens and pencils offered for $10 each, and all the way up to $100.
My Ferdinand the Bull ceramic figurine isn’t listed in the Disney books. He’s glazed white with brown horns and hoofs, and is sitting on a white base. The mark on the bottom is “DeLee Art” with a 1938 copyright date.
DeLee Art, a Los Angeles pottery in business from about 1936 to 1958, made some high-quality ceramic figurines and planters. But it did not have a license from Walt Disney. So your bull is not Disney’s Ferdinand. However, the copyright date of 1938 is the same year that Disney’s animated short film “Ferdinand the Bull” was released. It is likely that DeLee was attempting to capitalize on the cartoon character’s popularity. The Disney cartoon was based on a 1935 short story, “The Story of Ferdinand,” by Munro Leaf.
c 2005 by Cowles Syndicate Inc.
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