Collectible little teapots are short and stout

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Teapots, coffeepots and chocolate pots all were used in past centuries. Each had a special shape, but collectors sometimes do not give antique pots their correct names. A teapot held brewed tea made from loose tea leaves. It was usually small and rounded.

An 18th-century teapot held about two measuring cups of tea, which was served in very small porcelain cups. Coffeepots were taller and held six or more cups. Coffee was served in a cup about the size used today.

Chocolate pots, introduced in the 17th century, were needed to make and serve a new beverage. The drink was made from cocoa powder, sugar and hot milk. It had to be stirred just before the finished hot chocolate was poured, so a stirrer was usually part of the pot’s design. The center of the lid had a hole so that a long rod with a knob top could be swirled in the pot.

Sets were made with creamer, sugar and pots for each beverage in matching designs. Today, a teapot can look like one of an earlier time, or it can be a fantasy pot with an unusual shape and fanciful decorations. Chocolate pots with stirrers seem to have lost favor.

I was working in Las Vegas more than 10 years ago and saved $1 chips from a lot of casinos that are no longer in business. I have some from the Sands, Hacienda, Stardust and Desert Inn casinos. I read somewhere that casino chips from defunct casinos can be worth more than their cover value. Is that true?

It is true, although $1 chips are usually not as valuable as higher denominations. Your chips are from casinos that have closed within the past 11 years. In general, the older the chips and the better their condition, the higher the price. You can find lots of collectors and dealers (no pun intended) online.

Goofus glass, made by many American glass factories from the 1890s until about 1920, is decorative clear or colored pressed glass with overall painted designs. The paint colors most frequently used were gold, red, green, bronze, pink or purple. Because the designs were cold-painted and unfired, they chipped easily. That might be why the glass came to be called “goofus” – somebody goofed, thinking that cold painting would work. Collectors in the 1950s often removed the damaged paint and saved the clear pressed-glass vase or bowl. Today, goofus glass pieces in excellent condition are sought by collectors.

The cabinet is lined with metal because it was also designed to be a humidor to store cigars.

Current prices are recorded from antique shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.

Glass reamer, clear, vertical ribbing, ribbed handle, 1950s, 21/4 x 73/4 inches, $15.

World War II sleeping bag, wool, olive drab, with case, U.S. Army, $65.

Fulper pottery candlestick, blue flame, brown, crystalline, oval, 1920, 21/2 x 81/2 inches, pair, $70.

Child’s plank-bottom rocking chair, hand-planed poplar seat, original green paint, yellow pinstriping, c. 1885, 22 inches, $115.

Hooked rug, Scottie dog, multicolored, gray ground, c. 1930, 22 x 36 inches, $235.

1922 Coca-Cola advertising calendar, woman at baseball game drinking glass of Coke, 11 x 29 inches, $440.

Northwood custard glass-covered sugar and creamer, Argonaut Shell pattern, signed, 7 inches, $450.

Arcade International dump truck, green enamel, iron wheels, red spokes, white rubber tires, bed pops up to empty load, 1930s, 101/2 inches, $695.

Heubach boy and girl dolls, composition, blue glass googly sleep eyes, five-piece toddler bodies, blond mohair wigs, original clothing, 11 1/2 inches, pair, $1,380.

“Lady and the Tramp” animation cel, 1955 Walt Disney production, cats Si and Am trying to pull fishbowl off piano, 8 x 6 inches, $1,430.