‘Yardlong prints” can sometimes be a yard wide, but those who collect these 36-inch-by-8-inch prints prefer the term “yardlong” or the original 19th-century name, “yard picture.”
Just before 1900, lithography companies began making these skinny pictures as premiums they gave away for wrappers and 2 cents postage. The first were titled “Yard of Puppies,” or “Yard of Roses,” and pictured a grouping of dogs or flowers on a 36-inch-wide and 8-inch-high print.
Later, beautiful women standing in long dresses were pictured on a piece of paper 36 inches long. Many included advertisements for companies or small calendar pads at the bottom. Mandeville &King Seeds, Diamond Crystal Salt Co., Selz Good Shoes and Pabst all gave out yardlongs.
Subjects run from flowers to children’s heads to months of the year, but most seem to picture women. Most yardlong prints date from before 1920, although reproductions have been made. Value is determined by rarity and condition. A collector wants a print that has not been trimmed, the original metal band at the bottom and the calendar pad, if there was one.
I am trying to identify the manufacturer of an armoire that was left to me. The only mark on it is a triangle with “C.F. Co.” in the center and the words “Continental Superior Quality” on the three sides. Can you help?
Your armoire was made by the Continental Furniture Co. of High Point, N.C. During the 1920s, North Carolina companies led the country in the production of bedroom furniture. Continental was founded in 1901 and made Colonial Revival bedroom furniture during the 1920s and ’30s. The company leased exhibit space at the American Furniture Mart, which opened in Chicago in 1924, and sold furniture to hotels too.
I saw your column about the soap box that held the valuable Paladin trading cards. I was in my teens in the 1950s, my mom used Rinso Blue and I saved 15 of the cards. Now I am 66, and when cleaning out junk about two months ago, I dropped the cards in a Salvation Army bag with other things I donated. My question: How much were these worth if I had sold them? Make me feel terrible and tell me the value.
Don’t feel badly. You did a good deed giving collectibles to a charity. The Paladin cards sell for about $5 to $20 each, depending on the subject. We are sure some collector is thrilled to have your cards. We just hope the Salvation Army store has someone on its staff who understands the value of old trading cards.
Can you tell me anything about Marshall Pottery out of Texas? Is the pottery collectible?
Marshall Pottery was founded by W.F. Rocker in Marshall, Texas, in 1895. In the early days, the company made crocks, canning jars and syrup jugs. Marshall began making flower pots in the 1940s and claims to be the largest manufacturer of red clay pots in the United States today. Most vintage Marshall Pottery pieces sell for $25 to $300.
I have an old woven portrait of J.M. Jacquard, with the words “A la Memorie de J.M. Jacquard” underneath his picture. Is it worth anything?
In 1801, Frenchman Joseph M. Jacquard invented the Jacquard loom that made it possible to weave intricate coverlets in preselected patterns. A series of rectangular cardboard cards with hand-punched holes directed the threads on the loom to move to make the picture. The cards stored the pattern and could be used over and over.
Before Jacquard’s invention, the threads of the loom were moved by a boy who followed a set of complicated directions. Early 20th-century computers used the same idea as Jacquardloom. A bundle of keypunch cards were fed into the machine and read electronically.
Your portrait was made after Jacquard’s death in 1839. There were several versions. The picture copied a well-known oil painting of Jacquard. The silks were woven by Carquillat, Candy &Co. of Lyon, France, and manufactured by Didier Petit. A 10 1/2-by-8 1/2-inch version sold last year for $230. Larger portraits bring much higher prices.
Write to Kovels, The Herald, King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.
&Copy; 2009 by Cowles Syndicate Inc.
CURRENT PRICES
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.
Dancing Cinderella and Prince toy, Cinderella in white-and-blue gown, Prince in red-and-white suit, key windup, hard plastic, Irwin Corp., 1950s, 5 inches, $115.
Mayo’s Tobacco quilt, cotton, red squares, white ground, with picture of tobacco pack in each center, 80 x 63 inches, $130.
Dick Tracy paint book, 32 pages, illustrations by Chester Gould, Whitman, 1935, 11 x 14 inches, $290.
Ideal Saucy Walker doll, plastic head, brunette, blue sleep eyes, open mouth, 1952, 14 inches, $315.
Ripley’s “Believe It or Not” poster, featuring 540-pound Big Baby Bertha Curtis, 1940s, 42 x 54 inches, $345.
Coin silver fiddle-thread sugar tongs, rectangular, engraved script, Hyde &Goodrich, c. 1850, 6 3/4 inches, $400.
Opaline glass syllabub service, gold rim, tureen with lid, ladle, 12-inch tureen, 11 cups, $480.
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