Halloween is a very old holiday, said to date back to the Celts of England, Scotland and Ireland about 2,500 years ago. The Celtic year ended Oct. 3, and there was a harvest celebration. People dressed in costumes and welcomed back the spirits of dead relatives.
The holiday changed from a pagan celebration to a holiday honoring the saints about A.D. 800. The modern Halloween holiday with ghosts, goblins, witches, black cats and children in costumes became popular in America in the 1880s. The carved pumpkin jack-o’-lantern was also part of the celebration.
The earliest commercial examples that were not homemade carvings were made of pressed paper with cutouts for eyes, nose and mouth. A thin colored paper was pasted behind the holes so that light could shine through. By the 1930s, papier-mache was used. Plastic became popular in the 1950s. Collectors pay hundreds of dollars for rare examples.
Can you give me any information on an armoire given to me about 12 years ago by a friend? Inside one of the doors, there’s a small brass plate that reads “Lebus HL Furniture.” The HL is in an oval in the middle.
The HL stands for Harris Lebus, one of the founders of Lebus Furniture, an English furniture company that is still in business. Harris and his partner, Daniel Prentice, founded the company before World War I, and many of its early products are in the Arts &Crafts style.
For as long as I can remember, my family has had an 11-inch painted ceramic cookie jar in the shape of a chef. He’s wearing a white chef cap and uniform with a blue collar and tie. There’s a spoon in his right hand and a dish of food in his left hand. The mark on the bottom is only partially legible. The part I can read says, “RRP Co., No. 411.” Is the jar worth much?
Your chef cookie jar was made by the Robinson-Ransbottom Pottery of Roseville, Ohio. The company is still in business, making crocks, flowerpots and other garden wares. It made cookie jars from about 1935 through the 1950s. Your cookie jar sells for about $40 up to $175, depending on condition.
A relative left us a painted metal bucket with a metal bail handle. What’s unusual about it is that it’s cone-shaped. Why?
Metal buckets shaped like cones were made principally to fight fires. They were hung on a peg or set over a post near a doorway, pump or other source of water. The point at the bottom made it much easier to fill the bucket in a lake or cistern. In fact, railroads used to hang cone-shaped buckets on railroad bridges that spanned rivers or lakes. The buckets had long chains so firefighters could drop them down in the water, fill them and lift them up again.
Can you tell me something about my 3-inch brass bell? There are two inscriptions on it. One reads “To President Theodore Roosevelt, Compliments of Mayor R.R. Wright Jr.” The other reads “Facsimile, Silver Bell presented by citizens of Denver, Colorado, to the Cruiser Denver, 1903.”
The first U.S. Navy cruiser christened the USS Denver was launched June 21, 1902, and was sponsored by the daughter of the mayor of Denver, R.R. Wright Jr. A large silver ship’s bell, paid for by public donations, was presented to the cruiser in 1904. Today that bell is on display in the Denver City and County Building. Your small copy of the bell was a souvenir made for a 1903 visit to Denver by President Theodore Roosevelt.
I have a set of sterling-silver flatware by Easterling of Chicago. It was originally purchased in 1953. The service for six includes 49 pieces, none of which has been used more than a few times. I have the original tarnish-prevention case, polishing cloth and papers. Can you give me an idea of value?
Easterling Co. was founded in 1944 as a direct-sales company that handled only sterling-silver flatware. The company later expanded its products to include china, crystal and kitchen wares. The six Easterling sterling patterns, American Classic, Helene, Horizon, Rose Spray, Rosemary and Southern Grandeur, were manufactured by Gorham of Providence, R.I. The price depends on your pattern, but sterling flatware is always wanted. We have seen smaller sets than yours sell for about $300.
The Kovels answer as many questions as possible through the column. Write to Kovels, The Herald, King Features Syndicate, 888 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10019.
2004 by Cowles Syndicate Inc.
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