Plastic radios made in the 1930s and ’40s have been best sellers since the 1980s, but few collectors have noticed the phonographs from the same period. The windup portable phonograph was often well designed, also.
The RCA Victor Special phonograph was designed about 1930 by then-well-known John Vassos. One of his first designs was a screw-top hand-lotion bottle made during Prohibition. When empty, it was perfect to use as a hip flask to hold alcoholic beverages.
His best-known design is the Peevey subway turnstile, still in use. He also was an artist, an author and the designer of the first TV set shown at the 1939 World’s Fair.
The Victor Special was made of shiny aluminum and bright-pink plastic in a sleek, modern shape. It would be a popular design today. Look for other portable phonographs of the era. They are very scarce today and are going up in value.
Can you give me any information about two matching chairs I inherited? One is a rocker. I know the chairs are about 90 years old. They’re wooden, and each has a cane back and a thick seat cushion. The label on the back reads “Made by Binghamton Chair Co., Morris Chair.”
A “Morris” chair is wooden, with arms, loose cushions and an adjustable reclining back. It’s a style introduced in the 1860s by William Morris (1834-1896), a leader of the Arts &Crafts movement in England. Many English and American companies produced Morris chairs. Yours, with no back cushions, are a variation. The Binghamton Chair Co. of Binghamton, N.Y., was founded about 1880 by Roswell J. Bump. It manufactured chairs into the 20th century.
Please tell me the history of my California Modern dinnerware. I have five place settings, each a different color: pink, chartreuse, brown, light purple and turquoise. The mark on the bottom reads “California Modern, Santa Anita, Made in California.”
California Modern is a pattern name. Dishes in the pattern were marketed by the Santa Anita Pottery of Los Angeles from about 1949 until at least 1954. Santa Anita Pottery opened in 1939, but by the end of the ’40s most of its wares were manufactured in Japan. Single-color pottery dishes, like yours, are popular again.
In the late 1940s, my father returned from Germany with a windup toy. The toy is a tin mouse, 41/2 inches tall, covered with gray felt. The mouse is standing and holding a beer stein in his outstretched arms. He is wearing painted shoes, felt pants and a bow tie. When the removable key in his back is wound up, the mouse spins around and brings the stein to his mouth and then back down. One shoe is imprinted “Made in U.S. Zone Germany,” and the other, “Schuco Patent.”
Schuco is the trade name used by the German toymaker Schreyer and Co. Schreyer was founded in Nuremberg in 1912, but by 1921 it was better known as Schuco. Its first toys were felt-covered windup figures like yours, but by the mid-1930s it was best known for its tin-plate clockwork cars. Schuco’s production was interrupted by World War II, but production started up again after the war. Anything marked “U.S. Zone Germany” was manufactured between 1945 and 1949. Schuco clockwork figures come in many shapes, but all move the way your mouse does. Although these toys are relatively common, they sell for hundreds of dollars if they’re in near-mint condition with an original box. Store your toy away from moisture and sunlight.
My antique silver-plated jewel casket is marked “Pairpoint Mfg. Co., New Bedford, Mass., Quadruple Plate.” The original red-satin lining is still intact, and I had the outside resilvered because it was badly worn. The openwork casket is elaborate, with leaves, branches and acorns. The lids, one on each side of the bail handle, are engraved with a bird on a branch. My understanding is that the acorns and leaves were originally gold-washed. Should I have someone redo the gold?
Your jewel casket is pictured in Pairpoint catalogs from the early 1890s. It was offered at two prices: $8 for an “engraved” casket and $10 for an “engraved and fancy oxidized casket.” Oxidized silver has been blackened to highlight designs. The catalog does not mention gold wash. Antique silver-plated jewel caskets similar to yours sell for $200 or more. Pairpoint Manufacturing Co. was founded in New Bedford, Mass., in 1880. Until 1894, it made only plated silver. Later, Pairpoint became famous for its lamps.
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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