WorthPoint » Worthologist Harry Rinker

Q & A with Harry Rinker: A Vincent Price Collection Oil Painting from Sears

Harry Rinker — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:08:53 +0000

QUESTION: I received a Robert Watson oil-on-canvas painting from my parents, who purchased it in the 1960s as part of the Vincent Price Collection sold by Sears, Roebuck & Co. The work is titled “Old Building.” It measures unframed 25 inches by 17 inches. The black-and-white tone scene features two small figures standing in front of what appears to be a warehouse wall. The frame has the “Vincent Price Collection” label on the back. What is the value of my painting?

– SH, Ottumwa, Iowa, via e-mail

ANSWER: The following information is from The Ape Sheet: The Vincent Price Collection” was an experiment started by Sears, Roebuck and Co. to sell fine art to the general public. They hired Vincent Price to assemble the collection because he had a recognizable name and a reputation as an art collector. The actor purchased more than 2,700 works and the first 100 went on sale in October of 1962. To the store’s surprise, it worked. People clamored to buy pieces by artists such as Albrecht Durer or Reginald Pollack. Discontinued in 1971, the Vincent Price Collection has been forgotten as an odd art historical moment.”

A 1967 Sears catalog featured a Pablo Picasso oil on canvas entitled “Girl with a Boat” (Maya Picasso) for $800. I wish I had purchased it.

Robert Watson (Jan. 28, 1923 – Dec. 14, 2004), born in Martinez, Calif., is classified as a surrealist and neo-romanticist. He honed his skills studying old masters at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and worked briefly with Frederick Taubers at the University of Wisconsin. He lived for many years in Berkeley, Calif. Gump’s in San Francisco sponsored his first one-man show in 1947. His work is in museum collections around the world. His celebrity clients included Ray Bradbury, Clark Gable, Armand Hammer, Burt Reynolds and Ed Sullivan. Watson did the painting used to illustrate the 1953 edition of Bradbury’s “Martian Chronicles.” To learn more about Watson, visit www.robertwatsonart.com.

On May 28, 2007, Heritage Auctions sold an oil on canvas entitled “Figures” that measures 32 inches by 18 inches that is similar to your painting, based on the photograph image that accompanied your e-mail. It is from the same series. The final selling price was $2,390.

In researching Robert Watson painting values, there was a price disparity of more than 50 percent between prices realized at auction and asked by galleries. Based on modern trends in the surrealist/neo-romanticist market, your painting has a secondary market auction value around $3,000.

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QUESTION: My mother has a copy of a 1984 article you wrote for the Allentown Morning Call in which you talked about a ceramic Jell-O cow pitcher worth $525. My mother acquired a Jell-O cow pitcher in the 1950s and has kept it stored in her dish cabinet since that time. It is in great shape. Now, she would like to sell it. Any information you can supply would be helpful.

– TC, Bethlehem, Pa, via e-mail

ANSWER: I am not the author, at least not to my knowledge. “Rinker on Collectibles” did not begin until late 1987. The author was most likely another syndicated antiques and collectibles columnist and her husband who will remain nameless.

Wondering what caused a ceramic Jell-O cow pitcher to have such a high value in 1984, I did research. The answer is Prescott Baston, creator of Sebastian miniatures. After completing a series of Sebastian miniatures for Jell-O between 1951 and 1955, Baston designed a cow pitcher for Jell-O in 1956.

The Sebastian World website is the source for information about Sebastian figurines: Prescott W. Baston (1909-1984), who attended the Vesper George School of Art in Boston, created his first miniatures for Exeter and Deerfield Academies in 1930. During the Depression, Baston worked for a Boston clock company, a furniture moving company and as a mural painter. In 1938, he designed a miniature for the Shaker Glen House Restaurant. This led to his working with Carborne, a Boston wholesale gift distributor. Between 1939 and 1941, Baston developed a cottage industry producing and painting miniatures in his basement. In 1945, he moved to Marblehead and set up a studio.

Starting in 1950, Baston focused on producing commercial miniatures for advertising and/or giveaway promotions. Radio station WEEI and Jell-O were among his clients. In the early 1960s, Baston expanded his product line to include pen stands, religious pieces and Toby Jugs. Lance Corporation of Hudson, Mass., produced pewter figures based on Baston’s designs starting in 1969. In 1976, Lance assumed production and distribution of all Sebastian miniatures. The Sebastian Miniatures Collectors Society began in 1980.

Sebastian collectors identify the Jell-O cow pitcher as LC-13. It measures 6 ¾ icches long and 4 ¾ inches high. Jell-O offered the pitcher as a premium for $1 plus a coupon from a national Jell-O advertisement. A Japanese manufacturer produced 100,000 pieces.

Current book values vary. The website Sebastian World shows a value range between $210 and $220, although a notation indicates the value was last revised in 2003. Kyle Husfloen’s “Antique Trader Pottery and Porcelain Ceramics Price Guide, 5th Edition” (KP/Krause Publications, an imprint of F+W Publications, 2006) values the pitcher between $345 and $375. When using any price source, it is critical to check the copyright or value source date. The secondary market constantly changes.

A Jell-O cow creamer with glaze damage to one of the hooves listed on eBay with an opening bid of $48.99 (plus $9 shipping) failed to attract any bidders. WorthPoint price information includes an example in very good condition that sold on eBay on October 5, 2007 for $92.99.

Interpreting this price information produced the following results. First, if $525 was a fair secondary market value in the mid-1980s, the secondary market has lost between 40 and 75 percent of its 1984 value, depending on what source you wish to believe. Second, price guides are slow to reflect secondary market price declines. No one likes reading that the value of their favorite antique or collectibles has declined. Third, the secondary market is flooded. Thus, a realistic secondary current market value is between $75 and $85. Fourth, the number of Sebastian miniature collectors has decreased by more than two-thirds (my best guess) from its mid-1980s high. Finally, the likelihood of a future resurgence of collector interest in Sebastian miniatures is slim to none. While there always will be collectors, their numbers will be small.

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QUESTION: I have a tin pail about the size of a paint bucket. It is made of metal and painted with a shiny black ground and features a spread-winged eagle with three stars above its head and its talons holding arrows. The pail and the lid hinge are held together by rivets. Is this a piece of folk art someone created?

— LT, Janesville, Wis., via e-mail

ANSWER: Forget about any folk art attributions. Your pail is a manufactured commercial product.

When I first looked at the images of the pail that accompanied your e-mail, I thought 1930s Colonial Revival accessory. After a few moments’ reflection, I moved the date to the 1950s.

Although living in Michigan for more than a year, Linda and I still are unpacking boxes. Missing in the move, but most certainly among the unpacked boxes, is my collection of merchant (trading) stamp redemption catalogs. If I look at the Colonial Revival maple furniture and accessory pages from a late 1950s or early 1960s catalog, I am certain I will find your pail.

While most collectors think of 1950s maple as western-themed furniture, over half was Early American (Colonial) in motif. Eagle motifs on black surfaces were found on lamp shades, boxes and a host of other decorative accessories.

While your pail has little collector value, it does have decorator and reuse value. An antiques mall dealer would price it between $25 and $35.

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QUESTION: I have a commemorative plate. The front states: “To commemorate the Bi-Centenary of the discovery of Australia 1770-1970.” The image features the HMB Endeavour, Capt. James Cook, and a variety of coats of arms and emblems. The back contains a blurb about Cook and his ships plus “This plate is no. 199 of limited hand painted edition, produced by Wood and Sons Ltd., Burslem, England.” Would you have any idea of its worth?

– KMcM, Brisbane, Australia, via e-mail

ANSWER: I found the following reference on the United Kingdom version of eBay: “Wood & Sons Ltd. Australia Bi-Centenary black & white commemorative plate of the discovery of Australia 1770-1970. Plate is 10” in diameter with decorative scenes of H.M.B Endeavor at sea, picture of Capt. James Cook RN, and various coats of arms. Back of plate has a brief history of James Cook and His Majesty’s Barque Endeavor and backstamp of Woods & Sons Ltd of Burslem. Condition is good.” Since the description matches your plate, they must be one in the same.

The seller is asking £19.99 plus £4.60 for shipping. Since no one has purchased the plate, this number is high. The limited edition number is meaningless.

Your plate has its greatest value in Australia. My recommendation is to search Australian eBay, until you find an example that sells through. The final price should be between $10 and $15 Australian.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site..

You can listen and participate in Harry’s antiques-and-collectibles radio call-in show “Whatcha Got?” on Sunday mornings between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Eastern Time. It streams live on the Genesis Communications Network.

“Sell, Keep Or Toss? How To Downsize A Home, Settle An Estate, And Appraise Personal Property” (House of Collectibles, an imprint of the Random House Information Group), Harry’s latest book, is available at your favorite bookstore and via Harry’s Web site..

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the 20th century. Selected queries will be answered on this site. Harry cannot provide personal answers. Send your questions to: Rinker on Collectibles, 5955 Mill Pond Court SE, Kentwood, MI 49512. You can e-mail your questions to harrylrinker [at] aol [dot] com. Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered. Please indicate that these are questions for WorthPoint.

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Rinker on Collectibles: Top Ten Changes in the Last Five Years – Part I

Harry Rinker — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:55:37 +0000

In “Rinker on Collectibles: Twenty-Five Years and Counting”— the 25th anniversary column—I informed readers that I planned to share with them a Top 10 list of changes in the antiques and collectibles field in the last five years. Before doing so, I asked readers to e-mail their suggestions as to what changes should be included on my list and asked Dana Morykan, a friend and colleague, to post on www.harryrinker.com the two December 2007 “Rinker on Collectibles” 20th anniversary columns in which I identified and analyzed the Top 10 changes in the field since this column’s birth. Sufficient time having past, and the 20th anniversary columns being posted, it is time to reveal my Top Ten list. Like David Letterman, I will start at the bottom of the list and work my way up to my Number 1 pick.

10. The Accelerating Loss of Friends

I interpret friends in its broadest meaning. My friends include people, periodicals and institutions. The same applies to loss. Loss is more than death or demise. Loss also involves departure and absence.

Early today, I opened my travel address list for Portland, Ore. Jeff Hill, the publisher of a West Coast trade newspaper who passed away on Sept. 17, 2002, was still included. It seems like only yesterday when Jeff and I were sitting in his living room discussing developments within the trade. Except for Chris and Chuck Palmer and a few close friends, I wonder who else remembers Jeff, one of the most brilliant analyzers of trend the trade has known.

The loss of individuals one knows is a consequence of growing old. Keeping a list, even thinking about it, can lead to depression. Names such as Susan Bagdade, Ralph Kovel, Norman Martinus and Sam Pennington come immediately to mind. What does not come easy is a list of individuals who have replaced them. How many giants can the antiques and collectibles trade lose before the impact is measurable?

[Author’s Aside: My short list is the proverbial tip of the iceberg. A full list would include many more than 100 names.]

Consolidation reduced the number of publishers specializing in antiques and collectibles titles by more than two-thirds in the 1990s and early 2000s. Hence, the demise of any consolidator or survivor has serious consequences. When Random House reduced its House of Collectibles title line—especially price guide titles—little concern was raised. It was assumed other trade publishers would pick up the slack.

The loss of Collector Books was a major blow. Collector Books served the middle portion of the collecting marketplace. Several of its ceramic and glass titles were the bibles for their respective collecting categories. Authors, such as Gene Florence, exited gracefully. The Schroeder family has my admiration and respect for the contributions they made to the antiques and collectibles field’s knowledge base and for staying the course as long as possible. Collector Books will be missed.

“Antiques and Collecting Magazine, formerly Hobbies, has merged with Collectors News, re-emerging as Treasures. The Graham family—Dale (who passed away in February 2010), his wife Francis, and his son Gregory—were an integral part of the trade for more than half a century. It is hard to imagine the trade without them.

Connie Swaim just announced her retirement as a full-time editor at AntiqueWeek. Kyle Husfloen, who served as editor for The Antique Trader when it was under the capable ownership of Ed Babka, and later Landmark and KP Publications (F+W Media, Inc.), now lives in California and contributes only occasionally.

There is a fine line between waxing nostalgic and becoming maudlin. Concerned that I am crossing this line, it is time to move on.

9. Changes in the Price Divides within Collecting Categories

Pricing within an antiques and collectibles category has never been linear. Prices divide into levels or plateaus. In a new collecting category, the number of levels between the bottom and top are few. As a collecting category grows in sophistication, the number of pricing levels within it increase. A major collecting category, where the high-end unit price is in excess of $100,000, can have more than a dozen pricing levels.

Price levels enable buyers (collectors) to enter the marketplace at affordable price points—“something familiar, something peculiar, something for everyone,” borrowing the opening lines from lyrics for “A Comedy Tonight.” The number of buyers involved is one of the measures of a collecting category’s strengths.

The concepts of scarcity and rarity were redefined in the past five years. Many items once consider scarce by collectors proved to be extremely common. In some cases, the number of pieces entering the secondary market flooded it, especially at the bottom and in the middle.

Collecting involves bragging rights. Collectors want to own examples their counterparts do not. When everyone owns the same things, the fun and collector interest vanishes. When a collecting category is thus impacted, the collector exodus is greater at the bottom and middle than the top. The wealth divide between the wealthiest Americans and the middle and lower classes is a perfect analogy, especially when one factors in the declining number of middle class Americans.

The middle price levels in collecting categories are shrinking. In some instances, they have or are disappearing. The possibility exists that in the future, there will be some collecting categories where the only collectors are those focusing on the top one to three percent of the objects in the category. Since the number of buyers for middle and low end material will be minimal, prices will plummet in order to attract buyers.

8. Consolidation Counter Revolution

The antiques and collectibles trade witnessed consolidation throughout the industry in the 1990s and early 2000s. Large media corporations bought trade publications and publishing companies. Several added show venues to their holdings. The vertical holdings company seeking to capitalize on the savings consolidation offered appeared to be the trade’s future. While Landmark and Krause were American corporations, DMB World Media was British based. Foreign invasion does not always have to be military.

Consolidation also occurred within the auction community. Sotheby’s went on a buying spree. Even Bonham’s entered the arena. Individual and regional auction companies fell prey to the lure of quick and easy cash. Who can blame them?

What all these buyers failed to recognize is the personal, individual nature of the antiques and collectibles business. Antiques and collectibles is an industry where individuals want to deal face to face, not with a phone bank of callers based in “God knows where.”

A counter revolution is underway. AntiqueWeek and its sister publications are back in the hands of Gary Thoe and his wife. The field breathed a collective sigh of relief when the news was announced. Ted Hake, Dan Morphy and others regained control of the auction firms they helped create. DMG World Media has sold some of its consumer shows and is in the process of selling others.

Consolidation still rears its ugly head, albeit now in the form of alliances rather than outright purchase. Greg Martin, who broke away from Butterfield & Butterfield to create Greg Martin Auctions, is now aligned with Heritage Auctions. The jury is out on whether the maxim of “there is strength in numbers” will apply.

When I assembled my Top 10 list, I pledged to myself to hold the series to two columns. It will not happen. The series will be three columns in length. I never feel the need to justify my actions, although I offer an occasional explanation. Since no general history of the antiques and collectibles trade exists (there are several high-end histories) nor am I aware of anyone writing such a history, I view “Rinker on Collectibles” as a chronicler of the trade’s journey through the latter half of the 20th century and first part of the 21st. Hence, I favor length over brevity.

Finally, now that readers see where I am heading, I want them to have more time to send their recommendations for the top portion of my Top 10 list. E-mail me at harrylriker [at] aol [dot] com.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site..

You can listen and participate in Harry’s antiques-and-collectibles radio call-in show “Whatcha Got?” on Sunday mornings between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Eastern Time. It streams live on the Genesis Communications Network.

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Q & A with Harry Rinker: Yearbook Featuring Charlton Heston & Rock Hudson

Harry Rinker — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:56:48 +0000

QUESTION: I am seeking the value of a 1941 New Trier High School yearbook that contains Charlton Heston’s senior picture, along with his photograph as a member of the Dramatics Club and other senior activities, such as the Rifle Club. The same yearbook includes a sophomore class photo of R. Fitzgerald, who later became Rock Hudson. Unfortunately, Heston did not sign the yearbook. I have tried to find comparable values on the internet but have not been successful. Can you help?

– S.F., Chicago Area, Ill., via e-mail

ANSWER: Entertainment websites and periodicals love running “guess who” yearbook celebrity pictures. The collecting of celebrity yearbooks began in earnest in the 1990s. In 2002, Southeastern Antiquing and Collecting Magazine published Brandon Ross’s “Celebrity Yearbook Values.”

New Trier Township High School was founded in 1901. It has two campuses, one located in Winnetka (Ill.) and the other in New Trier West near Northfield (Ill.). In addition to Charlton Heston and Rock Hudson, other actors and actresses who graduated from New Trier include Ralph Bellamy, Bruce Dern, Virginia Madsen, Hugh O’Brien, Charlotte Ross, Hall Sparks and Rainn Wilson.

Michele Alice’s article “Collector’s Corner: Yearbooks as Collectibles” published in ecommerceBytes.com on June 15, 2006,] notes: “Recently, a Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) fan was willing to spend $661.55 for a 1980 (Montesano, Wash.) high school yearbook bearing Cobain’s image. And for $432.50, someone really wanted a 1941 New Trier (IL) Yearbook with photos of Rock Hudson and Charlton Heston. (All prices mentioned in this article were taken from online auctions completed between June 01 and June 22, 2006).”

I found a dealer listing a 1943 New Trier yearbook featuring an unsigned senior picture of R. Fitzgerald (Rock Hudson) for sale at $90. The picture was unsigned.

First, does a signature add value and, if so, how much? The answer is yes. Add an additional 25 to 35 percent, if the famous personality signed his photograph in his/her yearbook.

Second, time affects value. Interest in Charlton Heston and Rock Hudson memorabilia is declining with each passing year. The late 1990s and early 2000s were the peak years, as $432.50 is too high for a 2012 value. A realistic price is between $200 and $250.

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QUESTION: In the early 1940s, my father, a doctor, bought an Eversharp “Command Performance” pen and pencil set. The set remains in its period box. The pen and pencil are housed in individual leather cases. The box contains a folded “Guaranteed Forever” document and a price card that reads: “EVERSHARP / Command Performance (script lettering) / Fourteen Karat Gold Throughout / $125.00.” What is my set worth?

– F.B.K, Roanoke, Va.

ANSWER: Prior to 1940, Parker, Shaeffer and Wahl were among the largest fountain pen manufacturers in the United States. When Wahl experienced financial difficulties in 1940, the company reorganized as Eversharp, capitalizing on the sales strength of its Eversharp repeater pencil, introduced in 1936.

Realizing a new line of pens was necessary if Eversharp was to recapture market share, Eversharp hired industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss (1904-1972). Dreyfuss developed a Streamlined Modernist design that was a distinct departure from Wahl’s previous Art Deco designs.

Eversharp introduced Dreyfuss’s “Skyliner” design in the spring of 1941. The design captured the streamlined design associated with period aircraft. Initial advertising noted: “Magic Feed prevents ink flooding or leaking high in a plane . . . so of course at ground level too.” Design historians see linkages between Dreyfuss’s Skyliner design and his design for the New York Central 20th Century Limited locomotive.

Skyliner pens came in a wide variety of styles, most of which contain no markings. There were three basic models—Demi (Lady), Standard and Executive. All designs had a matching pencil. Pen and pencil set prices ranged from $3.50 (all plastic) to $125 (14 karat gold). A double checkmark on the clip signified an Eversharp lifetime warranty. Because of the Skyliner’s over-the-top clip design, it was a favorite among military users.

[TRIVIA QUIZ: The Skyliner design also worked well with another popular Dreyfuss-designed object. What was it?]

Although the Skyliner was the most popular pen sold in America in 1945, Eversharp decreased its Skyliner advertising in favor of the Fifth Avenue model and, after 1948, the Symphony model.

Introduced in the early 1940s, Eversharp’s Command Performance pen and the pen and pencil set were advertised as the “gift of a lifetime.” The model was made only in the Standard size. Although advertisements picture only a pen and pencil with a smooth body, collectors believe pens and pencils with engraved or machined pattern cases exist. The pen (Model 78SY) sold for $75 and the matching pencil (Model 178SY) for $50. Although expensive at the time, sales were brisk. Collectors classify the pen and pencil set as common.

[Author’s Aside: Eversharp also made a pen and pencil set featuring a solid cap and barrel in platinum. The set sold for $200 in 1941. Collectors considered it to be very scarce.]

David Nishimura’s Vintage Pens website lists a Command Performance “wartime lever-filler, 13.3 cm long, with matching 1.l mm injector pencil…” at $1,200, noting that the “Asking price is less than $100 over current gold value.” I found several internet sales for the pen alone with prices realized ranging between $300 and $600.

The pen and pencil set has multiple values in today’s marketplace. A Modernist collector with an emphasis on industrial designer pieces might pay between $700 and $900. Given the current melt value of gold, this price is considerably below the melt value found in the pen and pencil cases. While I cringe when I recommend melt value, it may be easier to dispose of the pen and pencil set in this fashion than taking the time and making the effort to find a collector who would pay top dollar.

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QUESTION: I have a copy of Volume No. 1 of “ELVIRA Mistress of the Dark” magazine issued by Marvel on Oct. 1, 1988. What is its value?

– T, Madisonburg, Pa.

ANSWER: The “Elvira, Mistress of the Dark” movie was directed by James Signorelli. Cassandra Peterson, who played Elvira, John Paragon and Sam Egan wrote the script. The movie was released on Sept. 30, 1988. In 1989, Peterson received a nomination for a Razzie as Worst Actress, but lost to Liza Minnelli for roles in “Arthur 2: On the Rocks” and “Rent-A-Cop.”

Peterson (born Sept. 17, 1951) began her role as Elvira on Los Angeles’s KHJ as host of “Movie Macabre” in 1981. Her sexy/punk vampire look featured a tight-fitting, low-cut black grown that showed her ample cleavage, heavily-applied pancake-horror makeup and a towering black beehive wig. Her movie introductions include risqué double entendres.

Elvira became a frequent guest on “The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson.” She also was featured in television advertisements for Coors-Light Beer and Mug Root Beer. TV guest appearances included “CHiPs” and “Fantasy Island.” In 1982, Knott’s Theme Park hired Elvira to host its annual Halloween Haunt.

Do not confuse the comic book promoting the movie with the comic book series from DC Comics, Eclipse Comics and Claypool Comics. The Eclipse/Claypool series consists of 166 issues.

Copies of the movie promotion comic are common. I found numerous sale listings on the Internet with prices at or below $10.

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QUESTION: I have a VHS Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles tape that was a 1990s Burger King premium. Does it have any value?

– J, Reading, Pa.

ANSWER: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arrived on the scene in 1984 in a comic book format published by Mirage Studios of Dover, N.H. The four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, trained by an anthropomorphic rat sensei in ninjutsu, evolved from the imagination of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.

In 1986, Dark Horse miniatures produced a set of 15mm lead figures. Playmates Toys, Inc., followed with a line of action figures a years later. Playmates produced a mini-series to promote its toy line. After repeating the series three times with limited success, Group W provided funding to create additional episodes. CBS picked up the show. By the late 1980s, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles craze was in full swing. Turtles images were everywhere, from breakfast cereal and PEZ containers to cameras and video games.

In 1990, Burger King offered four VHS Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle videos as promotional giveaways through its Kids’ Club: “April Foolish,” “Invasion of the Turtle Snatchers,” “The Great Boldini,” and “Sky Turtles.” Although some internet sellers are asking as high as $13 plus shipping, the sell-through average on eBay is between $3 and $4, with shipping ranging from $2.50 to $4. The survival rate for all four videos is high.

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TRIVIA QUIZ ANSWER: In 1937, Dreyfuss designed the rotary telephone. The blunt end of the Skyliner pen doubled as a telephone dialer.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site.

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Rinker on Collectibles: How Behavioral Economics Effect Our Purchases

Harry Rinker — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:08:22 +0000

The antiques and collectibles business does not operate in isolation in respect to economic, marketing, scientific and sociological principles that govern other business practices. Since there is no formal “theory of the trade,” I searched other business and scientific operating theories seeking possible connections to the antiques and collectibles trade.

The June 1, 2000 issue of “Science Daily” contained an article that discussed how the brain “fills in blanks” to help us see and interact with objects by inserting missing information. The scientific concept involved is perception theory.

Perception theory principles apply to the antiques and collectibles trade in numerous ways. I hear countless stories from individuals who tell me about examining and purchasing an object only to get it home and discover a crack, chip or defect they overlooked during the initial inspection. When buying jigsaw puzzles, I have to exercise care if the puzzle is assembled, placed on a dark cardboard, and shrink wrapped. If I look straight at the puzzle, I occasionally overlooked one or more missing pieces. Correcting what my eyes see, my brain fills in any missing pieces. Nature abhors a vacuum. So does the human mind.

Holding and examining the object at an odd angle or against an unfamiliar background is the method used to avoid seeing missing defects. The mind only corrects defects and missing information when the eyes view objects in the traditional/standard mode.

I keep ample reading material in the room where I usually find myself on a daily basis with time for reflection. AARP The Magazine is one of these resources. The May/June 2011 issue contained an article by David Kestenbaum entitled “Why We Fall for This.” It is worth reading.

The article focuses on behavioral economics, “which explores how money plays tricks with our heads.” The website Investopedia defines behavioral economics as: “The study of psychology as it relates to the economic decision-making process of individuals and institutions. The two most important questions in this field are: 1. Are economists’ assumptions of utility or profit maximization good approximations of real people’s behavior? 2. Do individuals maximize subjective expected utility?” Investopedia goes on to explain: “Behavioral economics explores why people sometimes make irrational decisions and why and how their behavior does not follow the predications of economic models . . .”

Is this scientific fact or hooey when applied to the antiques and collectibles field? The answer is fact.

[Author’s Aside: I debated for months whether or not to write this column. I was a strong supporter of Mark Chervenka’s efforts in providing the trade with authentication information that informed us how to differentiate between period pieces and reproductions (exact copies), copycat (stylistic copies), fantasy pieces and fakes. At the same time, Mark’s efforts also provide information to manufacturers and fakers about how to correct the faults in subsequent production, thus making the authentication process more difficult. It is the perfect example of damned if you do and damned if you do not.

The same applies to what follows. By identifying and discussing several marketing traps and pricing tricks that fake out the brain, I am providing a methodology that unscrupulous dealers and others in the trade can employ. Since caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) governs the antiques and collectibles industry, I decided that to beware, one must be aware.]

Kestenbaum utilizes a cause and effect approach in his “Why We Fall for This” article. He notes: “Companies exploit . . . brain scrambling effects to get us to buy things we don’t need. The good news: If you see them coming, you can use the same tricks to save money—and make money.”

Using a high price to make a lower price seem reasonable even if it is not is one of the traps Kestenbaun identifies. He cites the example of a restaurant wine list that contains a $200 bottle of wine, which no one is likely to order, so that bottles of wine priced around $100 seem reasonable.

Applying this concept to the antiques and collectible field, especially at antiques malls and antiques shows, is easy. When examining merchandise in a booth or showcase, the first thing I check out is the merchandise pricing. Is it what I expect? If not, is it high or low? How do prices on one object relate to the others?

Aware of the above example, I recall numerous booths and showcases where there were one or two high (also read “over”) priced objects that made the values on the other objects in the booth or showcase appear more reasonable than they were. Whether the sellers deliberately utilized the above behavioral strategy is open to question. My friend David Lindquist of Whitehall at the Villa Antiques always advises me “to give a dealer the benefit of the doubt.” I prefer to consider dealers far smarter than David would like me to believe.

I was victimized by a variation of this trap early in my buying career. While attending a show, I saw numerous objects that I would have liked to own priced at or slightly more than $100—at the time, a challenging sum. When I encountered objects I desired priced between $35 and $45, I bought eagerly. At the end of the day, I had spent more than $400 on my “reasonably priced” purchases. I learned to add up my purchases as I made them to maintain a firm grasp of how much money I was spending.

There are two methods to avoid this trap. First, do market research before buying. Understand the scarcity level and the price-point spread of the collecting category and object. Second, know what you are willing to pay and do not pay more. Kestenbaum suggest that you pick an object at a set value—a concept known as a price anchor—and use it as a reference point. Compare what you are buying to the price anchor. Is paying more worth “the show” value?

Another behavioral trap is loss aversion. Once we own something, our concept of its value increases. “The pain of losing outweighs the joy of winning.” Every month I receive letters and e-mails from individuals telling me they purchased an object at venues ranging from an auction to an antiques show to Goodwill and asking me to tell them what it is worth. Since they just bought it, they obviously know what it is worth. However, once they own it, they become obsessed with the concept that it has to be worth more than they paid for it. Everyone loves a bargain. I have lost track of the number of times that I have had to tell a person that he/she paid too much rather than too little.

The same applies to my use of the phrase “you should have kissed the hand and taken the money” at appraisal clinics. It is not difficult to tell when I provide a disappointing value. The owner’s eyes are a giveaway. When I ask what the problem is, the owner says, “I was offered three times that amount five years ago.” “Why did you not sell?” I ask. The owner’s response ranges from “if that person thought it was worth that much, I knew it had to be worth more” to “since it is now five years later, the object has to be worth more.”

Kestenbaum notes that in the stock market, “we tend to hold losers too long and sell winners too early.” The same applies in the antiques and collectibles field.

What was just described also relates to another behavioral trap. The lure of a huge payoff overshadows low-odds situations. Everyone in the trade, from collectors to dealers, is out for the kill, the cheap purchase that sells for hundreds of thousands. Dreams, not reality, is one of the primary commodities sold in the antiques and collectibles industry.

Behavioral science most certainly has more to offer in terms of understanding how the antiques and collectibles trade operates than those examples offered above. I welcome any additional connections from readers who are behavioral anthropologists, economists, psychologists, or sociologists. Send your observations to harrylrinker [at] aol [dot] com.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site..

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Q & A with Harry Rinker: Clinchfield Pottery Plate, Lafayette Rittgers Figurines

Harry Rinker — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:02:27 +0000

QUESTION: I am trying to identify an earthenware dinner plate that belongs to a cousin. The body has a white glaze. There is a medallion at 12 o’clock on the flat front border that features a head-and-shoulder portrait of a pretty lady inside a horseshoe that is flanked on each site by a swastika and floral arrangement. The backstamp consists of a crown on top of a circle. Within the border inside the circle is: “CLINCHFIELD / CHINA.” “S. P. I.” is in the center of the circle. Beneath the mark is the number “4-26.” Can you help?

– S.B., via e-mail

ANSWER: The detailed images of the medallion and mark attached to your e-mail were helpful in dating and identifying the maker of your plate.

The woman’s image and the surrounding presentation are typical of images used on ceramics in the late 1910s and early 1920s. The swastika, an equilateral cross whose arms are bent at right angles in either a clockwise or counter clockwise motion, is a decorative symbol that dates back to antiquity. The word’s origin is suastika, a Sanskrit word associated with any lucky or auspicious object. Cultures as diverse as Buddhism, Greco-Roman, Hinduism, Native American, and Slavic used the symbol.

[Author’s Aside: The swastika is found in right-facing (counterclockwise) and left facing form (clockwise motion). The example on the plate is right-facing, the same image that eventually become the symbol for the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) from the 1920s through 1945. Although the two images are identical, there is no association between them. The designer of the medallion on the plate selected the swastika for its “good luck” connotation in support of the horseshoe surrounding the pretty lady.]

In the middle of the 1910s, the Clinchfield, Carolina and Ohio Railroad sought to encourage new industry along its line. E. J. Owen, formerly associated with the East End Pottery in East Liverpool, Ohio, Owen China Company in Minerva, Ohio, and Paden City Pottery, founded Clichfield Pottery in Erwin, Tenn., in 1917. The first products were dinnerware, often featuring gold trim and applied decals.

In 1920, Clinchfield Pottery was incorporated as Southern Potteries Incorporated (S.P.I.). From 1917 until 1938, most pieces were marked with the crown Clinchfield China mark. A limited number, approximately 15, dinnerware blanks were utilized to produce pieces, variety created by changing the applied decal or trim. The company also produced a large number of advertising ceramics, such as calendar plates during this period. The number “4-26” most likely indicates the mold blank (4) and the decal number (26).

Collectors for Clinchield period Southern Pottery pieces number fewer than 50, perhaps even 25. Your plate has more curiosity than dollar value. Its secondary market value is less than $5.

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QUESTION: I have nine, 1940s Lafayette Rittgers figures that include two baseball players and an umpire, two football players, a lady and male bowler, and a boxer and referee. How much are they worth?

– S.P., Phoenix, Ariz., via e-mail

ANSWER: Lafayette (Fay) L. Rittgers (April 15, 1904-Feb. 14, 1984) grew up in Oklahoma City. Upon finishing high school, he moved to Denver, where he met and married Helen in May 1929. While in Denver, he was employed as a window decorator at the John A. Brown Department Store. In 1937, Lafayette and Helen moved to Chicago. Lafayette enhanced his sculpting skills by attending art school. Eventually, he established his own studio.

Rittgers introduced his first commercial novelty figurines in 1939: a standup and tied-up wrestler. An umpire with a chest protector appeared in 1940. The baseball player, another wrestler, football player and bowlers (male and female) appeared in 1941. Sports series were sold in sets of two or three, depending on the grouping, wholesaling for $2 and retailing between $3 and $5.

By 1941, Rittgers employed six individuals to produce and paint his humorous figures. In 1943, he moved his novelty business from his 51st and Harper Avenue location to a storefront building near 56th and Harper. A year later the company moved to 5628 South Lake Park Ave.

Rittgers sold his novelties through Suttle and Asmus, a wholesale distributor who displayed at gift shows throughout the Midwest. While Rittgers Novelties did not issue catalogs, examples of Suttle and Asmus catalogs featuring Rittgers pieces survive.

Rittgers signed and copyrighted his work. Although Rittgers ended his novelty business in 1956, he continued to sculpt models on a commission basis for advertising and other purposes. Rittgers figures appeared in a series of 1950 Buick advertisements.

The label on the bottom of a figure dates it. Two labels were used from 1941 to 1945: (1) “Original Humor by / RITTGERS / Copyrighted by Lafayette L. Rittgers / CHICAGO” and (2) “Distributed by / SUTTLE & ASMUS / CHICAGO, ILL.” The label “DISTRIBUTED / Exclusively by / SUTTLE and RITTGERS Inc. / Evanston, Illinois” dates from the mid-1940s through the early 1950s. “Copyright by / LAFAYETTE LASO RITTGERS / CHICAGO 37, ILL.” is the last label used.

The difficulty in providing a value for your figurines is that variations abound. Molds were changed slightly. Decorators used various paint schemes. Some baseball players and other sports figures feature specific team or company logos on their uniforms.

Charlie Bulko’s “Collecting Rittgers: The Complete Collector’s Guide,” published by the author in 2011 (ordering information available by e-mailing cbulko [at] excite [dot] com) contains a detailed history of Rittgers Novelties and a desirability scale. With 10 indicating most desirable and 1 least desirable, your sports sets are in the 1 to 2 range.

Common baseball, wrestling and bowling sets, assuming very good or better condition, sell between $175 and $225 at auction. Add another $50 for the football set. Individual figures begin around $65 and go up in value depending on scarcity. Buy It Now prices on eBay tend to be higher. Figurines with damage of any kind are tough sells.

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QUESTION: I have a vintage Santa with a label reading “Rushton Star Creation” on one side and “The Rushton Company / Atlanta, Ga. / 1” on the other. Santa is 18 inches tall and a Coca Cola collectible. He has a Coke bottle under one hand. The bottle is dark molded with the letters “Coca Cola” beneath which is “Trademark registered.” The bottle cap reads: “Drink / Coca Cola / Reg. US Pat. Off.” His face and hands are molded plastic. His eyes are brown. His belt is black plastic. His boots are black vinyl and not molded. The boots have white stitching around the sole. The examples I have found on the internet have molded white or black boots. Listings indicate these were made in the late 1950s. I believe my Santa dates back to the 1940s. Can you help me date it?

– G.S., Mars Hill, N.C., via e-mail

ANSWER: Yes, your Santa dates from 1957. The Rushton Coca-Cola Santa was introduced in that year to market Coca-Cola during the holiday season. The company did not exist in the 1940s. The 1957 selling price was $3.98. The labels you describe above were attached to the soles of the feet.

There are several listings for Rushton Coca-Cola Santas with “stitched vinyl boots,” which indicate yours as an early version of the doll. There are three sizes—14, 15 and 16 inches. How precisely did you measure your doll? In your defense, I did find an 18-inch Rushton Star Creation Santa online.

The period bottle is a value-added feature. Most examples listed either are missing the bottle or are being sold with a replica bottle.

For more information about the history of Rushton Company here.

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QUESTION: I have a “BURRY’S 10 CENTS OFF COUPON FOR PEPSI COLA” with an expiration date of December 31, 1961. I found the coupon in the bottom of a friend’s kitchen cabinet during remolding. The coupon was to be mailed to the Burry Biscuit Corporation of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Does the coupon have any value in today’s marketplace?

– M.L., Florida, via e-mail

ANSWER: The Burry Biscuit Company, Elizabeth, N.J., traced its history back to 1888. In 1959, it was a division of Quaker Oats, which subsequently sold off Burry in the early 1980s. In 2003, Burry was part of Interbake Food, Inc., which canceled the Burry trademark in 2005. Burry’s former Elizabeth, N.J. factory suffered a major fire on Dec. 22, 2011.

Burry produced a variety of cookies in the 1960s, including Gauchos (a peanut butter-cream filling inside an oatmeal shell), fudge-filled shortcake, and pecan penuche. Burry also made Girl Scout cookies in the 1930s and possibly later.

Your coupon has no redeemable value and very little collector value. Alas, society has long passed the point where a 10-cent rebate is viewed as an incentive. A Pepsi collector might pay $1 to $2 based more on novelty than collectible value, but do not hold your breath.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site..

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Rinker on Collectibles: Twenty-Five Years and Counting

Harry Rinker — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:31:17 +0000

“Rinker on Collectibles” is 25. When the average life expectancy in the United State is approaching 80 years, 25 years is young. In the year leading up to my 25th birthday, my graduate studies at Washington University in St. Louis ended, my brother and father died, I bought my first house and I was four months into my first full-time job as director of Archival Research for Historic Bethlehem, Inc. It was a long time ago—multiple careers, three wives, two children, five stepchildren, and nine grandchildren.

In a weekly columnist’s terms, 25 years is a lifetime. Although 45 when the first “Rinker on Collectibles” appeared in “Joel Sater’s Antiques & Auction News,” my level of naiveté still astonishes me. I remember pooh-poohing a friend who advised me to think twice about undertaking the responsibility of a weekly column: How much trouble can it be? I replied. As the Dutch proverb states: “We grow too soon old and too late smart.”

Having recounted “Rinker on Collectibles” history in past columns, I have no intention of repeating it. It is this intense desire on my part to avoid repetition that has made writing “Rinker on Collectibles” a challenge. Offering fresh insight or reinterpreting something written previously in a new way was easier when writing text columns 15 years ago than now.

[Author’s Aside #1: Dana Morykan has edited, proofed, and made suggestions for improvement to “Rinker on Collectibles” for more than 20 years. Her contributions deserve recognition. Dana also is the webmaster for harryrinker.com. I have instructed Dana to post Column #1,040 on there for those readers who wish to learn more about this column’s history.]

Another “Rinker on Collectibles” column challenge is its length. Weekly columns typically range between 600 and 750 words. I decided I would rather write what I wanted to write rather than restrict myself to a specific word count. “Rinker on Collectibles” averages between 1,250 and 1,500 words per column. I try hard not to think about the possibility that I actually have written 50 rather than 25 years worth of columns.

According to friends, the tone of “Rinker on Collectibles” has changed, especially since I married Linda eight years ago. While I deny my supposed mellowness, I am aware that I have become less adversarial and more focused on providing suggestions to assist the survival of the antiques and collectibles community in these difficult economic times.

In the months leading up to the writing of this column, I have wrestled with the question of when “Rinker on Collectibles” should end. When asked about this in the past, I jokingly responded: “My goal is to outlast Connie Swaim.” Although still listed as managing editor on the masthead of AntiqueWeek, Connie now spends more time working at a pet shelter than in AntiqueWeek’s editorial offices. I felt safe using Connie as an improbable departure goal. She is younger and someone, I felt, who was so in love with the trade that “burn out” was impossible.

My two other stock responses to when “Rinker on Collectibles” will end are: (1) when I no longer have anything valid to offer; and (2) when it stops being fun. As indicated earlier, it is becoming more difficult to find text column topics. My “stew list,” a list of column ideas about which I am thinking, used to consist of 15 to 20 topics. Now, five is a high number.

[Author’s Aside #2: Several leading cartoonists have taken a six- to 12-month hiatus, running previously drawn strips while spending time relaxing and refreshing themselves. I have rejected similar suggestions from my editors and plan to remain defiant. When it is time to end “Rinker on Collectibles,” it will end.]

This is hardly a fun time in the antiques and collectibles business. Times are tough. Anyone who does not admit this is a fool. Survival is the order of the day. While I never thought of fun in relative terms, it is. The antiques and collectibles trade still is fun, perhaps not in the same way it was in the 1980s and 1990s, but fun nevertheless. The people and stories associated with the trade make it fun. Both remain plentiful and apparent.

Early in my career, one of my goals was to write “Rinker on Collectibles” for 20 years. When I reached that milestone, I revised the goal to 25 years. Having met this goal, what happens next?

In the Freshman Seminar I just finishing teaching at Davenport University, I helped my students set short-term (2 to 5 years), intermediate-term (8 to 10 years) and long-term (15 years) goals. When you are 18 to 20, these ranges are realistic. The view changes when one is 70. If realistic, goals are shorter.

“Quit while you are ahead” and “you have run a good race” kept repeating in my mind as Column #1,300 neared. Fortunately or unfortunately, time will tell, my pride (or ego) is such that I am not ready to concede that “Rinker on Collectibles” is finished. While I occasionally dread the weekly deadline, I am not ready to give it up.

A goal of five more years is not realistic. I am not ready to assume this burden. An additional year is too short. What is an achievable number?

[Author’s Aside #3: My accountant has been after me for years to set a retirement date. When I moved to Michigan, I had to dissolve Rinker Enterprises, Inc., a Pennsylvania corporation. This necessity provided the leverage for my accountant to insist upon a retirement date and my creation of a retirement plan. I agreed. I will retire in 2026, when I turn 85. A plan has been put into place to make this possible.]

Column #1,500 is my next “Rinker on Collectibles” goal. It will require another 3 years and 10 months to reach. If I am going to achieve it, I need help from my readers. First, I need suggestions for text columns. What topics would you like me to explore? E-mail your thoughts to harrylrinker [at] aol [dot] com.

Second, as “Rinker on Collectibles” approached its 20th anniversary in late December 2006, I wrote two columns focusing on the Top Ten changes in the antiques and collectibles field between 1986 and 2006. They were in ascending order of importance:

10. End of Collecting as a Hobby
9. Developing of a Collecting Consciousness
8. Grading Revolution
7. Value Revolution
6. Consolidation—Newspapers, Periodicals, Publishing Houses and Shows
5. Information Explosion
4. Globalization of Collecting
3. eBay
2. Collectibles Achieve a Life of Their Own
1. Demographic Changes

Although only five years have transpired between 2007 and 2012, the impact on the antiques and collectibles industry during these years has been profound. I am in the process of finalizing a new Top Ten list identifying events and trends that chronicle this change. My intent is to write a series of two “Rinker on Collectibles” columns focusing on this list.

Once again, I am turning to my readers to ask for their input. What events and trends would you put on the list? E-mail your recommendations to harrylrinker [at] aol [dot] com.

Finally, “Rinker on Collectibles” would not have existed for 25 years if not for you, its loyal readers. I express my profound thanks and gratitude for your support, encouragement, and occasional disparaging remarks. The primary goal of “Rinker on Collectibles” was and remains to create thought and discussion within the trade. I look forward to continuing to do this.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site..

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Q & A with Harry Rinker: Ray Harryhausen Animation, Vietnamese Bank Notes & More

Harry Rinker — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 17:25:13 +0000

QUESTION: I was born in 1944. During my elementary school years, between 1950 and 1956, we watched film cartoons shown on an 8mm or 16mm projector. One I remember was about a man who loved gold, somehow managed to turn his daughter into gold, and then gave up all his gold to bring his daughter back to life. The cartoons contained stop motion animatronics. I have spent hours on the internet trying to locate information about this film. Can you shed any light on it?

– S.S., Boerne, Texas, via e-mail

ANSWER: The film is a theatrical cartoon entitled “The Story of King Midas.” It was produced and directed by Ray Harryhausen, written by Charlotte Knight and distributed by Phoenix, BFA Films. It was first released around 1953. The run time is 10 minutes and eight seconds. The two characters in the film are King Midas and his daughter.

The story of King Midas dates back to Greek mythology. King Midas was an actual person, although historians disagree about his personal history. In one account, Midas, son of King Gordias and his goddess consort Cybele, was king of Perssinus, a city of Phrygia. Herodotus, a Greek historian, talks of the ancient kings of Macedon and King Midas’s garden of roses on the slopes of Mount Bermion.

Ovid introduced the King Midas myth in his “Metamorphoses.” Silenius, a satyr, is discovered asleep in King Midas’s rose garden. After discovering Silenius, King Midas entertained him for 10 days and nights. On the eleventh day, Silenius granted King Midas a wish. King Midas asked that everything he touched turn to gold. Unable to eat (his food turned to gold), King Midas faced starvation. He prayed to Dionysus, who instructed him to wash in the river Pactolus. When Midas did, the power to create gold transferred from Midas’s body to the river’s sands. Midas mined the sands and became a rich king.

Raymond Frederick Harryhausen, born June 19, 1920, created Dynamation, stop-motion model animation. Willis O’Brien, the model animator for “King Kong,” inspired Harryhausen. In many Harryhausen films, the animation interacts with live action.

Harryhausen began his film career working on Paramount’s George Pal’s Puppetoon shorts. During World War II, he was part of the Army Motion Picture Unit. Harryhausen’s film credits include “King Kong” (1952 release), “The Monster from Beneath the Sea,” “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms,” “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” and “Clash of the Titans.”

Harryhausen produced five stop-motion cartoons—“The Storybook Review” (1946), “The Story of Little Red Riding Hood” (1949), “Hansel and Gretel” (1951), “The Story of Rapunzel” (1951) and “The Story of King Midas” (1953). Harryhausen hoped to make 15 to 20 fairy tale cartoons. He stopped the project while making “The Tortoise and the Hare” because of the time required to make each cartoon and a desire to return to feature films.

“The Story of King Midas” is available here YouTube and several other internet sites free of charge. Anyone wishing to view it can easily do so. As a result, the demand for older film versions has declined significantly. A viewable film copy is valued at under $40.00.

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QUESTION: My husband has two bills that he acquired in Cambodia. The first is a Viet-Nam 10 Dong note, the second is a “Une Plastre” Institut D’Emission Des Estas du Cambodge du Laos et du Vietnam. Do they have any value?

– T.M., Solomon, Ariz.

ANSWER: The Institut d’Emission des Etats Du Cambodge du Laoa et du Vietnam issued notes in piaster and dong between 1953 and May 2, 1978. The first dong series was 1953 to 1975. The second dong series was released from 1976 to May 1978. The notes were official currency in sections of Vietnam not controlled by Communist forces. Two other branches also issued banknotes—the riel in Cambodia and the kip in Laos. Beginning in 1955, the National Bank of Vietnam printed its version of dong notes. The Ngan-Hang note is a Bank of Vietnam issue.

The dong divides into 100 xu (also written as su). Coins were available in 10, 20 and 50 su and 1, 10, 20 and 50 dong. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam continues to use the dong as its national currency.

Vietnam experienced inflation in the early 1970s. Eventually, 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000 dong notes were introduced.

American G.I.s and civilians serving in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam frequently returned home with banknote examples. The notes had little value.

The secondary market is flooded. Most examples sell between 50 cents and $3, especially any note that has been circulated (used as currency as opposed to crisp and clean). Your notes have more sentimental than monetary value.

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QUESTION: I have a set of three stoneware crocks, the largest of which is 7 inches in diameter and 7 inches high. They are marked on the bottom: “Roseville Spongeware / Workshop of Gerald Henn.” What is the set’s value?

– R, New Rochelle, Ill.

ANSWER: Your spongeware crocks are modern reproductions. A web search of “Gerald Henn+Roseville” produced a list of dozens of websites offering Henn pottery for sale but no clear information as to who is the “real” Gerald Henn. Are the Henn Workshops, the workshops of Gerald E. Henn, and Gerald Henn one in the same or two or three separate entities?

Henn Workshops is a family-owned business located in Warren, Ohio. The company specializes in handcrafted accessories, bakeware, dinnerware, serving pieces and home furnishings. Henn Workshops maintains a Museum Store at 8292 Tod Avenue, Lordstown, Ohio.

According to the Pottery Consultant website, The Workshops of Gerald E. Henn Pottery is no longer making pottery. Another website indicates that Henn ceased operation as of September 2009. Several websites list the address of the Workshops of Gerald E. Henn Pottery as 3672 Silliman Street, New Waterford, OH 44445.

Conflicting information is one of the reasons why I love the internet. No one polices the information. Anyone can post anything. Misinformation is the order of the day unless skepticism reigns regarding all information.

The one safe thing that can be said is that whoever made Henn pottery is no longer making it. Dealers with large inventories tout that now is the time to complete collections or patterns while supplies exist. Buyers beware. Take time to comparison shop. Many sellers have raised the retail price to reflect what they consider to be marketplace scarcity.

Rinker’s Thirty Year Rule—for the first 30 years of anything’s life, all its value is speculative—applies. Collectors and others are speculating. This is the time to sell not buy. While some individuals view Henn pottery as folk art revival, it is commercial and not folk art reproduction. It has not stood the test of time required by the secondary market. After reviewing the Henn pottery products offered online, my prediction is that the Henn collecting craze will run its course in 10 to 15 years, after which time people desiring to own examples will be able to buy Henn pottery at pennies on the 2012 dollar.

Supporting this point of view is the wide disparity of pricing I found among sellers offering the three-piece spongeware canister set. An eBay seller has a “Buy It Now” price of $229. Shipping is free, which it well should be for any fool willing to pay this price. A rose spongeware canister set is listed with an opening bid of $60 but has failed to find a bidder.

WorthPoint.com lists a blue spongeware set that sold on eBay for $47.01 in October 2007 and another blue set that sold in January 2008 for $203.83. This is a perfect example of how “who is at the auction” impacts price. Beware of any object with a three- to four-times price swing.

The quick sale value of your thee-piece, Henn blue spongeware canister set is around $125. However, expect the value to fluctuate as much as $75 in either direction depending on circumstance. The true secondary market value of your Henn canister set will not be established until 2030.

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– E.P., Hanover, Wis.

ANSWER: Little is known about Henry Pember Smith (1854-1907). The assumption is that he was self-taught. He first exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1877. He also showed his work at the Art Institute in Chicago, the Boston Art Club, the Brooklyn Art Club, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art.

“Blossom Time” featuring a genre scene of a cottage in a rural landscape was typical of household prints used for display, on calendars and the surface of jigsaw puzzles between 1905 and the late 1920s. The copyright indicates the print was published after Smith’s death.

Your print’s principal value is decorative and between $45 and $60.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site..

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Rinker on Collectibles: Antiques and Collectibles in the Digital Age

Harry Rinker — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:31:19 +0000

The origin of the World Wide Web began in 1980 when Tim Benners-Lee, an independent contractor for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland, built ENQUIRE, a database platform that allowed individuals and software models to use hypertext, a program that linked separate pages to one another.

By Christmas 1990, Benners-Lee perfected Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) 0.9, Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), a Web browser (World Wide Web), HTTP server software and several other programs, all of which made the World Wide Web available to users across the globe. The initial participants were university science departments, primarily physics and scientific labs such as Fermilab and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. The first International WWW Conference was held in May 1994. The commercialization of the WWW occurred between 1996 and 1998.

Although I should, I do not remember when I obtained my first e-mail address, signed up for Internet access or registered my first domain name. It occurred sometime in the mid-1990s; that much I am certain. If true, it was less than 20 years ago. We have come a long way, baby—with apologies to the 1968 Virginia Slims advertising slogan.

As “Rinker on Collectibles” approaches its 25th anniversary, I am reflecting more and more on developments that have impacted the antiques and collectibles trade during the last quarter century, attempting to understand their historical evolution, analyzing their present-day relevance, and contemplating—even trying to predict—the role they will play in the future. A recent conversation with Lenore Dailey, a dealer who supplies the Victorian era jewelry I gift to my wife Linda, about how she plans to use her individual website versus her participation in a storefront website opened my little gray-cell floodgates (if you do not understand the analogy, read a few Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot novels), putting the role played by the digital age under my investigative magnifying glass.

It is hard to remember and difficult to imagine life without the World Wide Web. While aware there are pockets of resistance among my fellow senior citizens and individuals and countries to whom access still is unaffordable, the future is the digital age. Adapt or die, this time with apologies to New Hampshire.

The 15 years of the commercial World Wide Web have been a roller coaster ride, especially in the antiques and collectibles trade. The list of failed antiques and collectibles ventures numbers more than a hundred. Longevity often was measured in months rather than years. My regret is that I did not keep a list of these failed enterprises. Who remembers Kaladen.com or eAppraisals.com?

When measured in human terms, maturity occurs in the late teens or early 20s. Infant and juvenile (adolescent) stages precede maturity. Digital maturity occurs much faster. EBay’s maturity took less than 10 years, Facebook even less.

Lenore is in the process of building a website. When I asked how she planned to use it, her response was: “for information purposes.”

“Do you not plan to list your inventory for sale?”

“No. My website will introduce viewers to my services and be an archive for some of the pieces I have sold in the past. This will familiarize customers with the type and quality of merchandise I carry. I am going to use an Internet storefront site for my shop.”

I needed to think about this. My reaction was Lenore was making a mistake. I cited Jane Clarke’s Morning Glory Antiques as a classic example of a website that educates, sells and archives material. Dozens of sellers have developed sophisticated websites that attract a growing customer base and sales.

My website—harryrinker.com—also is designed to educate, sell books and other services, and archive material. Although well-designed and filled with information, it generates little new business. Book sales are abysmal. The problem is twofold: traffic and “free” users. Visitation is modest, largely because I do little to no promotion. All the information on the website is free. When individuals are used to receiving material for free, they resist, even refuse, to pay for it.

Further, is the website as a concept outdated? In this Social Media Age, it makes more sense to spend time developing a page on Facebook, writing a blog and learning to Tweet. While virgin territory to me, it is the playground of my Davenport University students and grandchildren. It is time for Opa (Grandpa) to get with the program.

I agree with Lenore’s decision to open a shop on one of the storefront sites. I applaud GoAntiques, Ruby Lane and TIAS for their survival. For the past 15 years, they have been beset by rivals, most of which disappeared in less than a year. In the digital age, it is essential to join those with staying power.

I am aware that I did not include eBay on the storefront list. There are antiques and collectibles dealers who have storefronts on eBay and who are doing well. However, eBay has essentially turned its back on the antiques and collectibles community. The community is too small a percentage of the large eBay pie for eBay to pay attention.

The movement of collectors’ clubs and price guide sources to the Internet continues apace. Specialization is the key to digital social networking. Collectors prefer interaction with those who share their interest. The internet allows information to be posted as soon as it is available and e-mails and conversations to take place immediately as opposed to once a year at an annual convention. Collectors’ club websites are becoming more sophisticated. The Glass Insulators Collectors’ reference page is the website I cite as a prototype.

The Golden Age of the printed price guide, general and specialized, is past. The age of the printed antiques and collectibles price guide is nearing its demise. Price guides are going digital. WorthPoint has proven its ability to survive in the general sector. Artfact is one of several specialized fine art digital price guides that have proven themselves. WorthPoint now has an app (application) that allows it to be downloaded to iPhones. The site also recognizes that its long-term success depends on developing an education component, a situation that storefront sites, such as Ruby Lane also practice.

My Davenport University online teaching experience last summer and the use of digital resources in my in-seat teaching this past semester has opened my eyes to the untapped digital opportunities still available on the internet.

Websites such as iAntiqueOnline show the potential but also the problems of developing viable social networking within the antiques and collectibles community. Collectors and others in the trade clearly like to share and converse. The eagerness for information has increased not decreased because of the internet. The difficult remains how to develop a platform that allows this to happen and generates a profit for those who build and maintain it.

The antiques and collectibles trade needs its own version of YouTube. However, one in which the information is vetted rather than free flowing. The amount of antiques and collectible misinformation has increased exponentially as a result of the World Wide Web.

While I have Skype loaded on my computer, I fail to use it effectively. I plan to change this in 2012. I will launch a monthly Skype chat in spring 2012. Having utilized chat rooms in online courses, I quickly learned the disadvantages outweigh the advantages when typing is involved. The 10-finger typist controls the chat. The host is often five to 10 questions behind, especially if he/she is not a 10-finger typist. Besides, I like to see the faces of the individuals with whom I am talking. Skype allows that.

Finally, the World Wide Web is an educational tool. This past semester, my Davenport University students read several articles arguing that the internet has negatively impacted how people read and ultimately think. There is no question the Internet has changed how we acquire, absorb, and retain information. Those who pride themselves as educators within the antiques and collectibles trade need to study these concerns and utilize the new methodologies.

The digital age of antiques and collectibles education is in its infancy. One of my goals in the decade ahead is to help it achieve its maturity.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site..

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Q & A with Harry Rinker: Coney Island ‘Cyclone’ Ticket Booth, Christmas Seal Collection

Harry Rinker — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:19:50 +0000

QUESTION: A friend and I recently started to attend storage auctions. We paid $50 for the first locker we bought. Inside, in a dark, dim corner, we found the original Coney Island Cyclone roller coaster ticket booth. The front of the booth reads “RIDE THE / WORLD FAMOUS / ROLLERCOASTER / THE/ CYCLONE / 25.” We think this booth is from 1927, when the ride was first introduced. The booth appears to have served time as a hostess podium at a restaurant. A paper indicating how to seat customers is attached to the top. Do you have any idea how much this is worth?

– B.C., N.J., via e-mail

ANSWER: The Cyclone was the third of three roller coasters built on Coney Island in the 1920s: Thunderbolt (1925), Tornado (1926), and Cyclone (opened June 26, 1927). Jack and Irving Rosenthal hired Vernan Keenan to design a roller coaster to be built at the intersection of Surf Avenue and West 10th Street, the site of the Switchback Railroad, America’s first roller coaster. When the Cyclone opened in 1927, the admission price was 25 cents.

This is the good news. Alas, there is bad news. “If it looks new, assume it is new” is one of my 10 basic authenticating rules. The photograph attached to your e-mail suggests the podium is more recent than you suspect. Much of the paint looks new.

The lettering font and design scheme is late 1920s, but a later application. An argument that the new paint is a repaint over the period lettering can be made. My observations suggest otherwise.

We agree on one thing; the object is a hostess booth from a restaurant. However, it is a later copycat (not an exact copy), possibly even a fantasy piece. I favor fantasy piece because the form of the booth is closer to that of a sideshow barker’s podium than that used by individuals selling ride tickets. You have the advantage of seeing the back side and top of the podium. No images of these views were attached to your e-mail. The aging of the wood will be the dating key.

If the probability is high that this is the first ticket podium for the Cyclone, it needs major restoration to remove later paint so that the period paint is exposed. Use a painting conservator, not a furniture restorer. The cost could exceed $1,000, perhaps more than the restored ticket podium will be worth.

If the ticket podium is a copycat or fantasy piece, it still has decorator and conversation value. You should be able to triple and possibly quadruple the price you paid for the locker.

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QUESTION: I have a collection of Red Cross Christmas Seal Stamps that includes examples from the years 1908 to 1969. What is the collection worth?

– J.K., Timberlake, Ohio, via e-mail

ANSWER: As the 20th century dawned, tuberculosis was a dreaded disease, especially because of its cruel effect on children. Einar Holboll, a Danish postal clerk, is credited with originating the concept of adding a charitable stamp, the proceeds designed to aid tuberculosis victims, to holiday mail. The King of Denmark, Christian IX, and the Danish postmaster approved the plan. Denmark issued the first Christmas Seal, bearing a likeness of the Danish Queen Louise of Hesse-Kassel, in 1904. Seven years later, funds generated from Christmas Seal sales funded the building of a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients in Kolding.

The Christmas Seal idea spread. Sweden and Iceland were the first countries to copy Denmark’s example. The first American Christmas Seal was issued in 1907. Emily Bissell, a Red Cross volunteer and veteran fund raiser, developed a Christmas Seal sold in U.S. Post Offices throughout Delaware for one penny. Bissell’s goal was to raise $300 to save a small Delaware sanatorium. With the help of an endorsement by President Theodore Roosevelt, Bissel raised 10 times her goal.

The American Red Cross and the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis (NASPT) took the program national in 1908. The American Red Cross remained affiliated with the Christmas Seal effort until 1920, when NASPT assumed exclusive control. The NASPT went through numerous name changes, eventually evolving into the American Lung Association.

What appears on the surface to be a simple collecting category is actually rather complex. First, variations of the Red Cross/NASTP annual seal were issued. Second, the design spread across several seals in some years. For example, a pair of seals is required for the complete 1936 design and a block of four seals for the 1954 design. Third, state and local clubs issued their own versions of Christmas Seals.

Christmas Seal collectors focus on American, as well as foreign, issues. Serious collectors include progressive color proofs, freaks (misperforated seals, out-of-color registration and gum on the wrong side) and errors in their collections.

The Christmas Seal & Charity Stamp Society, founded in 1931, “was created to promote and improve the hobby in various way: members exhibiting their collections, primarily at stamp shows, and sharing articles and information through our journal, Seal News, and by writing and editing catalogs for sale, and creating free Christmas Seal albums on computer CD. Members meet at national and international stamps shows where they put our hobby and publications on display and give away Christmas Seals in society booths.” The CS&CSS also publishes “Green’s Catalog of Tuberculosis Seals of the World.”

Valuing your 1908-to-1969 collection of American Christmas Seals is difficult. Although you attached a photograph of part of the collection to your e-mail, additional information is needed. First, how are the stamps attached to the display card? Value differs for a hinged versus unhinged example. If glued to the display card, value is seriously affected.

Variations impact value. The 1908 Christmas seal was issued in two variations, one with a small “C” and square frame corners and a second with a large “C” and round frame corners. Each of these two variations is found in 12- and 14-perforation sides and with smooth and grilled gum backs.

Value resides primarily in the earliest Christmas seals; those issued during the first 10 years of the program. An unhinged, 1908 type-1 example is valued between $35 and $45. A 1913 type 1 Christmas seal variation books in at close to $1,000. Post-1945 Christmas Seals sell for less than one dollar, most for less than a quarter. The low cost to acquire examples is the prime reason collectors are attracted to this philatelic subcategory.

Today, my advice to those seeking value for a collection is to think conservatively. Does your collection of Christmas Seals have a retail value around $100? This probability is high. Even $150 may be the answer. Only unbridled optimism and luck will raise the number to $200, but miracles happen.

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QUESTION: I have an unused 1976 Bicentennial HO toy train set in its period box. What is its value?

– P., Reading, Pa.

ANSWER: A Google search led me to the “Tyco Brown Box Era HO-Scale Trains Resource online.A click on “Spirit of ‘76” took me to a homepage devoted to Tyco’s Bicentennial red, white, and blue train series. The information begins: “TYCO began celebrating America’s 200th Anniversary with its first red-white-blue bicentennial offerings in the 1974-75 catalog. By 1976, TYCO had three diesel locomotives, a steam engine, passenger cars, freight cars, and a caboose available.” Since your question lacked specifics, I debated how to proceed.

Then I read a note at the bottom of the home page: “It seems to many that any and all red white and blue trains produced must be TYCO. TYCO does appear to be very much associated with the amazing number of bicentennial HO-scale trains made in the 1970s. However, TYCO was only one of many companies to dress models in patriotic colors. The likes of AHM, Athearn, Bachmann, Life-Like, Lionel-HO, Model Power, and others all produced items with the 1776 theme. As a good rule to follow, TYCO nearly always had either ‘TYCO-MANTUA” or “TYCO” on the bottom of its products. For example, the fuel tank bottom of a TYCO diesel should have “TYCO Hong Kong” on it in raised plastic letters.”

Not wishing to end on an “I cannot help you” note, I conducted several internet and eBay searches for 1976 Bicentennial trains set. Full boxed sets typically sell in the $45 to $60 range. This value assumes that the locomotive, rolling stock, track, transformer and all supporting documentation are present.

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QUESTION: I have a collectors’ plate featuring a blue decal of the Munich skyline with St. Michael’s church in the center above the five Olympic rings over a cluster of oak leaves. The border reads: “OLYMPIADE / 1972/ MÜNCHEN.” The back is marked: “PMA / Bavaria / Perger Co./ Germany.” What is it worth?

– E.P., Hanover, Wis.

ANSWER: More than a dozen companies, including Bing and Grondahl, issued collector edition plates honoring the 1972 summer Olympics held in Munich. The complete collecting unit consists of the plate, the box in which it came, and all literature that was found in the box.

The collectors/limited edition plate craze was at its peak in the early 1970s. Collectors bought and hoarded large quantities for speculative purposes. The secondary resale market collapsed in the late 1980s.

If you only own the plate and not the box and supporting literature, your plate has a value between $8 and $10. Its Olympic theme does not enhance its value. The box and literature add another $4 to $5.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site..

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Rinker on Collectibles: The First Adopters

Harry Rinker — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:37:46 +0000

I am reaching the point where I forget more than I remember. Memory theorists cite short-term memory—the ability to retain memory in an active, readily-available form for a short period of time—as one of the earliest memory types to weaken among the elderly, apparently a group to which I belong now that I am in my 70s. I make notes. The difficulty is that I keep forgetting where I put them.

Recently, I talked with someone—I cannot remember the occasion or with whom—about the growing desire among individuals to own the newest/latest digital device. The person called the phenomenon the First Adopter concept. A first adopter is an individual who is obsessed by the desire to own something the moment it is released for sale.

The video game Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) was the focus of our conversation. Block-long lines of gamers formed at game shops and Big Box stores in anticipation of the game’s Nov. 8, 2011, midnight release. In its first five days, MW3 grossed more than $775 million in worldwide sales, breaking the record for any book, electronic game or movie. The previous record holder was the electronic game Call of Duty: Black Ops which grossed $650 million in its first five days of sales. Gamers quickly installed the game. XBox Live recorded 3.3 million concurrent users on Nov. 8, the first day of WM3’s release. I was not one of them.

I do not own an Xbox or PlayStation. I have never played an electronic game. Harry Jr, aged 45, plays electronic games. My grandchildren Izaak (13), Sofia (6) and Marcelo (4) play them. An obvious conclusion is that I am growing out of touch with my son’s and grandchildren’s generations. Do not laugh. I am seriously considering this possibility.

I ignored electronic games because I saw no long-term collectability for them. Time proved me wrong. The Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, N.Y., is home to the International Center for the History of Electronic Games. The collection contains more than 8,000 electronic (computer) and video games, along with an extensive paper ephemera collection of electronic and video game memorabilia.

Last week I asked the Davenport University students in my ENGL110 (Advanced Composition) class to discuss how their generation differs from the generations of their parents and grandparents (forget me; I am a member of their great-grandparents generation). The conversation quickly turned to the digital divide. When I asked how many owned a copy of MW3, more than half the class raised their hands. I did not ask them how many had successfully completed the game. I did not want to know, albeit I now have strong suspicions as to why several are behind in their homework assignments.

Readers are aware of my constant search for connections between the outside world and the antiques and collectibles business. When introduced to the first adopter concept, the mental light bulb illuminated in my mind.

You do not see something until you look for it is a trade truism. As I considered the possible connections for the first adopter concept, I came across Henry McCracken’s article, “Reinventing the Wheel. A former Apple exec. builds a better thermostat,” in the Dec. 5, 2011, issue of Time Magazine(Vol. 178, No. 22). The last paragraph reads:

“For a thermostat, Nest is pricey at $249, but the company estimates that utility bill savings can cover the cost in less than two years. … Early adopters have already made it a hit. It’s sold out through the end of 2011, and units are fetching $899 and above on eBay.”

Where is the sense in this? This is a mass-produced item. Since it sold out, it obviously will go back into production. Once units reach store shelves, the price will be $249 or lower. Why would anyone in his right mind—a state not always true of those in the antiques and collectibles field as well—pay $899, more than three times the retail price, just to be one of the first individuals to own an example? This is another example of today’s instant gratification driven society.

When did America reach this point? While my short-term memory may be shaky, my long-term memory is fine. My generation, which grew up between 1948 and 1960, did not have a first-adopter mentality during our youth and early adulthood. In fairness, neither did the members of the Age of Aquarius.

There were some first adopters among us, but they were exceptions. My uncle Bill Rupert always had to own the latest electronic gadget. He bought one of the first commercial wire tape recorders. The device earned him two months in the sun from the youngsters in my extended family. As children of Depression- and World War II-era parents, novelty was amusement but not appreciated. Great thought and consideration was given to each purchases. They had to be practical and last. Patience resulted in reduced prices. Hand-me-downs were as commonplace as new.

There were kid fads. The 1950s TV cowboy craze is an example. However, few children acquired a hoard. Parents bought sparingly. Items ranging from clothing to toys were expected to last for years and not weeks.

When did this change and who was responsible? When determining responsibility, I am a fan of first looking in the mirror. When I do, I see my face. My generation is responsible. We forgot the lessons our parents taught us. We wanted our children to have everything we did not have. Denial was not an option.

We indulged our children, not because they wanted it but because we wanted it for them. The number of toys in the toy box tripled and quadrupled. New replaced hand-me-downs. New soon became synonymous with trendy. You were a good parent if your child had the latest hot outfit or toy of the moment.

The 1983 Cabbage Patch Kids doll craze is often cited as the advent of the “hot toy” era. When supply failed to meet demand, a new breed of individual—known affectionately or contemptuously, depending upon one’s point of view—as the toy scalper arrived on the scene. The secondary market exploded in the month before Christmas, fueled at first by newspaper advertisements and a few years later by eBay.

I am delighted that my children were adults and my grandchildren not yet born during the hot-toy era. As a result, I watched and chronicled but did not participate. The pressure on parents to make certain their child was one of the chosen recipients (a polite term for first adopters) was enormous. The 1996 Tickle Me Elmo craze was the first adopter toy craze at its worst. Fortunately, common sense prevailed soon thereafter. The 1998 Furby craze marked the end of this era.

Collector/limited-edition manufacturers relied on the first adopter mindset to fuel the adult market for a wide range of products. Collector bells, ornaments, plates and whiskey bottles are just a few examples.

The first adopter concept reached disease status during the Beanie Baby craze. First adopter is primarily an adult malady. Speculation was the germ that spread the contamination. The collapse of the secondary Beanie Baby market reintroduced a level of sanity, at least for the present.

In the 2010s, the first adopter concept is short-lived, thanks in part to continual design and technological changes. Obsolescence occurs in weeks and at best months. The next new record-breaking product is often only days or weeks away.

The short attention span of the MTV generations calls into question the future collectability of almost all first adopter objects. Who cares about the first pocket calculator or the portable computer? A few examples will be preserved in private collections and museums. The landfill is the final resting place for the other 99.99 percent.

And so it will be with MW3 and all the record-setting electronic games that follow. In 15 years, the Xbox and PlayStation will be replaced with new technology. They will join Atari, VHS tapes and CDs as quaint remembrances of things used by past generations.

Excuse me while I turn on my late 1930s Philco console model radio, tune in a local radio station (no NPR; the radio only has an AM band), and reminisce about the good old days.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site..

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Q & A with Harry Rinker: Model Eskimo Hunter and Sealskin Kayak

Harry Rinker — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:00:22 +0000

QUESTION: In the process of cleaning out a house, I found a model of a sealskin kayak that measures 30 inches in length. A figure of a hunter sits in the kayak. There also are several ivory and wooden accessories. A wooden stand accompanies the model. I estimate the model dates from the mid-20th century or earlier. What is its value?

– D, Morgantown, Pa.

ANSWER: Retired Eskimo hunters build kayaks on a commission basis. The builder has to consider a number of physical characteristics of the owner including distance from fingertip to fingertip of his outstretched arms, height, length of each arm, and weight. The kayak had bearded sealskin stretched over a wooden frame and was waterproofed using caribou or seal oil.

An Internet search located several auction results for Eskimo seal skin model kayaks. The description for Lot 4 in the Sept. 16, 2006 Cowan’s American Indian Arts Auction reads: “Eskimo Sealskin Model Kayak with hand-carved wooden hunter who wears a cotton coat. Kayak laden with ivory and wood fishing accoutrements: trap, two harpoons, ice pick, and ore. With wooden stand, length 16.25”. Condition report: excellent.” The lot sold for $850. A year earlier, an 18.5 in. model sold for $920. Cowan’s March 26, 2010 auction included: “Eskimo doll and sealskin kayak . . . doll with carved wooden face and inked features, dressed in fur parka and with a wooden bow, height 8.5 in; AND a model sealskin kayak with carved wooden oar, length 11.5 in., second quarter of 20th century.” The lot passed at $650.

Christie’s Jan. 18, 2011, Native American Auction included an “Inuit Model Kayak, Norton Sound type, finely crafted with a single piece seal skin wrapped over a wood frame, the top edges sewn together at the front and back with woven grass mat floor. Accessories lashed to the kayak with leather thong include four harpoons with barbed ivory tips tied on with sinew, a paddle and two snowshoes made of wood and sinew. 36 ½ x 6 x 4 ½ in.” Although no date was provided, the photograph suggests the kayak was modeled in the early 20th century. The kayak sold for $3,000.

The Smithsonian Institution’s Alaska Native Collections in the National Museum of Natural History includes an 1892, approx. 4 in. “model of a Norton Sound kayak includes a full set of tools and weapons, all held on deck by sealskin cords. A seal dart rests on top of a float board, attached by a coiled line; the board was designed to drag behind a wounded seal, hindering its escape. A gaff hook and several throwing and thrusting harpoons are shown within reach of the boat’s cockpit, and a spare paddle is carried on the back. Wooden frames with seal-thong lashings gave kayaks great flexibility and strength to withstand rough water.”

Eskimo model sealskin kayaks with hunting accessories and often a hunter were made as souvenirs for sale to sailors and tourists from the late-19th century to mid-20th century. While most examples I found originated along the Pacific Northwest Coast, I did find one example from the 1930s attributed to a source in Greenland. Lengths varied from 14 to 36 inches.

I recommend you take photographs of your model sealskin kayak with hunter and accessories and send them to the Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, located in Vancouver, B.C. Ask if a staff member can identify the time period, location and possible maker of your model.

Value in the antiques and collectibles field is information driven—the more that is known about an object, the greater its perceived value. Based on auction results, your model’s base value is between $1,000 and $1,250. If it should prove to be from the early 20th century, as opposed to the second quarter of the 20th century, the value increases. Additional value add-ons are the kayak being a Norton Sound model, a full set of accoutrements accompanying the model and more detailed information about origin.

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QUESTION: I have a head-and-shoulder print of President Theodore Roosevelt. It is marked “Moffett Studio, Chicago” on the front and Lyday Photo Co. #73033 on the back. The print is in a simple molded frame which measures 16 inches by 20 inches. I did some research but found little. I am interested in selling the print, but obviously do not want to over or under price it. Any assistance you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

– J.C., via e-mail

ANSWER: Real estate developer Evan Albert Evans and photographer George Moffett founded Moffet Studio in 1905. Evans handled the day to day business matters such as advertising and billing while Moffett did the photography. Moffet Studio was headquartered at 57 East Congress Street, a property owned by Evans.

Initially, Moffett Studio sold pictures of its prominent clients to newspapers and periodicals. In 1907, Evans changed the business model and provided them for free. Moffett and George O. Hinchliffe, his colleague, quickly gained a reputation for picturing clients in fashionable settings.

In 1912, Moffett Studios obtained the exclusive rights to the 1912 Republican Convention held Chicago. The 1912 Republican Convention pitted William Howard Taft, the sitting president, against Theodore Roosevelt. Although Roosevelt won nine out of 12 state primaries (Taft won one and Robert M. LaFollette won two), Taft controlled the Republican National Committee. The Republican National Committee awarded 235 contested delegates to Taft and only 19 to Roosevelt. Roosevelt left the party and ran as the candidate of the Progressive Party. This split the Republican vote and led to the election of Woodrow Wilson.

It is possible that the Moffett Studio Theodore Roosevelt head-and-shoulder portrait that you own might have been taken during the 1912 Republican Convention. However, Moffett Studio had a New York location. A 1910 Theodore Roosevelt three-quarter length photograph done at the New York studio also was a popular print image. Since Roosevelt is wearing a different tie in your photograph, it is unlikely the two images were taken at the same time.

J. H. Lyday Photograuvre Co., located in the Hoffman Building at 2539 Woodward Ave., in Detroit, was a publisher of: “Fine Art Pictures, Reproductions of Old and Modern Masters.” Simply put, Lyday was a stock house selling photograph images for display.

The demand for large wall photographs of Theodore Roosevelt is limited. Modern reproductions are available for less than $50. Ease of selling depends on how much you ask. You will sell your photograph quickly if you price it between $10 and $15. It will be a harder seller between $20 and $25. Priced over $35, you most likely will own it well into the future.

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QUESTION: I have a tricycle made by Midwest Industries in Willard, Ohio. I believe it dates from the 1950s. The paint scheme is red and white (white handle bar, seat, front end of frame and wheel rims). The handlebar resembles the prototype 1950s flying wing aircraft. What is its value?

– J.S., Adamstown, Pa., via e-mail

ANSWER: After evaluating the four pictures attached to your e-mail, I concluded the condition of your tricycle is between very good and fine. While used, the child who owned it took very good care of it.

The website Tricycle Fetish claims it is “the site for everything tricycle.” It features a homepage for Midwest Industries, which includes images of three decal headbadges, one of which matches the headbadge on your tricycle, and photographs of eight tricycles, none of which match the one that you own and all of which have wire spoke wheels as opposed to the solid disk wheels on your tricycle. Although the company is still in business, Midwest appears to have made tricycles from the early 1950s through the early 1960s.

Classic Toy Museum contains an advertisement for your tricycle from a 1956 toy catalog. The description reads: “Double bar-type strong steel tubing. Streamlined steel steep plate. Disc wheels with rubber tires. Adjustable body-shaped saddle. Rubber pedals. Heavy stamped steel fork. Stamped and formed handlebar with rubber grips. Red and white baked enamel finish. Front wheel 8 ½”. Rear wheel 5”. Rubber tire ½”….Retail: $5.75.” $5.75 was a high-ticket price in 1956.

WorthPoint lists a vintage 1960s red Midwest tricycle that sold on eBay on July 3, 2009, for $34.99. This example has wire spoke wheels. I found additional Internet auction listings for Midwest tricycles in the $18 to $35 range.

The “streamline” design and condition of your tricycle, which requires little to no restoration, makes it more desirable to collectors and individuals wishing to use it as a display/conversation piece. The secondary market value is between $50 and $65.

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QUESTION: I collect Department 56 houses for enjoyment and not for value. I cannot understand the big price differences I am finding between The Greenbook Guide to Department 56 Villages and prices on eBay. Many of the eBay prices are below the original retail price. How can the guide book be so far from reality?

– J.K., Timberlake, Ohio, via e-mail

ANSWER: When using any price guide, it is important to check the publication date. The Greenbook Guide to Department 56 Villages is out of print. The last edition I found was printed in 2005. It has been replaced by Village D-tails, a publication from the periodical Village D-lights. A caveat is necessary. When I tried clicking on the link to order the book on the URL http://www.terisd56.com/dept56-villagedtails.htm, I received a site under construction message.

Specialized price guides often are authored by individuals (usually dealers), collectors’ clubs, manufacturers and others whose goal is to support unrealistic secondary market prices to ensure the continuing sale of new at full retail and discontinued merchandise at inflated prices. All prices guides need to be field checked.

EBay sets the secondary market for Dept. 56 and a wide range of other collector edition materials. A collector edition price guide that does not reflect eBay pricing is worthless.

Retail pricing includes the profit made by the manufacturer, wholesaler, and merchant; in most cases 75 to 80 percent of the full retail price. When an object leaves the store, these profits must be deducted to determine the starting secondary market value. When secondary market value exceeds retail, especially in the first 30 years of the object’s life, the value is speculative.

Waiting until a contemporary collection edition enters the market is an ideal way to save money. Two to three for the initial price of one is the standard ratio. When the secondary market is flooded with product, the ratio can be four to five for the initial price of one.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site..

WorthPoint—Discover Your Hidden Wealth

Rinker on Collectibles: The ‘I Must Have It’ Price

Harry Rinker — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:14:10 +0000

I received the following e-mail from Shawn, who reads “Rinker on Collectibles” on WorthPoint: “As a collector, I have been frustrated by sellers’ unrealistic prices more and more in recent years. As eBay has shifted to more “Buy It Now” listings, it gives sellers more opportunity to stick to ‘but, it’s my price.’

“I have been watching a tea set for more than a year. The seller is asking $419. A well-known collector with lots of knowledge in that area tells me he would pay $125. But, the seller says she had it appraised for $350 several years ago, so she wants $350—never mind that values have fallen as the economy crashed. This is just one example.

“Some folks have told me that if I truly want it, I should just buy it. But that is ridiculous. I do not mind paying a ‘I must have it’ premium, but I cannot (and would be stupid) to overpay by hundreds. So I do not buy.”

Congratulations, Shawn. You have more will power than most. I have been an “I must have it” victim on multiple occasions. I am not alone. It is a sad day when desire overrides common sense.

I learned early in my buying career to track objects. As spring antiques shows returned for fall appearances, I noticed the same objects that I had seen in spring booths reappeared in fall booths. They often were in the exact location in the display. I was not naïve or gullible to believe the dealer’s claim that: “I sold the one I had in the spring and was lucky to find another. I bought it and am delighted to offer it for sale again.” When I checked the price, it always was identical to that asked for the object six months earlier. The price tag had an aged quality. Few dealers rotate merchandise. They continue to display the same object, trusting the good Lord to send them a buyer. Perhaps, “sucker” is a better word choice.

Once I understood this, I studied other sale venues from flea markets to antiques malls. The same thing occurred. An object remained in the same location in an antiques mall booth for months, even years. Given this, the buyer has no incentive to buy. While there are multiple possibilities to explain why the object has not sold, the most obvious is that it is overpriced.

[Author’s Aside #1: Unsold object longevity can be determined several ways: (1) spotting the object’s shape in a dust silhouette on a shelf after picking it up for inspection; (2) the object is covered with dust [be careful; dust also hides defects]; (3) the sale tag is dirty and discolored from exposure; and (4) the writing on the sale tag is starting to fade or has faded.]

I have tracked objects as long as two year before I have approached the owner and made a counteroffer. I lost count of the number of times the seller said no, holding on to the belief that ultimately he will find a buyer willing to pay the price he asks. Any money is better than no money is a maxim that is only reluctantly applied by antiques and collectibles dealers.

As an appraiser and one who often is asked to evaluate appraisals done by others, I discovered long ago that there are unscrupulous appraisers who provide values they know will make their clients happy rather than realistic prices that disappoint. A number of these individuals serve as hosts or experts on the current crop of antiques and collectibles cable reality television shows.

When an owner of an object, whether collector or dealer, hears or sees a value that pleases him, that number becomes a benchmark in his mind. This becomes the minimum value an object is worth. Anything less is unacceptable. Any offer below that number is an insult.

The result is a hodgepodge of overpriced and overvalued merchandise that constitutes the inventory of a dealer when he (or God acting on his behalf) reaches the decision to go out of business. I love going to an auction of a dealer’s inventory. Merchandise usually sells for 10 to 20 percent of the sticker price. Had the dealer been willing to accept reasonable offers and/or adjusted his pricing to reflect existing economic market trends, the dealer would have sold his inventory while still breathing

[Author’s Aside #2: While I have no firm proof, many dealers feel an object is priced correctly only if it does not sell. If it does sell, the dealer becomes suspicious, often convinced, that he undervalued the object. Although this logic makes absolutely no sense, it remains a staple in the trade.]

There are no minimum or maximum values in the antiques and collectible trade. All objects have no value except for the brief instance when they are sold. Value is what someone is willing to pay. The dealer selling the teapot thinks someone will pay at least $350 and has every right to ask it. He also has the right to die with it, which is likely to happen in this instance.

There is a group of dealers identified as nostalgia merchants. Nostalgia merchants prey on individuals desiring to recapture their childhood memories. These individuals are not collectors. A memory is triggered. The buyer wants to relive it immediately. Instant gratification is required. Patience, comparison shopping and common sense are cast to the wind. The person pays whatever the dealer asks.

I first encountered this while talking with a dealer who specialized in 1950s and 1960s cap guns. The prices asked on his sales list were double to triple those I encountered in the field. When I asked if he actually received these values, he assured me that he did. When I asked why, he informed me that he was selling to a one-time—not a repeat—customer. The person who came to him was willing to pay whatever it took to buy back his childhood treasure immediately.

This “I must have it price” is the modern equivalent of the old “buy it now, you may never see it again” price. Until the 1980s, collectors had limited buying opportunities. Antiques shows occurred twice a year; three times if an area was fortunate. A day’s drive through the countryside to visit shops happened four to six times a year. Collectors and others were so delighted to find something they sought that they bought it immediately. While bargaining was practiced, the practice was minimal.

In the 2010s, buying opportunities abound. Antiques malls and the Internet provide a daily fix. Buyers understand that most objects were mass-produced and the survival rate is high. Even if the buyer wants it immediately, the Internet offers the opportunity for immediate comparison shopping. There is no longer any need to overpay.

As Shawn demonstrated, the “I must have it” price is now a personal price. The sophistication of today’s buyers allows the buyer, not the seller, to determine the “I must have it price.” The price on the dealer’s sale tag is no longer a starting point, let alone absolute. Rather, today’s buyer places it in context with what he is willing to pay—and not one penny more. If the seller is not ready to come down to the buyer’s price, no sale occurs.

In fairness, Shawn showed that desire can cloud the process. He was willing to consider an “I must have it now” premium. Once again, control of the process remained with Shawn. He determined what the “I must have it now” price was. The only role the dealer had in the transaction was to accept or reject Shawn’s offer.

As a collector, Shawn recognized that the balance of power in the sales equation has shifted in favor of the buyer. While an advocate of a win-win buying scenario, I am a realist. Power in today’s antiques and collectibles market rests with the buyer with cash, not the dealer with the merchandise.

In these tough economic times, with no signs of relief on the horizon, dealers need to ignore what they paid or for what someone appraised their objects and do what it takes to sell them. Cash, any cash, is better than no cash. Any sale is better than no sale.

Buyers are voting with their pocketbook. A shut pocketbook is a vote of no confidence, something the antiques and collectibles trade can ill afford.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site..

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Q & A with Harry Rinker: Reverse-Painted Glass, Victrola VV-80, Baseball Gloves

Harry Rinker — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:35:10 +0000

QUESTION: I own a reverse painting on glass of Pennsylvania’s famed Horseshoe Curve, located just outside Altoona, Pa. The painting measures 29 ½ in. by 13 ½ in. The painting hung in my grandparent’s parlor when I was a child. I am now 84. Initially, the gilded floral-motif frame was wider, but my grandmother had my uncle cut it down. At one time, I touched up the painting with a bit of black paint. What is its value?

– R.T., Johnstown, Pa., via e-mail

ANSWER: Although reverse painting on glass dates back to antiquity, its first period of popularity occurred during the Italian Renaissance of the 14th and 15th centuries. The technique quickly spread throughout Europe. Paintings were secular and religious, often with a folk art quality.

Reverse painting on glass arrived in American cities such as Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, and Salem in the late 1700s or early 1800s. Artists were immigrants from England and Europe, especially German-speaking countries. Commercial production began in the early 19th century and continued into the early 20th century.

Large size, commercially manufactured reverse paintings on glass became a popular decorative accessory between 1895 and 1920. In addition to dozens of generic scenes such as the cottage in the woods, the house by the lake and the mountain landscape, national scenic landmarks (Niagara Falls or the Statue of Liberty) and historic events (Sinking of US Maine or the sinking of HMS Titanic) were popular. Your Horseshoe Curve image fits into the national scenic landscapes group.

The Pennsylvania Railroad completed the Horseshoe Curve in 1854. Considered an engineering marvel, it is now part of the Norfolk Southern Railway track system. The curve is located in the Kittanning Gap in the Allegheny Mountains about five miles west of Altoona. The curve covers an arc of 220 degrees.

In 1966, the Horseshoe Curve was designated a National Historic Landmark. It also is included in the National Register of Historic Places. The Curve is a popular tourist attraction and accessible for viewing by a funicular railway that travels to a small park located at the ridge summit.

Cutting down the frame minimally impacts value. According to the image attached to your e-mail, the frame appears undamaged, a plus. Obviously, the touch-up work that you did also decreases the value slightly, but again minimally if it cannot be easily detected. The location of a reversed painting on glass does impact value. In and around central Pennsylvania, your reverse painting on glass of the Horseshoe Curve is worth between $125 and $145. Outside of Pennsylvania, the value drops below $75.

“Take an object back to its location and double its value” is an old trade maxim. While its applicability is fading, it applies in this instance.

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QUESTION: I own a Victrola VV-80, serial number #149747, record player. It is in playable condition. What is its value?

– N.R., Scappoose, Ore., via e-mail

ANSWER: Victor-Victrola introduced its VV-80 model in 1921. It was the lowest priced phonograph in Victor-Victrola’s line, and its website provides this: “The 80 was a small and basic phonograph, with a minimum of decoration. Trim was machined, rather than hand-carved. All 80’s had the semi-automatic brake and a two-spring motor. The VV-80 was available in mahogany, oak or walnut, but the most popular choice was mahogany with a dark stain applied. The earliest version had no record storage shelves; these were added later as standard equipment by the end of 1921. The VV-80 cabinet was updated in December 1922, with a much larger horn opening and a slightly larger cabinet. The VV-80 was discontinued from the Victor catalog in late 1925.

“The original 1921 selling price of the VV-80 was $100. An estimated total of 185,500 Victrola 80’s were produced.

“A total of 75 VE-80 (electric) models were reported produced during 1924 and 1925, however, no accurate breakdown of per year production is yet possible. Serial numbers for the VE-80 models begin at 501 . . .”

A manufacturing date / serial number range chart on the website indicates your phonograph was manufactured in 1924.

In the first half of the 2000s, Japanese buyers created a spike in the value of hand-crank phonographs. The price for a common 1920s phonograph, such as your VV-80, reached $400. When the Japanese economy suffered inflationary woes and the yen fell against the dollar, the craze ended. Value dropped by half or more. In 2011, the value of your phonograph is between $200 and $250. Collector interest is minimal for common examples. Individuals wishing to buy an example for conversation/display purpose prefer phonographs with more elaborate cabinets and added features.

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QUESTION: I own three baseball gloves. The first two belonged to my Dad when he served in the Pacific Theater during World War II. These are a JC Higgins Genuine Horsehide Harold “Pie” Traynor Special fielder’s glove and a JC Higgins Genuine Cowhide Sammy Holbrook catcher’s mitt. The date “June 24, 1936” is written on the back of the catcher’s mitt. I owned the third glove, a 1956-60 MacGregor Model G120 Robin Roberts fielder’s glove. All are in used condition. What are they worth?

– W.L., Milton, Wisconsin, via e-mail

ANSWER: “Endorsed” baseball gloves are eagerly sought by collectors. Judging from the illustrations of the front and back of each glove that are attached to your e-mail, all three gloves appear to be in very good condition. Although used, the signatures and manufacturer information is easy to read.

Harold Joseph “Pie” Traynor (Nov. 11, 1898-March 16, 1972) only played for one team during his professional career—the Pittsburgh Pirates—from 1920 to 1937. Considered by some to be the greatest third baseman in major league history, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1948.

James Marbury “Sammy” Holbrook (July 17, 1910-April 10, 1991) played only one season in the majors—1935, as a member of the Washington Senators. From 1929 to 1942, he played minor league ball.

Robin Evan Roberts (Sept. 30, 1926-May 6, 2010) spent the bulk of his major league baseball career (1946-1961) with the Philadelphia Phillies. He was with the Baltimore Orioles from 1961-1965, the Houston Astros from 1965-1966 and Chicago Cubs in 1966. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.

Condition, scarcity and membership in the Baseball Hall of Fame are the obvious value considerations. The sale location of the seller plays a role. Gloves listed on specialized dealer Internet sites are priced at two to three times what an identical glove brings on auction websites such as eBay when it sells through. However, many eBay offerings fail to achieve this goal.

What dealers ask is often not what collectors are willing to pay. Some dealers deserve an “eternal optimistic” award. One such example is an eBay dealer with a “Buy It Now” price of $800 for a “Pie” Traynor Special Fielder’s Glove in its period box, both the glove and box being in very good condition at best. I doubt if he would consider an offer of $50. Another eBay seller offered a Pie Traynor glove in August 2011 with an opening bid request of $125 and $11.45 shipping. The price did not attract a buyer. The Traynor glove appeared for sale in the 1928 Sears, Roebuck catalog.

A Sammy Holbrook catcher’s mitt was listed in August 2011 on eBay with an opening bid of $49.99 and a shipping charge of $6.95. It went unsold. WorthPoint.com lists an example that sold on eBay on August 14, 2010 for $13.49.

A Robin Roberts MacGregor Model G120 glove in very good condition was listed in September 2011 on eBay with an opening bid request of $19.95 and shipping and handling costs of $7.70. The listing failed to attract a bid. The website Vintage Sports Shoppe lists similar gloves from the same area at prices ranging from $25 to $45.

Based on the above, a value between $25 and $30 is a good range for your Holbrook and Roberts gloves. A safe value for the Traynor glove is around $50. At these prices, consider keeping the gloves rather than selling them. The memories they evoke are worth more than their dollar value.

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QUESTION: I have an unopened bottle of Camphersuare Natrium (sodium salt of camphoric acid) in the original Kahlbaum bottle with a cork stopper, paper cover and string with lead seal attached. The bottle has a Bausch and Lomb sticker on it. I believe Bausch and Lomb were the importers. The bottle is molded with a large K surrounded by a “benzene ring” on the bottom. I obtained the bottle 40 years ago when I was in graduate school at the University of Illinois, at which time the old stuff from the chemistry storeroom was being discarded. Does this bottle have any value or is it just an interesting memento of my student days?

– R.B., State College, Pa, via e-mail

ANSWER: C. F. Kahlbaum of Berlin was a major supplier of chemicals used in college and university and industrial research laboratories prior to World War I. An Internet search failed to produce a history of the company. I tried researching the chemical and found little.

Your bottle of Camphersuare Natrium has more curiosity than collector value. Its display value is around $10. Your compassion only postponed its final resting place—a dump or landfill somewhere.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site..

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Rinker on Collectibles: But, It’s Museum Quality

Harry Rinker — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:55:41 +0000

Two previous “Rinker on Collectibles” columns dealt with “but, it’s _____” phrases, such as “but, it’s old” and “but, it’s real,” commonly heard in the antiques and collectibles trade. I asked readers to identify phrases I missed. A broad smile crossed my face when I read the e-mail calling my attention to: “But, it’s museum quality.”

Before creating Rinker Enterprises, my antiques and collectibles education and research center, I spent more than 15 years in the museum field serving as director of archival research for Historic Bethlehem (Pa.), executive director of The Hugh Moore Park National Canal Museum (Easton, Pa.), executive director of The Historical Society of York County (Pa.), and executive director of The Montgomery County (Pa.) Federation of Historical Societies. I actively recruited objects for the collections of all these organizations. Did the object meet the museum or society’s mission statement was the primary consideration in deciding whether to add the object to the collection. Condition played a role, but not always a primary one.

Almost 40 years have passed since my museum career ended. I cite this as a caveat for what follows, since my museum memories are distant ones. I have no memory of discussing the concept of “museum quality” with my colleagues in that field. Although I was not involved in the prestige museum world, I doubt if it was different there. Having visited the open storage study collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, I was surprised to see so many common, ordinary decorative art pieces were included in the collections. Clearly, museum quality does not mean the best of the best even at the finest museum.

Since museum quality is a commonly used term in the trade, it seemed logical to assume a dictionary definition exists. According to wordnik.com, “Sorry, no definitions exist.” According to a Jan. 14, 2006, posting on Ship Modeling Forum: “It all depends on you ask. It’s a term that is bandied about these days, but like the old saying goes, ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.’ ‘Museum Quality’ is a subjective appraisal with no official definition within the museum community.”

A museum is a building where objects, such as works of art or historical items, are kept, studied, and/or displayed. An object or museum piece is one example housed in the museum. It is false logic to assume that because an object is included in a museum collection, by definition of inclusion it becomes a museum quality object. It is only one of thousands of objects in the collection.

In attempting to define museum quality, two primary questions need answering. What museum sets the standard? The standards of the Art Institute of Chicago are different from those of the Cockroach Hall of Fame and Museum in Plano, Texas. If they were not, I would worry. Likewise, quality is subjective. Quality is an excellent measure used to judge similar objects. The qualities used to judge a painting differ from those used to judge an action figure. Quality is specific, not general focused.

Is there not a museum for every object? At first thought, this concept seems ludicrous. There must be millions of objects not found in museums. My response is similar to those individuals who say to me, “I have never seen one like this before”: Where have you looked? Between historic homes, historic sites, historical societies, museums (public and private / general and specialized), it is easier to find a collection that contains an example than one that does not. If you accept private collections as a museum type, the odds of finding an object in a “museum” increase astronomically.

At the high end of the antiques and collectibles marketplace, museum quality is equated with investment grade, another ambiguous term. The assumption is that the more valuable an object, the more likely a high-end museum will display it. In an era when individuals will spend $179,250 to acquire the green wool beret worn by John Wayne in “The Green Berets” or $5,200 for one of Marilyn Monroe’s bras, it clear that monetary value is the wrong criteria to judge any degree of quality, museum or otherwise.

In the middle decades of the 20th century, museum quality was equated with aesthetic quality. Albert Sack, in his “Fine Points of Furniture: Early American” (Crown Publishers, 1986), introduced the “good, better, best concept.” Using the elements of construction, craftsmanship, decoration, design and finish, Sack provided guidelines to rank pieces and explain why similar pieces of furniture from the same era varied in desirability and worth. Sack’s assumption was that only the best belonged in museums and the finest collections.

While Sack made a convincing case for applying his criteria to eighteenth and early 19th-century American furniture, his criteria fail when used to determine the quality of many decorative art objects and almost all collectibles. Is there a good, better, best Barbie, Matchbox car, or jigsaw puzzle? Finding a cadre of collectors to agree on a quality ranking scale is impossible.

In toy collecting, museum quality became equated with the best conditioned, often MIB (mint in the box), and most desirable example known. While this criteria works for toys made prior to 1940, it fails for post-World War II toys because of the high survival rate of mint examples. The heightened level of collector consciousness following 1980 resulted in collectors buying and preserving toys in off-the-assembly-line condition. Any played-with post-1980 toys are not collectible, quality or otherwise.

Museum quality factors in the decision to refinish or restore an object. Collectors and dealers tout museum quality finishes and paint. The implication is that a museum would not accept a piece that has been refinished, restored or repaired. When asked to express my opinion, my concern is about the scarcity of the form and its relevance to a museum’s collection. More than 95 percent of the time, I tell the person to restore and/or refinish the piece. Although I recommend an object be restored or refinished to as close to its period appearance as possible, I do not get upset if another course is chosen. The person who owns the object has the right to decide its destiny.

Frame shops advertise museum quality framing. In the course of my museum career and subsequent museum visits, I have encountered horrendous framing on documents, paintings and prints. There are times when the period frame does not do justice to the object it encloses.

Manufacturers, wholesalers and dealers in reproduction art, prints and sculpture tout the museum quality of their products. The implication is that a museum would be happy to replace the period piece with one of these copies. Do not bet on it.

Museum quality is a favorite term that appears in the literature of collector- and limited-edition material, such as bells, figurines, plates and ornaments. The value implication is simple: If a museum would display an object, it has a premium value above objects that would not be displayed. If this is the case, there are thousands of museum quality pieces selling on eBay for less than $5.

In summary, museum quality is a meaningless term. It is a marketing tool used to imply an extra inherent value in an antique, collectible or contemporary object. The person who falls for the ploy is a fool.

Those who continue to use this term should be admonished. It demonstrates ignorance; not knowledge. Like genuine, original and real, museum quality is a term whose disappearance would enhance the overall quality of our trade.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site..

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Rinker on Collectibles: Considering Toys as a Measure of Age

Harry Rinker — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:49:05 +0000

I received an e-mail from Christopher Bensch, vice president of Collections at the National Museum of Play, asking me to share stories I might have about playing with the 12 toy finalists in the 2011 competition for inclusion in the National Toy Hall of Fame. They are the dollhouse, Dungeons & Dragons, Hot Wheels, Jenga, the pogo stick, the puppet, remote control vehicles, Rubik’s Cube, Simon, Star Wars action figures, Transformers and Twister. Two will be chosen.

As a septuagenarian, I no longer am faced with contemplating the question: how do you know when you are old? The question is answered every time I look into the mirror. I am old. There is no escaping it.

When I lecture, I joke that one method of determining that you are old is discovering that the things with which you grew up are now in museum collections. My childhood memorabilia has been part of museum collections for decades. I have revised my thinking. When your childhood things are in a museum’s collection, you are ancient. When your children’s things are included, you are decrepit. Several of the 12 finalists were marketed when my children were teenagers.

I am decrepit.

The National Museum of Play, formerly The Strong Museum, is among my favorite museums. I identify with Margaret Woodbury Strong, its founder. She understood piles, and she created some big ones.

The National Toy Hall of Fame, established as part of A. C. Gilbert’s Discovery Village in 1998, was acquired by The Strong Museum in 2002. The members include generic toys such as the ball, cardboard box, kite and stick alongside brand-name toys such as The Game of Life, Mr. Potato Head and View-Master. While Buzz Lightyear and Woody are nowhere to be found, I would not count them out long-term.

The National Toy Hall of Fame deserves applause for the lack of gender bias in the toys featured among its inductees. While toy collecting is heavily male driven, even when doll collecting is included, toy play is more sexually equal. Barbie stands beside G.I. Joe. The Baby Doll, Easy-Bake-Oven, Raggedy Ann and Andy, and the Teddy Bear demonstrate respect for the distaff side of the play equation.

I find myself drawn to objects that “speak decade,” objects closely identified with a specific time period. The decade does not have to be a decade I favor. I remain current in the trade because I work hard to identify objects that speak to the generations that preceded and follow me.

Writers take liberties. As such, I am going to twist Christopher Bensch’s request for play comments into a desire for me to share my thoughts about the 12 2011 finalists.

As I get older, I have increasing difficulty with generic terms. While I realize the possibilities are endless, if I ask an individual to describe and/or draw a ball, a cardboard box, a kite or a stick, I suspect the end result would agree 75 percent of the time. This would not be the case with the dollhouse. Each person sees the house differently—style, layout and construction material. In addition, adults own dollhouses. While it is true that some adults play with toys, there is an implied sense that National Toy Hall of Fame is about childhood toys and this should remain its focus.

If true, this allows a challenge to Dungeons & Dragons on similar grounds. Harry Jr. began playing Dungeons & Dragons when he was in his teens. He turns 45 this year and still plays Dungeons & Dragons. At best, Dungeons & Dragons is on the teenager/young adult cusp of childhood toys. Adventure games are not members of the National Toy Hall of Fame, nor ever should be.

When lecturing about toys, I often refer to the Big Five Baby Boomer Toys—Barbie, G.I. Joe, Hot Wheels, Legos and Matchbox. Barbie, G.I. Joe and Legos are members of the National Toy Hall of Fame. There is no question that Hot Wheels deserves to stand beside them. Matchbox’s absence from the finalist list is troubling. I have no desire to see Matchbox slip in under a generic “die-cast” category. Like Tonka Trucks, already a member, Matchbox is worthy.

Why do I have the feeling that Jenga is a politically correct addition to the list? I would hate to think it has anything to do with throwing a bone to Hasbro in acknowledgment of its dominance in the current toy marketplace. Icon-status, longevity, discovery and innovation are four criteria for admission into the National Toy Hall of Fame. I favor the first two over the latter two. The only way Jenga slips in is under the innovation designation. The selection committee could have chosen better.

As a populist, I question the pogo stick. Although it was around when I was a youth, I never saw the same play devotion among its users as I did for those who owned bicycles, a Hall member. Sofia and Marcelo, my grandchildren, own a pogo stick and bicycle. They ride their bicycles. The pogo stick gathers dust in the corner.

Although the puppet would not be among my final two choices, it did make my final five list. While my puppet play was limited, I witnessed ample puppet play among my contemporaries and subsequent generations to see the merit and value of this toy as a finalist. Sofia and Marcelo have puppets and they play with them.

It is not clear who the target audience is for remote control vehicles—children or males who still want to be children. R/C vehicles are clearly a male toy, a charge that can be leveled against Dungeons & Dragons, Hot Wheels and Transformers. The problem is longevity, not the male focus or the generic nature of the category. My observation is that the play attention factor for R/C vehicles is measured in days or weeks at best. The novelty wears off quickly. I do not see R/C vehicles as long-term toy play memories.

Rubik’s Cube is similar to liver and onions. You either love it or hate it. I hated Rubik’s Cube. Cousin Buck was a genius at solving it, which was another reason I hated it. Toys that frustrate and are not fun have no place in the National Toy Hall of Fame.

Simon arrived on the scene in 1978, far too late for my childhood game playing days. I do not remember buying it for my children. I have seen it played. I think Sofia owns an example, but I have to check. My observation is that it is a “craze” game—a game that is bought, enjoys a brief period of intense play, and is then relegated to a forgotten space in a closet, on a shelf in the basement or bottom of a toy box.

As much as emotion and passion should play a minimum role in the selection process, I am not able to avoid them in respect to Star Wars action figures. The action figure’s replacement of the vehicle as the No. 1 toy in the toy collecting category in the 1990s is the most significant collecting change in the toy collecting category in the 20th century. In one sense, I am delighted the selection committee did not create a generic action figure category, something it could easily have done. Instead, the inclusion of Star Wars action figures represents an understanding that there are subcategories within the general category that deserve special recognition. While toy collectors will never agree on the exact degree to which Star Wars action figures contributed to action figures replacing vehicles as the dominant boy toy, all agree the role was critical. Whether 2011 should be the year when Star Wars action figures enter the National Toy Hall of Fame is debatable. What is not is whether they should be so recognized. Star Wars action figures belong in the Hall.

So do Transformers. But, this is not their year. This may not even be their decade. While an iconic toy for their generation, they still need to stand the test of time. I have no doubt Transformers will. The maxim all things come to those who wait applies.

Twister made my Top 5 list. It was more a heart than mind vote. Like so many other games, it quickly tends to find its way into storage. Yet, it also works its way out generation after generation.

The final decision for the 2012 inductees already has been made. I wrote this column more to get my thoughts in order for next year than any attempt to impact this year’s decision. For several years, I considered submitting my ideas for the finalist list but never did anything about it. Next year I plan to be proactive. Who will lend their support for pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey?

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site..

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Q & A with Harry Rinker: Mexican Silver-Plated Silent Butlers, Marufuku Sakura Deck

Harry Rinker — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:28:40 +0000

QUESTION: I have a pair of individual silver-plated silent butlers. The basket-shaped body consists of woven metal strands. The top is a shallow oval ashtray with cylinder cups at three and nine o’clock. On the bottom of each basket is a rectangular plaque stamped with “TA- 01 / central circle surrounded by LOS CASTILLO TAXCO / HECHO EN / MEXICO / PLATCADO.” What is their history and value?

– M Al-K, Allentown, Pa., via e-mail

ANSWER: In 1979, a lettering system replaced the use of the eagle numbering system for Mexican silver. The first letter indicates the location where an item is made. T means Taxco. The second letter is usually the name of the silversmith followed by a number indicating the order in which the smith is registered in the records in the town. “A” most likely stands for Antonio Castillo. Unfortunately, the alphabetical registry lists for Taxco and other Mexican cities are not available. Platcado means plated. Los Castillo used the plaque on the bottom of your silent butlers between 1939 and 1962.
After working for Spratling, Castillo family members established their own business. Don Antonio Castillo founded and headed, until his death in 2000, the Los Castillo Taller. Today, The Los Castillo Shop is located at Rancho de la Cascade, Antonio Castillo’s homestead richly landscaped with gardens and waterfalls. The site also contains Castillo’s extensive collection of pre-Columbian artifacts.

While the demand for vintage Los Castillo sterling pieces is strong, there is little demand for the firm’s silver-plated pieces. The value for the pair of silent butlers is between $35 and $50.

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QUESTION: I have a deck of cards consisting of 47 cards, each measuring 1 ¼ inches by 2 inches. Each has a different landscape or floral design. The wooden box has a label picturing the branches of a tree and “MARUFUKA SAKURA” near the top. The back of the box has Japanese letters and symbols. What can you tell me about this card set?

– R.S., Sedalia, Mo., via e-mail

ANSWER: The cards are from a Japanese card game called Hanafuda, which means “flower cards.” The 48-card deck (your set is missing a card) consists of 12 suits of four cards. Each suit represents a month of the year. Each suit has two normal cards, one ribbon card and one special card.

There are more than 10 variations of the game, including Hachi, Hana Awase, Koi-koi and Tensho. Each variation has its own set of rules. In one variation, normal cards are worth 1 point, ribbon cards 5 points and special cards 10 points. The goal of the game is to accumulate more points than your opponent.

The Portuguese introduced the 48-card game of Hombre to the Japanese in 1549. Prior to that date, card playing was limited to the nobility. Hombre became a favorite of the masses. When Japan ended its contact with the West in 1633, the playing of “foreign” card games was prohibited. Card playing, primarily for gambling purposes, continued through the introduction of new card designs. Unsun Karuta, another 48-card game and gambling favorite, was banned in 1791. Hanafuda, which did not use numbered cards, was introduced. In 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi founded Nintendo Koppai to produce hand-crafted Hanafuda cards. Although Nintendo Koppai still produces Hanafuda cards, its principal 21st-century emphasis is video games. Koi-Koi, a version of Hanafuda, is popular in Hawaii.

Since it is missing a card, your set has minimal value. It cannot be used until the card is replaced. I found several Internet listings for Marufuku Sakura card sets. The high asking price was $30. A more realistic secondary market price for a complete set is between $12 and $15.

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QUESTION: I received a 1977 Alvin Theater “Annie” “Playbill” signed by Michael Jackson as a gift from my parents. Where do I get it authenticated and how do I preserve it?

– J.C., San Antonio, Texas, via e-mail

ANSWER: The first step is establishing the provenance of the piece. “Annie,” a Broadway musical based on Harold Gray’s “Little Orphan Annie” comic strip, opened at the Alvin Theater on April 21, 1977. It closed on Jan. 2, 1983 after 2,377 performances. If memory serves, an insert in “Playbill” should provide the date of the performance.

Once established, the next question becomes where was Michael Jackson on that date? Michael Jackson was born on Aug. 29, 1958. Depending on the date, Jackson would have been 18 or 19 at the time. He began his career in 1964 as a member of The Jackson 5. The Jackson 5 became The Jacksons in June 1975. Michael’s Broadway career was brief. In 1978, he was the scarecrow in the musical “The Wiz.” I found no evidence to suggest he appeared in “Annie.” Hence, if he signed the program, he had to be in attendance in the audience or the program was signed at a NYC venue where Jackson was appearing on or shortly after the date of the “Annie” performance.

Assuming one or both of your parents still are alive, you need to ask them how they acquired the piece. If they saw Jackson sign it, they need to write the story and have it notarized. While you might accept this as proof positive, autograph collectors will not. Anyone can make up a story. The key is to link Jackson to the Alvin Theater that evening.

Authenticating signatures is subjective. In the end, it comes down to one person’s opinion. Professional Autograph Authentication Services claims to have authenticated more than 2,000 Michael Jackson autographs. Is one opinion enough for positive authentication? No. A second or third opinion is necessary. Other autograph authentication services include Academy of Manuscript and Autograph and Bob Eaton of RR Auction. All authentication services charge a fee. Further, the field is full of controversy over whose opinions are trustworthy and whose are not.

Store you “Playbill” in an acid free folder. If you cannot find an acid free folder at a local art supply store, try Hollinger Medial Edge or University Products. Both are sellers of archival supplies.

Although you did not ask, I want to comment briefly on the value of a Michael Jackson autograph. Although your autograph is signed on a “Playbill” page or cover, it is classified as a “clipped signature,” one of the least valuable autograph types. Jackson’s death on June 15, 2009 created a spike in the secondary market value for his material. More than two years later, the market still has not stabilized. Speculative pricing abounds. Finally, the large number of fake Michael Jackson signatures has destroyed market confidence. Buyers are cautious.

In deciding whether to pay an authenticator(s), think resale value in the hundreds and not thousands. Unless a high degree of probability (90 percent or higher) exists that the signature is authentic, you may want to think twice about investing money only to learn the answer is negative.

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QUESTION: I have an orange-colored plastic Fat Albert lunch box. The thermos is missing. What is it worth?

– T., Bethlehem, Pa.

ANSWER: “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids” was an animated children’s cartoon series that premiered in 1972 and ran until 1985. Comedian Bill Cosby created and hosted the series. Filmation produced the series.

Fat Albert, an African-American youth, came from and lived in a low-income neighborhood in North Philadelphia. Many of the incidents were based on Cosby’s childhood memories. Fat Albert’s signature phrase was “Hey, hey, hey!”

My first reaction to your question is that you must have made a mistake. The 1970s was part of the metal lunch box era. A plastic lunchbox would be unusual.

Once again the old maxim “there is an exception to every rule” applies. There is a Fat Albert metal lunchbox first manufactured by King Seeley in 1973. Examples in fine or better condition sell between $25 and $35. I did find one overly optimistic Internet seller who had the box listed at $100.

There also is an orange plastic version, listed as “überscarce” by one online seller. Asking prices range from $85 to $100. This box also dates from 1973. A more realistic price for your lunchbox, assuming there is no surface damage, is between $50 and $65. According to WorthPoint’s Worthopedia, an example with some surface wear sold on eBay on April 16, 2011 for $11.24, illustrating that an antique or collectible’s value is contingent on time, place, and condition.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site..

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Rinker on Collectibles: Waxing Nostalgic about Becoming a Septuagenarian

Harry Rinker — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:12:52 +0000

I am a septuagenarian. Unlike some I know, I never hesitate sharing how old I am. My age is not an embarrassment. Given my lifestyle, I am astonished I have survived this long. Assuming the maxim “the good die young” to be true, what does my longevity say about me? This is a rhetorical question. Please do not answer it.

The only thing that saddens me about becoming a septuagenarian is that I am no longer a sexagenarian. There is something sexy about sexagenarian, besides its obvious first three letters. My parents were old in their 50s. They thought and acted old. My generation, the pre-Baby Boomers who grew up in the late 1940s and 1950s, established that their 60s were a time in which hormones governed their lives and life remained filled with challenges, fun and excitement. Sixty is not old; neither is 70.

I never accepted decade shift as a chronological definer. The world did not experience a shift in anything except a calendar page between Dec. 31, 1999 and Jan. 1, 2000. Nothing magical happened to me between Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. I was the same person the day after my birthday as I was the day before. Officially, I was a year older. Because of the way Americans calculate birthdays, I already was 70 for 365 days. I began my 71st year on October 1. Hence, as each day passes, I am 70 years, ___months and ___ days old.

[Author’s Aside #1: The last sentence above reminds me of the information found on funeral cards and tombstones. The dead certainly do not care. A reasonable person can do the mathematics provided the day, month and year of birth and death are known. Having just written this, I just experienced a “eureka” moment. I have no desire to have a standard tombstone epitaph. My tombstone will feature a picture of my NOITAL license plate beneath which is the caption: “His License Plate Said It All.” Why stop there? I am going to have a digital clock installed that provides the exact number of days, hours, minutes and seconds since I died. While I will not care, hopefully it will bring a smile to some.]

There are several links between my birth year and my career in the antiques and collectibles trade. I assumed the editorship of “Warman’s Antiques and Their Prices” in 1981. Although my museum/historic site career began in 1966, when I was 25, I date my involvement in the antiques and collectibles trade from the “Warman’s” editorship. Hence, I have been part of the industry for 30 years. If asked how long I have been around, many in the trade would offer a much higher number. No problem. When I am not doing the mathematics, it seems longer to me as well.

My weekly “Rinker on Collectibles” was launched in 1986. It will celebrate its 25th anniversary this December. In 1986, column 1,300 was not even a glint in my eye. Now, it is 12 weeks away. The next milestone is column 1,500. I am carefully considering if this is a mountain I wish to climb at my “advanced” age.

I learned that I would become Home & Garden Television’s “Collector Inspector,” when I was 60. I had just finished celebrating my 61st birthday when the first show aired. I was “batching” it at the time, living at The School, the former Vera Cruz (Pa.) Elementary School. While I was not a Hippie in the Sixties, I had three great years in my early 60s.

While most careers have a built-in obsolescence—the older you become, the less valuable you become—an antiques and collectibles career acts just the opposite. Knowledge in the field is cumulative. The longer you are in the game, the more you learn; the more you learn and the more valuable you become. Whether a person becomes a national treasure, font of wisdom or whatever term applies depends on his/her ability to stay current. I am loathe to quit, not wanting to waste the knowledge that I worked so hard to acquire and unwilling to pass up the opportunity to keep learning more.

Some individuals grow old gracefully. Do not count me among their number. Thirty years ago, I was one of the trade’s young bucks. Now, I am among its old farts, although flatly denying any connection to the industry’s traditionalists—once a renegade, always a renegade.

[Author’s Aside #2: The fact that one can be a young buck at 40 is one of the many curiosities in the antiques and collectibles trade. While there are old-timers who entered the trade in their 20s, most began their careers in their mid-30s to early 40s.]

While I still think and act young, I am not moving as fast as I once did. I take medication for cholesterol, diabetes and gout. So far, my blood pressure is fine. I am overweight. Hence, my stamina is not what it used to be. I am paying for the good life this industry has given and continues to provide me.

I am losing more and more friends to the grim reaper. Two decades ago, I thought little about this. Those passing away were a generation ahead of me. Now, they are my age or younger. It is my generation’s turn. We are the senior citizens of our industry. When it is your turn to hold the torch, it is hard to let go. I have not been as conscientious as I should have been in identify and befriending the next generation of industry leaders. The problem with being on top is that it is too much fun.

I was in my 50s when I first put forth the concept that collectors stop collecting in their early 60, hold on to their collections for another decade and begin disposing of their collections in their early to mid-seventies. As I begin my 71st year, I am proof that the concept is valid. I assumed that I would be the exception—collect until I die; and, to some extent, I will be. However, I no longer collect with the enthusiasm of 10 years ago. I sold The School and am downsizing my holdings. Linda’s and my house in Kentwood is full. There is no more room; and, Linda has put her foot down on our buying another house in the development just to house my things.

As I have grown older, I have become more attuned to the passage of time, a commodity that seems to go faster the older one becomes. Sofia turned 6 in June. Was she not born yesterday? Has it been 11 years since I celebrated the turn of the century? Time’s increased speed has had a serious impact on my “To Do” list. Projects take longer to accomplish than earlier. Linda argues that I take on too much. My schedule always has been overcommitted, but I accomplished it by working long hours and sevens day a week. Nothing is work when you love doing it. Now, I can no longer work into the early morning hours as I once did. Overnighters are out of the question. I do not want to turn back the hands of time, just slow them down.

I multi-tasked before multi-tasking was popular. As I have grown older, it has become harder. While I am more than willing to blame it on the demands created by modern technology, I know the problem is me. The desire is there, but the mind—not the body in this case—is weak.

In my early 60s, I was current and tuned into each new generation as it arrived on the collecting scene. This changed over the past five years. I am having trouble identifying with the Millennials. In the past, I discovered linkages between my generations and those that followed. The Millennials are different. Trying to understand them better is one of the reasons I returned to the college classroom. This semester I am teaching freshman seminar, public speaking and writing. Although I interact with the Millennials, it is clear there is a major disconnect in interests. I am trying hard to grasp their lifestyle and media interests. My concern is that this is a “silent” generation of collectors. It has no interest in establishing a long-term relationship with things. Buy it new, use it, buy an updated version as soon as it becomes available and discard the old, even if it works.

Ten years ago, I was in age denial. While I want to think I still am, I am no longer certain. I find myself thinking more and more about my age—not a good thing.

To end on a positive note and, as I stated earlier, I have no intention to age gracefully. If anything, I plan to become more cantankerous, opinionated and obnoxious. I will not ever give up this crazy business and the objects associated with it.

If there is a God, I am going to die buying an antique or collectible, not selling. If this fails, I will settle for a moment when I am in the process of sharing my thoughts about the industry. Maybe my tombstone needs a third feature, a line reading: “Grumpy and Stubborn to the End.”

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site..

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Q & A with Harry Rinker: Auto-Wheel Coaster Wagon, Edison Electrostatic Machine

Harry Rinker — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 15:04:56 +0000

QUESTION: I own a child’s wooden wagon. The side is marked with “NORL’EIGH COASTER,” the two words separated by an extended horizontal diamond with a sun ray center and a green field border with “SHAPLEIGH HARDWARE COMPANY / NORLEIGH DIAMOND.” The marking beneath the wagon reads: “No. 3 / ROLLER BEARING/ MADE BY THE BUFFALO SLED CO. / NORTH TOWANDA, N.Y.” What is the value of my child’s wagon?

– JR, Bleton, Mo, via e-mail

ANSWER: In 1843, Augustus F. Shapleigh became a partner in Rodgers, Shapleigh and Company, a hardware business located in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1847, the company became Shapleigh, Day and Company. The company issued its first catalog in 1853. When Day retired in 1863, the company was renamed A. F. Shapleigh and Co. The company’s Diamond Edge trademark was adopted a year later. In 1909, Shapleigh introduced its “Diamond Edge is a Quality Pledge” slogan.

When A. F. Shapleigh retired in 1901, the company reorganized as Norvell-Shapleigh. Sunders Norvell served as president for ten years. Norvell-Shapleigh had more than 40 house brands, including Black Jack, Mound City and Norleigh. In 1918, the company again changed its name to Shapleigh Hardware Company.

The Buffalo Sled Company was founded in 1899. The 1910 Towanda, N.Y., City Directory lists the company at the corner of Schneck and Duckwitz. The company eventually had facilities at 95-97 and 150-152 Schneck Street. The 1915 directory notes the firm manufactured “shovels, sleighs and coaster wagons.” Sled sales were seasonal. In order to retain its workforce and utilize its tooling throughout the year, sled manufacturers made other wooden products such as desks, educational items, shovels and wagons during the off-season.

The Buffalo Sled Company produced the Auto-Wheel Coaster. The wagon became so popular that Auto Wheel Coaster clubs were organized across the United States. At its peak, the company had 160 employees. Wagon sales exceeded sled sales. The company changed its name to the Auto Wheel Coaster Company in the early 1920s.

As a wholesaler, Shapleigh contracted with other manufacturers to make products with Shapleigh trademarks. Since the Shapleigh Hardware Company name dates from 1918 and Buffalo Sled Works became Auto-Wheel Coaster around 1920, your wagon most likely dates between 1918 and 1920. The date is tentative because it is possible that the Auto Wheel Coaster Company continued to manufacture product under the Buffalo Sled Co. trademark for several years after the name change.

The photographs that accompany your e-mail indicated that your wagon is in very good to fine condition. Although the wagon shows signs of use, the lettering and markings are in fine condition.

While there are collectors of child’s wooden wagons (children’s wheeled vehicles is the collecting category), most are bought for decorating/conversation purposes or by doll and teddy bear collectors who want an “antique” in which to display their prizes. As a result, values vary depending on the purchaser—$250 to $300 to a collector or $400 to $450 to a decorator.

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QUESTION: My grandfather worked with Thomas Edison. I inherited an electrostatic sparking machine which my grandfather received from Edison. It is powered by an Ekonowatt motor. The serial number on the plaque is 51814. The machine is mounted on a wooden base with the word “Edison” in gold script letters. What is the value of my instrument?

– B, Blairstown, N.J.

ANSWER: Thomas Edison, living in Newark, N.J., bought land in Menlo Park in late 1875. In spring 1876, he moved his research and development facility to that location. The first major invention originating from this new facility was the phonograph in November 1877. Within a decade, Edison’s operation outgrew the Menlo Park facility. In 1887, Edison moved his laboratory to West Orange, where he continued to work for the remaining 45 years of his life.

The Edison Ekonowatt motor, which ran on either AC or DC current (there was an adaptor switch attached to the motor), was used to power a number of devices, including Edison cylinder phonographs and Edison Universal dictating machines. The motor experienced multiple refinements. Examples sell on eBay starting at $20 and reaching $50, depending on age, condition and working order.

Thomas Edison filed several patents for electrostatic generators. The purpose of your grandfather’s electrostatic sparker is unclear. Its primary purpose may have been to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Ekonowatt motor. My inclination is to view it as a scientific instrument designed for classroom use.

If I am correct, its value far exceeds that of the motor. A conservative estimate is between $100 and $125. A portion of this value is the association of Edison’s association with your grandfather. You need to assemble as much supporting material as possible to establish this connection. No buyer is going to pay a premium based solely on “say-so.”

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QUESTION: I have a NASCO “Hello Dolly” doll in its period box with the wrapping intact. The doll is wearing a red and pink dress with a red feather hat. The box states: “inspired by David Merrick’s Musical Comedy Hit Starring Carol Channing.” I was wondering what it might be worth?

– MK, Catasauqua, Pa., via e-mail

ANSWER: David Merrick produced a Broadway version of “Hello Dolly,” a musical with lyrics by Jerry Herman and book by Michael Steward, in 1964. The musical was based on Thornton Wilder’s 1938 farce “The Merchant of Yonkers” (a flop), revised and retitled “The Matchmaker” (a hit staring Ruth Gordon) in 1955. After Ethel Merman and Mary Martin turned down the role of Dolly Levi, Merrick considered Nancy Walker before hiring Carol Channing. Although the out-of-town tryouts in Detroit and Washington, D.C., were a disaster, the show opened on Broadway. Channing as Dolly and the show were a hit, winning 10 Tony awards.

Kaysam-Jolly Toys, which headquarters in New York, manufactured hard plastic dolls from the late 1950s through the 1960s. Some dolls, such as the Hello Dolly doll, have Nasco Creations labels. Nasco’s Hello Dolly doll, whose body also might have been used for the company’s Gigi and Juliet Prowse dolls, was 21 inches high.

A similar doll marked “A.E.” is attributed to Allied Imported which also did business as Allied Doll Company, Allied Doll & Toy Company or Allied Grand Doll Mfg. The firm was located in Brooklyn, New York. This company made contract dolls for other manufacturers. The “A.E.” Hello Dolly doll measures 11 ½-inches high.

I checked several doll price guides. The book price for the Nasco doll is between $100 and $200. Thanks to the Internet, it is possible to easily check book prices. As is often the case, field prices are lower by 50 percent or more.

Because your doll retains its period packaging, a conservative secondary market retail value is between $45 and $60.

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QUESTION: I own several Mary Kay Golden Goblets. What is their history? Do they have any value?

– S, Oklahoma

ANSWER: After a 25-year career in direct sales marketing, Mary Kay Ash resigned her position as a national training director to write a book designed to help women advance in the business world. After a chance meeting with a woman who was selling her father’s manufactured cosmetics, Ash purchased the rights to the formula and developed a marketing plan to sell the product nationwide. When her husband—who was helping her—suffered a fatal heart attack, Ash ignored the advice of her accountant and attorney, following instead her mother’s dictum: “You can do it.”

On Sept. 13, 1963, Mary Kay Ash, with the help of her son Richard, launched Beauty by Mary Kay from a small office in Exchange Park in Addison, Texas. The company specializes in cosmetic and skin care products. Pink, a color synonymous with the company, was chosen for its packaging.

Ash believed in rewarding successful employees. The company quickly developed a reputation for lavish rituals and annual celebrations. A gold-plated goblet was given to consultants (Mary Kay product salespersons) who sold $1,000 per month wholesale. In 1965, the company introduced Cinderella gifts, such as automobiles (obviously pink), diamonds and vacations. The Golden Goblet is still being rewarded.

The success of Mary Kay consultants resulted in hundreds of thousands of gold-plated goblets being distributed as rewards. Although mint-in-the-box old and new examples appear regularly on eBay as auction and “Buy It Now” listings, the sell through price is usually less than $5. As recorded on WorthPoint.com, a vintage Mary Kay set consisting of six gold-plated goblets accompanied by a brass pitcher and tray sold for $15.59 on eBay in August 2007.

Given the above, my advice is to use the goblets and forget about selling them.

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Rinker on Collectibles: Age as Value

Harry Rinker — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 21:05:37 +0000

As I approach my 70th birthday, I find myself spending more and more time pondering the value of age. Am I worth as much or more to the antiques and collectibles business today as I was 20 or 30 years ago? Forget the trade, what about to myself, my community, the world as a whole? Thomas Hardy, an English novelist and poet, wrote: “The value of old age depends upon the person who reaches it.” I agree. Wisdom, worth and value are not synonymous with old age. Each individual is judged on his own merits.

Value is relative. I grew up in a black-and-white age; the good guys versus the bad guys. As I grew older, I discovered that shades of gray exist in far greater numbers than do the two primary colors. Rules are no longer as fixed as I earlier believed. While there are scientific truths, antiques and collectibles truths are subjective not objective.

As a youngster, I was taught to value age. My parents—good God-fearing folks—constantly reminded me to “respect my elders,” a concept unequivocally supported by Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16, Leviticus 19:3, Ephesians 6:1-4, and Colossians 3:20-21. I cannot pinpoint the exact day I came to the conclusion that some of my elders were dumber than horse manure, but suspect it was early in my teens. It is a concept that I tested throughout my life and discovered that it applied not only to my elders but also to some younger than me and, occasionally, to myself.

Respecting the past and things associated with the past were corollaries to the concept of respecting my elders, especially if the objects in questions were family heirlooms. My parents’ treasured items passed down through the family. I hold firm to this belief. My children profess to care. My grandchildren could not care less.

Age as value is an integral part of the antiques and collectibles business. From the late 19th century until the final two decades of the 20th century, age was a primary value consideration. Putting aside the philosophical question of how to define old, if an object was old, it had value. The mere fact that an object survived was sufficient to create value.

In a recent column, I wrote that age is no longer a major value consideration. John, a “Rinker on Collectibles” reader, e-mailed his strong objections to my assertion. Traditionally, I ignore my critics based on “I have had my say, they can have theirs.” I make exceptions on occasion and did so with John.

On July 26, 2011, I e-mailed John: “I have wrestled with the concept of age as a value added consideration for a long time. Is the fact that because something is old (survived) enough to create value? I hold that it does not. Does the number of years it survived impact value? Even here, the answer is no.

“While there certainly are cases where age does impact value, they are more atypical than typical in today’s marketplace.”

There are no absolutes in the antiques and collectibles business. There always are exceptions and plenty of them. However, it is possible to identify situations that are typical and those that are not. Given sufficient experience and analytical ability, it is possible to distinguish which is which.

John replied: “I guess we will have to agree to disagree, I go to at least three auctions a week. I sell out of three different antiques malls. I sell to other dealers . . .

“The number of years it [an object] survived impacts value by driving the price up by the fact that less have survived . . . pottery and glass are both great examples I see all the time. Once that piece of Tiffany is broken, the price of similar ones goes up because no more are being made.

“There are other considerations . . . The price of silver is high right now . . . Many things are being melted for scrap making older pieces even more valuable by their scarcity.”

John is confusing scarcity with age. They are two different entities. Scarcity relates to the number of examples that survive. In theory, if 10 examples of one object and 100 examples of another survive, the value for one of the 10 will be higher than the value for one of the 100 objects.

When tested, this theory fails more than it passes. First, a collector or buyer needs to exist for the object. “There is a collector for everything” is a myth. In the 2010s, there are thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of older objects that have no value except for their continuing utilitarian function. Second, if there is a collector or decorator buyer, the object has to survive in a condition that attracted the interest of one of these buyers.

Five years ago, I still was touting a Big Three value theory—condition, desirability and scarcity. Other values such as age or regional were secondary or tertiary values. Today, the Big Three have evolved into the Big One. Desirability is the king of the hill. If there is no buyer, there is no value.

The Internet destroyed scarcity. While eBay shoulders much of the blame, it does not stand alone. EBay is only one Internet antiques and collectibles resale site. Today, there are hundreds of such sites. Within a decade, the number will be in the thousands. The end result is a growing number of instances whereby everyone who desires an example of an older object acquires one. When this occurs, scarcity as a concept disappears.

I can match every example of glass and china that John cites as gaining in value for each piece destroyed with dozens of examples where destruction has no impact whatsoever in the marketplace: an Adams Depression Glass light-pink salad plate; an Ashford pattern glass goblet; a Howdy Doody Welsh’s Grape Jelly drinking glass; a Homer Laughlin Fiesta orange salt shaker; and a copper lusterware creamer are just a few of my opening salvos.

When considering age as a value, one needs to be careful not confuse it with the tertiary values of first and oldest. First, collectors—those individuals who collect the first example of things—fascinate me. Volume 1, Number 1 is a value-added feature in comic books and magazines. Book collectors focus on first editions and first printings. However, do not confuse first with age. The first in any series, even contemporary objects, commands a premium among collectors. If collectors cannot identify the first, they settle for the oldest, for example antiquities. Oldest also impacts the value of coins, stamps, and sports memorabilia. It does not work with automobiles. Just ask an individual trying to sell a working Model T Ford.

In fairness to John, I have been racking my brain trying to identify a collecting category or objects within a collecting category where age is a primary secondary market value consideration. Every time I identify a possibility, another value consideration such as condition—forget desirability—overrides age.

Greg Martin/Heritage Auctions sold an 1836 Colt, ivory-gripped Texas, or Holster Model No. 5, Paterson Revolver for $977,500. It certainly was not the oldest Colt known. The revolver was old, but this was not the primary value factor. Scarcity was not either. Finest known, an older value that rears its head for ultimate unit/masterpieces, and investment, a “new-kid-on-the-block” value, were the values that drove the final price.

John is correct. We have to agree to disagree. Old is not enough. It is not even a starting point when determining value. I wish it was. If it was, perhaps I might find more solace in dealing with the approach of age. Then again, is 70 old?

John Barrymore (you have to be old to know who he is) said: “A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.” I have never regretted my career in the antiques and collectibles business. The never-ending task of trying to understand how this wonderful, crazy market works keeps me young.

As always, your thoughts on this topic are appreciated. E-mail them to me at harrylrinker [at] aol [dot] com.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site..

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Sharon Fiffer’s Four Estate Sale Stages for Owners

Harry Rinker — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:05:34 +0000

Linda’s and my next door neighbor in Kentwood, Mich., Dave Jekel, sold his home and is moving to Arizona to live with his son and family. Rather than take his household possessions, he has decided to sell them. Dave first asked his children what they wanted. Like so many, he was surprised by how small the list was. Dave’s mission—and he has no choice but to accept it (apologies to Mission Impossible) —is to sell the contents of his house.

I assumed Dave would schedule an auction. Prior to moving to western Michigan, I lived in communities where auctioneers are kings-of-the-hill. I have many friends in the business and a high regard for this method of dispersal. I mistakenly assumed auction was the preferred dispersal practice in western Michigan. It is not.

I knew better, but momentarily forgot. During the 10 years I operated my Institute for the Study of Antiques and Collectibles, several attendees came from Michigan. They offered a package of client services that included appraisals, estate sale management and antiques mall booths. Gary L. Miller and K. M. Scotty Mitchell, good friends and owners of Mitchell in Fort Worth, Texas, are estate sale wizards. I have seen them in action and listened to their “how-to” lectures.

Since my primary antiques and collectibles buying sources are flea markets, malls, shows and online, I felt no urgency to investigate the estate dispersal scene following my arrival in western Michigan. I am in the process of correcting this. There are eight auctioneers listed in the yellow pages of the local phone book. While I do not know the preferred day for auction and estate sale advertisements in the Grand Rapids Free Press now, I will within the week.

Aware of my expertise, Dave invited me to “take a look at a few things” before signing a contract with the person who will conduct his estate sale. The number of antiques and collectibles were limited. The contents were contemporary, high-quality furniture and decorative accessories, great fodder for an estate sale.

Two of my favorite estate sale managers are fictional characters: Sharon Fiffer’s Jane Wheel and Tim Lowry. Jane, a garage/estate sale picker and amateur sleuth/private eye, is the central character in the “Jane Wheel Mystery” series, published by Minotaur Books. In reading “Backstage Stuff,” the most recent title (published in 2010), I put the following passage into my “food for thought” folder for future Rinker on Collectibles columns:

“When Margie walked through the house after Jane and Tim effectively turned it inside out and began hanging string tags on the valuables, taping signs to the walls for group pricing of linens or men’s ties, Jane and Tim both knew she would go through the owner’s four stages of dealing with their own estate sale—denial, embarrassment, anger and greed. In other words:

“No one is going to want to buy that.”

“I wouldn’t want anyone to see that.”

“Why wouldn’t someone want that?”

“We should have charged more!’”

Although I thought a great deal about how individuals view their personal property, I have written very little about it. My writing focuses on how individuals view inherited objects or objects bought for collecting purposes.

My observations suggest that individuals see little value in the things with which they live. Objects purchased for utilitarian purpose are functional, meant to be used and then discarded. When purchasing contemporary furniture, household and decorative goods, clothing and other things, little to no thought is given to long-term collectability or resale. Who collects lawn mowers, refrigerators, outdoor grills, New Balance athletic shoes, Champion workout shorts, garden store vases or plastic storage bins? We live in a use-it-then-lose-it environment.

We also fail to value our possessions because they are used. We are a new-minded generation. New is preferred over used. Buy new rather than repair. The hand-me-down era quietly faded from the scene in the late 1960s or early 1970s. Who wants to buy that used thing? I most certainly would not.

We forget that every antique and collectible was once new. Collectors in 2050 will be buying our ordinary and everyday objects. Not everything. Some discrimination, hopefully based on aesthetics and good taste, will prevail.

I have lived long enough to see objects from my childhood become antiques and those from my children’s childhood become collectibles that are approaching antique status. Even though most of my grandchildren are younger than 14, a granddaughter from a previous marriage is in her mid-20s. The toys from her childhood are collectibles.

While there are meticulous individuals who pride themselves on maintaining their possessions in like-new condition, the average individual uses the items he/she owns and accepts the wear and tear that results. Selling one’s household contents in an estate sale exposes a person’s stewardship qualities to the general public. Little wonder there is a period of initial embarrassment and concern. People want public perception to be positive. The seller was a good housekeeper, had good taste and lived in a model home.

During the course of living with their possessions, individuals do not think in terms of resale value. However, when facing the sale, they slowly experience a change of heart. The process follows an identifiable pattern.

Initially, when deciding what will be offered in the estate sale versus what will be sent to the landfill, the owner makes decisions weighted more heavily toward the dump than the cash box. Pings and dinks, even the smallest of blemishes, become magnified. Pleas by estate sale managers to “not throw that out, someone will buy it” are ignored at first—only at first.

Eventually, the maxim “hearing is believing” prevails. Once the owner accepts the estate sale manager’s message that a potential buyer exists for all possessions, he/she becomes a believer. The seller sees his possession in a new light. Value is everywhere. If he/she had only realized this possibility earlier, he/she would have taken better care of the objects.

Those in the trade from auctioneers to antiques dealers to estate sale managers know that the concepts of “why wouldn’t someone want that” and “there is a buyer for every object” are myths. There is not a buyer for everything. There is usually a pile of unsold goods at every estate auction. Box-lot buyers often leave unwanted items in the box behind. No antiques dealer leaves a show with an empty booth. Estate sale managers always have a “what to do with what is left” plan in place.

In talking with Dave about his estate sale, he told me that the estate sale manager prefers he not be present when the estate sale takes place. I reinforced this advice. “You are too close to the objects,” I told him. “The only thing to care about is the final number. You made the decision that you no longer had any use for these things. Let the estate sale manager do her job—sell your stuff.”

When confronted by a seller, whether private individual or antiques dealer, who laments “I should have charged more,” I make two points: First, the object sold. Sometimes it is necessary to state the obvious. Once an object sells, it is no longer the seller’s problem. The seller has the cash. The buyer has the object and now faces the “what am I going to do with it” issue. Second, if the object had been priced higher, it might not have sold.

Money is money. For the seller, cash in hand is better than object in hand. The goal is to sell. Maximizing return is a secondary goal. If an object does not sell, neither goal is achieved.

A great deal of second-guessing occurs in the antiques and collectibles industry. Second guessers live in the past. The antiques and collectibles business is a better place when it focuses on the future.

Although I considered offering Dave my services to vet the prices the estate sale manager put on his items, I refrained. My second guessing, especially since I had not checked out the western Michigan estate sale market, would contribute little.

Curiosity mandates my attendance at Dave’s estate sale—for professional reasons, of course. As for Linda, I still am trying to figure out away to distract her. Any suggestions? We do not need another thing.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out Harry’s Web site..

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