Q: Recently I bought a pair of old cowboy spurs. They are very rusty and the leather is dried out. Should I condition the leather and use rust remover on them or will it hurt the value?

A: It won't lower the value if you do a careful job of restoring them. To remove rust from the spurs, use a commercial rust remover. If the leather is very dry, it should not be washed. Just apply a commercial leather dressing. A second coat may be applied after the first coat is dry. After it is thoroughly dry, buff it with a soft cloth. Leather that has not deteriorated can be washed in soap and warm water. Dry the leather overnight, away from sunlight and heat sources. When the leather is thoroughly dry, apply leather dressing. Leather that crumbles to red powder has "red rot," which is caused by absorption of sulfur dioxide. Red rot is a "terminal illness."

Q: I have a pitcher marked "Jugtown Pottery." Is it collectible?

A: Jugtown Pottery was founded by Juliana and Jacques Busbee in 1915, but the term "Jugtown pottery" also is used to refer to handmade pottery made by North Carolina families as far back as the 1750s. The Busbees built a shop in Jugtown, N.C., in 1921, and hired Ben Owen as a potter in 1923. The pottery closed in 1959 but reopened in 1960. It is still operating near Seagrove, N.C.

Q: I have a Holt-Howard candleholder that's a figure of a girl in a yellow dress. I would like to know something about it.

A: Holt-Howard was founded by John and Robert Howard and A. Grant Holt in Stamford, Conn., in 1949. The company sold humorous condiment jars, decanters, spoon-holders, saltshakers and other tableware. Pieces are often marked with the company's full name or "HH" and the year of manufacture. The HH mark was used until 1974. Some pieces are marked with a black and silver label. The company was bought by General Housewares Corp. in 1969 and production of Holt-Howard products stopped in 1990. Your candleholder is worth about $25.

Q: I am trying to find some information about an opalescent glass reamer embossed with these words: "Blue Goose Fruit, for most juice and finest flavor, Fry heat resisting glass, 1967." There are embossed images of geese on the reamer, too.

A: The H.C. Fry Glass Co. of Rochester, Pa. (25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh), made your reamer between 1924 and 1933, the year the company closed after 32 years in business. The "1967" on the reamer is its mold number. Your reamer is well-known among collectors. It was a Pet Milk premium that promoted a summer drink made by combining ice, condensed milk and fresh orange or lemon juice. Blue Goose Growers was a group of citrus packinghouses in California, Florida and Arizona. Dole acquired Blue Goose in 1984. Your reamer is made of heat-
resistant oven glass developed by Henry Fry in the early 1920s. Fry Glass Co. called its opalescent color "pearl." Your reamer is worth $175 to $200.

Q: I have several 78 rpm Columbia and RCA records I bought when I was stationed in Japan from 1949 to 1951. The songs were popular among GIs, but they're in Japanese. Are the records worth anything to anybody? Where could I donate them?

A: How interesting that GIs listened to American recordings of songs in Japanese. We would like to know if the songs were Japanese songs or American songs sung in Japanese. In any case, the market for your records is small, even in Japan, now that it's been 60 years since the war and occupation. But there are many historical museums both here and in Japan, some dedicated solely to World War II. You might try contacting those museums to see if they're interested in your records.

Tip: Don't try to clean an oil painting with a cut potato. This old wives' tale can damage the painting.

Terry Kovel answers as many questions as possible through the column. By sending a letter with a question, you give full permission for use in the column or any other Kovel forum. Names, addresses or e-mail addresses will not be published. We cannot guarantee the return of any photograph, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The volume of mail makes personal answers or appraisals impossible. Write to Kovels, Auction Central News, King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

Need more information about collectibles? Find it at Kovels.com, our Web site for collectors. Check prices there, too. More than 700,000 are listed, and viewing them is free. You can also sign up to read our weekly Kovels Komments. It includes the latest news, tips and questions and is delivered by e-mail, free, if you register. Kovels.com offers extra collector's information and lists of publications, clubs, appraisers, auction houses, people who sell parts or repair antiques and much more. You can also subscribe to Kovels on Antiques and Collectibles, our monthly newsletter filled with prices, facts and color photos. Kovels.com adds to the information in our newspaper column and helps you find useful sources needed by collectors.

CURRENT PRICES

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

• Madame Alexander doll, Glinda the Good Witch, felt, long brown hair, pink tulle gown with silver stars, lavender butterfly on chest, pink leather shoes, 14 1/2 inches, $25.
• Black cat candy container, egg-shape body, wire tail, spring-mounted head, bottom of feet marked "Germany," 1950s, 4 inches, $35.
• Advertising button, "Satan-et Will Get You Yet," winking devil, red ground, 1910-1920, 7/8 inches, $140.
• Halloween postcard, embossed, little girl in white-and-pink dress standing in front of large moon, red devil riding bats, copyright 1913, $175.
• Fairy Soap trolley car poster, cardboard, little girl sitting on top of bar of soap, blue ground, circa 1915, 11 x 21 inches, $205.
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show window card, image of surprised-looking woman, starring Tim Curry, 1975, 14 x 22 inches, $230.
• Royal Doulton figurine, Bluebeard, HN 1528, 1932-49, 11 1/2 inches, $475.
• Maleficent (Mistress of All Evil) figurine from Sleeping Beauty, glazed ceramic, long black flowing gown with hood, wire staff with raven attached, circa 1959, 2 1/2 x 3 inches, $1,105.
• Dorflinger wine glass set, ruby cut to clear facets, knopped stems, starburst etching on feet, 7 3/4 inches, set of 12, $3,220.
• Hooked rug, exotic cat on preprinted burlap ground, 1890s, New England, 26 x 39 inches, $3,500.

Just published. The new full-color Kovels' Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide, 2010, 42nd ed., is your most accurate source for current prices. This large-size paperback has more than 2,500 color photographs and 47,000 up-to-date prices for more than 700 categories of antiques and collectibles. You'll also find hundreds of factory histories and marks and a report on the record prices of the year, plus helpful sidebars and tips about buying, selling, collecting and preserving your treasures. Available at your bookstore; online at Kovels.com; by phone at 800-571-1555; or send $27.95 plus $4.95 postage to Price Book, Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.
© 2009 by Cowles Syndicate Inc.

Q: I have a Hoody's peanut butter pail with a red lid. The pail pictures children on a teeter-totter. It's in very good condition. What can you tell me about when it was made and the company that made it?

A: A.C. Hoodenpyle, a Dutch immigrant whose nickname was "Hoody," began selling roasted peanuts in 1913. He opened a store in Oregon and began selling peanut butter under the name Hoody's Famous Peanut Butter. The red 1-pound peanut butter tins pictured a girl and a boy in 1920s-era clothes on a seesaw that was balanced on a big peanut shell with the words "Hoody's Goodies" on it. Tins had either a plain tin lid or a red slip lid. After Hoodenpyle died, Valentine Brown bought the company. Harvest Manor Farms, a snack food company in El Paso, Texas, bought the company in 1994. The brand name is still used. The tins are rare and the graphics are popular with collectors. A tin with a red lid is worth $400 or more. One with a silver tin lid was offered recently for $860.

Q: We still own the bookcase my husband's mother bought for him in the 1940s, when he was a child. It was made by the Gunn Furniture Co. of Grand Rapids, Mich. Can you tell us something about the bookcase's history?

A: Gunn Furniture Co.'s history can be traced to 1874, when William S. Gunn started selling furniture at his Grand Rapids hardware store. In 1890 he incorporated his own manufacturing firm, the Gunn Folding Bed Co. Because the popularity of folding beds was waning fast, three years later he changed his company's name to the Gunn Furniture Co. and started making desks, bookcases, files and other office furniture. The woods he used included walnut, oak and mahogany. The firm was sold in 1953 to Bergsma Brothers Inc., also of Grand Rapids. Bergsma Brothers closed in 1985.

Q: I have a Titian Ware Royal Ivory plate by Adams that says Adams was established in 1657. Your Web site mentions that the firm was founded in 1769. Can you tell me why the date is different?

A: Several members of the Adams family operated potteries in the Staffordshire district of England. The earliest pottery operated by a member of the family was Brick House Works, established in Burslem in 1657 by Robert Adams and his son, John. William Adams & Sons was established in 1769 and operated the Greengates Works in Tunstall. The 1657 date was added to the William Adams mark in 1896 even though the date refers to a different but related Adams company. Adams became part of the Wedgwood Group in 1966 and some Adams designs continued to be made with the Adams backstamp. The Greengates Works closed in 1992.

Q: I am interested in learning the year my old brass NCR cash register was made and what it's worth. It's a Model 356G. The first patent date is May 23, 1893, and the last is Aug. 30, 1910. The serial number is 1283080.

A: National Cash Register Co., which dates to 1884, made your cash register in 1913. You can check serial numbers of all NCR cash registers at the Dayton History Web site, DaytonHistory.org. An NCR Model 356G cash register sold recently for $950.

Q: I have a 9-inch Chad Valley rubber doll with painted brown hair. The patent number on it is 517,252. Can you tell me when it was made and what it's worth?

A: Joseph and Alfred Johnson founded a printing firm called Johnson Bros. in Birmingham, England, in 1849. In 1897 they added a plant in Harborne, outside of Birmingham, in the valley of a stream called Chad - hence the trade name "Chad Valley." The company made toys at the Chad Valley plant and added doll production about 1917. Its dolls were all-cloth, usually with felt faces, velvet bodies and hand-woven wigs. Because your doll has painted hair, not a wig, it's not as valuable as the best Chad Valley dolls. The patent number dates it to 1940. If it's in excellent shape, it could sell for about $100. Chad Valley was sold to Palitoy, another British toy company, in 1978.

Tip: Clean the inside of a graniteware pot by filling the pot with water, adding a teaspoon of baking soda, and bringing it to a boil.

Terry Kovel answers as many questions as possible through the column. By sending a letter with a question, you give full permission for use in the column or any other Kovel forum. Names, addresses or e-mail addresses will not be published. We cannot guarantee the return of any photograph, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The volume of mail makes personal answers or appraisals impossible. Write to Kovels, Auction Central News, King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

Need more information about collectibles? Find it at Kovels.com, our Web site for collectors. Check prices there, too. More than 700,000 are listed, and viewing them is free. You can also sign up to read our weekly Kovels Komments. It includes the latest news, tips and questions and is delivered by e-mail, free, if you register. Kovels.com offers extra collector's information and lists of publications, clubs, appraisers, auction houses, people who sell parts or repair antiques and much more. You can also subscribe to Kovels on Antiques and Collectibles, our monthly newsletter filled with prices, facts and color photos. Kovels.com adds to the information in our newspaper column and helps you find useful sources needed by collectors.

CURRENT PRICES

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

• Ideal Miss Goody Two Shoes doll, "The Doll Who Walks by Herself," turquoise dress, white leather shoes, blue eyes, blond hair, 1965, battery, 19 inches, $75.
• Toy Coca-Cola dispenser, plastic, red with logo, holds one bottle of Coke, pull lever to fill plastic glass, 1950s, set of four glasses, $100.
• Baby gown, petite red-and-white gingham, applique stripes across front, 1880s, $125.
• Brumberger tri-level toy service station and parking garage playset, No. 800, ramps, gas pumps, air pump, grease rack, 1960s, 14 x 24 inches, $130.
• Shoot DuPont Powders advertising postcard, features Monora, 1910 champion show dog in pointer stance, 5 1/2 x 4 inches, $235.
• Northwood glass pull-up plate, shell form, striped satin, blue on yellow, light crimson pulled feathers, signed, 8 inches, $350.
• Tiffany sterling silver bowl, leaf and dart border with drake-head handles, hairy hoof feet, marked, 5 x 7 x 6 inches, $430.
• Eero Saarinen Grasshopper chair, bentwood, upholstered in blue-gray fabric, plywood arms, circa 1955, 36 x 27 inches, $1,540.
• Weller Eocean vase, straight form, painted storks flying, cream ground, signed "Chilcote," marked, 6 x 10 inches, $2,070.
• 1913 Barnum & Bailey "Famous Elephant Base-Ball Team" circus poster, 20 x 30 inches, $7,635.

Just published. The new full-color Kovels' Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide, 2010, 42nd edition, is your most accurate source for current prices. This large-size paperback has more than 2,500 color photographs and 47,000 up-to-date prices for more than 700 categories of antiques and collectibles. You'll also find hundreds of factory histories and marks and a report on the record prices of the year, plus helpful sidebars and tips about buying, selling, collecting and preserving your treasures. Available at your bookstore; online at Kovels.com; by phone at 800-571-1555; or send $27.95 plus $4.95 postage to Price Book, Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.

© 2009 by Cowles Syndicate Inc.

Do you like hard pillows or soft pillows? It might depend on where you grew up.

Homemade pillows were used in ancient Egypt, medieval Europe and early America. In the mid 19th century, the Industrial Revolution and the evolving textile industry changed the way pillows were produced. From homemade and hand-embroidered, they became machine-made. Bed pillows were stuffed with goose down or feathers. But in China, pillows were very different. At first they were smooth stones. Later, by the late sixth century, they were rectangular blocks made of wood, jade, bronze, porcelain or other ceramics. Most had a curved top surface for the head. Porcelain pillows were made from the 10th to the 14th century, then were gradually replaced by pillows of other materials or even European-style stuffed pillows. Porcelain and other hard pillows were decorated with animals, plants, people, mountains and even geometric designs. Some had colorful glazes. Many were shaped like animals or small children. Many collectors today do not realize that the decorated rectangles were pillows or headrests. They are sometimes called "opium pillows" because opium users liked to lie on their sides using hard pillows. They claimed that after smoking opium for a while, even a hard pillow felt "like a cloud." Today collectors find few of the very old hard pillows, but 19th- and 20th-century replicas are available. The pillow shaped like a child is so popular as a decorative item that it is still being made.

Q: I own an old carved oak side chair made by the Jamestown Lounge Co. that's marked "No. 9313." It's from a line called Feudal Oak. What can you tell me about the company and the chair's value?

A: The Jamestown Lounge Co. of Jamestown, N.Y., was founded by four partners in 1888. At first it manufactured, appropriately, only lounges - long armless, backless, upholstered pieces with a hard roll at one end. In the 1890s, the company added box couches and convertible sofa beds, and by the 1900s it was making all kinds of case and upholstered furniture. The Feudal Oak line was introduced in the 1930s and was produced for decades. Pieces were carved in a medieval style and were highly waxed. Your No. 9313 chair is pictured in the company's 1938 and 1941 catalogs, but it was gone by the time the 1949 catalog came out. Jamestown Lounge Co. was sold in 1978, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1982 and closed in 1983. Your chair, if in excellent condition, would sell for about $100.

Q: My 11-inch china vase is decorated with pink flowers and green leaves. There are a couple of different marks on the bottom. The largest is an "X" with a crown at the top, an "R." on the left, a "C." on the right and the word "Bavaria" on the bottom. There's another mark that looks like "P.CIRCAChina Co. of Seattle" surrounding the words "hand painted." What does the "R.C." in the mark stand for, how old is my vase and what is it worth?

A: The "R.C." stands for "Rosenthal China," a pottery and porcelain manufacturer that has been in business in Selb, Germany, since 1879. Rosenthal used the mark you describe from 1891 to 1907. The word "Bavaria" is in the mark because Rosenthal shipped "blanks" (undecorated wares) to U.S. companies (such as P.CIRCAChina Co.) so artists working at those firms or even at home could decorate vases and dishes and sell them to American consumers. Vases like yours sell today for about $200.

Q: I have two Coca-Cola trays, "Menu Girl" and "Girl with Umbrella." The writing on them is all in French. I can't find any information about the trays. Can you help?

A: Your trays were probably made for the French-Canadian market in Quebecirca"Menu Girl" was issued in 1950 and is worth about $25 today. "Girl with Umbrella," issued in 1957, sells for about $125.

Q: I have a mirror marked "Copyright Syroco Inc., Made in U.S.A." It is 30 inches long and 20 inches across at the widest part. There is a crest on the top and bottom and carved flowers around the rest of the frame. I would like to find out something about the manufacturer.

A: In 1890 Adolph Holstein, founder of the Syracuse Ornamental Co. in Baldwinsville, N.Y., developed a technique of molding wood composition so that it resembled carved wood. A mixture of wood flour, wax and resin was poured into molds and compressed, creating the product known as "Syroco." The company made various decorative items, including mirrors and clocks. Later, it manufactured molded patio furniture. In the 1930s, the company name was changed to Syroco IncircaOther companies were also making items out of molded wood composition by the 1940s. These are sometimes referred to as "syrocco," with an extra letter "c," to distinguish them from Syroco made by Syracuse Ornamental Co./Syroco IncircaThe company became a subsidiary of Industrias Vassallo Inc., in 2004 and went out of business in 2007. The company name on your mirror indicates it was made after 1930. Syroco is still inexpensive. Mirrors sell for as little as $25.

Tip: Never pick a chair up by the arms. Pick it up under the seat. The arms could loosen or crack.

Terry Kovel answers as many questions as possible through the column. By sending a letter with a question, you give full permission for use in the column or any other Kovel forum. Names, addresses or e-mail addresses will not be published. We cannot guarantee the return of any photograph, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The volume of mail makes personal answers or appraisals impossible. Write to Kovels, Auction Central News, King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

Need more information about collectibles? Find it at Kovels.com, our Web site for collectors. Check prices there, too. More than 700,000 are listed, and viewing them is free. You can also sign up to read our weekly Kovels Komments. It includes the latest news, tips and questions and is delivered by e-mail, free, if you register. Kovels.com offers extra collector's information and lists of publications, clubs, appraisers, auction houses, people who sell parts or repair antiques and much more. You can also subscribe to Kovels on Antiques and Collectibles, our monthly newsletter filled with prices, facts and color photos. Kovels.com adds to the information in our newspaper column and helps you find useful sources needed by collectors.

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

• Big Ben Smoking Tobacco pocket tin, image of black horse in a field, Brown & Williamson, Louisville, Ky., 3 x 4 1/3 inches, $75.
• Roy Rogers & Dale Evans paper dolls, Whitman, 1954, uncut, $95.
• Child's No. 20 Singer Sewing Machine, thread, pins, instruction booklet, pincushion, original box reads "This is not a toy but a real sewing machine," circa 1922, $225.
• Wrought-iron hat rack, vine and leaf form, distressed green and white paint, 1930s, 77 x 45 x 31 1/2 inches, $230.
• English silver sugar tongs, figure of harlequin, serpent ring handles, marked "John & Henry Lias," 1865, 4 3/4 inches, $290.
• Madame Alexander Little Betty doll, Russian girl, composition, brown hair, blue eyes, red babushka and boots, white lace blouse, paisley skirt, 1930s, 9 inches, $375.
• Steuben strawberry pendant, clear glass with internal bubbles, gold-leaf top, original box, 1 1/2 inches, $445.
• Quilt, nine-block design in brown, red, blue and white, Lancaster, Pa., 1860s, 79 x 80 inches, $2,600.
• Tiffany gold Favrile goblet, optic ribs, iridescent foot and bowl, amber-ribbed stem, marked, circa 1895, 6 3/4 inches, $3,350.
• Federal inlaid mahogany tall chest of drawers, two short drawers, three long drawers, bonnet drawer with inlaid central oval and shells, circa 1810, 49 x 45 x 22 inches, $4,600.

Just published. The new full-color Kovels' Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide, 2010, 42nd edition, is your most accurate source for current prices. This large-size paperback has more than 2,500 color photographs and 47,000 up-to-date prices for more than 700 categories of antiques and collectibles. You'll also find hundreds of factory histories and marks and a report on the record prices of the year, plus helpful sidebars and tips about buying, selling, collecting and preserving your treasures. Available at your bookstore; online at Kovels.com; by phone at 800-571-1555; or send $27.95 plus $4.95 postage to Price Book, Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.

© 2009 by Cowles Syndicate Inc.

Q: I inherited some green Depression glass dishes from my uncle, who bought them in the 1920s. I have the original sales receipt. Where can I find information? I would like to know the value in case I decide to sell them. The dishes are marked on the bottom with the letter "C" within a triangle.

A: Your dishes were made by Cambridge Glass Co. of Cambridge, Ohio. The company was founded in 1901. It closed in 1954, reopened briefly, then closed again in 1958. The mark you describe was used after 1920. It's impossible to suggest a value for your dishes without knowing the pattern. Cambridge glass dishes can sell for anywhere from under $10 to well over $100.

Q: I have a huge piece of wooden furniture we bought in San Mateo, Calif., in the early 1980s. When we got it home, we had to reconstruct the kitchen to make it fit. It's made up of a long base of cabinets topped by three revolving glass doors and an upper cabinet of regular glass doors. The facing plate on one section says "O.M. Whitman & Co., Boston, Mass., Patented," and then lists several dates ranging from June 12, 1883, to Feb. 7, 1899. What do all the dates mean, and what can you tell me about O.M. Whitman?

A: The dates are patent dates that relate to various refrigeration patents obtained by Orrin M. Whitman, the founder of O.M. Whitman & Co. Whitman made refrigerators for grocery stores. The glass-fronted rolling drawers on your furniture were once refrigerated for store displays of butter and cheese.

Q: I need help identifying a canvas banner that says "Jamestown Exposition 1607-1907." It pictures two Indians watching a ship sailing toward them.

A: Your textile is a souvenir from the Jamestown Exposition, which commemorated the 300th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the American colonies. The exhibition was held at Sewell's Point, Va., about 30 miles from the actual site of the settlement. The town of Jamestown was out of existence by the mid-1700s. The exhibition ran from April 26 to Dec. 1, 1907. Your textile is a "crossover collectible" of interest to collectors of historic textiles and memorabilia as well as to those who collect souvenirs from national expositions and World's Fairs. After the Jamestown Exposition, the land and buildings used there were purchased by the federal government. It's now part of the Sewell's Point Naval Complex.

Q: I have a pump organ that belonged to my grandmother in the 1940s or earlier. The family story is that she used it in her one-room schoolhouse in Jackson County, Ohio. It still works. It's labeled "Crown Organ." On the back it says, "Geo. Bent, Chicago, U.S.A." I would appreciate any information you can provide.

A: Crown organs and pianos were made by the George P. Bent Piano Co. The company was founded in about 1870 in Louisville, Ky. In 1881 it advertised itself as a jobber of organs and sewing machines. In 1889 the company moved to Chicago and was awarded several medals at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. Sears Roebuck & Co. sold some Crown organs. Bent was bought by Winter Piano Co. in 1927. Plain pump organs sell for about $50 to $100 and up.

Q: I have a figurine of a man in a plumed hat with a red beard, 7 1/2 inches tall. The mark on the bottom looks like a backward "C" connected to a regular letter "C." Who made it?

A: The mark was used by Cordey China Co., founded by Boleslaw Cybis in Trenton, N.J., in 1942. Cordey made figurines, vases, lamps and other decorative items that were sold in gift shops. It was bought by the Lightron Corp. in 1969 and made lamps under the name Schiller Cordey Co.

Tip: Clocks that are wound from the back should be wound counterclockwise because that's really clockwise if you're facing the front of the clock. Never wind an old clock counterclockwise.

Terry Kovel answers as many questions as possible through the column. By sending a letter with a question, you give full permission for use in the column or any other Kovel forum. Names, addresses or e-mail addresses will not be published. We cannot guarantee the return of any photograph, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The volume of mail makes personal answers or appraisals impossible. Write to Kovels, Auction Central News, King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

Need more information about collectibles? Find it at Kovels.com, our Web site for collectors. Check prices there, too. More than 700,000 are listed, and viewing them is free. You can also sign up to read our weekly "Kovels Komments." It includes the latest news, tips and questions and is delivered by e-mail, free, if you register. Kovels.com offers extra collector's information and lists of publications, clubs, appraisers, auction houses, people who sell parts or repair antiques and much more. You can also subscribe to Kovels on Antiques and Collectibles, our monthly newsletter filled with prices, facts and color photos. Kovels.com adds to the information in our newspaper column and helps you find useful sources needed by collectors.

CURRENT PRICES

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

• Tip tray, "Compliments of Greening Big Nurseries," image of woman holding white flower, dated 1906, 4 1/2 inches, $55.
• The Beatles Ringo Starr Soaky, playing drums, soft plastic body, hard plastic head, Nems Enterprises, circa 1965, 9 3/4 inches, $75.
• Cast-iron lawn sprinkler, walking tractor, green with brass wheels, revolving sprinkler, Pat. No. 2152425, 9 x 21 x 37 inches, $120.
• Fur muff, one side is doll, the other is kitten head, reversible painted features, cloth face, mohair wig, green glass eyes, circa 1930, 9 1/2 x 8 inches, $130.
• Beswick porcelain figurine, Old English Sheep Dog, white and black with pink tongue sticking out, sitting upright, 11 x 8 3/4 inches, $245.
• Steiff studio-size gazelle, tan mohair, brown antlers, glass eyes, ear button and tag, 1960, 45 x 51 inches, $350.
• Flapper cigarette dispenser, carved wood, push lever to dispense cigarette through flapper's mouth, 1920s, 6 1/2 inches, $525.
• Bakelite pin, red spread-winged eagle on shield, black rim, gold shield with three stars, 2 1/2 inches, $1,110.
• Webb glass and sterling serving spoons, Burmese glass handles with red berries and blue butterflies, 11 1/2 inches, pair, $5,290.
• Hans Wegner valet chair, handlebar hanger crest rail, bulbous back splat, dish seat with rear handles, hinged front rail lifts to reveal well, Denmark, 1953, $5,520.

Just published: the new full-color Kovels' Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide, 2010, 42nd edition, is your most accurate source for current prices. This large-size paperback has more than 2,500 color photographs and 47,000 up-to-date prices for more than 700 categories of antiques and collectibles. You'll also find hundreds of factory histories and marks, and a report on the record prices of the year, plus helpful sidebars and tips about buying, selling, collecting and preserving your treasures. Available at your bookstore; online at Kovels.com; by phone at 800-571-1555; or send $27.95 plus $4.95 postage to Price Book, Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.

© 2009 by Cowles Syndicate Inc.

Recycling isn't a new idea. Our ancestors reused bits of cloth for quilts, made clothing out of flour bags, and used old cigar boxes to make chip-carved picture frames and boxes. Their rule was "waste not, want not," so it's not surprising that the bare wooden spools left after thread was used seemed too practical to ignore. Sewing machines were introduced to the general public in the 1840s, and a machine needed commercial thread on a spool. A lathe developed about 1815 made turnings that were probably cut apart to use as wooden spools for thread. Until about 1900, uncut turnings were used to make spool furniture. But another type of spool furniture was made from the empty thread spools that were saved by sewers. A chair or table was constructed of straight pieces of wood, then decorated with dozens of applied spools either left round or cut in half lengthwise. The finished furniture looked like traditional Victorian pieces with elaborate jigsaw decoration. Today "sewing spool" furniture is considered folk art. A very large high-back spool chair made about 1900-10 recently sold for $490.

Q: I hope you can settle an argument for us. Was Coors pottery made by the same company that makes Coors beer?

A: Coors pottery was made by Coors Porcelain Co., not the brewery, but there is a connection between the two companies. John Herold, a German immigrant, founded the Herold China and Pottery Co. in Golden, Colo., in 1910. Herold made oven-safe porcelain dishes at his factory, which was leased from Adolph Coors, founder of the brewery. Coors was a Herold China and Pottery Co. stockholder and board member. John Herold left the company in 1914. In 1920 the name of the pottery was changed to Coors Porcelain Co. Ovenware and tableware was made until 1980, and custom orders were made after that. The company now makes industrial porcelain under the name CoorsTek.

Q: I have had a 16-inch Morton Salt advertising thermometer for a long time and would like to know what it's worth. It's blue and yellow with a white image of the Morton "Umbrella Girl" and the words "Morton Free Running Salt, When It Rains It Pours." It also says "Never Cakes or Hardens" at the top and "Morton Salt Co., Chicago" at the bottom. The thermometer measures degrees from 40 below 0 to 120 degrees above.

A: Advertising thermometers were popular from the 1920s until the 1970s. They were given to stores that sold the product being advertised. Morton Salt Co. dates back to 1848, but was incorporated with that name in 1910. The Umbrella Girl was introduced in Morton ads the following year and was first used on boxes of salt in 1914. The girl's image has been updated over the years. You can buy a new Morton advertising thermometer for $18 on the company's Web site. Old ones sell for more or even less, depending on condition.

Q: I would like to know the difference between hatpins, stickpins and lapel pins.

A: A hatpin is practical as well as decorative, and is used to hold a woman's hat on her head. Hatpins were especially popular during the Victorian era. A stickpin is a long, straight pin with a decorative head that's worn to hold a necktie or scarf in place. Stickpins became fashionable when men started wearing cravats in the late 18th century. Today, women sometimes wear a stickpin on a collar or lapel as a piece of jewelry. A lapel pin is usually small and has a short pin on the back. It's meant to be worn on the lapel of a jacket or coat, but may also be pinned onto a hat, dress or collar. A lapel pin may be a badge or company insignia, or it may be just a piece of jewelry. A small American flag is a popular lapel pin today.

Q: I have a vintage Girl Scout mess kit and canteen. They're in mint condition. Would they be of interest to a collector? How much are they worth?

A: Girl Scout collectors search for anything pertaining to the Girl Scouts. The Girl Scout movement started in 1912 under the leadership of Juliette Gordon Low of Savannah, Ga. Many Girl Scout mess kits were made in the 1950s and '60s. Your kit should have an aluminum fry pan with a swing handle, a cooking pot with a cover, a plate, a plastic cup and stainless-steel utensils. All of the pieces fit inside the cooking pot and cover and are held together with a screw handle. The kit originally came in a green plaid carrying case labeled with the Girl Scout insignia. The canteen, with its carrying case, was sold separately. Vintage Girl Scout mess kits sell for $5 to $10. A mint canteen with its original box can sell for up to $35.

Tip: A miniature painting should not be washed. Most miniatures are painted on ivory, and the paint will wash off.

Terry Kovel answers as many questions as possible through the column. By sending a letter with a question, you give full permission for use in the column or any other Kovel forum. Names, addresses or email addresses will not be published. We cannot guarantee the return of any photograph, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The volume of mail makes personal answers or appraisals impossible. Write to Kovels, Auction Central News, King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

Need more information about collectibles? Find it at Kovels.com, our Web site for collectors. Check prices there, too. More than 700,000 are listed and viewing them is free. You can also sign up to read our weekly "Kovels Komments." It includes the latest news, tips and questions, and is delivered by e-mail, free, if you register. Kovels.com offers lots of collecting information and lists of publications, clubs, appraisers, auction houses, people who sell parts or repair antiques and much more. You can also subscribe to Kovels on Antiques and Collectibles, our monthly newsletter filled with prices, facts and color photos. Kovels.com adds to the information in our newspaper column and helps you find useful sources needed by collectors.

CURRENT PRICES

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

• Hawaiian-themed restaurant menu, 1950s, Sunshine Room, St. Petersburg, Fla., cardboard, Hawaiian flowers and palm trees, gold braided cord, 12 x 9 inches, $25.
• Golden Gate International Exposition belt buckle, brass, "1939 San Francisco Bay," blue enamel paint, $50.
• McCoy Locomotive cookie jar, yellow and pumpkin, black wheels, red smokestack, 1960s, 11 x 6 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches, $95.
• Black evening bag, rhinestone clasp, black satin lining with two slit pockets, beaded strap, marked "Handbags by Josef," 10 x 6 inches, $175.
• Webb glass vase, bulbous, long neck, blue and white, enameled pink apple blossoms, 15 3/4 inches, $230.
• Uneeda Biscuit boy doll, by Ideal, composition flange head, painted eyes, closed mouth, molded blond hair, stuffed body, yellow sateen raincoat and hat, 1914, 15 inches, $325.
• Rookwood tray, rook perched on oak leaves and acorns, brown and red matte glaze, circa 1912, 11 x 2 1/2 inches, $645.
• Stickley Brothers plant stand, square top, peg construction, old refinish, metal Quaint Furniture tag, 12 1/2 x 32 inches, $780.
• Kendall's Spavin Cure poster, "Cures for Horses & Humans," hunting dogs, horse, woman in riding dress, circa 1900, 22 x 28 inches, $1,175.
• Navajo rug, Storm pattern, gray, white & black wool, 1930s, 32 x 52 inches, $1,300.

Be a smarter, more successful collector. Kovels on Antiques and Collectibles, our monthly newsletter, and archives of its back issues are now available on our Web site, Kovels.com. The searchable archives include hundreds of helpful "Kovels" articles, plus hard-to-find information about trends, prices, caring for collectibles and how to buy and sell. Every issue of our concise, fact-filled newsletter is chockfull of news, sale reports, prices, moneymaking tips, questions from collectors and dozens of color photos. The 12-page completely searchable newsletter is available 24/7 at Kovels.com. Subscribers are sent a courtesy e-mail every month when the latest issue is posted. Subscribers, like all Kovels.com registered users, also receive a free weekly e-mail update with the latest news from the collecting world, access to 700,000 prices, a directory of companies that help collectors and more. Visit Kovels.com for all the details.
© 2009 by Cowles Syndicate Inc.

Caption:

This huge example of recycling, a chair made with old wooden thread spools, sold for $490 at Thomaston Auction in Thomaston, Maine. It is 53 1/2 inches high by 23 inches wide.

Costume jewelry is among the best-selling collectibles in the United States today. Much of the costume jewelry made in the mid-20th century is well-designed and was created with materials that have lasted. Pieces usually are more durable and less expensive than modern costume jewelry. One of the well-known names in costume jewelry of the 1930s to the 1970s is Mazer. Joseph Mazer and his brother Louis founded Mazer Brothers in New York City in about 1927. Their jewelry was marked "Mazer," "Mazer Bros." or "Sea-Maze." In 1940, they separated and Joseph started Joseph J. Mazer and Co., better known as Jomaz. His company marked jewelry "Jomaz," "Joseph Mazer" or "Mazer." It closed in 1981. Louis continued to work for the original company until 1951. That company went out of business in 1977. Flower pins, ribbon and bow pins featuring colored enamels, faux pearls and Swarovski crystals and rhinestones were among the Mazer brothers' early designs. Sterling silver, gold-plated sterling and rhodium-plated metal were used in later pieces. All of the brothers' jewelry was carefully made and sold originally at middle-range prices.

Q: I have an antique artificial leg with a peg foot that I was told dates from the Civil War era. It's wooden with a hinged metal brace at the knee and a leather case that could be attached above the knee with laces.

A: You will have to take your prosthetic leg to a medical museum in your area to precisely date its origin, but it sounds as though the leg could date from the Civil War era. That's when battlefield amputations led to extensive research in artificial limbs. In fact, one of the war's early amputees, a Confederate soldier from Virginia named James E. Hanger, designed a leg for himself in 1861 and later founded a company to manufacture prosthetic legs. The company, now called Hanger Orthopedic Group, is based in Bethesda, Md., and makes all sorts of prosthetic devises for injured U.S. soldiers. The value of Civil War-era artificial legs ranges widely depending on several factors, including whether an expert has determined its age. We have seen them sell for hundreds into the low thousands. Some museums accept them as donations.

Q: I have an antique library table that has a mark on the bottom of the desk drawers that says "Wolverine, Detroit, 1887." What can you tell me about this company?

A: The Wolverine Manufacturing Co. was organized by Frederick B. Smith in 1887. He started the furniture company with 12 men and $10,000. The company specialized in manufacturing library and parlor tables. By 1908 Wolverine claimed to be the largest manufacturer of its kind in the world. The company was out of business by 1919. An average-quality library table by a maker that is not well known is worth about $300 to $500 - in other words, it's worth its "use" value.

Q: I have a vase with a circular mark on the bottom that includes the words "Arequipa, California" around a drawing of a vase under a tree. It has been in the family for years. Is it valuable?

A: Arequipa Pottery was made by patients at the Arequipa Sanatorium in Marin County, Calif., from 1911 to 1918. The sanatorium treated women and girls with tuberculosis. The pottery was established to give the patients something to do. Patients were taught by Frederick H. Rhead, a well-known potter who had worked at Roseville Pottery. Your vase has an early mark used when Rhead was there, from 1911 until 1913. Arequipa Pottery with this mark brings the highest prices today. Vases sell for hundreds to thousands of dollars.

Q: Our historical society has a woven rug that a visitor told us was a valuable "Brussels carpet." It's 70 x 82 inches with a seam down the middle. What can you tell us?

A: A "Brussels carpet" is a patterned carpet made of colored worsted yarns drawn up in loops through a foundation of strong linen thread. It's named after the capital of Belgium, where this type of carpet was first made in 1799. But widespread production of Brussels carpets didn't happen until 1849, when the Bigelow Carpet Co. was founded in Clinton, Mass. Erastus Bigelow had already invented a power loom for weaving carpets, and his additional invention of a mechanism to create patterned Brussels carpet is what helped the industry take off. Up to five colors were used in a row, but the way the colors alternated made it look like many more. Brussels carpets were much less expensive than the oriental rugs well-to-do U.S. families were using to cover floors, so the carpets could be found in middle-class as well as upper-class homes.

Tip: Maroon and yellowish chrome-green were never used to decorate porcelains during the 18th century. Another dating clue: Almost all 18th-century porcelain figures have brown eyes.

Terry Kovel answers as many questions as possible through the column. By sending a letter with a question, you give full permission for use in the column or any other Kovel forum. Names, addresses or e-mail addresses will not be published. We cannot guarantee the return of any photograph, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The volume of mail makes personal answers or appraisals impossible. Write to Kovels, Auction Central News, King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

Need more information about collectibles? Find it at Kovels.com, our Web site for collectors. Check prices there, too. More than 700,000 are listed, and viewing them is free. You can also sign up to read our weekly "Kovels Komments." It includes the latest news, tips and questions, and is delivered by e-mail, free, if you register. Kovels.com offers lots of collecting information and lists of publications, clubs, appraisers, auction houses, people who sell parts or repair antiques and much more. You can also subscribe to Kovels on Antiques and Collectibles, our monthly newsletter filled with prices, facts and color photos. Kovels.com adds to the information in our newspaper column and helps you find useful sources needed by collectors.

CURRENT PRICES

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

• Plastic book-shaped Magilla Gorilla bank, by Ideal, also pictures Ricochet Rabbit, Mushmouse, Droop-a-Long Coyote, Hanna-Barbera, 1964, 4 x 6 inches, $45.
• Wright & McGill Eagle Claw Lures cardboard sign, reflective lettering, blue water with fish caught on lure, Denver, 1930, 15 x 22 inches, $90.
• Yogi Berra Yoo-Hoo Frozen Energy Bar sign, paper, image of Yogi holding bar, yellow ground, 1960s, 7 x 15 inches, $195.
• Madame Alexander Madeline doll, hard plastic, vinyl head, sleep eyes, real lashes, open/close mouth, molded tongue, jointed, blue organdy dress, 1950s, 18 inches, $310.
• Schneider glass vase, egg shape, inverted rim, mottled orange, large red flower heads, signed, circa 1925, 9 3/4 inches, $965.
• Russian Empire-style window bench, silk upholstery, scrolled ends, platform base, C-shaped supports, H-shaped plinth, circa 1930, 56 x 18 inches, $1,010.
• White linen and lace banquet cloth, scalloped lace border, two bands of cutwork embroidery, inner band with fruit baskets, outer with putti, circa 1900, 204 x 67 inches, $1,265.
• Coin silver ladle, oval handle with acanthus leaf design, marked "F.C. Clark" (worked 1816-60), 12 3/4 inches, $1,495.
• Phonola Type 547 desk-top intercom, brown Bakelite, output values, dial lamp, push-button, circa 1939, $3,150.
• Staffordshire creamware teapot, globe shape, black transfer portrait of Queen Charlotte on one side, crown, symbols and title on other, possibly Wedgwood, circa 1763, 4 3/4 inches, $5,925.

Kovels' New Dictionary of Marks - Pottery and Porcelain, 1850 to the Present pictures more than 3,500 marks found on 19th- and 20th-century American, European and Asian pottery and porcelain. It includes factory dates, locations and other information. Marks are sorted by shape, and there's a special section on date-letter codes and factory "family trees." Available at your bookstore; online at Kovels.com; by phone at 800-571-1555; or send $19 plus $4.95 postage to Kovels, Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.
© 2009 by Cowles Syndicate Inc.

Caption:

This costume jewelry pin that looks like a bouquet of violets was made by Mazer. The flowers are white metal covered with purple and green enamel. The 3-inch pin sold for $58 at a Morphy Auction in Denver, Pa.