Another short entry

Been another looooong week at the 9 to 5, mentally exhausting really, so again a lack of posts this past week.  I won't bore you with details or too many complaints, but let's just say: working there sucks at the moment.

Now on to what this blog is really about, learning about antiques and collectibles, it's time to show you another item and briefly discuss. Today it's actually about a line of items from a well known company, Pfaltzgraf, The Muggsy line.

Set of six Muggsy Mugs by Pfaltzgraf

The "Muggsy" line of giftware was introduced in the late 1940's and was extremely popular. This line of comic characters contained mugs, cookie jars, bottle stoppers and ashtrays, etc.  All the pieces were given names, and the line continued in production until 1960. The earlier production, like those in the photo above, had protruding and painted features. Later production had painted features on a flat surface. The original six character mugs, all six of which are shown above, were named Handsome Herman, Pickled Pete, Flirty Gerty, Cockeyed Charlie, Sleepy Sam and Jerry the Jerk. There soon followed other pieces such as a cookie jar (Derby Dan), a what-not jar (Handy Harry), a clothes sprinkler (Myrtle the Sprinkler), and many other pieces. The pieces were all designed by a gentleman named Norman Jessop.

Marks on bottom of mugs

These are a fun collectible, not common but not exceedingly rare either, but always interesting. Some pieces are more difficullt to find than others, Myrtle the Sprinkler being one of the more difficult (I've only seen her once for sale). This line is pretty extensive, and a complete collection would make quite a display.

Pfaltzgraf itself was started in the 1800's in Pennsylvania making redware, then stoneware crocks and jugs. In the 1920's they made yellow ware and spongeware. 1930's and 1940's they produced stoneware for the kitchen. The first line of dinnerware did not appear until the 1950's. This line called Gourmet Royale, was simular to lines made by other companies at that time (McCoy, Hull etc.) a high-gloss, solid color ware accented by a patchy white rim.

Pfaltzgraf is very collectible, and the lines are extensive, making collecting this ware a true treasure hunt, with unusual pieces popping up now and then. Most of us know and recognize the dinnerware lines of Heritage and Folk Art, which seem to alway be available somewhere, flea markets, tag sales and our mothers cupboards.

Got more to say, but just got a call from the 9 to 5, looks like another Saturday fixing an issue and it's month end, so I'll continue this later!

So start something new today, and start a collection! Have a good day and I'll see you later!

Sundays and more Dishes

Just thought you'd like to know another interesting fact I found when researching the carafe set. This firm discovered the secret to a striking Ox Blood glaze, a glaze found on many old pieces of Chinese pottery.

The company used no less than 19 different backstamps for it's various lines, the GMcB in an oval being the first, and their most famous line of dinnerware was Franciscanware (Apple and Desert Rose patterns being most well known).

See you find out the most interesting things when you check stuff out!

I've said I love dishes and I do, so much so I've been caught turning over the plates in restaurants to see who the maker of the dishes is (just do it before you're served, much easier that way). If you're caught just say you like the pattern and wanted to see if you could purchase it, the restaurant will like the compliment.

I'll pick out something else for tomorrow night, as I'm headed for bed, I have an early meeting at the 9 to 5 tomorrow and need to be alert!

See you tomorrow and for now Good Night!

Saturday and Dishes

Saturday. Cloudy and raining, stayed in today to catch up on computer maintenance chores, cleaning, backups and upgrades. Went shopping late, groceries, nothing exciting there. Got in to the store, and they had buckets in every aisle, some, like the main aisle had 10 or 15, with caution signs leading around them, guess the roof has sprung a few leaks! Problem is the store can't be more than 6 years old! Winter will be interesting in bad weather, might need the umbrella indoors, so much for bad luck.

Well on to a more interesting subject - Dishes! Did I mention I love dishes? Granted, not really fancy stuff, but practical and useful. Just the kind of thing that is fun to collect, something you can actually use.

Dishes, actually china and tableware, are an interesting collectible as there is such an array and abundance of them, yet some sets take years to collect every item available in a pattern. Many companies made them, from inexpensive everyday items, to the "good" china; you know the ones your Mother or Grandmother only brought out on the Holidays.

Well today I have a the following to present to you, in it's time it would have been considered everyday stuff, but now you'd use it only occasionally. Here's a picture.

Yep, It's a carafe set with 4 cups!

A first glance I was thinking, well I was thinking COOL! - I like this stuff, very modern and stylish and in a great color to boot! Possibly Forties or Fifties design, with ceramic, metal and wood elements, very chic, and did I say, modern. The handle on the Carafe is wood attached to the neck with a black metal band, between the band and the metal is a rubber gasket. The handles on the cups are also metal an wood. Fiesta? Bauer? Vernon? Could it be one of those?

Well, some of the pieces are marked and I thought I recognized it, but wasn't positive, so off to do the other thing I love - RESEARCH!

There are two pieces that are marked, the carafe and one cup. Here is a photo of the mark on the carafe:

 

I know, it's a bit fuzzy, but here's what is says: GMcB in an oval/made in/USA

The GMcB stands for the Gladding-McBean company, they are probably most well known for their FRANCISCAN line of dinnerware, but that was made a few years after this was. This is their earliest mark used from 1934 till 1938, this was definitely earlier than Franciscanware. This is an EL PATIO Carafe set, the first dinnerware line this company designed and produced to compete with Bauer. It was produced in eight colors, this one is Golden Glow,  and the pattern was designed by Mary K. Grant.

Now, did I mention modern! This design is from 1934 and still looks fresh today, that's good design! Want to see more good design, check out the following picture.

The handles on the cups are removeable for cleaning! They just slide down to remove, then you can slip the cup back in for service. It stuff like this that satisfies the gadget geek in me!

Gladding-McBean was the first company to market "starter sets".  You know, four place settings in a single box, the way most of us buy china and tableware today! See what research turns up, and you thought dishes would be boring! I'm still finding more information, which I'll pass on to you later.

Well that's it for right now, 'nuff educatin' for tonight!  Good Night! 

Four days past

Well, here it is the 22nd, four days from my last post. The 9 to 5 keeps me too busy lately, and I'm questioning whether I should have started this blog because of it.

I barely have time to keep on top of my online store as it is now, but I do though because I love it, and I love antiques and collectibles. That is why I started this blog to talk about antiques and collectibles and try to get others interested also.

Antiques are not only fun, they are a means to establishing links to our past, and preserving it for the future. I know the younger generations (not that I'm old (yet), middle age really) don't currently view antiques as a hobby, but neither did I when I was the same age, but I learned there was some interesting stuff out there just waiting to be discovered. And discover it I did!

So even though right now time is limited, and I am doing this before I go get some rest because tomorrow is another big (9 to 5) work day, I will try to keep this blog going and present another new item tomorrow night.

So Good Night, for now.

Build a reference collection

Last night I mentioned that I looked in several reference books to find out all I could about the doll in the discussion. Building a reference library is probably one of the best things you can do for yourself once you've selected a category of collectible. There are hundreds of books available on almost every subject, some are better than others, but this is generally a matter open to lots of discussion itself! Some people will recommend a particular book, others something else, check them all out and choose those you find easiest to use for yourself.

In researching the doll I used the following books, and these are just the start of a good reference collection, there are many more available for each specific category of doll, my reference library tends to be more general in scope:

Blue Book of Dolls/Values, author Jan Foulke, Hobby House Press, this comes out every year or so and is considered by many to be the definitive book on doll values. It is only a guide as some dolls will fall below the listed value and an exceptional doll above the listed value. I keep several years handy, as all dolls are not referenced in each book.

The Main Street Dictionary of Doll Marks, author Jean Bach, Main Street Press, is well organized, and contains many good mark facsimiles. I like the appendices in this book, as they cross reference mold numbers.

The Collector's Encyclopedia of Dolls Volumes I and II, authors Dorothy, Elizabeth and Evelyn Coleman, Crown Publishers. I don't know if this one is still in print; my volume I copy is dated 1968 and volume II is 1986. These are large volumes, and cover a lot of territory, some a bit obscure, but lots of good stuff here. Well worth finding a copy.

German Dolls Identification and Values, author Patricia Smith, Collectore Books,  not sure if this is still in print either my copy is 1985. Good Photos.

The ABC's of Doll Collecting, author John C. Schweitzer, Sterling Publishing, my copy is from 1981 so again it may be out of print. Good reference for beginning collectors.

The Collectors Book of Dolls' Clothes, authors The Colemans, Crown Publishers, good reference for assistance in determining the originality of doll clothes, or their appropriateness for a particular doll. This too may be out of print, but well worth finding.

Again there are many books out there that cover these same subjects so look them over and select one or two of your liking, read them and keep them handy. Researching a newly acquired item is half the fun!

I will see you again tomorrow, till then Good Night!

Fates Selection

Well, I'm back (just as I promised) and with a specific item to cover. I couldn't decide what category to cover so I placed five items in a hat, well, cards with the item name on them, otherwise I would have needed a very large hat! I mixed the cards up and let fate pick the item, a doll! and you thought we had covered everything, guess the fates thought we needed more!
So I guess we'll cover this particular composition doll tonight. Composition dolls in general form a highly collectible and affordable area in doll collecting. I got this doll at an auction in a collection of dolls. She stands 15 inches tall, and is dressed in an original cotton sundress with matching bonnet, underslip, socks and shoes. Composition dolls of this type were popular from about the 1910's to the 1950's.

Please note: you can enlarge the photos by merely clicking on them, if you want to get a better look at them.






As you can see in the photo to the left; the head, arms and legs are composition and she has a cloth body. The head style is called a shoulder head because the head and shoulders of the doll is molded in one piece. The arms are bent at the elbow and the legs are straight. The arms and legs are sewn and glued to the body. The hip joints are simply sewn seams. This doll cannot stand on it's own and would either sit or be placed in a doll stand for display.




The eyes, lashes, eyebrows and lips are all painted on as are the rosy dimples on her legs and elbows.












The photo on the left shows a closer image of the face in a side view to also show how the hair is molded as part of the head with color and detail added with fine painting. You may notice a what appears to be a small crack or split next to the eye in the photo on the left, nope it's not, it is a wayward painted eyelash!

Now you may be wondering who this little charmer is, for that we need to check for markings. There are none on the cloth body, nor does she have any hang tags so we will need to check the back of the head!

The mark on the head reads EFFANBEE PATSY in an oval on the back of the head. This identifies the maker: EFFANBEE and the name of the doll: PATSY. In doing some research on this doll in several reference books, I found that this particular style of Patsy doll, with a cloth body and composition shoulder head, was made starting around 1925, with the later Patsy dolls, with all composition bodies, being made around 1928 and after. In fact there is a whole family of Patsy dolls with Wee Patsy, Patsy Jr., Patsy Baby, Patsy Kins, Patsy Ann, Patsy Joan and the list goes on. Patsy can be a whole collection of composition dolls all by itself.

This doll has no crazing on the arms, legs or face. Crazing is fine spider web like cracks in the finish of composition dolls that normally occurs with age. The doll oes show some signs of wear and has a few spots with paint loss on her chin and back of her head. She also is missing a couple of toes on one foot, but overall the doll is in very good condition. The following photos show these areas.


This style of Patsy is listed in the 15th Blue Book of Dolls and Values (Jan Foulke, Hobby House Press) at $350 - $400, which is a reasonable price for beginning doll collectors.


That's it for tonight! I hope you enjoyed learning a little about one type of composition doll as much as I enjoyed bringing her to you! I will be bring more items your way as this blog progresses, so if you have a particular area of interest please let me know as I may also learn something new in the process.


Good night for now!

A week without blogging is like...

A week without blogging is like an unaswered question, and is not a good thing if you want people to follow you and listen to what you have to say. My 9 to 5 job has kept me extremely busy this week with stuff to do, in fact I just completed the last thing I needed to do today for them.

I was really hoping to be more into the Antiques this week but no such luck.

Now I've always had longer days than some people as I am in IT and have support responsibilities that require it, as well as weekends, vacations (and shows I'm set up at) that get interrupted as I am on call 24/7, so you wouldn't think this is unusual. But since the economic downturn and layoffs and downsizing, it has gotten a bit worse, as there are fewer of us to go around. I thought, that when the company was sold and three companies became one, it would lighten the load a bit, but that didn't happen. Alas and woe is me!

Well, I promise starting tonight to do a better job of keeping the loop going, and at least making an entry every day.

As for the antiques part of the blog, I will cover a new item tomorrow - not sure what it will be at the moment as I have so many categories to choose from and I want to cover everything I love, so it's hard to pick a favorite.

Please bear with me, and I will see you tomorrow (I promise) but for now Good Night!