Page 54 - JOA August 2020

By Terry Kovel and Kim Kovel

ow national symbols are chosen is often a mystery. Uncle Sam is not Collecting Tip:
our oldest symbol. There were two other figures that represented our Is it cut or pressed glass? Feel the edges of the design
Hbudding country during the American Revolution. They were on the glass. Cut glass has sharp edges; pressed-glass
Yankee Doodle, the British slang name for the disheveled Colonial soldiers designs are molded into the glass. Terry Kovel
inspired by the song, and Brother Jonathan, a smart, rural man who was the
hero in cartoons and stories from 1771 to 1783. They were pictured as tall, Q. Is there any value to a “McGuffey’s Sixth Eclectic Reader,” copyright 1879?
thin men with beards.
Legend says Uncle Sam was a nickname inspired by the initials U.S. A. William Holmes McGuffey (1800-1873), a professor at Miami
stamped on barrels of beef for the Army during the War of 1812 to show they University in Oxford, Ohio, was the author of McGuffey’s Eclectic
were government property. That led to the joke that they Readers. The first four readers and a primary were published by Truman and
belonged to “Uncle Sam.” In the 1870s, Thomas Nast began Smith, a small publishing company in Cincinnati in 1836 and 1837.
depicting Uncle Sam in cartoons and posters, but the bearded McGuffey’s brother, Alexander, compiled the Fifth and Sixth Readers in the
figure dressed in red, white and blue didn’t became an official 1840s. McGuffey Readers were revised and re-copyrighted in 1879, 1901
symbol until 1961. He is now seen on labels, machines, posters, and 1920. First editions of books sometimes sell for high prices. Your book
statues and political signs. is one of the revisions, not the first edition, and sells online for $10 to $20
This 6-foot-4-inch-tall iron figure is a funhouse grip tester depending on condition.
made by Caille in the 1970s. For one cent, you can shake hands ***
with Uncle Sam and see if you are strong. It sold at a Nye and
Co. auction for $6,150. Large vintage mechanical machines like Q. What is a 9-inch Buffalo Pottery Gloriana pitcher worth? The Buffalo
fortune tellers, postcards sellers or slot machines sell for high Pottery mark is on the bottom with the number “19” on one side and “07” on
prices today. The better the original paint, the better the price. the other and the word “Gloriana” below.
For a penny, you can shake hands with this life-sized Uncle Sam to A. Buffalo Pottery was started by the Larkin Soap Company in 1901 to make
test your strength. The painted iron machine used in a fun house premiums for buyers of their products. The pottery made a series of pitchers
was made by Caille in the 1970s. It sold for $6,150 at auction. with various themes from 1905 to 1908. Gloriana, part of the Literary Series,
was made in blue and white and in multicolor with gold trim. Eight pitchers
were listed as premiums in Larkin catalogs. Others were evidently made for
mbrellas were invented over 4,000 years ago in China. They were used sale. Gloriana is a character in the allegorical poem The Faerie Queene,
for protection from sun, not rain. Umbrellas became fashionable in written by Edmund Spencer, and presented to Queen Elizabeth I in 1589.
Uthe 16th century, when women made use of umbrellas for sun and The character Gloriana represents the Queen. Gloriana pitchers were made
sometimes for rain. in 1907 and 1908. The number on your pitcher is 1907, the year it was
Umbrellas were hard to store, but they were useful and needed. Large made. Value of your pitcher is about $75 if in perfect condition. Buffalo
Victorian houses had an entrance hall and a new piece of furniture, the hall Pottery was more expensive in the 1990s when they sold for $200 or more.
tree, was created. It was a tall mirror with a decorative frame with hooks to
hold coats, hats, boots and wet or dry umbrellas. ***
Eldred’s Auctions sold an unusual umbrella stand recently. It was cast iron, Q. I inherited a few barber bottles from a family estate. Are there any collectors
a platform topped by two griffins holding a higher platform with anchors and or groups I might contact for selling?
a 4-foot-high statue of a man in military uniform. He
had a folded jacket sleeve in place of his right arm, A. Barber bottles were made in many colors and shapes. A barber filled the
shoulder epaulets, medals and a tricorne hat suggesting bottles with shampoo, hair tonic, bay rum and other hair products poured
a high-ranking naval hero. Horatio Lord Nelson, a from larger containers. He could identify the contents by the color and shape
famous British admiral, lost his right arm as well as an of the bottle. Some customers had their own personalized bottles,
eye from combat injuries, but still led the English navy which were kept at the barbershop for their use. Barber bottles were used
to defeat Napoleon’s navy and change history. Nelson in barbershops from 1880 to the early 1900s. It became illegal to refill
died in 1805. This Victorian painted iron umbrella non-labeled bottles after the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed in 1906.
holder depicting Admiral Nelson sold for $600. The The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors is online at website
white bar keeps the umbrella upright near the admiral. Fohbc.org. They list many clubs, sales and publications. There are also
auctions that specialize in bottles, including American Bottle Auctions
This iron figure representing Horatio Lord Nelson is part of
an iron umbrella holder made for the front hall of a (AmericanBottle.com), Glass Works Auctions (Glswrk-Auction.com) and
Victorian house. Few collectors today would recognize the Heckler (HecklerAuction.com). Barber bottles are bought and sold in all of
man as a British naval hero who lived from 1758 to 1805. these and many other sales.

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.
CURRENT PRICES
Mt. Washington vase, souvenir of Castle Craig Hubbard Doll, Effanbee, Honey, hard plastic, blond hair with Glass vase, dark amber, band of tan diagonal stripes,
Park, Meriden CT, landscape with tower, green & bangs, sleep eyes, peach taffeta party dress, black shoes bulbous, squat, flared out rim, Lino Tagliapietra,
yellow ground, 3 sides, short neck, 4 3/4 inches, $48. with bows, 1951, 18 inches, $374. Murano, Italy, 1982, 9 3/4 x 12 inches, $1,375.

Electric lamp, torchiere, faux bamboo pole, spread base, Jewelry, pin, flowerpot, sterling silver, garnet cabochon Cut Glass goblets, wine, cranberry cut to clear, triple mitre
flared brass shade, Russel Wright, 65 inches, $150. blossoms, Georg Jensen, 1940s, 2 x 1 3/4 inches, $688. cutting with deep hobnails, wafer stem, scalloped foot,
American Brilliant Period, 4 3/4 inches, pair, $1,840.
Poster, music concert, Simon & Garfunkel, January 22, Toy, Mickey Mouse Nifty Jazz Drummer, Mickey
Lincoln Center, black stylized letters figures, blue & Mouse holds drumsticks, tin lithograph, mechanical, Rookwood pottery plaque, scenic, Near Lookout
green shadows, 1967, 40 x 26 inches, $207. 1930s, George Borgfeldt, 7 inches, $840. Mountain, path through trees, mountains, vellum glaze,
E.T Hurley, 1922, frame, 9 x 12 inches, $3,375.e, Ox
Terry Kovel and Kim Kovel answer questions sent to the column. By sending a letter with a question and a picture, 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 photographs, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The amount of mail makes personal answers or
appraisals impossible. Write to Kovels, (Journal of Antiques & Collectibles), Kovels.com P.O. Box 23192, Beachwood, Ohio 44122.
52 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles