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By Terry Kovel and Kim Kovel

eorge Washington has had at least three official birthdays. He
was born Feb. 11, 1731. But that was according to the Julian Collecting Tip:
Gcalendar used at the time. When the Gregorian calendar was Dust the backs and tops of framed pictures several
adopted, his birthday was times a year. Terry Kovel
recorded as Feb. 22, 1732.
(Read about how the calendar
was changed if you’ve never Q. Is there a market for new, unused Woodstock tickets from 1969? We found
learned this.) some in the wall of an old house on our former property in New York, not far
President Chester Arthur from Bethel.
renamed Washington’s official A. The three-day Woodstock Music and Art Fair was originally intended to
birthday Presidents Day in be held in Woodstock, New York, in August 1969. After objections were
1885. Then in 1968, the raised, the organizers moved the event three times until they were finally able
Unified Monday Holiday Act to rent a farmer’s field in Bethel, New York. Tickets sold in advance were $6
was passed and became law in per day or $18 for a three-day ticket. Those sold on-site cost $8 or $24 for
1971. The act moved certain a three-day ticket. Unused tickets sell at auctions today for a few hundred
public holidays to Mondays to dollars depending on their condition. A three-day ticket that was originally
create three-day weekends, $18 sold at a recent auction for $250. A three-day ticket sold on-site for $24
and the third Monday in auctioned for $500. There are a lot of fake tickets that are worthless,
February became the day for but there’s a good story behind your tickets that helps give them provenance
Washington’s celebration (and and authenticity.
an extra day off work). In ***
2021, Washington’s birthday
is observed on Feb. 15. Q. I have a Fiestaware mug that has a picture of Porky Pig on the side. When
Glass Works Auctions was it made?
sold the amber “Simon’s A. Homer Laughlin made special Fiesta dishes with decals of Warner Bros.
Centennial Bitters, Trade Looney Tunes characters. The dishes were sold at Warner Bros. Studio
Mark” bottle at their auction stores. They were not a success, so the dishes were made for only a short
for $2,640. It is shaped
This circa 1876 Simon’s Centennial Bitters time, the late 1980s to early 1990s. The stores closed in 2001. Some of the
bottle represents George Washington when he like the bust of President characters on the decals were Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Scooby Doo, Sylvester
was commander in chief of the Continental Washington with the product and Tweety Bird. The mugs sell online today for $15.
Army, 100 years before. The red amber name embossed on the ***
shaded to yellow amber bottle is 10 inches front below a large, round
high and auctioned for $2,640. label panel. Q. I inherited a set of International’s “Spring Glory” sterling silver flatware
14 years ago. There are 12 five-piece place settings and several serving pieces.
I showed it to a dealer last year who valued it at $1,000. I need to know its
current value.
lass bottles were expensive packages for alcoholic drinks and other
liquids, including many beauty products, by the late 1700s. But A. International Silver Company made “Spring Glory” flatware from 1942
Gmakers liked to give products a permanent label, not just a pasted, to 1996. Sterling silver flatware was a popular wedding present years ago. It’s
handwritten or printed paper label. So bottles were made with a thin layer not as popular today and, although the price of silver has gone up in the past
of glass that was heated to cover the label and adhere it to the bottle year, sets of silver are hard to sell. It’s important to know if the value you
permanently. Other less decorative were given is what the dealer thought they could sell the silver for or what
bottles were made with the product name they would pay you for it. You can check prices for “Spring Glory” silver flat-
captured in the mold. ware prices on silver matching services listed online. Replacements Ltd. lists
A label under glass couldn’t fall off, a five-piece place setting of “Spring Glory” for $210 to $230. Matching serv-
get damaged or become illegible, so they ices also buy silver flatware but will pay you a percentage of what they sell it
were favored by apothecaries, the drug for since they have to make a profit.
stores of the past. Many of these glass- ***
covered labels were handwritten with the Q. I was given a cast-iron, horse-drawn beer wagon toy many years ago by a good
Latin names of medicines using fancy friend from Germany. The wagon is 14 inches long and there are four horses,
style gold-leafed letters. Glass Works each about 5 inches long. The words “Schultz Beer & Ale” are written on both
Auctions featured milk glass barber sides of the wagon. It’s not marked. It’s filled with wooden barrels. I’d like to
bottles in an auction that included this know the approximate age, value and maker if possible.
American circa 1880-1900 barber bottle.
It has a shaker top and a label under A. This toy often shows up for sale online. Sellers say it’s a reproduction,
glass with the name “W.L. Doremus, Bay possibly made in the 1980s. There are no markings to give a clue to the
Rum” surrounding the head of a girl in a maker, and we haven’t seen the original, or vintage, toy if it’s a reproduction.
colorful bonnet. Highest bid, $222. The toy has been made with different color wagons, with different company
names on the sides, and different numbers of horses. Some have a passenger
and a dog, as well as a driver. Value for the beer wagon with four horses,
Silly as it may seem, milk glass can be one of many depending on condition, is about $50.
colors. It is an opaque glass first used in the 1800s ***
and now prized in collections of barber bottles of
the Victorian era. This 10 1/2-inch-high milk Q. I have a set of dishes I think my parents used in their restaurant. It’s supposed
glass barber bottle with a colorful label under to be a set of 12, but I’m missing one or two due to breakage. They are heavy and
glass sold for $200.

March 2021 45