A Bolt Out of the Blue

 

QUESTION: I was browsing through an antiques mall when I spotted what looked like round glass globe lampshades. The dealer’s booth that contained them displayed at least a dozen. Some were opaque and others were clear glass and some had patterns. Unlike other 19th-century lamp globes that have a wider opening at the bottom and a narrower one at the top, the openings on these globes were the same narrow size on top and bottom. What sort of gas lamp were these used for?

ANSWER: Believe it or not, these globes aren’t for use on gas lamps but are part of a lightning rod installation. And unless you live in a rural area, you probably have never  noticed them on top of buildings.

Some lightning rod balls date to as early as 1840. Originally sold as ornaments for lightning rods,  today they can be found in a wide range of shapes and colors. Toward the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, the use of lightning rod balls became common. 

In the 19th century, manufacturers embellished their lightning rod assemblies with ornamental glass balls. The main purpose of these balls, however, was to provide evidence of a lightning strike by shattering or falling off. If a property owner discovered a ball missing or broken after a storm, he or she would then check the building, rod, and grounding wire for damage.

A lightning rod is a lightning attractor or conductor. If it’s placed high on a building, it will draw the lightning towards it instead of other structures. The lightning rod comes in contact with an aluminum or copper plate on the roof. A grounding cable then runs inconspicuously across the roof, down the side of the structure, and into the ground.

There are around 34 shapes or styles of lightning rod balls. Traveling salesmen going from farm to farm in horse drawn wagons sold them from 1870 until the Great Depression closed businesses.

The most common lightning rod ball was 4½ inches in diameter and was smooth and round. The most common colors were opaque white, and opaque light blue. The next two most common colors were transparent cobalt blue and transparent red, sometimes known as "ruby" red. The holes in the top and bottom of the ball were the same size, and the hole and the area around it were called "collars."

Most balls had copper, aluminum, or sometimes    

brass "caps" on both ends. The purpose of the caps was to protect the ball and to cover up the rough glass edges created during its manufacturing process. Small metal rings, each with a set screw,  mounted on the lightning rod above and below the glass lightning rod ball to hold it in place..

In the 19th century, a farmer's barn was usually larger than his house. The lightning rod assembly was essential to protect these wooden structures from electrical storms. The glass lightning rod ball, placed at the center of the rod, was simply a decorative addition.

Sold by nearly every lightning protection company, the plain round ball was the moist common and came in three sizes—3½ , 4 and 4½  inches in diameter. Produced in milk glass, transparent glass and sometimes in porcelain, the standard ball was white or blue milk glass, and examples of these can still be found for $25-60. Both milk and transparent glass balls also came with a flashed coating—a process in which another color coated the original, such as blue over white, resulting in an opaque effect.

Transparent glass offered the widest range of color options, which ranged from clear to various shades of amber, cobalt blue, green, teal and red. Some clear balls now have an amethyst tint, the result of the sun's exposure to the manganese used in the glassmaking process. The deeper the shade of purple, the more desirable the ball is today.

Some manufacturers embossed their round balls with their name or further enhanced them adding quilted, pleated, or swirled patterns. While these can usually be attributed to specific manufacturers, they’re most often referred to by their shape, such as Chestnut„ Doorknob, Ear of Corn, Quilt Flat, Ribbed Grape, Onion, or Staircase. 

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about the Retro style in the Fall 2020 Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

A Question of Time and Age

QUESTION: I have inherited a very plain tall clock supposedly made in Philadelphia. It doesn’t seem to have any markings on it. How can I tell how old it is?

ANSWER: To tell the age of a tall-case clock, or grandfather clock as it’s more commonly known, you need to first look at the dial. The early ones at first showed 24-30 hours. Owners wound them at the end of that time by pulling the driving cord down.

In the earliest clocks—those dating from the 17th to early 18th centuries—the hour circle appears in a silvered ring with a doubled circle appearing within the numeral circle.

Many old clocks have only an hour hand. Some have both an hour and a minute hand. Even though clockmakers had used minute hands since 1670, most clocks, except the most expensive ones, didn’t have them. Early tall-case clockmakers gave their hands a fine finish and often made them the most decorative part of the clock. The hour hand was often the most elaborate and the second hand, if the clock had one, was sometimes long and graceful. Later, when clockmakers introduced white dials, the hour and minute hands became even more ornate and some even had a smaller second hand.

Originally, tall-case clockmakers made their dials of metal with a matt center circle. By the mid-17th century, they added ornamentation around the edge of this matted center, engraving birds or leaves to form a border showing the days of the month. They brightly burnished this date ring as well as the rings surrounding the winding holes. Silvered dials, containing no separate circle for the hours and minutes, appeared in 1750. Instead of a matted center circle, these dials featured an engraved overall pattern in the center circle. Many early tall-case clocks also had a small separate dial showing the days of the week.

Dials remained square until the beginning of the 18th century, at which time clockmakers introduced the arched dial. Dutch clockmakers found good use for this extra space, filling it with decorative figures and animated devices such as a see-saw or a shipping rolling at sea. They also added a moon dial, thereafter common on many tall-case clocks, which displayed the phases of the moon under the dial’s arch. English clockmakers, mostly in Yorkshire, went one step further, creating a globular rotating moon dial.

Clockmakers usually only made the works of tall-case clocks. They subcontracted the making of the cases to coffin makers, who used this as supplemental income when business was slow. During the second half of the 17th century, casemakers employed walnut to build mostly plain cases. The Dutch introduced marquetry to the fronts of the clock cases, using woods of different colors and grains.  Mahogany didn’t come into general use for tall-case clocks until about 1716. At first, casemakers imported it from Spain, then after that supply ran out, from Brazil.




Before 1730, the doors of most tall-case clocks were rectangular, but around that time casemakers included an arch in them to match the arched dials. The earliest clocks didn’t open with a door. Instead, the entire hood–the top part of the clock–slid backwards revealing the works.

To learn more about tall-case clocks, read “Grandfather Time” in #TheAntiquesAlmanac and also visit the Bowers Watch and Clock Repair Web site and read about the works of tall-case clocks in their clock section.

The Real McCoy

QUESTION: I love to collect cookie jars. I don’t have too many unusual ones in my collection, so you can imagine my joy when I came across this Mission Apollo cookie jar, made by the McCoy Pottery Company.  It’s one of the most unique ones I’ve seen. What can you tell me about this cookie jar and about the company that made it?

ANSWER: Cookie jars are a very popular collectible and have been since the 1960s when figural cookie jars reached their peak. You found one of the more unusual ones because not only is it one of McCoy’s best, it also commemorates the Apollo mission to the Moon in 1969. But the McCoy company in all its forms has been around for a very long time.

In 1848 William Nelson McCoy started a modest pottery business in Putnam, Ohio, producing simple, sturdy, utilitarian stoneware items for both local consumers and folks located further downriver from the plant. This began a four-generations family potting venture that would continue for over 40 years. As decades passed, the factory site shifted from Putnam to Roseville, Ohio, and the product lines evolved from utilitarian stoneware to useful earthenware table and artware. At its height in the 1950s, the Nelson McCoy Pottery Company employed 500 people whose combined efforts produced 500,000 pieces every month. The design department created up 50 new designs every year. Then potters produced them in three or more glaze colors.

Early on, the company produced mostly stoneware,  decorated with a variety of glazes. Glaze decoration on stoneware ranged from solid colors to blended and matt glazes. Common matt glazes included a brown and green combination, a dark green, and a white glaze color.

In 1886, J.W. McCoy, the son of W.N. McCoy, opened the McCoy Pottery Company, which over the next 12 years would merge with another company and sold to yet another.

J. W. McCoy, assisted his son, William Nelson McCoy, to form the Nelson McCoy Sanitary Stoneware Company on a site north of Roseville, Ohio, on April 25, 1910. The company employed a combination of local and English immigrant potters. Among the company's early wares were butter crocks, churns, jars, jugs, meat tubs, mixing bowls and storage containers. Other practical early products included foot warmers  and poultry fountains. Workers labeled early churns, jars and jugs on the side with the company's stenciled “M,” double shield and clover mark. By the 1920s, the company began putting its mark on the bottom of its pieces.


In 1926, the firm expanded its range of wares, producing earthenware specialties and artware for the first time. Among the new wares, glinting with the bright glazes popular during the period, were cuspidors, umbrella stands and jardinieres with pedestals, for which McCoy became widely known.

The 1930's brought a lot of changes at the company, including a change in name to "The Nelson McCoy Pottery Company." They also shed their old image of the producer of crocks and jugs and ushered in the new techniques, designs and products. In 1934, Nelson McCoy hired an English designer named Sidney Cope, whose designs were very distinctive.


By the end of the 1930s, the demand for jardinieres and large vases was decreasing. The Nelson McCoy Pottery Company turned its attention to the production of artwares, along with novelties like figural cookie jars, an idea that came from Duncan Curtiss, from the firm’s New York sales department. Curtisss felt that cookie jars shaped in the forms of fruit, flowers and characterizations would be well received by the public. And he was right.

By 1967, McCoy Pottery had begun to have financial problems because it couldn’t compete on the international import market. The Mount Clemens Pottery Company bought the company, and in 1974 , they sold it to the Lancaster Colony Corporation. In 1990 the McCoy Pottery ceased operation after a number of declining years of sales and profit. Today the company is best remembered for it's many collectible cookie jar.


Though McCoy marked most of their cookie jars with an incised “McCoy” on the bottom, there  are some exceptions. Over the years they used a variety of styles for their logo and a jar can often be dated by knowing which styles where used during each era. But be careful, as the McCoy mark is one of the most copied marks out there. Just because a jar or seller says it’s a "real McCoy" doesn't mean it is. Caution is always advised when it comes to the higher priced cookie jars.

Because of the prolific production of the company, collectors of McCoy pottery will be able to find pieces in a variety of designs and colors for a long time. This Mission Apollo or “Astronauts” cookie jar, produced in 1970, is one of the harder ones to find.

For more information on collecting cookie jars, read “Cookie Jars—Good as Gold” in The Antiques Almanac.

Treasure Between the Pages

QUESTION: I was given some old magazines, two of which are dated 1894?  How can I determine if they are of value?

ANSWER: Is it worth keeping old magazines? The answer to that question depends on several things. Just stockpiling old magazines doesn’t result in any significant gain unless you know what you’re doing. Perhaps a family member gave or left you some. Now what?

As with any other type of collectible, condition is critical. However, you could have a back issue that's over 100 years old and pristine but virtually worthless because there's nothing inside or on the cover that a collector would be interested in.

And like other collectibles, an old magazine is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it. Perhaps you have some that feature fairly recent notable events, but then you find that they’re only worth a fraction of what you thought. And if no one wants them, they’re worth nothing. Take the Saturday Evening Post, for instance. Most issues from the 1960s forward aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on–one reason the magazine didn’t last. About the only reason anyone collects later issues are for the covers by Norman Rockwell during the 1950s. For modest collectibility, you need to have issues from the 1930s and 1940s. And if you’re lucky enough to have an issue or two in good condition from the 1920s, then you’re talking big bucks.

To know exactly what you have, you’ll have to do some research. Find out what magazines are selling. Check eBay, of course, but don’t forget to check other sources, such as ephemera price guides and other Web sites belonging to dealers and collectors.

So what are collectors looking for in old magazines? The majority look not at the whole issue of a magazine but at certain parts. Some look for vintage magazines with covers by a famous artist. Did you know that Andrew Wyeth painted a Saturday Evening Post cover—and only one at that? Others look for unusual advertisements. They carefully remove the ad and sell it separately, matted and/or framed. A magazine full of unique advertisements could bring in more than issue, itself. A few look for first editions while others look for articles on specific topics.

Like most collectibles, the price of an old magazine is directly related to its age, condition, and the general demand for it. And with demand comes supply. As with newspapers, publishers print magazines in great quantity, especially today. The higher the number printed of a particular issue, the less it’s worth.

By far, the most popular magazine is LIFE. You see them everywhere—at garage sales, on tables at flea markets, and on counters in antique shops. They’re larger than most other magazines and have distinctive covers with the date printed on them in big type. But even famous issues, like the one for the Apollo Moon landing in 1969, only sell for a few dollars. Why? Because they flood the collectible magazine market.

Another topic that you’d think would be highly collectible is the assassination of John F. Kennedy. LIFE, Look, and the Saturday Evening Post all did extensive coverage of the event. Today, you’ll find mint copies of these issues selling for $25 or so at an ephemera show. That’s because T.V. shows on collecting and such have given everyone the impression that these are very valuable. So everyone who has them continues to hold on to them. In this case, it pays to research the event and the market for magazines reported it.

The two hottest collectible types of magazines continue to be those featuring stories, photos, and covers of movie stars and sports personalities. But even these don’t bring much more than $20 an issue—and that’s only if it’s in mint condition.

National Geographic gets the prize for the all-time worst magazine to hold on to. Again, too many people have held onto them which means the market for them is overloaded.