Cleanliness is Next to Godliness

 

Unrestored Victorian bathroom

QUESTION: My husband and I recently bought an old Victorian house and would like to restore the bathroom to its original look. Except we can’t seem to figure out what that look was. There are so many variations. Can you help us figure out which antique bathing accessories to use and perhaps a little about the decor?

ANSWER: Before you can begin to restore the bathroom in your Victorian home, you need to find out its age and style. A series of revival styles—Italianate, Renaissance Revival, Rococo Revival, Gothic Revival, Victorian Cottage, etc.—captured the imaginations of Victorian architects and they not only designed the exteriors in styles but the interiors to match. 

Until at least the 1870s, daytime trips to the outdoor toilet or “privy” were essential regardless of the weather. Somewhere around 1800 in the United States privies began to move indoors, usually to an old clothes closet, from which the term “water closet” or “WC” originated.. At first they generally had an earth filled hopper that could be removed for cleaning. An easily opened window and a

Victorian outhouse

tight fitting door kept fumes from the rest of the house. Even bathing demanded only a wooden tub and a warm kitchen, when people bothered at all. Washing up at the bedroom washstand where water froze in the pitcher in the winter did little to encourage cleanliness.

Even in the 1840s, people denounced bathtubs as a foppish English luxury that would corrupt the democratic simplicity of the American way of life. Doctors warned of "rheumatic fevers, inflamed lungs and zymotic diseases."

People installed the earliest Victorian bathrooms into regular rooms in their existing houses. They fitted the fixtures into wood to make the room feel similar to a parlor or a bedroom. Everything felt like furniture, and the room was decorated as such, with paintings, wallpaper, wainscoting, fabrics, and rugs—everything that would have been  in a normal room, but with a tub, sink, and toilet.

Wooden Victorian bathroom

Eventually, the Victorians realized that maybe wood wasn’t the best choice for a bathroom, especially when they installed hot water pipes and tanks in houses towards the late 19th century. It was then that a fascination with cleanliness occurred, and rooms became tiled covered in linoleum for the less wealthy. Bathroom fixtures, such as sinks and toilets, became made of one piece of porcelain which was so much easier to keep clean. Homeowners considered white a clean color that they would know when to clean.

Early Victorian bathroom made to look like a regular room

When bathrooms became stand-alone rooms, they were usually located at the back of the house, as out of the way as possible, to deal with sewer smells. With the invention of the S-Bend sewer system, plumbing could keep the smells out, so bathrooms could be located anywhere in the house, often under stairs or in former dressing rooms. The bath and sink were commonly in one room, and the toilet in another.

Early clawfoot bathtub

Adam Thompson of Cincinnati created the first built-in bathtub—a lead-lined mahogany monstrosity that weighed a ton. And when President Fillmore installed one in the White House in 1851, people criticized him for importing a "monarchial luxury into the official residence of the Chief Executive of the Republic."

The clawfoot bathtub became popular by the end of the 19th century as hot water tanks became more prevalent. Prior to this, people bathed in tin tubs. Often, in early bathrooms, to get the furniture feel, bathroom designers surrounded tubs with mahogany.

Enameled cast-iron Victorian clawfoot bathtub

But a growing belief that cleanliness was next to godliness, made the permanent bathtub inevitable. In 1`886, Good Housekeeping Magazine noted, "Cleanliness of the body being essential to the health of the individual, it must be admitted that a bathtub should be looked upon. not as a luxury, but as a necessity in even the humblest home.” 

At the time, homeowners could choose from seven basic types of bathtubs—enameled cast iron, tinned and "planished" copper; molded earthenware, tin, or less durable wood or zinc. Although porcelain tubs were the best choice, they cost the most.

Victorian porcelain pedestal sink

For the adventurous there were also disappearing tubs that folded into what passed as a wardrobe, electric tubs that sent a mild galvanic "curative" shock through the water, and the combination exerciser and shower, featuring step-pedals to power the flow of water. By this time, the bedroom washstand had given way to an elegant porcelain sink set into a marbletop with high-rise brass faucets. The smelly "water-closet" had become the china flush toilet and a source of pride.

More than simply utilitarian now, homeowners expected their bathrooms to complement the interior decor of their homes. The housewife learned to coordinate her varnished wallpaper to the rug, the curtains and even the stained glass window. 

Antique fixtures—soap dispensers, towel holders, free-standing towl racks, fancy hooks, and tumbler and toothbrush holders—all evoke a specific era in bath design. Victorian bathroom fixtures were often ornately designed, sporting gilded metals, intricate shapes, and occasionally sculpted leaves or wildlife. 

Victorian gas lamp bathroom sconce

Lighting fixtures are another option for adding a Victorian look to a bathroom. Brass was dominant material for these, as its durability and availability made it a great choice..

Early Victorian bathrooms had gas lamps out of necessity. By the second half of the 19th century, these were wall mounted. Electrical lighting fixtures didn’t appear in bathrooms until the mid 1890s, and then only in homes of the wealthy.

Architectural antique shops are the best place to find authentic antique Victorian bathroom fixtures. Some are also available online. For those that can’t be found, there are plenty of excellent reproductions available online. 

The same can be said for floor and wall coverings. Both are available in reproduction at home stores in reproduction patterns and durable materials. To get a sense of what bathrooms looked like in the second half of the 19th century, search for old photos of them online and study their contents and design.  

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  world's fairs in the 2020 Summer 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.

Pottery Marks and What They Tell Us

Mark showing pottery name, factory,
country, date, and pattern.

QUESTION: I go antiquing with a long-time friend. Inevitably, whether we’re browsing the tables at a local fleamarket or browsing in an antique shop or show, he always picks up a piece of pottery or porcelain and turns it over to see the mark. What do these marks say about the pieces besides who possibly made them? And are there any other marks from the making of the piece and what do they tell him?

ANSWER: An experienced collector of pottery can tell a lot about a piece’s origin by reading the manufacturers' marks on the bottom of each piece. These marks tell the pottery's name, its location, its company symbol, and often the pattern name or the name given to the body shape of the piece. 

Stamped mark

But there may also be other, less obvious, marks that indicate the method of production or factory flaws that show the level of quality control used by the firm. Collectors familiar with these signs can quickly distinguish between factory flaws and more serious indicators of damage and wear inflicted upon that same piece once it has left the  factory. Knowing the difference allows the experienced collector to purchase pottery with confidence.

While most manufacturer’s marks, which may he printed, incised, impressed, stamped, or applied as paper labels, usually contain the pottery’s name, initials, symbol and location---or some combination of these—some are rather sparse and may only contain a letter within a geometric shape or a crest. 

In the case of the larger firms, a pottery mark also has publicity value and shows the buyer that  a long-established company with a reputation to uphold has made a piece. Such clear name- marks include Wedgwood, Minton, Royal Crown Derby, Royal Doulton, and Royal Worcester in Britain and Bennington, McCoy, and Hull in the U.S.

Though these marks are one of the best and easiest ways to identify ceramics, the shear number of them makes it impossible to every mark. Additionally, many small firms either saw no reason to use marks or sometimes used marks that haven’t been identified because of the short life span and limited production of the company.

Metal stamped mark into clay

To the collector a pottery mark can also identify the manufacturer and help establish the approximate date of manufacture and in several cases the exact year of production, particularly in the case of 19th and 20th century wares from the leading firms which employed private dating systems. With the increasing use of ceramic marks in the 19th century, a large proportion of English and American pottery and porcelain can be accurately identified and often dated.

Pottery’s added marks to their wares in several ways. They could incise them into the soft clay before the piece air dried, in which the mark will show a slight ploughed-up effect. Potters often do this to handmade pieces. Some manufacturers of quantity pieces, such as Wedgwood, impressed a mark into the soft clay using a metal or clay stamp or seal. 

Many pottery manufacturers used painted marks—usually containing their name or initial—added over the glaze at the time of decoration. Some used stencils.

Engraved transfer printed mark

Lastly, most 19th-century pottery makers used printed marks transferred from engraved copper plates at the time of decoration, often in blue under the glaze when the main design is also underglaze blue.

Pottery marks weren’t always universally used. In 1890, President William McKinley introduced the McKinley Tariff Act that imposed tariffs on many imports, including pottery, so that American manufacturers could more easily sell their products. The Act required that all such imports show the name of country of manufacture, such as “England,” “Germany,” “Nippon,” or “France.” In 1921, an amendment to the Act required that the phrase “Made in” precede the country of origin, such as “Made in England” or “Made in Japan.” However, some foreign companies began using the phrase as early as 1898. This is a great way for collectors to date foreign-made pieces.

Underglaze marks

Beginning pottery collectors often miss marks or flaws from manufacturing and instead focus only on the maker’s mark. These marks give clues to the quality of the ceramic bodies each maker used. Potteries used different firing techniques for different grades of ceramics and the distinctive marks each technique left behind, once known, help to establish the quality of a piece.

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  world's fairs in the 2020 Summer 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.

Is Smokey Bear Still Smokin'?

Smokey Bear Jr. Forest Ranger Kit

QUESTION: As I was cleaning out my attic recently, I came across my old Smokey Bear Jr. Forest Ranger Kit. Do you know if this is collectible today?

ANSWER: Your "Smokey Bear Jr. Forest Ranger Kit," was popular with kids since its introduction in 1957. Today, it’s also a popular collectible. It came complete with a bookmark, letter from Smokey, membership car blotter, four poster stamps and a Junior Forest Ranger Certificate, all profusely illustrated, inside of a beautiful envelope. The Forest Service even included a brass-relief badge from time to time. .

The Forest Service used Bambi as their symbol first.

Created by a Madison Avenue advertising campaign in 1944, the idea of fire prevention
began during World War II when the Empire of Japan considered wildfires as a possible weapon against the United States. During the Lookout Air Raids of September 1942, the Japanese military attempted without success to set ablaze coastal forests in southwest Oregon. U.S. planners also hoped that if Americans knew how wildfires would harm the war effort, they would better cooperate with the Forest Service to eliminate any kind of fire.

So the U.S. Forest Service embarked on an advertising campaign for the prevention of forest fires. It borrowed the image of Bambi for a year until it could come up with a better symbol. But even though the campaign used Bambi on posters for a few months,  somehow he didn’t quite provide the rough and tough, firefighter image needed. The ad men decided a bear would be more appropriate and gave the job of designing him to illustrator Albert Staehle.

One of Staehle's original posters

Staehle created the Smokey character with the ranger hat and carrying a water bucket. He did four original posters of Smokey for the United States Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. The first one depicted a bear pouring a bucket of water on a campfire and saying “"Smokey Says – Care Will Prevent 9 out of 10 Forest Fires." In 1947, it became "Remember... Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires." In 2001, it was again updated to its current version of "Only You Can Prevent Wildfires"

After Staehle initial creation, Rudy Wendelin took over the job as his artist. For 30 years, until his retirement from the Forest Service in 1975. Wendelin endlessly drew Smokey. Later, he even designed the commemorative postage stamp released in 1984 in honor of Smokey’s 40th anniversary.

The Forest Service supposedly named the bear after Smokey Joe Martin, New York City's assistant fire chief in the 1920's. He began appearing on fire prevention posters and billboards and in countless television public service advertisements pleading with viewers to be fire-safe in the forests.

The little cub rescued in New Mexico

In the Spring of 1950, fire swept through New Mexico’s Lincoln National Forest in the Capitan Gap Fire, burning 17,000 acres. A group of soldiers from Fort Bliss, Texas, who had come to help fight the fire, discovered the badly burned bear cub and brought him back to the camp. The Forest Service decided the bear cub should be the living symbol of forest fire prevention. At first it named him Hotfoot Teddy, but he was later renamed Smokey, after the cartoon character used in the original campaign. And for the next 25 years the Forest Service used the little bear as a living reminder to Americans of the need to be careful with matches and fire in the forests.

Soon after his rescue, the Forest Service flew Smokey in a Piper Cub to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.. A special room had been prepared for him at the St. Louis zoo for an overnight fuel stop during the trip, and when he arrived at the National Zoo, where he lived for 26 years, cheering crowds of children greeting him. Over his lifetime, he received millions of visitors as well as so many letters addressed to him—up to 13,000 a week—that the U.S. Postal Service gave him his own unique zip code in 1964. He developed a love for peanut butter sandwiches, in addition to his daily diet of bluefish and trout.

Smokey Bear poster from 1976

The Smokey Bear campaign produced an enormous amount of collectibles. This treasure trove includes everything from stuffed bears and banks to bumper stickers and books of every size and type.

Early recognizing the growing popularity of its fire fighting bear, the United States government trademarked him in 1952. This was done to insure that he would not be used in any way detrimental to his goal. It also brought in royalties, which fluctuated between $40,000 and $200,000 or more each year—money used to supplement the fire prevention budget.

Smokey Bear can be found in cloth, metal, plastic, and porcelain. Most popular are the stuffed bears. Ideal Toy Company manufactured the first one in 1952. Knickerbocker and Dakin soon followed. Teddy bears of Smokey, wearing jeans and a ranger hat, have been made in all sizes. Some were often talking toys, games, records, and drinking cups and mugs flooded the marketplace in the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's.

Smokey Bear comic book

The first appearance of Smokey Bear in a comic book came in a 1950 release, entitled Forest Fire, by the American Forestry Association. Rudy Wendelin did the artwork. The Dell Publishing Company produced a series of eight comic books from October 1955 to August 1961. Then came Smokey Bear in 1962 by K.K. Publications for a 13-year run as part of their "March of Comics" series. And from February 1970 to March 1973, Gold Key issued 13 comic books.

In 1959, the Forest Service had Western Printing Company create a comic book, “The True Story of Smokey the Bear,” for use as an educational giveaway to youngsters. It became a popular premium for the next 10 years.

The Forest Service also handed out other premiums since the 1950's that today are quite collectible. These include the Junior Forest Ranger' badges. The agency also gave away pinback buttons with Smokey's face and the slogan, "I'm Helping Smokey Prevent Forest Fires," as well as a free coloring book, "The Blazing Forest," also printed by Western Publishing Company, as part of its "Prevent Forest Fires" campaign.

Despite the Forest Service’s campaign's success over the years, wildfire prevention remains one of the most critical issues affecting our country. And with wildfires raging in the West, Smokey's message is as relevant and urgent today as it was in 1944.

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  world's fairs in the 2020 Summer 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.

Just Who Was Josiah Spode?

QUESTION: My mother collected English Staffordshire transferware dinnerware. She passed away recently and now I have her collection which consists of plates, cups and saucers, gravy boats, sugars and creamers, and assorted other items. On the bottoms of some of these are marks saying “Spode and a number,” “Spode Stone-China,” and “Copeland Spode England.” I realize they refer to the pottery that made them, but who was Spode and what did he have to do with Copeland?

Spode Stone China

ANSWER: The name Spode on your pottery pieces refers to English potter Josiah Spode while the name Copeland refers to William Copeland, who was in the tea trade.

Josiah Spode

While English transferware is a common antique/collectible, coming in a wide variety of forms and styles, it was Josiah Spode who started it all by perfecting two techniques that made this form of pottery such a worldwide success—the technique of transfer printing in 1783 and the formula for fine bone china around 1790.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the cluster of towns in North Staffordshire, now know as the Potteries, was a series of villages, hamlets and farms. Forty or so potteries, concentrated around Burslem produced all the Staffordshire wares.

On April 9, 1749, Thomas Whieldon, a potter who was already producing early Staffordshire wares, including agate wares in variegated colors, tortoiseshell table-wares, creamwares, black basaltes and black-glazed wares, hired Josiah Spode at age 16. Spode stayed with Whieldon as a journeyman potter until about 1762, when he took the job of manager of a pottery at Stoke which produced mostly creamware and white stoneware.

Spode Creamware

By 1776 Spode had purchased his own pottery works. His first produced pottery, then porcelain, and finally a superior kind of ironstone china which was almost porcelain, which Spode invented in 1805. After some early trials, he perfected a stoneware that came closer to porcelain than any previously and introduced his "Stone-China" in 1813. It was light in body, greyish-white and gritty where it wasnt glazed and approached translucence in the early wares. Later stoneware became opaque.

Spode plate from Indian Sporting Series

By 1785 Spode had a London warehouse and showroom_He met William Copeland who was in the tea trade. Copeland opened a warehouse where the Spode wares could be displayed and offered for sale to the London "China men."

Spode’s mastery of the transfer printing process contributed to the firm’s success in the early years of the 19th century. The process, which appears to have been invented by an Irish engraver named Brooks, involved first, engraving a copper plate, then inking it and applying to it a thin tissue of paper, the impression on the paper could then he transferred to articles of any shape.

Spode Oriental Field Sports Wolf Trap

Contemporary book illustrations often inspired the decorations Spode used on his pottery. China experts consider one of Spode’s  most interesting patterns, the Indian Sporting Series, to be one of the most original in its use as a design for tableware.

In June 1805, there appeared the first of 20 monthly issues of a publication called Oriental Field Sports, Wild Sports of the East. Each included a printed story and two large aquatint prints engraved from drawings by Samuel Howitt, a distinguished animal painter. Spode adapted the engravings to his dinnerware, which depicted hunting scenes with animals and birds. Some views showed mounted hunters carrying spears with native bearers on foot.

Another popular series formed a travelogue of views in the Eastern Mediterranean. Spode based these on engravings in Mayer’s Views in Asia Minor; Mainly in Caramania, published in 1803.

Spode platter "City of Corinth" from Eastern Mediterranean Series

Spode also used illustrations from “The Castle of Boudron;" "The City of Corinth" and "Antique fragments at Lissima" in this series. He based another series on views in Italy, usually of ruins or classical landscapes, from Merigot's Views of Rome and its Vicinity,  published in 1798.

Spode's most popular series, Blue Italian

The most famous pattern was the "Blue Italian," described as Spode's masterpiece in his Blue and White series. Spode took his inspiration for this from the painting of ruins and quiet pastoral scenery by 18th-century Italian artist H.P. Pannini.

From 1800 to 1827 the mark consisted of the name Spode in printed letters, impressed, and the name of the pattern in blue, purple or red. On the stoneware the mark was "Spode, Feldspar Porcelain" or "Spode, Stone China." After this date, if the name Spode was used, it appeared as "Late Spode."

In addition to tea wares, Spode produced a variety of useful and ornamental pieces in bone china, from miniature ewers and basins and toy tea sets to richly decorated, sometimes flower-encrusted vases.

Early Spode blue and white serving platter

The factory pattern books which still exist show that Spode introduced new patterns at the average rate of about 150 year. By 1833 the pottery’s patterns numbered in the 4,000 range. Over its lifetime, the Spode Pottery produced about 75,000 patterns. Most Spode wares carry a pattern number along with the name Spode.

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  world's fairs in the 2020 Summer 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.