Beauty in a Little Box

QUESTION: My favorite aunt left me a beautiful metal jewelry box that looks like tarnished silver. It’s got daisies on it and on the bottom it’s marked “N.B. Rogers.” I know that Rogers Brothers is famous for its silver flatware, but did they also make jewelry boxes? Also, what can you tell me about the design of this box?

ANSWER: Sorry to burst your bubble, but your jewelry box isn’t made of silver. It’s actually white metal, also known as “Britannia” or art metal and dates from the first decade of the 20th century. And the flower on it is a lotus flower, not a daisy.

The creation of mail order catalogs by Marshall Field, Montgomery Ward, Sears, Roebuck and Company, and Macy's in the late 19th century made it possible for the average middle class woman to purchase lovely fashions and accessories at affordable prices.

One of these accessories was the jewelry box—more popularly called the jewel box—a repository for her most precious jewelry and keepsakes. The growth in popularity of these "art metal" jewel boxes, also called jewel caskets or jewel cases, paralleled the growth of catalog shopping which promoted them as ' dainty gifts for Milady." Jewel boxes came in sizes ranging from the smallest ring box to large handkerchief and glove boxes.

Between 1900 and 1910, Art Nouveau, a French term meaning "new art" coined by Maison de 1'Art Nouveau, a Paris gallery which opened in 1895, was the predominant design style in the United States. A romantic style influenced by the art forms of Japan, it used many motifs borrowed from nature, including flowers, leaves, vines, and birds. It also became known for its curves and asymmetrical elements. Of the Art Nouveau jewel boxes produced in the United States, those with the floral motifs were the most popular.

The two most prevalent flowers used on jewel boxes were roses and poppies. Daisies, four-leaf-clovers, lily of the valley, pond lilies, violets, carnations, and a myriad of other flowers also decorated jewel boxes. This maybe due, in part, to the important role flowers played during the Victorian era.

The jewelry trade promoted the “Flower of the Month” concept during the early 1900s. Fueled by consumers’ desire for more decorative objects, the jewelry industry improved production, distribution and marketing methods. Little by little, the role of flowers as a decorative motif became the central theme. Manufacturers assigned specific flowers to birth months, decorating jewel boxes with roses of love for June, carnations for admiration for February, and holly for foresight for December.

The interiors of these jewel boxes were as beautiful as their exteriors. Linings of fine silk, faille, jacquard, and satin gave them a luxurious appearance. Because silk could be easily dyed, it came in a rainbow of colors, although jewel box linings used the pale hues of pink, green, and blue. Manufacturers trimmed trimmed the linings with a fine twisted-silk cording.

During the early part of the 20th century, many American manufacturers produced art metal wares, with jewel boxes being one of their most popular items. Many of these manufacturers have long passed into history but one, Rogers Brothers, still exists today. There were several "Rogers" brothers in business at the turn of the century, and the name gained national recognition due, in large' part, to the wide distribution of mail order catalogs. The name became so popular that other companies tried to adopt it, results in many lawsuits. Though the original Rogers family became known for its flatware, one brother, N. Burton Rogers; founded his own art metal company and produced many Art Nouveau jewel boxes marked “N.B. Rogers.”.

By 1915, the popularity of art metal jewel boxes had reached its peak: With the coming of World War I, production slowed. The earlier naturalistic, yet interpretive Art Nouveau flowers, leaves, and vines, had become "conventional" floral decoration. By 1925, the production of art metal jewel boxes had ceased altogether.

The Bluebird of Happiness

QUESTION: Some time ago, I purchased six dinner plates, each with a large bluebird design on it, from a church sale. I love the bold design on these plates and have yet to see any others like them. On the back is the mark of the Buffalo Pottery. I thought they only made restaurant china. What can you tell me about my plates.

ANSWER: What you bought is commonly known as bluebird chinaware. The large, bold bluebird on your plates is one of over 50 different variations made by as many potteries. And while Buffalo Pottery did make a lot of restaurant china, they also made some for home use.

Bluebird china was everyday dinnerware. It was mostly made in America, beginning in the late 19th century. It featured  a decal of a bluebird, often with flowers or other designs incorporated into it.  Potteries made this china to be functional, and being so, it often broke from daily use. In many cases, started  out as a grocery store premium, perhaps a free gift received after collecting the required number of stamps. People could also buy complete sets from the Montgomery Ward Catalog and from Sears Roebuck & Co.

By the mid-1920s, bluebird china was available everywhere. But its popularity didn’t last long since by the end of the decade, manufacturers had begun phasing it out. By 1930, it had all but disappeared.

While many Ohio potteries, especially those in the vicinity of East Liverpool, made bluebird china, collectors prefer that made by the Homer Laughlin China Company. The pottery most often decorated its Empress dinnerware, which it introduced in 1914, with bluebirds. The company also decorated some of its other dinnerware shapes with bluebird decals, include Cable, Hudson, Kwaker, Newell, Republic, Riviera, and Tea Rose.

Homer Laughlin usually used a design showing two or three chubby bluebirds surrounded by differing shades of pink flowering apple blossom branches. Other potteries also produced china with the same motif which seemed strange. As it turns out, Ohio Valley potteries all bought their decals from the same company, Meyercord Decal, in Chicago.

Other potteries outside of Ohio also made their own versions of bluebird china. The most important of these was the Buffalo Pottery of New York. Many collectors seek out pieces by Homer Laughlin with decals showing bluebirds in flight that the company used on its wares. The bluebirds found on Buffalo Pottery wares appear to fly in flocks across the surface of each piece. Buffalo also sold bluebird dishes to restaurants.

The Larkin Soap Company first introduced a butter tub with a drainer and pitchers, both sporting bluebird designs, as a premium in its 1918-1919 catalog. Larkin’s catalogs from 1919 to 1922 featured a bluebird tea set consisting of tea plates, cups and saucers, sugar and creamer. Larkin also offered special pieces, like a baby dish, that could be specially ordered.

Another bluebird variation popular with collectors is the Flying Blue Bird pattern produced by Knowles, Taylor & Knowles of East Liverpool, Ohio. While the bluebird decals used by Homer Laughlin depict a small, pale blue, plump bird, KT&K's bluebird decals show large, bold birds in rich dark blues that seem to be circling around the china's outer edges. KT&K put their bluebird decal on pottery from their white Nina line, making the bluebirds stand out even more.

In order to compete with American bluebird china makers, European potteries began adhering bluebird decals to their dinnerware. This was odd since bluebirds aren't native to Europe.

There are many variations of the bluebird designs. D.E. McNicol Pottery, also of East Liverpool, made calendar plates with a finer, stylized bluebird floating between each month's calendar page on the plate's rim. The Edward J. Owen China Co. of Minerva, Ohio, often used a decal showing one or two bluebirds in flight among flowering rose branches.

As far as the value of bluebird china, shape doesn't seem to enter into it. Plates are common and sell for around $35 while rare large pitchers sell for lots more. Collectors especially seek the larger pitchers. A 6 3/4 inch water pitcher, made by the Buffalo Pottery, can sell for as high as $200.

And finding items in good condition is also a challenge since people used this dinnerware. Items like egg cups, salt and pepper shakers, and complete tea sets are particularly hard to find.

China decorated with bluebirds was especially popular because of what the birds represented. The 1920s was a time of optimism and the bluebird became synonymous with that. Bluebirds became a symbol of rebirth and renewal as well. Bluebirds and happiness seem to go together.

Puff, Puff, Puffing Along

QUESTION: I’m an engineer who has recently retired. Not long ago, I saw some steam-powered toys on display at a local antique show. The dealer couldn’t tell me much about them except that they were produced in the latter part of the 19th century.  I’m fascinated with these toys and would like to start a collection. What can you tell me about them?

ANSWER: Live steam-driven toys have always fascinated young boys and men. It’s probably because of the power they produce and that they’re often so close to the original devices that use steam power to operate.

The use of steam as a power source dates from the early 1840s. By the mid-19th century, steam-powered toys began to appear. Craftsmen hand built toy steam engines for the first 50 years or so and definitely for those who could afford their high price tag. Cheaper models began to appear in the 1870s. By that time, makers constructed stationary engines with the boiler in either a vertical or horizontal position, although the functions of each were essentially the same. The vertical model fit into a smaller space while the horizontal model allowed greater size and power. Though toy engines were often faithful duplicates of the real thing, they rarely had the detail of true scale models.

Such famous toy makers as Bing, Doll and Marklin produced steam-powered toys in Germany. The British manufactured some beautiful examples under the label of Bassett-Lowke. In America, Eugene Beggs of Paterson, New Jersey turned out these mechanical wonders from the 1870s to about 1900 in competition with the famous Ives company of Bridgeport, Connecticut. The best known of all the American firms was the
Weeden Manufacturing Company which manufactured steam-powered toys from  1883 to 1930 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Other manufacturers included Mamod, Wilesco, Cheddar, Krick, Tucher & Walther, Hermann Bohm, and Blechspielzeug.

The boiler of a steam toy had to be carefully filled with mineral-free water, often from a rainwater barrel. Most of the burners or lamps used alcohol as fuel although manufacturers advertised a few that burned kerosene.

Both substances were highly flammable but not explosive in the open air. Once the user lit the burner and shoved it into place beneath the boiler, it was just a matter of waiting while steam formed in the boiler and pressure gradually increased. When steamed up, the throttle opened, wheels began to spin, and pulleys operated the accessories. And, of course, every steam engine came with a whistle.

Steam-powered trains were a bit more complicated. Many became known as "dribblers" because water often leaked from the boiler. Though the user set a throttle in advance,  there was tittle or no speed control once the locomotive got under way. Once steam had built up, the user set the train on the tracks and let it go until the fuel and water ran out. Often the engine would fly off the rails on a tight curve, spilling the water and burning alcohol. Makers advertised these trains as “safe” toys, since they rarely blew up unless an ingenious boy locked down the safety valve. However, the engines got very hot, enough to produce a nasty burn. Since boys often set up these trains on their mom’s carpet, a derailment and spill often resulted in a good scolding.

Steam-powered boats, on the other hand, were graceful toys, often beautifully constructed of brass. Manufacturers built them around a horizontal boiler with a burner beneath. Steam traveled through a pipe to a cylinder and piston which operated the propeller shaft. An adjustable ruder provided some control but there was always a risk of losing the boat once it got under way. Boys could purchase flimsy tinplate steam motorboats in dime and novelty stores. This toy had a burner and boiler but no cylinder. The steam traveled directly to the stern of the boat and exhausted underwater, propelling the boat until all the steam was used up. Boys called them "put-puts while they referred to more elaborate models as propellers.

By 1886, a boys could purchase a toy steam engine with a vertical boiler from Montgomery Ward for 40 cents plus a nickel for postage. Larger horizontal engines with a walking beam and a flywheel sold for $2. From the same catalog, boys could order a toy steamboat in the 9-inch size packed in a "neat wooden box" for $1.25 or a 13-inch model which ran about 20 minutes for $2.60. In 1888, Ladies' Home Journal provided a Weeden upright steam engine made from 41 pieces at no cost with a subscription. Or the lucky young person could buy an 11-inch steamboat directly from the magazine for $1.50 postpaid.

In 1889 it was possible to buy an upright steam engine from Ward’s catalog for 20 cents but more elaborate engines cost as much as $11. A popular steam toy that year was the Model Steam Fire Engine, with a vertical boiler, single oscillating cylinder, and a pump which spewed water quite a distance.This toy was very similar in appearance to the formidable horse-drawn prototypes which dashed through city streets on their way to a fire, spouting smoke, sparks and steam. The same year boys could also purchase a complete steam train, which ran on a circular track for about 20 minutes with each filling of water. It sold for $8 and came complete with a brass locomotive, two cars, and track.

The British firm of Bassett-Lowke also produced model steam locomotives. One gauge available was 1 1/2-inch, which was close to the present "0" gauge while others came in a  gauge twice as wide. The models ranged from stubby switchers to scale  versions of famous locomotives. In 1902 this firm also offered an elaborate model steam fire engine, as well as a tractor roller, several cranes, and two models of motor cars, all steam powered. 

The early 20th century brought little change in the design and appearance of steam-powered toys. One major innovation was the introduction of electricity as a heat source. As household electricity became more prevalent, the stationary steam engine gradually switched from alcohol burners to electric heating elements. A Weeder model in 1930 came with a 110-volt heating element. The company still made alcohol-burning versions and one hybrid was available with either a two-burner alcohol stove or an electric heater.

Today, some models, such as the 1909 Marklin steam-powered boat, sell at auction for thousands of dollars, putting many steam-powered toys out of reach of many collectors.

ted with these toys and would like to start a collection. What can you tell me about them?

Sweet Storage

QUESTION: My mother has a cabinet and has been wondering what it is. Whatever you can tell me about it would be grand.

ANSWER: Your mother’s cabinet is often referred to as a jelly cupboard. However, it seems that this name may have been a more recent reference invented by antique dealers to give these rather primitive cabinets some panache.

Before the advent of built-ins, the only means of storage in 19th and early 20th-century kitchens was separate cabinets. These held pots and pans, foodstuffs, preserves and such. One of the smaller cupboards, often one that stood in a corner, was the jelly cupboard, created to store jellies and preserves and jarred vegetables.

During the late 18th century, many a colonial kitchens had a large hutch/cupboard that featured an upper section with narrow shelves for holding pewter plates and spoons. The lower section held shelves enclosed in a single or double-doored cabinet in which wives stored foodstuffs.
Often a large serving shelf separated the two sections.

But between 1800 and 1825, smaller cupboards with a single door came into widespread use. These varied in styles from extremely primitive affairs, used in rural kitchens, to more refined ones for upper class kitchens. The specifics of such pieces varied from maker to maker and from region to region, but all were meant to store jams and jellies, which had become a staple in American homes.

Typically, jelly cupboards featured two drawers above double doors which opened outward from the center. But the variations were endless since the makers of these cupboards customized them to their needs.

Inside, the cupboards had shelves set only high enough apart as to accommodate jars of jellies or preserves.  This allowed makers to permanently affix more of them into the interior of the  cupboard. Most had wooden latches but better ones featured metal hardware and locks. Most people didn’t lock their jelly cupboards but may have locked the drawers in which they stored spices, tea, and sugar, above the cabinet portion. Early on, tea and sugar were both expensive commodities and had to be protected.

Generally, most women kept their jelly cupboards in their kitchens during the 19th century since they prepared their jellies and preserves there and having the storage cabinet close by was more convenient. Towards the end of the 1800s, however, some placed in their dining rooms. This practice demanded better looking cupboards that often doubled as a place to keep foods while serving dinner.

Jelly cupboard makers responded by using better quality construction, better woods, and better hardware.

Surviving examples exist in a wide variety of woods. Though pine is probably the most common, cabinetmakers also employed birch, butternut, cherry, chestnut, maple, poplar, oak, and walnut. At times they used two different woods, such as pine and poplar, for their cabinets.

According to furniture historians, jelly cupboards used in kitchens were usually taller than those used in dining rooms, which tended to be shorter and wider. Kitchen cupboards were usually vertical affairs up to 72 inches tall while those used in dining rooms tended to be about 45 inches tall and perhaps 60 inches wide.

To cover up less expensive woods, jelly cupboard makers often painted them in decorative colors, including robin’s egg blue, gray, sea green, barn red, and sometimes pale yellow.

At their peak during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, makers dovetailed the drawers and permanently mounted the shelves. But some later models featured adjustable shelves. As late as the 1920s Montgomery Ward's mail order catalog offered a basic jelly cupboard, 34 inches wide and 60 inches tall, with a single drawer above two doors constructed of seasoned oak and with adjustable shelves for $9.95.  Sears Roebuck had similar models.

Though this jelly cupboard is one of the good ones, the primitive ones are easy to fake. It doesn’t take too much imagination, a few pieces of old weathered wood, and some old nails to fashion what looks like a charming old jelly cupboard. With even primitive ones selling for $400-500, it’s no wonder there are some great new “antiques” on the market.