A Bookmark for My Love

 

QUESTION: I love to read, so I have quite a few bookmarks. Most are newer. But at several recent antique shows, I noticed quite a few older bookmarks, many of them featured hearts in some way. Were they given as Valentine’s gifts? I think I’d like to start a collection of some of these older bookmarks. How collectible are they?

ANSWER: Bookmarks have been around in some form or another for hundreds of years, ever since the first printed book rolled off the press in 1455. What a lot of people don’t know was that bookmarks were popular gifts, especially during Victorian times. And many people gave them as small Valentine gifts.

Over the years, Valentine gifts have taken many forms—cards, chocolates, even bookmarks. But whatever form they have taken, these expressions of love often displayed a heart of some sort.

People often gave bookmarks as gifts and as souvenirs or to commemorate a number of events. The heart shape in bookmarks often served to convey expressions of emotions, religious sentiments, or as a way to advertise products of the day.

Also called bookmarkers, these were important instruments for people to use to keep their place while reading. Surprisingly, a great many bookmarks are in the shape of a heart or contain some kind of heart motif.

At first, they were probably nothing more than a scrap of parchment. But as time went on people used a variety of objects as bookmarks. Eventually, printers created actual bookmarks with the primary purpose of marking a place in a book. Someone presented Queen Elizabeth I of England with a silk fringed bookmarker by Christopher Barker in 1584. 

Bookmarks became more common by the post Industrial Revolution. By the mid-19th century there was a convergence of improved methods in the book binding process and an overall increase in literacy. With improved book printing techniques, books became less expensive to produce, and more available to a lot of people. But no one usually read an entire book in one sitting, so bookmarks became a necessary way to mark the place where the reader stopped. 

Silk bookmarks were the most common from around the 1850s and were primarily intended for use in Bibles and prayer books. During the 1860s in Coventry, England, Thomas Stevens was experimenting with his looms and developed a jacquard technique for manufacturing colored silk pictures. He demonstrated these at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, and the World's Fair Columbia Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Silk bookmarks, generically called "Stevengraphs," are typically 2 by 6 inches long. These machine embroidered silks became so popular that Stevens began producing them with American themes. Other companies also produced these  desirable and highly prized silk bookmarks. They were especially popular with the women in Victorian book clubs. 

Between 1850 and 1900, home-crafted bookmarks of needlework on perforated cards became quite common. Printing techniques dramatically changed from 1860 through 1900 and ushered in the “Era of Lithography." Names such as Currier & Ives and Prang were to the best known associated with lithography and chromolithography. 

Silver bookmarks became quite popular from about 1380. People still give them as gifts today. In addition to silver, bookmarks have also been made in brass, copper, nickel steel and Britannia white metals. With the turn of the century came bookmarks made of aluminum, celluloid and lighter weight paper. The heart motif can be found on bookmarks made of all these materials.

Because the shape of the heart has long been a symbol of love, affection, deeply felt sentiments, caring, concern and earnestness, its easy to see why makers of bookmarks often turned to the heart as a theme.

The intertwined cross, anchor and heart were often meant to represent faith, hope and charity. Was this bookmark a symbolic religious expression of late Victorian or turn of the century sentiments? Or was this possibly the bookmark of a tea captain? Or was it designed to be given by a sailor to his sweetheart or wife as a gift, a gift that would remind the recipient of the giver whenever a book was read? 

While hearts represent love, or positive feelings such as warmth and charity, they also were very useful marketing tools. A celluloid heart bookmark with a surround of blue and green forget-me-nots on the outside border advertised "Cunningham Pianos." 

Embossed aluminum bookmarkers fashioned in the shape of hearts were quite popular during the 20th century, especially for souvenirs. A 1901 heart bookmark with embossing read "Pan American Exposition, 1901, Souvenir" around the raised raging bull symbol. Another example features an embossed aluminum bookmark that bears + the Bunker Hill Monument.

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Four Times the Beauty?

QUESTION: I recently bought an unusual blackened metal coffee pot at a local antique coop. The person on duty told me it was silver plate.  The mark on the bottom of the pot says “WALDORF SILVER PLATE CO. QUADRUPLE PLATE.” Why is the pot so black and tarnished? Can it be re-plated? And exactly what is quadruple plate?

ANSWER: From the shape of your pot, it seems you’ve discovered a Victorian silver plated water pitcher, not a coffee pot. Coffee pots from this time were taller and slimmer and had a porcelain enameled metal lining. You’ve also asked about one of the mysteries of antique collecting—the extreme tarnishing of what were supposed to be high quality silver plate pieces.

The gleam of polished silver has always been a real joy to the owner be he or she rich or poor. But the cost for all but the very rich was prohibitive. The invention of the process of electroplating changed all that.

The first step towards making silver more affordable came around 1839 with the development of  electroplating. Electroplating was possible as a result of increased knowledge of electrical theory and the galvanic batteries needed in the process. Workers suspended the object to be plated in a conductive solution along with an electrode of pure silver. Passage of electric current through the solution caused pure silver to be deposited on the object to be plated. Direct current generators eventually replaced the original batteries as a source of electricity, enabling manufacturers to use  plating tanks large enough for mass production.

Electroplating was the ideal process to produce durable and attractive articles that had most of the desirable qualities of pure silver at a fraction of the cost. The only alternative process was Sheffield plate, a mechanical process that bonded pure silver to copper by heat. But electroplating soon took over the market.

“White metal," or Britannia metal which had the same characteristics as pewter, or nickel silver usually formed the base for electroplating. Unlike pewter, Britannia contained no lead in the alloy, making it a superior product. The usual composition of Britannia consisted of 140 parts tin, 3 parts copper, and 10 parts antimony.

The finest, and most expensive, objects used nickel silver as the base metal for plating. Nickel silver was an alloy composed of 5 percent to 25 percent nickel, 65 percent copper, and 10 percent to 30 percent zinc. The resultant metal was strong, took the plating perfectly, and even if the plated surface became worn, the nickel silver underneath was a good match for the silver plating.

Although plated objects were far less expensive than solid silver, they were still relatively expensive for the average family. For example a six-piece, silver plate on nickel silver  tea and coffee service, consisting of large and small teapots, coffeepot, sugar dish and creamer, cost around $160 in 1867. A comparable set using silver plate on Britannia metal was around $50 in the same period. The sixth piece was known as a "slop." It enabled the gracious hostess to quickly dispose of the dregs in the bottom of the cup before offering her guest a fresh cup of tea or coffee. The "slop" was an open topped vessel made to match the design of the other pieces.

In addition to the conventional tea and coffee services, 19th-century manufacturers of silver plate offered many other items, including pitchers, trays, casters, wine bottles stands, egg holders, cake dishes, goblets and cups. In addition there was a wide variety of toilet articles available, including soap dishes, tooth-brush holders and bowl and pitcher sets. The truly elegant home might have a silver plated parlor spittoon with locking cover. These sold for $4.50 to $6.25 in 1867, depending on how ornate they were.

At its peak, the silver plating industry during the late 19th century centered around Meriden, Connecticut. It was here in 1867 that Dennis C. and Horace C. Wilcox entered the holloware trade, first dealing in Britannia pieces. Later, around 1867, they established the Wilcox Silver Plate Company and started making quadruple plated holloware.

But what exactly is quadruple plate? Within the silver plate holloware industry, items marked of “Standard” indicated that 2 troy ounces of pure silver had been used to silver electroplate 144 teaspoons. Items marked "Quadruple Plate," on the other hand, used 8 troy ounces of silver to plate the same 144 spoons. Thus, quadruple silver plate pieces  were four times as heavily plated with silver than items  marked "Standard" silver plate.

So why then are so many quadruple plated silver pieces in such tarnished condition. While four times the amount of silver had been used to plate them, the layers of plating on quadruple plate were much thinner than standard plating. And while silver is stable in pure air and water, it tarnishes quickly when exposed to ozone, hydrogen sulphide, or air containing sulphur. Victorian homes not only had some of these elements present due to the use of coal-burning stoves and fireplaces, but many upper middle-class homes had overzealous servants who polished the silver pieces incessantly. Each time a servant polished a piece of quadruple plated silver, he or she removed some of the silver.

However, pieces plated on nickel silver, such as those produced Rogers Brothers and Reed & Barton, don’t look as bad today because of their nickel silver base. And, yes, any piece of quadruple plate can be re-plated to look as good as when it was new. But the cost to value ratio isn’t very good, so re-plating may cost more than the piece, itself, is worth.

Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels

QUESTION: I was recently cleaning out drawers in my mother’s house after her death and came across a bunch of coins with the slogan “Millions for Defense, But Not One Cent for Tribute” impressed on one side. On the other side is the Liberty Head and the words ONE CENT. At first glance these look like pennies but are larger. What can you tell me about them?

ANSWER: What you have aren’t coins but tokens. Like the famous wooden nickels, merchants used tokens as a way to promote their businesses and some commemorated events. By 1900, tokens had become a common type of coinage by which merchants not only advertised, but created good will and repeat business. The token was in effect a pledge redeemable in goods but not necessarily for currency.

Tokens are coin-like objects used instead of coins and either have a denomination shown or implied by size, color or shape. The use of tokens dates back to Roman times. Back then, the Romans used coin-like objects called spintria to gain entrance to brothels and gaming establishments.

Medieval English monasteries issued tokens to pay for services from outsiders. Residents of nearby villages called these tokens "Abbot's money."

Though token manufacturers usually made them of cheaper metals, such as  copper, pewter, aluminum, brass, and tin, they also used fiber, bakelite, leather, porcelain, and wood.

Sometimes called merchant tokens or “good fors,” American trade tokens originated during the late 18th century, when early circuses produced them for admission to their performances. In the 1820s, manufacturers began commercially producing tokens and this led to a greater demand.

In July, 1836 Congress enacted President Andrew Jackson's "specie circular" law, requiring specie—that is, gold or silver—to be used to pay for government land. This caused people to believe that paper currency, at the time issued by state banks, was unsound. As more and more people began using specie, regular coins disappeared from circulation.

To make it easier for individuals to trade for goods, business men and various organizations began issuing tokens that could be used instead of coins. These tokens became a substitute for one-cent pieces, since they had the same metallic content and size. The token designs could be divided into four categories: those that mentioned the bank and the banking crisis; those that were satirical and sarcastic, the political cartoons of the day; those that were made in imitation of real money; and those issued by enterprising merchants carrying advertising.

The Hard Times tokens of the 1830s and 1840s continued to make merchant tokens popular. During the Civil War, tokens again came into wide use because of the coin shortages caused by it. After the war, merchants once again issued tokens and people continued to use these “good fors” to trade for goods.

Among the many tokens made in imitation of the coins driven from circulation were a number using the phrase, "Millions for Defense, but Not One Cent for Tribute." These tokens bore the familiar Liberty Head and on the reverse the wording was strategically placed to have an enlarged ONE CENT appear as it would on government issued coins. The phrase, "Millions for Defense, but Not One Cent for Tribute," was a rallying cry for America on two occasions in history.

Besides Civil War tokens, there were also wooden tokens, transportation tokens for bridges, toll roads, ferries, and the like, gaming tokens, political tokens, as well as those used by magicians for admission to their acts, churches for permission to receive communion, tokens for telephones, and to pay sales tax. Elongated coins—often pennies pressed flat and made smooth on one side to take etchings of the Lord’s Prayer, Scouts’ oath, and club insignias also were popular.

All kinds of merchants issued tokens for use in their own businesses, including general stores, grocers, department stores, dairies, meat markets, drug stores, saloons, bars, taverns, barbers, coal mines, lumber mills and many other businesses. The era of 1870 through 1920 marked the highest use of "trade tokens" in the country, spurred by the growth of small stores in rural areas.

Railways and public transportation agencies used fare tokens for years, to sell rides in advance at a discount, or to allow patrons to use turnstiles that only to took them. The use of transit tokens in America began in 1831, when John Gibbs issued them for use on his U.S.M. stage in New Jersey. The 1830s saw tokens used on horsecars and horse-drawn omnibuses. By 1897, the U.S. had its first subway in Boston, and in 1904 the New York subway system opened. Ferry, bus, and streetcar companies also produced tokens often out of cheap white metal, aluminum, or more costly bronze. Most of them featured cutouts in the shapes of letters to differentiate them from other coins.

Some churches used to give tokens to members passing a religious test prior to the day of communion, then required the token for entry. Most of these were pewter, often cast by the minister using the church’s own molds.

But probably the most well-known token is the wooden nickel. Merchants and banks gave them to their customers to redeem for a specific item, usually a drink. On December 5, 1931, during the Great Depression, the Citizen’s Bank of Tenino, Washington, failed and issued emergency currency printed on thin shingles of wood. Local merchants couldn’t get change without traveling 30 miles over mountainous roads which took four hours one way.  So the bank, at the insistence of the Chamber of Commerce, decided to issue it’s own money, some of which was in five-cent denominations.

The Chicago World's Fair in 1933 issued wooden nickels as souvenirs, and the tradition of wooden nickels as tokens and souvenirs was born. The phrase, "Don't take any wooden nickels," reminds people to be cautious in their business dealings since some unscrupulous characters tried to use them in their dealings with people.