The Art of the Scrapbook

 

QUESTION: I’ve been into scrapbooking for about two years. Last year I saw several older ones at a local antique show. One was rather plain, but the other was quite elaborate. The dealer wasn’t sure how old they were, but they looked like they could have been from the late Victorian Era. I’ve always wondered when the idea of pasting pictures and other items into albums began. Can you give me a little history of scrapbooking? 

ANSWER: Throughout the 19th century, scrapbooks that closely resemble what we think of as a scrapbook today began to to be popular. 

Historians believe the first recorded use of the term “scrap book—referring to a book with blank pages into which a person pasted items—was in 1821. People wrote the term as two words, "scrap book" or hyphenated as "scrap-book," but over time, the two words morphed into one, as it appears today. But it wasn’t until 1879 that people started to use the term as a verb,” to scrapbook.”

The invention of the commercial printing press in the early 19th century was responsible for the popular practice of pasting pictures and paper mementos into blank books called albums. Recipients began to view elaborately printed greeting cards, calling cards, postcards, prayer cards, advertising trading cards, and other materials as novelty keepsakes. 

Newspapers went into widespread circulation as well, and readers clipped everything from family mentions to recipes to historic news stories to save.

The increased availability of printed material sparked a new trend. People began filling blank, bound books—previously used for journals or artwork—with clippings, cards and printed memorabilia. Some of these books contained a mix of personal journal entries, hand-drawn sketches, and watercolors, along with various scraps of printed material. 

One of the most popular forms of early scrapbooks was the placement of calling cards into albums. Calling cards had long been used as a form of social etiquette, especially in England. Elaborate rules dictated how people were to use these cards to make attempts at social contacts and to accept or decline them. They were also used as a way to politely extend social greetings after an event like a birth or wedding.  

In a world where social elites hid behind a wall of servants, people didn’t just drop in for a visit. Instead, a person would drop off a card with the corner folded to indicate it was delivered in person. If the recipient wished to receive a visit, they would send their card as a reply. A card delivered in an envelope, however, was a polite brush-off.

Like so many other things in Victorian times, beautiful floral designs and pastoral scenes decorated these cards. The desire to preserve these beautiful pieces of full-color printing and remember friendships led to the growth of calling card albums. 

The Victorians loved decoration—the more the better. They also were very romantic and loved sentimentality and keepsakes. To fulfill their desire for decoration, they used embossed paper images called scraps. 

Also called die cuts or chromos, scraps were small and colorful and sold in sheets by stationers and booksellers. Their diverse subject matter included flowers, trees, fruits, birds, animals, pets, ladies and gents, children, historical people and events, angels, transportation themes, and occupational motifs. People pasted them into albums and also used them to make greeting cards and decorated boxes.

The first scraps originated in German bakers' shops as decoration for biscuits and cakes and for fastening on wrapped sweets. Printers produced the earliest ones in uncut sheets in black and white, then hand colored them. Scraps appeared in Britain in the 1850s and soon became popular as decorative additions to Christmas cards. They were also used to illustrate historical as well as events of the time.

Early in the 20th century, young ladies and children of the middle and upper classes began keeping scrapbooks that contained collections of commercially produced scraps. They organized them thematically with a single subject for the entire book or with several themes arranged by section.

Sometimes, they added lines of poetry, personal notations, inscriptions by family and friends, and drawings. 

Stationery stores sold scrapbooks with tooled leather covers, elaborately embossed bindings, engraved clasps, and brass locks. Some scrapbooks contained printed decorations on their pages, as well as centered oval, circular or square sections into which people could paste items. Other albums held printed pages with theme-setting embossed decoration-like flowers or birds. Many scraps keepers made their own albums by pasting scraps over catalog and magazine pages.

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.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

QUESTION: I discovered my first child’s advertising booklets quite by accident. I was actually looking through a box of assorted vintage paper goods at a local flea market when I noticed a tiny booklet. It was an illustrated nursery rhymes distributed by Clark’s O.N.T. Thread. I’ve seen other advertisements from the late 19th century but never thought anything about it. Why did advertisers use children in their ads? And why did they distribute children’s books to promote their products? I’d like to start collecting these little books, but I don’t know where to begin.

ANSWER:  Advertising products to children isn't new. In fact, it goes back over 100 years to the late 19th century. And while children, themselves, can't buy the products, their parents and grandparents can. As the old saying goes, "Out of the mouths of babes..."

Back then, the way to a parent's pocketbook was through the childrens' advertising booklet. Most people today have never heard of them. But during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, children’s advertising booklets were a common item in many households. Everything from coloring books to junior cookbooks caught the eyes of advertisers.

As early as the 1850s, manufacturers realized the way to a mother's purse strings was through her children. What mother could resist the purchase of Clark's O.N.T. thread when doing so would include an educational booklet of rhymes for her little one? Besides, O.N.T. Black fast thread was "guaranteed never to show white on the seams after being worn or washed” –clearly a win-win situation.

But Clark's O.N.T. thread wasn’t the only company to take advantage of a mother's love for her children. The heyday of consumer advertising in the United States was in the last quarter of the 19th century. This was a time when steam presses and chromolithography made visually appealing promotional material relatively inexpensive, and when manufactured goods proliferated.

The great Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, with its myriad of domestic exhibits, inspired thousands of different advertising handouts. Advertisers began to use the image of a comfortable middle-class life as an inducement to purchase their products. Well-fed babies and well-dressed children at play were themselves symbols of material accomplishment. Plus, they portrayed the picture of wholesomeness.

At the same time. advertisers became aware that the woman in the household made most of the buying decisions, especially of household goods. The logical conclusion was that promotions which doubled as toys for children might also attract sales.

Many of these little promotional booklets have survived. So what affects their value? Condition, subject matter, general appeal, author, and illustrator are all important when determining the value of a children’s advertising booklet or an ad with children in it. Though companies hired prominent illustrators to create these booklets, many of them aren’t given credit. Among the more famous ones are W.W. Denslow who illustrated The Wizard of Oz, Johnny Gruelle who did Raggedy Ann, and Maxfield Parrish, who became known for his high fashion Art Deco paintings. So booklets that feature these artists are likely to command a premium. 

The Wonderful Lunch Boxes, illustrated by 20th century children's book illustrator Shirley Kite is a good example. Printed in 1925 and 1927, the book came inside boxes of a variety of Post cereals, including Bran Flakes, Instant Postum and Postum Cereal, Grape-Nuts, Toasties, and a cereal that obviously didn't go over too well----Bran Chocolate.

There was also a wide variety of advertising booklets available. Coloring books, nursery rhymes, and alphabet booklets were particularly successful as advertising promotional material. In most cases, advertisers created ingenious tie-ins with their products, using verse, parody and caricature. Occasionally, advertisers included watercolor “chips” in coloring books, and sometimes interleaved the pages with glassine to protect the images from smearing once children colored them.

However, not all advertising booklets were aimed at children. In 1910, Ivory Soap issued “Elizabeth Harding, Bride,” an advertising booklet with instructions on how to clean everything from blankets and brassware to hardwood floors and rubber plants all using Ivory Snow. It seems new bride Elizabeth feared her housekeeping abilities would be unacceptable to her new husband until Ivory Snow saved the day.

Jell-O was America's first packaged dessert, and owner Orator Woodward had a tough time convincing the public that combining water with white powder would produce tasty fruit-flavored gelatin. In 1902, Woodward hired door-to-door salesmen to hand-deliver Jell-O recipe booklets. The strategy was a key part of Jell-O's marketing for decades. And as with previous booklets, prominent artists illustrated many of them. One of the most famous is Rose O'Neill, best known for the Kewpie doll. A 1915 mint condition example of Jell-O and the Kewpies now sells for over $100.

Collectors can still find great examples of charming booklets for under $100, and many are still priced for less than $50. 

Along with the promotional booklets, advertisers also used children in illustrations for some not-so-common products. One of the most bizarre was “The Dutch Boy’s Lead Party,” a paint book for children. Considering that housepaint used to contain lead, it seems a bit noxious to promote it with children. Then again, maybe that’s supposed to be pronounced “leed.”

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.

Memories of Childhood

 

QUESTION: When I was a kid, I collected flicker rings. I loved the way they produced a flickering image of my favorite super heroes. Trading them with friends became a passion. I forgot about them until I saw a story online about them and did a search on eBay to see if I could find any. Low and behold I discovered some of the ones I had collected as a kid. Heaven knows what happened to them. I’m thinking about collecting them again but don’t know anything about them. Can you tell me how they originated and a little about how they were made?

ANSWER: No problem. There are many little promotion items like flicker rings out there that make wonderful collectibles today. 

A flicker ring has a clear, ribbed lenticular plastic lens over a specially created image underneath. When viewed at different angles, it optically switches between two or more separate images. 

Though invented in the 1950s, it wasn't until the 1960s that flicker rings reached their peak of popularity. Made by the millions, these small plastic pop cultural icons appeared as cereal premiums, were sold in vending machines, hung on display cards at drugstores and supermarkets, and could be found by the box full on counter tops at variety stores across the country. 

The Vari-Vue Corporation perfected the dual image camera that took two separate images and split them into hundreds of fine lines. Then workers applied hundreds of images to a sheet of plastic which had been rolled out by a machine that left lenticular lines, allowing the individual photos to be viewed by slightly tilting the sheet. Unlike the later holographic process, which used laser technology and produced an image with three-dimensional qualities, the flicker consisted of two distinct images. Finally, workers  cut the sheets and applied the flickers to a ring base which was usually made of plastic  in Japan or Hong Kong. Some of the more desirable rings had metal bases or were larger, and some resembled a tiny T.V. set. Vari-Vue often contracted out piece work to local families, who would take thousands of flicker pictures and ring bases home and attach them.

Since there are two pictures on flickers, it's quite common to have linked images. Often  one image is split into a positive and negative form, like the Famous Monsters and Universal Studios Monsters sets. Characters who didn't have a strong tie to a partner appeared in two poses, such as Superman standing and Superman flying with cape out-spread. And then there are the type that show animation such as the Roadrunner with legs in motion. Rings showing pop culture icons of the 1960s are the most sought after by collectors. 

Collectors also seek the multi-image sheets used to make the rings. When Vari-Vue shut its doors in the mid-1980s, much of its stock of uncut sheets made its way into the hands of collectors and dealers. These sheets aren’t all that rare and can be found at toy and collectibles shows.

One of the rarest and earliest rings on the market is the Howdy Doody version from the early 1950s. This ring, along with a set of five premium rings offered by Famous Monsters Magazine in 1968 are two of the most collectible of flicker rings. 

Rock 'n' roll, too, came of age in the 1960s, with the Beatles and the Monkees topping the list of flicker rings. The 1964 World's Fair, the Space Program, television shows, movie characters, political campaigns, and even products, all made their way onto flicker rings.

Along with rings, flickers appeared on pins, earrings, keychains, cufflinks, rulers, in books, ads in magazines, promotional premiums, and on business cards. In fact, the  cardboard cards on which displayed the rings are now more valuable than the rings themselves. Usually a dealer threw away these header cards once he or she sold the stock, which is the reason for their scarcity.

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.

                          

Hess Toy Trucks Keep Rolling Along

 

NOTE: This week marks the 11th anniversary of this blog. It also marks a milestone in readership with over 458,0000 views. To commemorate both events, I'm presenting an update of my very first post on Hess Toy Trucks. 

QUESTION: I want to buy a Hess toy truck for my grandson for Christmas. I saw an ad for the newest one on T.V. which said I could buy them online. Aren’t they being sold at local Hess gas stations anymore? I remember my first Hess truck. I played with it until it literally fell apart.

ANSWER: A lot has happened since you first received your first Hess truck for Christmas. In fact, a lot has happened to the company in the last seven years. The Hess Oil Company underwent some major changes, the biggest being the selling off of all of their gas stations to Marathon Petroleum, converting their retail outlets to Speedway stations. So naturally, Hess trucks haven’t been sold in gas stations for quite some time. Hess Oil has set up a special Web site to sell its latest truck.

Hess Oil's first toy truck from 1964

Starting in 1964, the Hess Oil Company wanted to thank their loyal customers by making small replicas of their trucks as a token of appreciation for their business throughout the year. The company was the first one to manufacture toy trucks that had working lights and sound. The Hess toy trucks, helicopters, police cars, airplanes, space shuttles and rescue vehicles have been popular Christmas gift traditions for over 50 years. In fact, it’s one of the longest running toy brands on the market.

Because the company produced these trucks in limited quantities, they limited each customer to two of them. That first truck sold for $1.29, and today can sell for over $2,500. Unfortunately, only the oldest Hess toy trucks have increased in value. Those produced from 1990 on in many cases are now selling for less then their original retail price. 

Hess periodically has a rare truck such as the 1995 chrome truck with helicopter and the 2002 chrome Mini, which the company gave away at a stockholder meeting. In  2006, it gave a special truck to New York Stock Exchange employees to commemorate its name change from Amerada Hess Corporation to Hess Corporation.

However, more than half the value of each truck depends on the condition of its box. If the truck, itself, is also in perfect condition, then it’s considered to be “MIB” or “Mint-in-Box.”  Most people have trucks they bought to give to their kids for Christmas. Unfortunately, their children played with the trucks and now they’re worth a fraction of the mint ones.

Plus values of these toys tend to fluctuate, depending on who’s buying them. While dealers pay the lowest amount and then double it to sell them, some collectors will pay just about anything to get the truck they want. In fact, one collector drove four miles to meet a woman in a rest area on an Interstate highway just to look at a truck she had for sale. But true value of a truck is whatever anyone is willing to pay for it.

While the first trucks were tankers, succeeding ones ran the gamut from transports to fire trucks and car carriers.  In 1966, Hess deviated from its line of trucks by producing an ocean-going tanker, based on the Hess Voyager, a patrol car in 1993, a helicopter in 2001, an SUV in 2004, and a race car in 1988, 1997, 2009, 2011, and this year, 2016. but it wasn’t until 1993 that the company offered a police car and in other years sold a helicopter carrier and monster truck. In recent years, boxes have contained one larger vehicle transporting smaller friction-motor vehicles, such as motorcycles, race cars, or cruisers. 

The 2020 Hess Ambulance and Rescue Truck is Hess Oil’s premier tribute to first responders. The heavy-duty Type I truck-style medical transport includes an oversized passenger compartment that doubles as a carrier for its Rescue partner.  Designed for high visibility, the bright, attention-grabbing red and white cab displays 70 lights. The lights flash in four different flashing patterns, each activated in tandem with a unique siren sound via the four cab-mounted buttons. A switch under the chassis activates lights in steady mode and for the first time ever, a “Mute” mode is included to keep those amazing lights flashing without the accompanying siren sounds. The sparkling chrome accents add detail. A top-mounted button at the rear of the see-through passenger compartment releases the rear door which acts as a ramp for the Rescue truck.   

The accompanying Rescue is a rugged on/off-roader pickup truck with a fold-down tailgate and a pull-back motor that can be revved-up and released . Its bright red color is complemented with sparkling chrome-look accents and another 26 lights that work in steady mode.

Later versions became more complex and expensive

Because Hess toy trucks didn’t gain mass popularity until the 1980s, those few collectors savvy enough to pack one away in its box without touching it are the only ones who can cash in on the higher values of Hess toy trucks from 1964, when they first came out, through the 1970s.

This monster truck was one of the oddest

The Hess Toy Truck is one of the longest-running toy brands on the market. However, the price has gone up considerably from that first truck selling for $1.29 in 1964 to $36.99 for this year’s Ambulance and Rescue Truck.

Remember, unless a Hess truck is an early model and still new in a pristine box, it has little value. Unfortunately, the market for Hess trucks has been flat for nearly a decade,  so selling all but the oldest trucks is a real challenge.

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.

The Sparkle of Findlay Flint

 

QUESTION: My mother loved collecting antique glass. She collected what she liked but didn’t pay too much attention to each piece’s history. I now have her collection and display it proudly. I’m trying to figure out exactly what I have. Some are readily identifiable but there are several that are puzzling. A friend told me they may be Findlay Flint glass. What can you tell me about this company? And what types of glassware did they produce?

ANSWER: While glassmakers like Heisey and Fenton are well known, there were plenty of others nestled in the Ohio River Valley. One of these was Findlay Flint Glass of Findlay, Ohio.  

Not a single glass factory remains in Findlay today. It was once home to 22 glass manufacturers, including five tableware companies, not all of whom were in production at the same time. But from 1889 to 1891, sixteen factories operated at once. The town boasted being the second largest glass producer in the country. Findlay's glass factories disappeared almost as quickly as they appeared, but in their brief existence, they produced hundreds of pressed glass patterns which are widely recognized and collected today.

It all started with the discovery of natural gas in the Findlay area in 1884. The rapid rise and fall of Findlay', glass industry was directly linked to the city's natural gas supply. But it wasn’t until 1886 before residents drilled wells to tap into the fuel source. The first was the great Karg well. A Geological Survey of Ohio in 1890 estimated it produced 14 million cubic feet of gas per day. Reports said gas escaping from the well could be heard as a roar five miles away.

City leaders believed they had an inexhaustible gas supply and lured industries to town with the promise of free or inexpensive gas. Glass companies in particular saw this as an incentive since they required a tremendous amount of heat. Multiple glass factories  soon sprang up, bringing thousands of new workers. Housing boomed and stores thrived in the gas boom town.

No one imagined that in just a few years, Findlay's gas would be in short supply, but only two years after drilling the Karg well, some local wells began failing.  By 1890 city officials saw trouble ahead. Fearing serious gas shortages, they urged glass companies to convert to other fuels. A few years later, the situation worsened. They had no choice  but to cut off the gas supply to industries in order to satisfy the needs of residents. Although a few glass companies remained for several years. Findlay’s shining moment in the glass industry abruptly ended.

The Findlay  Flint Glass Company was the last tableware factory to locate in Findlay. Organized mainly by local people, it opened in 1899 producing a full line of tableware and employed 192 workers.

Unfortunately, the company didn’t last long. Business had already slowed down by December 1890. And in 1891, city officials warned of possible gas shortages. The end came on June 6, 1891, when a midnight fire started in the shipping department and destroyed the factory. The owners had planned to rebuild the factory to produce glass bottles, but the intense heat of the fire ruined the limestone foundation so the factory was never rebuilt.

Even though Findlay Flint Glass produced glass for only about 22 months, it produced a large quantity of glass in several fine patterns. One of its major patterns was the Block and Double Bar which can sometimes be found with ruby flash. Though the company made its Pillar pattern midway through its production, it introduced Pattern No. 19 only a few months before the fire, making it extremely difficult to find today.

Stippled Forget-Me-Not, originally called Dot, was another popular pattern made in several colors including white milk glass and a fiery opalescent glass which are both difficult to find. Besides the regular tableware line, there were three baby plates with Stippled Forget-Me-Not borders. One featured a baby in the center, another had a cat, and the third had a stork.

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.

The Origin of American Studio Pottery

 

QUESTION: I’ve always loved handmade pottery. And looking back over history, it seems to have existed since ancient times. Recently, a friend told me that Charles Binns was the father of American studio pottery. Exactly what does that mean? Isn’t all handmade pottery made in a studio?

ANSWER: While pottery, itself, has existed for eons, what’s referred to as “studio pottery” is a relatively recent phenomenon, dating to the very late 19th century and early 20th. 

Although now nearly forgotten, Charles Fergus Binns, a studio potter and instructor, enjoyed a national reputation during the early years of the 20th century for his classic stoneware pots. Binns' made many of his legendary stoneware vases, bottles, bowls and jars during the height of the Arts and Crafts Movement in the U.S.

Born in England in 1857, Binns left school at age 14 to become an apprentice at the Royal Worcester Porcelain Works, where his father was a co-managing director. Eventually, he occupied an administrative position at the Royal Worcester factory and  became a recognized scholar and lecturer concerning world ceramics. In Paris, in 1878, he exhibited his early experiments with clay bodies and glazes. Binns accompanied the Royal Worcester exhibit of 1,400 pieces to the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 and made the United States his home in 1897. 

Binns's ceramic technique focused on his pots as utilitarian objects. His work included vases, urns, and bowls. He threw each piece in three forms on a wheel, turning them on a lathe and piecing them together afterwards. One of the concepts Binns taught was “dead ground,” in which the parts of making pottery that couldn’t be precisely controlled, such as firing temperature or glaze calculations, were mitigated by control over glaze placement.

In 1899, Binns helped found the American Ceramics Society. His role in this organization led to the directorship of the newly formed ceramics department of Alfred University, the first United States college to combine programs in ceramic art and science. In the years that followed, Binns shared once-secret clay recipes and glaze formulas with his students, including Arthur Eugene Baggs, William Victor Bragdon, R. Guy Cowan, Maija Grotell and Elizabeth Overbeck, who were largely responsible for fostering the idea of the artist-potter in America.  

Binns is commonly referred to as the "father of American studio ceramics." This title reflects not only his creation of unique stoneware pots in the Arts & Crafts style, but additionally acknowledges his accomplishment of bringing vital information about ceramic clay bodies and glaze recipes to ordinary people, thus laying the foundation of the flourishing studio ceramics movement in the United States that began in the early 1900's.

In 1900, New York Governor Teddy Roosevelt signed a bill establishing the New York State School of Clay-Working and Ceramics—now the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Appointed as the founding director at that time, Binns held the position for over 30 years until his retirement in 1931, during which time he became known for his classic pots with rich monochrome glazes.

Before Binns' arrival at Alfred University, it was customary for one

person to throw art pottery on the wheel and another person to glaze or decorate surfaces mar reflected his respect for the natural materials he used. He admired Oriental forms and glazes. and sometimes signed his pieces by putting his initials, “CFB" inside a circle closely resembling Chinese marks. His signed pieces ;following Asian tradition, Include his initials along with the year in which he made them.

Binns' work was widely exhibited during his lifetime, including his earliest documented stoneware vase, signed and dated 1905, and his final creation, a fragile bisque vase that he

signed and dated 1934, which he left unglazed and unfired at the time of his death. A memorial exhibition Of Binns’ works drew admiring crowds at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1935.

American studio ceramics really began with Charles Fergus Binns, who introduced the principles of chemistry and materials science into the ceramic arts. 

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 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.

Warming Up on a Cold Day

 

RS Prussia chocolate pot

QUESTION: I recently purchased what looks like a porcelain coffee pot. However, it has a decorative spout that has what seems like a bridge across its top. The floral design is delicately painted and on the bottom is stamped the name R.S. Prussia. Can you tell me anything about this piece?

ANSWER: What looks like a coffee pot is actually a chocolate pot, used by Victorians to serve hot chocolate on cold winter days. 

By the mid-17th century, chocolate was well established and sought after by the well-to-do in Italy, France, Germany, and finally England. From the time Spanish explorers brought chocolate back to Europe, people served chocolate hot. But the chocolate tasted bitter, so it became necessary to add sugar, vanilla, and jasmine to it to make it more palatable. Since chocolate was expensive, only the wealthy could afford this exotic drink.

Chocolate from bean to processed

Mechanization during the Industrial Revolution made processing of cacao beans more efficient and brought down labor costs. A Dutch chemist, Coenraad Van Houten patented a process that defatted and alkalinized the chocolate in 1828, making possible the mass production of cheap chocolate in powdered and solid forms.  

As chocolate's popularity spread throughout the Continent, people needed vessels to serve it. Chocolate pots began to appear in a variety of forms and materials, including earthenware, tin, pewter, tin-plated copper, porcelain, gold, and silver.

Mayan earthenware chocolate pot

Potters created the first commercial chocolate pots of earthenware, but by the early 19th century, porcelain ones began to appear, coinciding with the decrease in the cost of chocolate and its availability to everyone, regardless of their economic status. At the same time the porcelain chocolate pot changed. Since the cocoa made from the cacao bean dissolved in hot water, whipping the chocolate was no longer necessary, so the hole for the molinet—the wooden stirrer—originally placed in the lid of the pot was no longer needed. By the mid- to late 19th century, most porcelain companies produced chocolate pots with solid lids.

George II silver plated molinet from the 18th century

Silver chocolate pot
with molinet

Factories began producing a variety of affordable chocolate pots for the average household. Production peaked in the mid-to late 1800s, but continued until the mid- 1900s when people’s preference switched from hot chocolate to coffee.

Due to the widespread popularity of hot chocolate, chocolate pots are readily available to collectors, both online and at shows and auctions. For example, eBay has over 500 chocolate pots listed in active auctions. Prices vary widely and depend on material, with silver pots being more expensive than porcelain pots. Value also depends on the age and maker, as well as where the pot is being sold.

Limoges chocolate pot

While the average porcelain chocolate pot sells for about $100, the higher quality ones from Meissen and R.S. Prussia range in price from $500 to $5,000. Chocolate sets—a pot with six tall cups and sometimes saucers—tend to sell for more than individual pots. Also, larger pots and those with floral or scenic designs are more expensive than smaller ones without decoration. Unmarked pots and those from lesser-known factories often sell for less than $100. 

Before starting a chocolate pot collection, examine a variety of chocolate pots being offered by reputable dealers. Read books on specific manufacturers such as Limoges; R.S.Prussia. and Nippon, and visit repronews.com, e-limoges.com and rsprussia.com online. Lastly, if you’re not sure of a chocolate pot's authenticity, don't buy it.

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