The Cream of the Crop

QUESTION: Last year I went antiquing in the English Cotswolds. In nearly every shop I went into, I saw at least one or more little cow creamers waiting for new homes. How did these little ceramic accessories come about and why did they choose to make them in the shape of a cow?

ANSWER: Originally made in England, then in Scotland and America, these unique creamers were the pride and joy of many late 18th and early 19th-century English housewives, both rich and poor. They kept these spotted bovines sitting on top of their dining room dressers, ready to use on special occasions.

These pottery cow creamers are little jugs standing firm on all four legs. They’re  usually about six inches long and four to five inches high. Housewives would pour fresh cream through a hole in the cow’s back, then seal up the whole with a cover. Unfortunately, many a cow creamer today is missing its cover. The cow’s curved tail served as the handle while its mouth served as the spout.

Cow creamers are among the oldest forms of decorative tableware still in existence today. Their ancestry can be traced back  to a decorative European jug used for washing the hands before and during a meal called an “aquamanile.” These jugs were very fancy and often doubled as a centerpiece. Ironically, an aquamanile had many of the same features as a cow creamer—a body in the shape of an animal standing square on its legs, a tail arched to meet its back that served as a handle, a hole in its back by which the jug could be filled, and a gaping mouth from which to pour the water.

Made from gold, silver, bronze, or pewter, the aquamaniles were most commonly shaped like lions, sometimes encrusted with precious stones.

It was the Dutch that chose the cow as the shape for the cow creamer which became a luxury accessory.

During the 18th century, coffee drinking became popular among the social elite of Europe. The new coffee ritual demanded novelty jugs to hold the cream. Those depicting a cow with a bee perched on its back were the most popular.

Initially, silversmiths created cow creamers in different sizes but using the same freestanding cow. There were all sorts of whimsical variations—some had garlands around their necks, hinged lids, or handles shaped like flies, bees, or flowers. But when the Dutch began making the creamers in tin-glazed Delftware, the fencegates opened and a whole herd of creamers rushed out.

The first cow creamer came from the Whieldon Pottery, which imitated the silver cow jugs made in 1755 by John Schuppe. The most well-known of these had a mottled brown tortoise shell-type glaze. Others had brown and yellow spots, black with a criscrossed yellow pattern, and even light blue with yellow circles.

But the clay was more difficult to control and sculpt than metal, so the potters introduced a few changes to the design to make it conform more to the different material. While a silver cow could stand directly on its legs, a pottery cow could not. This necessitated the addition of a base to help stabilize and strengthen the clay.

It seems every potter added his touch of whimsy. In fact, there are almost as many different decorations as there are creamers.

 potters also crafted these unique little jugs, essentially copying from the earlier Whieldon design. None of these have markings on the bottom. The Welsh potters added their own creative touches to their cow creamers. Many decorated them freehand or applied transfer designs of rustic farm scenes. After 1850, the Scots developed a love affair with the cow creamer. Scottish potters experimented with sponged decoration and brightly colored glazes.

After the American Revolution and into the early 19th century, imported English pottery became too expensive, so the United States Pottery in Bennington, Vermont, began making its own version of the cow creamer. Each cow had crescent-shaped nostrils, open eyes, folds in the neck, and visible ribs. I guess the American cows weren’t as well fed as their English, Scottish, and Welsh cousins. After Bennington closed in 1858, its potters sought work at potteries in Ohio, Maryland, and New Jersey, taking their skill at making cow creamers with them.

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  La Belle Epoque in the 2020 Spring 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.

Not Quite Fit for a King

QUESTION: I purchased an old Dewers pottery flask in an antique shop a while back. The brown glazed pitcher features two characters from Charles Dickens’ book, Oliver Twist—The Artful Dodger and Oliver Twist. The tag on the flask said it was kingsware by Doulton Pottery of England. What can you tell me about kingsware

ANSWER: Kingsware is one of the most unusual and colorful items produced by the Doulton Pottery Company. It was very popular when it was made in 1899 because the owner could drink the contents and then display the attractive stoneware container.

Charles Noke, an artist at Doulton, experimented with glazes and eventually  developed kingsware. Born in Worcester, England, near the Worcester porcelain factory, to a father who had one of the largest old china collections in the Midlands. Through his fathers influence, he was often allowed to roam freely through the local potteries and see all phases of their operations. What fascinated Noke the most was the process of modeling and sculpture.



Charles took some clay home from the pottery and sculpted it into different forms which he showed to the top modelers at the company. They thought his work showed promise. At the age of 16 he became an apprentice modeler and designer at Worcester Porcelain. Meanwhile, he enrolled at the Worcester School of Design to study sculpture. Noke worked under direction of such noted Worcester modelers as George Evans and George Owen.

After working at Worcester for 16 years, John Slater, the General Manager at Doutlon’s Burselm Pottery, asked him to come work for him at the Doulton Company. The main reason his joined Doulton was for artistic freedom. Eventually, Noke became Doulton’s chief modeler.

Noke helped develop the glazes for Doulton’s Sung, Chinese Jade and Flambe wares. In 1895, he developed an unusual method of slip painted underglaze called Holbein. It gave the effect of an "old masters" painting with the application of slip in yellow, green and shades of brown on a cream earthenware body.

In 1899, Noke introduced a new method of stoneware production called kingsware which was much cheaper to produce than Holbeinware. He applied colored slips of subdued green, yellow and reddish brown to the interior of plaster molds into which he had impressed a design. When he poured another brown slip, the colors fused to give a deep and soft effect to the embossed design. Noke most commonly used a dark brown glaze, but also used an unusual paler yellow one which he called "kingsware yellow glaze."

Noke also used a method of finish on kingsware known as "aerographed brown." Using an ivory earthenware base, he added the colors to the shape after it left the mold. These colors lacked the soft effect of the usual kingsware and were sharper and more vibrant. These wares were also different because they had handles and necks and bases aerographed with a spray painting technique. One of these embossed pitchers features a golf scene, one of Noke's favorite pastimes.

 produced kingsware flasks to hold whisky. The pottery produced it in large quantities for firms such as John Dewars & Sons of Perth, Bullock Lade, Greenlees & Watson and the Hudson's Bay Company. Not only did kingsware flasks hold products from these firms, it also became a way of advertising. Many of the flasks had a company name embossed on them. The flasks also had designs depicting the pleasures of drinking and smoking. For example, an ovoid flask, called "Connoisseur,"  showed a gentleman studying the quality of a glass of wine. A wine pitcher featured an image of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine. Doulton also produced a variety of other items in kingsware, such as vases, water jugs, pitchers, mugs, and tobacco humidors.

The range of characters used on kingsware was extensive. Besides his work, Noke loved to play golf and read the works of Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, and Robert Burns. It’s no wonder that he used so many characters from these literary works on kingsware. For example, a kingsware water jug called "Memories" shows Dickens characters wearing wigs. A flask called the "Artful Dodger and Oliver Twist" portrays two Dickens' characters from his book Oliver Twist. This gave kingsware a universal appeal.

Collectors look for kingsware for a variety of reasons. Some pieces have amusing mottoes and express fitting sentiments, such as "A bumper to her who adores me and another to her to adore" can be found on a loving cup. The motto, "Be content the sea has fish enough," can be found on an ashtray. On a whisky jug a motto would read, "It's hard for an empty bag to stand straight up.”

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  La Belle Epoque in the 2020 Spring 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.

G-Man Toys Took America by Storm

QUESTION: I love to read crime novels, especially those dealing with gangsters from the time of the Great Depression. Several months ago, I discovered a few “G-Men” toys in a local thrift shop. I didn’t know they made such things, so I bought them. And having read about the bad guys in the 1930s, I think I might like to collect some of these toys. What can you tell me about them? Are they worth collecting?

ANSWER: The 1930s was indeed an exciting time for both criminals and law enforcement. During the Great Depression, everyone’s thoughts turned to money—or the lack of it. So the robbing of people’s savings in local banks was a prime concern.

In the mid-1930s, newspapers and radio stations reported daily on the extensive crime escapades throughout the United States by John Dillinger, "Baby Face"Nelson, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, "Pretty Boy" Floyd and other notorious and dangerous gangsters. Their brazen murders, kidnappings, bank robberies and other heinous crime sprees constantly stunned the nation and were headline stories everywhere. Newspaper reporters and radio announcers often reported these crime sprees with more drama than actually happened, heightening the imaginations of young boys everywhere, most of whom wanted to play the parts of law enforcers.

Through print and radio, the public intensely followed every detail of their crimes, high-speed chases and blazing shoot-outs with authorities. The eventual captures of these criminals were equally covered by radio programs, in the newspapers and on newsreels at the movies. People all across the country breathed sighs of relief each time agents of the then Bureau of Investigation, renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1935, captured on of these criminals.

George "Machine Gun" Kelly and others on July 22, 1933, kidnapped Charles F. Urschel and another man in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and held them for $200,000 ransom. After the ransom was paid. Kelly released Urschel and the other man. Government agents Kelly captured Kelly on September 26, 1933, in Memphis, Tennessee and when he was told he was under agents as government men. The "G-Men" acronym stuck and has been used ever since that time when referring to FBI Agents.

While T.V. romanticized and popularized the exploits of Elliot Ness later on in the 1960s, it was Melvin H. Purvis, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Chicago office, that caught everyone’s attention. His most famous case was when he led the team of agents who killed John Dillinger, Public Enemy No. I, in a shootout in Chicago in July 1934. Purvis instantly became an American hero. Thereafter, every kid in the country wanted to be a "G-Man" and to play "G-Man."

 left the FBI and got into the toy and cereal premium business with General Foods of Battle Creek, Michigan, to develop and market a line of "Junior G-Man Corps" badges, toys and other cereal premiums in about 1936. Kids would send in boxtops from Post Toasties. Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, and POST-O Cereal, usually with 10 cent in stamps, to become members of his Junior G-Man Corps. They could also get specially marked Junior C-Man Corps toys, including a ring, fingerprint set, wallet, watch fob, sparking machine gun, an invisible writing and secret code writing kit, and a whistle. Toy badges of different rank ranging from a "Junior G-Man” to a "Roving Operative Junior G-Man,” and then the ultimate rank of "Chief Or Operative Junior C-Man" were also available. Along with the badges, members also received an identification card for the lower ranks and an elaborate 8-x-10 "Commission" appointing them to the highest rank.

Back before all the added sugar, breakfast cereals tasted bland and kids weren’t drawn to them. Cereal companies realized they needed to create incentives to get kids to eat their products. Out of this incentive necessity grew the cereal premium. This was usually a toy which kids could get by sending in boxtops from numerous boxes of cereal. Each toy sold not just one box of cereal but many.




Around 1937, Purvis and General Foods started the Secret Operator Law and Order Patrol for kids to join and also so they could get specially marked Secret Operator Law and Order Patrol toys. Included were a ring, fingerprint set, whistle, knife, pencil and toy badges of different ranks, ranging from Secret Operator to Lieutenant Secret Operator and then finally to the highest rank of Captain Secret Operator. The consumer was prepared to send cereal boxtops and usually 10 cents in stamps. Post cereals advertised these two lines of premiums extensively in newspapers, magazines, and in free catalogs. They all featured former "Ace G-Man" Purvis' name and photograph along with various G.Man stories and pictures of the badges, toys and other premiums offered - "just like the real G Men used." Purvis was a hero to parents and young children who wanted to be like him, and the cereal promotions were successful. Children had to eat a lot of Post cereal in order to send in the required number of boxtops to get the badges, toys, and other exciting premiums.

They got their Junior G-Man badges, G-Man machine gun that sparked, their G-Man fingerprint set, Secret Operator Law and Patrol knife, and other toys so they 'could play Galan. Purvis and Post devised the various higher ranks within the Junior G -Man Corps and the Secret Opera-tor Law and Order Patrol for the kids to attain by passing certain tests and sending them in to headquarters for grading and 'issuing the higher rank badges and com-L missions. Before they could take the tests, kids had to study the "Manual of Instructions" for Junior G-Man Corps members and the Secret Operator's Manual for Secret Operator Law and Patrol members. However, there was an important catch to attaining these higher ranks besides just passing a test—the kids also had to eat more Post cereals because they had to send in more boxtops for the new badges and “commissions” of their higher ranks.



Both the Junior G Man Corps and the Secret Operator Law and Order Patrol had Girls Divisions with their own distinctive badges, were featured in 1936 and 1937 on the sides of the Post Toasties cereal boxes, asking boys and girls to join them.

Purvis and Parker Brothers developed a board game titled "Melvin Purvis' G-Men Detective Game,” with separate red and blue versions being produced. Board games by other companies included The Black Falcon of the Flying G-Men" and the "G-Men Clue Game."

Numerous other toy manufacturers, including Disney, Marx, New York Toy and Game Manufacturing, Pressman Toys, dropping toy G-Man-Detect-I-Phone had a transmitter, receiver and phone line powered by a three-volt battery that actually worked. A wiretapping set contained a badge, handcuffs, gun, identification card and a toy dial telephone resembling those used by telephone repairmen, complete with wires dangling from it and metal alligator clips on the ends of the wires so the Junior G-Man could tap into a telephone rule.

And other food companies, including the makers of Dan-Rich Chocolate Flavored Drink, used G-Man rings, tie clasps, lapel buttons and watch fobs to promote their products. Numerous rings were made, some with different color enamel around "G-Man" on the face of the rings. Some tie clasps had the same "G-Men" insignia on them as the rings, along with the same color enamel. Some "G-Men" rings were adjustable. At least eight different C-Men rings were made during this time.



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  La Belle Epoque in the 2020 Spring 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.