Whatever Happened to Elsie the Cow?

QUESTION: When I was a kid, I remember seeing Elsie the Cow all over the place. She appeared on all Borden dairy products, billboards, and magazine ads. I even had some Elsie toys. Whatever happened to Elsie the Cow?

ANSWER: Elsie the Cow was the hottest advertising personality in the country in the 1940s and 1950s. Borden Company produced thousands of items bearing her likeness to promote its products.

In 1852, Gail Borden, Jr. received a patent for his condensed milk process, and in 1857 he founded the Gail Borden Jr. and Company. He reorganized his company in 1858 as the New York Condensed Milk Company, which ultimately became the Borden Co.

During the early 1860s, Borden sold his condensed, sugar sweetened milk from push carts on the streets of New York. His product was always pure and safe, and in 1864 when Louis Pasteur showed the world a real live germ, Gail Borden finally learned exactly why his heat process was so successful. The demand for Borden’s condensed milk grew during the Civil War and his business boomed. Though Borden died in 1874 at the age of 72, he lives on as the "father of the modern dairy industry."
   
During the 1920s and 1930s the commercial dairy business was growing. Borden's bought hundreds of area dairies, out marketing, underselling, and forcing them to sell their milk direct to the large processors at smaller profits. The public sided with the struggling farmers.

In 1936, Borden's, to create a more wholesome public image, placed a new kind of advertising in some medical journals to attract the attention of pediatricians. These ads featured several cartoon cows, one of which was named Elsie. The ads promoted Borden's high standards of quality.

In 1938 a radio copywriter intrigued by the magazine ads wrote a sample Elsie commercial and gave it to a network news commentator whose show Borden  sponsored. He read it over the air and his listeners loved it. Fan mail began arriving addressed to Elsie the Borden Cow.

Borden prepared national magazine ads and local dairies put Elsie's picture on their bottle caps.

Borden reacted quickly by choosing the most attractive of the 150 cows---a Jersey from Massachusetts whose name the company changed from You'll Do Lobelia to Elsie.

The public's response to Elsie was unprecedented. A survey done in the late 1940s showed that Elsie was a more known and recognized figure than the president of the United States.

After being a featured attraction at the New York World’s Fair in 1939 and 1940, and starring in a movie. Elsie became a highly recognizable personality. Borden began to show her wearing the popular ruffled shoulder apron and in 1941 she stood up and became an American housewife.
       
All through the 1940s Elsie collectible advertising items and toys were hot. At one point, Borden's had over 100 licensed vendors producing everything from puzzles and games to handkerchiefs and lamps. Everyone loved Elsie.

The 1950s also brought the creation of the "Good Food Line" train which featured Elsie’s entire family, her husband, Elmer, and her two children, Beulah and Baby Beauregard, promoting Borden’s milk, ice cream, and cheese. In 1958 Borden's commissioned Ringling Brothers to build a parade model of the famous train. It had a special car for the live Elsie to ride on and was used in thousands of parades until the early 1990s. After that, Elsie had faded into history. She spent her last days on a farm in Texas.

English Folk Art at its Best

QUESTION: I’ve long admired 19th-century Staffordshire figures, but don’t know much about them. Recently, I saw one that I can afford in a local antique shop. But before I get hooked on collecting these folk art pieces, I’d like to know more about them. Can you help me?

ANSWER:  Staffordshire figures have always been very popular with collectors. You can find some pieces, such as cow creamers and pen holders modeled in the shape of a bird's nests, as well as greyhounds, foxes, and hares, selling for less than $100. Sometimes, you can find an early 19th-century figure for sale at a reasonable price. But beware of fakes.

A handful of pottery families made Staffordshire figures. With their simple modeling and vivid coloring, they depict the changing social history of the 19th century, both pre-Victorian and later. Today, portrait figures of famous historical persons grace both Queen Elizabeth’s collection at Buckingham Palace as well as the reception rooms of the Prime Minister's residence at Number 10 Downing Street.

A good example is a late-18th-century Wood type creamware figure of St. George and the dragon. The Wood family of Staffordshire potters worked between 1754 and 1846. They typically modeled and painted this figure with colored glazes of brown, ochre, and green.

Another excellent example is a Pearlware figure of St. Paul modeled seated and holding the Gospel. Pearlware is a white, harder, more durable form of pottery, believed to contain a higher proportion of pipeclay and flint. The glaze on this piece is  blue with a touch of cobalt. Potters painted it in blue overglaze enamels, with lesser areas in puce and green. Made between 1820 and 1830, it bears the impression of the word "Paul."

The popularity of Staffordshire figures received a boost in the UK after the last war. Rising prosperity meant that wealthier members of the population could afford to buy a country cottage as a weekend retreat. People were looking for suitable rustic ornaments for their newly acquired country cottages and Staffordshire pieces filled the need nicely.

Cow creamers in typical primitive Staffordshire modeling, can be expensive. A typical one on a rectangular mound base can sell for nearly $200. However, an unique item such as a Pearlware candlestick modeled as a Cupid, standing wearing loose drapes and holding a bow and quiver can sell for nearly $400.

But the cream of the crop are the identifiable historical figures such as a figure of John Liston as "Paul Pry" the comedian, modeled standing and wearing a top hat, stock, striped waistcoat, breeches, and Hessian boots which can sell for nearly $800.

With the coming of the Victorian period there was a definite change in the modeling of Staffordshire figures. Pottery manufacturers realized that what people wanted were portrait figures, as well as figures commemorating special events. They often modeled these figures standing or leaning on a marbled plinth.

Up until about 1860, deep cobalt blue was the favorite color used on figures, particularly for uniform coats. Around 1880, pottery makers began using a new liquid gilding or "bright gold" in the firing process.

They increasingly used child labor to paint the pieces in order to meet the demand and keep costs down. These later figures tend to lack to the precision of the earlier ones. Also, potteries molded the later 19th century figures with "flat backs" with the shaping concentrated at the front and sides to make them easy to place on fireplace mantels.

Popular Victorian heroes depicted in brightly colored Staffordshire pottery were so well known in their day to those who bought them that the potters didn’t always bother to add names to them. Because of this, you may find you’ll have to do a little research in order to identify some pieces.

You should be careful if you plan to begin collecting Staffordshire figures because many of the ones for sale today have been made from 19th-century molds. Many of these came from William Kent Porcelains Limited, up until 1962. These reproductions of Victorian figures, usually referred to as "Kent copies," are usually lighter in weight than the originals made from the same molds.

Art on a Plate

QUESTION: Recently, I purchased a beautiful large plate with what looks like a hand-painted picture on it. The mark on the back says “Limoges, France.” I don’t know how old the plate is or anything about this company. Can you help me?

ANSWER: What you purchased is called a charger. It’s actually the large plate used as the base plate for elegant French dining service. In this type of service, the space in front of each person is never supposed to be without a plate. In the beginning and in between courses, a servant would place a charger—a large ornately decorated plate—in front of each guest. Factories in the town of Limoges, France made chargers like the one you bought, marked as yours is, from 1891 to 1914.

Limoges is the center of hard paste porcelain. It is to France as Stoke-on-Trent is to England—the center of the ceramic industry. The town of Limoges is about 200 miles southwest of Paris and owes its prominence in the field of hard paste porcelain production to the abundance of natural resources. The soil in the area is rich in deposits of kaolin and feldspar, the essential ingredients for hard paste porcelain. The region also has forests to supply necessary fuel for the kilns and rivers to provide transportation for the finished goods.

Limoges’ golden age extended from the mid to the late 19th century. Production became industrialized, and manufacturers introduced mass-production techniques and new methods of decoration. Makers exported about 75 percent of their wares, the largest percentage to the U.S. In 1900, 10,000 barrels of decorated and blank porcelain were shipped from the Limoges factories to the U.S. The number of companies making it increased from 32 in the late 19th century to 48 in the 1920s.

Paintings on porcelains have been popular from the middle of the 18th century to the present. Chargers present an excellent background for ceramic painters to off their skills. Porcelain is more difficult to work on than canvas with oils because ceramic paints, which are basically oxides of various metals, don’t attain their final color until they’re fired at the correct temperature. Many ceramic colors have to be fired at different temperatures and will fuse out if heated above that temperature. It’s necessary for ceramic artists to apply and then fire the high-temperature colors first and then work down in stages to the low-fire ones.

The advantages of painting on a porcelain charger is the surface is so flat and smooth that artists can achieve extremely detailed results. Once fired, the colors are permanent. A porcelain charger painted in 1854 will look exactly the same today. Oil painting tends to darken with age, and watercolors fade.

While exquisite examples of paintings on porcelain have been made by top European porcelain companies, such as Berlin, Vienna, Meissen and Sevres, and many are quite expensive, Limoges chargers are affordable and readily available.

With the tremendous amount of porcelain produced, the market couldn't absorb all the wares. World War I and the economic depressions of the 1920s and 1930s forced many older companies out of business. With revitalization after World War II, many of the factories in Limoges continued to produce decorated chargers and do so even today.

Figural themes, both portrait and allegorical, as well as scenic decor are less common subjects on Limoges porcelain and are favorites of collectors. Portrait ware was popular during the mid 19"' century. Male subjects included important historical figures, such as Napoleons and Louis KW. Most portraits featured beautiful women, however, ranging from the French Empress Josephine to unknown Victorian women. Some of the most highly prized Limoges decorated chargers` are those having Art Nouveau-style ladies with grape clusters in their flowing heir and elaborate gowns. Sometimes a sleek tiger or greyhound dog completed the portrait. Each one was truly a work of art.

A Limoges charger that carries a decorator's mark and additionally an artist's signature is the most desirable. Next in demand are those hand painted but without an artist’s signature.

NOTE: I'm taking a week off from my blog for July 4. Have a patriotic Fourth of July! My blog will be back the week after next.

Batter Up!

QUESTION: My grandfather loved baseball. Somewhere—no one seems to know where or how—my grandfather obtained a special bat on which is the image of Mickey Mantle, as well as his signature. I’m not really into baseball and have no idea if this bat is worth anything. I’m not sure the signature is real. Can you help me?

ANSWER: From the photo you sent, it looks as if you have what’s known as a decal bat. These were specially made bats onto which the manufacturer affixed a decal of a famous player. There are also lots of other varieties.

A decal bat is a bat in which a bat manufacturer has applied a decal showing the image of a famous player and perhaps his signature. They come in large and small sizes, with vibrant colors and model names appearing on both the barrels as well as in the center of the bat. Hillerich & Bradsby, (H&B) Stahl & Dean, Spalding, and A.J. Reach were some of the top makers.

H&B came out with a player series of decal bats in 1905 after signing Pirates slugger star Holm Wagner as a Louisville endorsee. The beautiful images on the barrels of these bats resemble the portraits on early baseball cards. Manufacturers offered them  on several full-size player bats as well as on smaller souvenir varieties.

The most desirable of these bats pre-date World War I. The likenesses of players such as Hank Gowdy, Ty Cobb, Joe Jackson, Rogers Hornsby, and Harry Davis adorn these bats. But finding one is another story—and finding one that’s in good condition is very hard indeed. A Joe Jackson bat from that time period is currently up for auction at $3,750.

With decal bats, as with many collectibles, condition is everything. A full-size Joe Jackson in 90 percent or better condition sold in the past for $3,500. Any Wagner, Cobb, or Lajoie in top condition should be worth about as much. Near-mint examples of the other Hall of Famers would be in the $2,000 range. Non-Hall-of-Famers, although rarer than their Hail of Fame counterparts, would sell in the $1,200-$1,800 range.

In addition to these early decal bats, H&B revived the decal player model bats in the mid-1950s with a series of bats that included Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Ferris Fain, Jackie Robinson, and Joe DiMaggio. The Mantle and Fain have turned up in lengths of 34 inches while the others have all  been Little League bats 'at least to date. Each has a head portrait of the player set against a contrasting background. The Robinson, Ruth, DiMaggio, and Mantle bats are all very desirable if in like-new condition with prices in the $400 range; Others might sell in the $200 range.

Values for full-size bats are always greater than their small souvenir counterparts or bats shorter than 32 inches, the shortest offered as a full-size decal bat. Generally, the smaller souvenir bats sell for anywhere between 30 percent to 50 percent of their full-size counterparts in like condition. Decal bats picturing Hall of Fame players are worth a premium over their non-Hall of Fame competition, but not as much because the decal bats of these players are sometimes scarcer than the Hall of Famers. And while Joe Jackson is still not a member of the Hall of Fame, his bat will bring as much or more than any other.

Restoring an old decal bat may add to its value, but it could also subtract from it, depending on the quality of the work done. Cleaning an old decal bat isn’t classified as restoration. If an artist restores missing portions of a decal by painting them in, that’s restoration.