Questions and Answers

QUESTION:  I have a woolen blanket made by the Horner Woolen Company of Eaton Rapids, Michigan that is similar to the ones sold by L.L.Bean.  The label suggests the company was founded in 1836.  The blanket has stripes at the top and bottom and is in brand new-like condition (no moth holes, no problems).  I bought it at the Salvation Army for $9.99.  What is its history and worth? – E-mail, LC, Jim Thorpe, PA

ANSWER:  The Horner Woolen Mill factory building in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, is now the Horner Mill Commerce Park, a mid-Michigan’s business incubator.  Its website, hornermills.com, touts its “ceiling heights up to 28 feet, loading dock access, a wide variety of electrical services, and beautiful river-front views.”

Horner Woolen Mill traces its origins to a milling company founded by C. C. Darling, Samuel Hamlin, and Amos and Pierpoint Spicer.  They built a water power channel on the south side of Spring Brook near its junction with the Grand River in 1836/37.  The Old Red Mill, which opened in 1837, was razed in 1882 and replaced by the Island City Flouring Mill.  Darling, Hamlin, and the Spicers also built a saw mill and a carding mill.  William and John Gallery eventually acquired the carding mill.  Horner, a professional spinner from Yorkshire in England, bought the mill from the Gallerys.  In 1883 the Horner Woolen Mill produced its first cloth for wool blankets.

Horner Woolen Mill blankets became extremely popular.  Horner received contracts from numerous ocean liner companies and the government.  The company produced thousands of special order blankets, e.g., promotional blankets for automobile companies and the United States Naval Academy.  Horner Woolen Mill also made the upholstery used in Hudson motor cars.

Horner’s success required a major expansion.  Albert Kahn, one of America’s leading industrial architects, designed the addition.  Sixty of Kahn’s buildings are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  According to Larry Holley of the Eaton Rapids Area Historical Society, the Horner Woolen Mill ceased operation in the late 1950s.

ASIDE:  Although home to several prominent woolen mills, Eaton Rapids’ claim to fame was its curative waters and mineral baths.  In the early twentieth century, it was known as the “Saratoga of the West.”  Six passenger trains a day brought individuals to its luxury hotels and more than a dozen mineral springs.  When the mineral bath craze ended, the woolen mills became Eaton Rapids’ principal employers.

An Internet search revealed more than half a dozen Horner woolen blankets for sale on eBay and several direct sites.  I found a striped blanket similar to the one that you own with a Buy It Now Price of $59.99 and a best offer of $40.00.  The seller wanted $12.95 to ship it.

While there may be a few collectors of Horner woolen blankets in the Eaton Rapids, Michigan area, most will be bought by specialized collectors interested in the promotional logo/weaving or an individual who will use it because it is cheaper than new.  The $9.99 that you paid is a fair price.  Realistically, your blanket’s secondary market value is around $20.00.

TRIVIA QUESTION:  The Davidson Mill, founded by John B. Davidson, was another large textile mill located in Eaton Rapids.  Until it burned down in 1969, the Davidson Mill provided 95% of the wool yarn for use in what sport?

QUESTION:  If I recall correctly, you mentioned in one of your columns that you are interested in Culver Military Academy memorabilia.  While sorting out some old books the other day, I discovered a 1918 Culver Military Academy yearbook entitled “The Roll Call – 1918.”  Its four hundred pages contain hundreds of photographs and include a list of those called up for active duty in World War I.  The cover is not in very good condition, but the contents are. I also have two 1938 Culver postcards in good condition.  Do these have any interest to you? – BP, Baltimore, OH

ANSWER:  When asked what I do for a living, my stock answer is: “I sell information about antiques and collectibles.”  When I created Rinker Enterprises back in 1981 (it seems so long ago) I made the decision not to sell antiques and collectibles to avoid any conflict of interest in respect to my reporting.  I did not nor could not take a pledge not to collect.  I love to collect, and I collect almost anything.

I am not the person who expressed an interest in Culver Military Academy memorabilia.  It most likely was a person who attended Culver, lived in the area, or had an interest in World War I history or reenactments.

I decided to answer your question because I love to research the history of objects  Much to my surprise, Culver Military Academy, founded in 1894 by Henry Harrison Culver in Culver, Indiana, is still in business.  See culver.org.

My recommendation is that you contact the library at Culver.  If they do not have a copy of this yearbook (things do have a bad habit of disappearing) consider donating it to them.  If the library does have a copy, ask the librarian if he can recommend an alumnus or two who might have a buying interest.  “Take an object back to its place of origin” is an old truism in the antiques and collectibles field.  It applies here.

Relatives of the 1918 graduating class also are potential buyers, albeit finding them presents a major challenge. Best of luck.

QUESTION:  We recently purchased an electric ceiling light at auction.  We were told it was found in an attic of a Victorian era home in Easton, Pennsylvania.  The lamp consists of a reverse-painted glass cylinder with an ornate latticework, domed, green bronzed white metal cap at the top and bottom.  The two caps are not identical..  The top cap has a hexagonal outer rim from which hang six prisms.  A chain extends from the center of the top cap to a green bronzed white metal ceiling plate.  How old is our lamp and what is its value? – E-mail, B&SF, Lehigh Valley, PA

ANSWER:  The three pictures of your lamp attached to your e-mail were very helpful.  My first impression was that it dated between 1905 and 1910.  The Arabic look was very popular at this time, and your lamp has a Far Eastern flare.

However, closely analyzing your lamp’s color scheme and reverse painting, your lamp dates from 1915-1920, a transitional piece between the romantic Art Nouveau and the geometric Art Deco periods.  The green bronzed caps contrast nicely with the orange background tone of the reverse painting.  One can argue that these “earth” tones are typical of Art Nouveau, and indeed they are.  However, the contrast between the two colors, light green and orange, is more Art Deco.  The outdoor landscape scene is Art Nouveau in approach but the forms have a strong geometric appearance.  Hence, your lamp is transitional, i.e., has a foot in both decorative camps.

Ceiling/hanging lamps are architectural elements.  Their primary worth is a combination of reuse and decorative values.  They are “just the right person” sells, i.e., their appeal is limited to the person who needs the lamp for a period restoration or decorative accent in a new home.  As a result, dealers pay a minimal price for ceiling/hanging lamps at auction or other sale venues.  I assume you purchased your ceiling light for less than one hundred dollars, even though a dealer could sell the prisms for five to ten dollars each.  On the other hand, when a dealer offers a ceiling/hanging lamp for sale, he tends to place a high value on it.  Knowing it is a heart not a head buy, i.e., the buyer will pay whatever it takes to acquire it, the dealer usually has so little invested, he holds out until “just the right person” comes along who will pay the price he is asking.

The replacement value of your lamp is between $300.00 and $350.00.

QUESTION:  I have a collection of old optical items that belonged to my father, Dr. Francis Haley, that I would like to sell.  Some date from the early 1900s.  The collection includes everything from professional office furniture to equipment such as a kiln, edging machine, and grinder to an oculometroscope.  What suggestions do you have? – EL, West Winfield, NY

ANSWER:  My first recommendation was to contact an optical museum in the United States to determine what interest it might have in your collection.  While my Internet search located optical museums in England and Europe, I did not find any in the United States.  Some American scientific museums do have optical collections.  Visit your local public library and ask the reference librarian to use one of her museum reference guides to locate those museums within the United States and contact them.

Also reach out to the membership of the Ocular Heritage Society.  See ocularheritagesociety.com.  John Tull, 143 Springdale Road, York, PA  17403; johnwtull@comcast.net is the contact person.  Perhaps one or more of its members may have an interest in purchasing your collection.

C. Keith Wilbur, “The Doctor’s Bag,” at 397 Prospect Street, Northampton, MA 11060, buys, sells, and appraises apothecary, dental, medical, optical, and surgical items.  This address is five years old.  I tried to verify it on the Internet but had no luck.  It sill might be worth a try.

Finally, consider approaching your local historical society and/or state historical society.  In reviewing the list that accompanied your letter, it appears that you have enough to create an office/room display.  If they do not already have such a display, they may be tempted.  However, most museums now ask contributors to make a cash donation to help in the long-term maintenance of a gift, something which most potential donors are not in a position to do.

Finally, make the buyer take the entire collection.  If you sell of the cabinets and more interesting items separately, you reduce the value of what remains.

TRIVIA QUESTION ANSWER: Baseball

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the twentieth century.  Selected letters will be answered in this column.  Harry cannot provide personal answers.  Photos and other material submitted cannot be returned.  Send your questions to: Rinker on Collectibles, 5093 Vera Cruz Road, Emmaus, PA 18049.  You also can e-mail your questions to harrylrinker@aol.com. Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered.

You can listen and participate in WHATCHA GOT?, Harry’s antiques and collectibles radio call-in show, on Sunday mornings between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM Eastern Time.  If you cannot find it on a station in your area, WHATCHA GOT? streams live on the Internet at www.gcnlive.com.

SELL, KEEP OR TOSS?: HOW TO DOWNSIZE A HOME, SETTLE AN ESTATE, AND APPRAISE PERSONAL PROPERTY (House of Collectibles, an imprint of Random House Information Group, $16.95), Harry’s latest book, is available at your favorite bookstore and via www.harryrinker.com.