Questions and Answers

QUESTION:  I have my father’s Old Spice shaving mug, brush, and soap.  The mug pictures Friendship, an old sailing ship, and has “EARLY AMERICAN OLD SPICE / SHULTON, INC. / CLIFTON, N.J.” in raised letters on the bottom.  The brush has a black top, cream handle, and tan bristles.  The black top pictures a large house below which is “Stanhome / A Stanley Home Product / Badger and Bristle.”  Do these items have any value? – SM, Lincoln, KS

ANSWER:  William Lightfoot Schultz founded the Shulton Company in 1934.  Early American Old Spice for women was launched in 1937, followed by Early American Old Spice for men in 1938.  Schultz chose a nautical theme for his products.  The first products featured the ships Grand Turk and Friendship. Other ships—Birmingham, Hamilton, Salem, and Wesley—followed.  Proctor & Gamble purchased the Old Spice line from the Shulton Company in June 1990, replacing the clipper ship logo with a sailboat/yacht logo in February 1992.

Frank Stanley Beveridge, who had worked for The Fuller Brush Company, and Catherine L. O’Brien founded Stanley Home Products in 1931.  The company was a direct sales company, relying on representatives to sell their products door to door.  The initial focus was on high-quality household brushes, cleaners, and mops.  In the late 1930s, Stanley Home Products introduced the “Hostess Home Party” plan, the brainchild of Norman W. Squires.

TRIVIA QUESTION:  Name one of the Stanley Home Products dealers who went on to start his or her business?

Your Old Spice shaving mug and Stanhome shaving brush have more family than dollar value.  The set would be priced be priced between $5.00 and$10.00 at an antiques mall, and a tough sell at that price.

QUESTION:  I recently purchased a box of old books at auction for $2.00.  Included in the lot was Herbert Strang’s The Red Book for Scouts.  An inscription is dated 1928, but I cannot find any publisher information.  The dust jacket is in only fair to good condition, but at least it is present.  The front dust jacket illustration features two scouts racing through the woods, the back illustration shows two scouts, the first doing semaphore and the second kneeling and consulting a book.  I researched the book on abebooks.com but did not find anything.  Does this title justify my $2.00 purchase? – IA, Canada, E-mail Question

ANSWER:  My first thought was definitely not American in origin, although I double checked.  The Boys Scouts of American is one of several United States scouting movements.  Daniel Carter Beard’s Sons of Daniel Boone, which merged with the Boy Scouts, is another.  None of these early groups had a “Red Book” as part of their literature.

My second thought was a scouting handbook from another country, but not from Canada or Great Britain since I am familiar with their scouting literature.  I was wrong on both counts.  Herbert Strang’s The Red Book for Scouts was published by Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, London.  While no date is given, I located a list of Strang’s books indicating a 1926 publishing date.

Herbert Strang was a pseudonym used by Oxford University Press for girls’ and boys’ fiction, nonfiction, and textbooks.  George Herbert Ely or C. James l’Estrange, who worked as staff writers for Oxford University, wrote the Strang titles.  The list attributes the cover art to Cyrus Cuneo, albeit it would have had to be done much earlier since Cuneo died in 1916.

Over the years, I encountered and occasionally purchased books from a “Boy Scouts” boys’ book series.  There are thirty titles in the series, among which are: (1) Boy Scouts on a Submarine; (2) The Boy Scout Camera Club, or, The Confessions of a Photograph; (3) Boy Scouts in Mexico; or on Guard with Uncle Sam; and, (4) The Boy Scouts with Motion Picture Players.  Eleven different authors penned one or more title in the series.  These books had no connection with the Boys Scouts of America.

In researching your title, I found two copies for sale in Australia, one for $34.50 Australian dollars (roughly $22.25 American dollars) and one for $30.00 Australian dollars (roughly $19.00 American dollars).  Both titles have yet to find a buyer.

The secondary market value of your copy of The Red Book for Scouts is between $10.00 and $15.00, more than enough to just your purchase of the old books box lot.

QUESTION:  When I helped my great-aunt move from her home to an apartment in Pottsville, Pennsylvania in the mid-1970s, I received a six-piece toilet set that included a wash pitcher and bowl.  My great-aunt lived in a home that belonged to her parents, who would be my great grandparents.  My great grandparents were married in 1884.  I have their marriage certificate.  Each piece in the toilet set is marked on the bottom with “DEWEY” and “E.E.P.CO.” separated by a straight line.  The smaller pitcher has stains and a mended chip along its top.  The bowl also has some staining.  I have several questions about the set.  When was it made and where?  What was the use of the different pieces?  What is its value?  I have passed the set along to my niece who has agreed to serve as the keeper of these family treasures.  I plan to share your information with her. – SK, Birdsboro, PA

ANSWER:  Ceramic toilet sets, sometimes containing over a dozen pieces, were part of every late nineteenth/early twentieth century household that did not have running water.  The pictures that accompany your letter allow me to identify the (1) bowl, (2) cold water pitcher, the larger of the two pitchers and referred to in old advertisements as a “mouth ewer,” (3) hot water pitcher, the smaller of the two pitchers; (4) saving mug; (5) soap dish, often with a cover and drainer, and (6) toothbrush holder.  Other pieces that might have been in the set are chamber pot with a lid and slop jar with a lid.

Your toilet set was made by the East End Pottery Company between 1894 and 1909.  The E.E.P.CO. was located on the north side of Railroad Street in East Liverpool, Ohio.  Lois Lehner’s Lehner’s Encyclopedia of U.S. Marks on Pottery, Porcelain & Clay (Collector Books, 1988) notes: “In 1901, East End Pottery joined the East Liverpool Potteries Company, which was partially dissolved July 7, 1903….By 1905, East End Pottery was operating on its own and later was called the East End China Company.  The plant was taken over by Gus Trenle who filed to change the name to Trenle China Company in January 1909….The East End China Company or Pottery made a very fine grade of semi-porcelain.”

Jo Cunningham’s Homer Laughlin: A Giant Among Dishes, 1837-1939 (Schiffer Publishing, 1998) contains a chapter devoted to late nineteenth and early twentieth century toilet sets.  It is the best information available on the subject.

Wash pitcher and bowl sets were “hot” collectibles in the 1970s and early 1980s.  Collector interest waned in the late 1980s, as the Country Look became more formal.  Prices fell, but stabilized in the early 1990s.  A typical wash pitcher and bowl sold in the $100.00 to $125.00 range.

Recently prices for wash pitcher and bowl sets have risen.  In addition, buyers are willing to pay a premium if the wash pitcher and bowl are accompanied by additional pieces.  The value of your six-piece set is between $225.00 and $250.00.  The staining and repaired chip does detract a little, less than $50.00, from the overall value of the set.

Care Tips:  All gold decoration on ceramics is above the glaze.  Be very careful when cleaning or washing the pieces.  Using a rough cloth will remove some of the highlights.  There are methods to remove the staining, albeit from reviewing your photographs the staining does not appear to detract from your pieces.  The cost to get rid of it may exceed the added value.  If you decide to have the staining removed, consult a ceramic conservator, a professionally trained individual.  Beware of ceramic restorers, individuals who learned on the job rather than in a classroom and museum laboratories.

QUESTION:  I work for a school system in Kentucky.  Recently I obtained a framed 16in x 20in print of George Washington that is marked “Paint by Stuart.  Copyright 1917 by Beckley Candy Co., Chicago.”  The picture used to hang behind a teacher’s desk.  Did the Beckley Candy Co. supply this for free or did the school district have to buy it?  Who is Stuart?  Does my print have any value? – KT, Kentucky, E-mail Question

ANSWER:  The artist is Gilbert Stuart, an artist who did several paintings of Washington.  There was so great a demand for his Washington head and shoulder portrait that he made dozens of copies.

The print probably was obtained through a promotion, i.e., send so many candy wrappers (proof of purchase) and “x” amount of money to obtain a copy of the print.  Beckley Candy Co. also offered a print of Abraham Lincoln.

Depending on the quality of the frame, there may be more value in the frame than in the print.  Outside the frame, the print has a value between $10.00 and $15.00, assuming it is not discolored (many of the backing boards were acidic, causing the print to develop a brown tone and become brittle) or torn.

TRIVIA QUESTION ANSWER:  Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics; Brownie Wise of Tupperware; Jan and Frank Day of Jafra Cosmetics; or, Mary Crowley, founder of Home Interiors.

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.