Questions and Answers

QUESTION:  My wife inherited a set of stainless steel flatware from her grandmother.  The service includes eight dinner forks, eight salad forks, eight teaspoons, eight tablespoons, eight dinner knives, a butter spreader, two-piece salad set, sugar spoon, ladle, and extra serving spoon.  The pieces are marked with a fancy “L” and then “LAUFFER 18/8 STAINLESS HOLLAND.”  The service is housed in a wooden box.  The flatware has fine scratches from use, but otherwise is in nice condition.  I have been unsuccessful in finding any information on the Internet.  Can you help? – DS, Center Valley, PA, E-mail Question

ANSWER:  There are many varieties of stainless steel.   18/8 indicates that the stainless steel contains a minimum of 18% chromium and 8% nickel.  The balance is primarily iron with low levels of other minerals.  18/8 stainless is considered corrosion resistance.  However, the surface is soft, thus explaining the scratch and other abrasion marks found on your pieces.  18/8 stainless is dishwasher safe.  Use alkaline non-foaming detergent and hot water.  If the water has high chlorine content, this can damage the surface of the pieces.

I also was not able to locate a history of Lauffer Silver.  The company apparently produced product in Japan, Korea, and Norway as well as Holland.  Holland/Norway pieces appear to be the most desirable.  Lauffer Silver is now part of Towle Silversmiths, which in turn is owned by Syratech Corporation.  Towle still manufactures several flatware patterns under the Lauffer brand name.

The first step in learning more about your flatware is to identify the pattern.  Visit replacements.com.  Go to the flatware section of the website, select Towle and click.  Unfortunately, the Towle pattern listings are not subdivided by brands.  There are hundreds of patterns.  Start with the first and keep going until you identify your pattern.  There is an alternative.  Send detailed photographs of two to three pieces in your service to Replacements with a request to identify the pattern.  Replacements’ research staff is the best in the business.

Once the pattern has been identified, you can research values.  Again, replacements.com is a good place to start.  The prices are replacement value, a far higher value than you would obtain if you sold.  In researching Lauffer stainless, I found strong asking prices by replacement services.  Prices for forks, spoons, and knives that were made in Holland or Norway ranged from $13.00 to $18.00 per piece.  Serving pieces were priced between $20.00 and $25.00.

As indicated, replacement prices are very different from what you would obtain if you sold your flatware service at auction or on eBay.  Obviously, stainless has no melt value.  It stands and falls on the merit of the design.

The pictures that accompanied your e-mail indicate your service has a Modernist flare.  If you can identify the designer, the value will double or triple.  The design suggests the service dates from the 1950s or 1960s, a fact supported by the family history.

If sold at a local auction, the set should realize around $100.00.  If offered by a dealer at a Modernist show, it would be priced around $250.00.

QUESTION:  I have a poster from a Bonnie Raitt and Leon Redbone concert held at Billera Hall, Allentown College, Center Valley, Pennsylvania.  The concert took place in the mid to late 1970s.  The admission price was $3.50 in advance and $4.50 at the door.  I attended and had Leon Redbone sign the poster.  What is its value? – JA, Lehigh Valley, PA, E-mail Question

ANSWER:  Bonnie Lynn Raitt was born on November 8, 1949, in Burbank, California.  She was the daughter of John Raitt, a Broadway musical star.  In the early 1970s, Raitt issued several albums featuring a combination of blues, country, folk, and rock tunes.  The albums were well reviewed but had limited commercial success.  Sweet Forgiveness in 1977 was her breakout song.

Dickran Gobalian (Leon Redbone), a guitarist and singer, was born on August 26, 1949, in Cyprus.  He changed his name when he immigrated to Canada in the mid-1960s.  He is identified as a blues and jazz artist.  His signature costume characteristics are a Panama hat, dark sunglasses, and a bow tie or black string tie.  He first appeared on stage in the mid-1970s.  Redbone was a frequent guest on Saturday Night Live in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

There is a strong collector interest in the posters from the folk concerts of the 1960s and 1970s.  However, the focus is on posters with strong psychedelic artwork and/or associated with groups with a strong national/international reputation.  While Raitt and Redbone clearly have a following, collector interest is weak.

In researching the value of Redbone’s autograph on the Internet, I found listings for signed albums to black and white publicity photographs.  Asking prices began at $20.00 and ended at $40.00.

Your poster has regional value in addition to its blues/folk music value.  Once again, however, the value is minimal.  The number of Allentown College of Saint Francis DeSales (now DeSales University) collectors can most likely be counted on two hands.

Your poster has a value between $40.00 and $45.00 in the Lehigh Valley.  Outside the Lehigh Valley, its value drops to $30.00 to $35.00.

QUESTION:  I have a serving dish marked “Wrought Farberware / Brooklyn, New York.”  The bowl consists of a round ceramic plate insert surrounded by round metal frame.  The plate has a decal of two women in mid-19^th century garb.  A twisted metal carrying handle features two small loops.  What can you tell me about this? – CS, E-mail Question

ANSWER:  Janice Feehan’s The Fabulous World of Farberware (1900-1963) was published by Old Line Publishing, an on-demand publisher, in 2010.

Simon W. Farber, a Russian emigrant whose metal shop was located in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, issued his first line of tabletop and giftware pieces in 1910.  Initially the pieces were made of brass and nickel-plated brass.  The company introduced an electric percolator in 1930.

S. W. Farber was an innovator.  The “Coffee Robot,” which kept coffee warm for several hours after it was brewed, appeared in 1937.  A year later, the “Broiler Robot,” an appliance that indicated when its contents were done, joined the line.  His greatest contribution was the stainless steel electric fry pan in 1954.  The pan featured a removable heating element for cleaning ease.

Farber was an aggressive marketer, advertising in popular magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Life, and Saturday Evening Post.  The company’s line was extensive – ashtrays, barware, desk sets, lamps, serving dishes, trivets, and much more.  Farberware continues today as a major manufacturer of appliances, household goods, tabletop wares, and giftware.

Feehan illustrates a serving dish similar in design to the one you own on Page 121.  Farberware items appear regularly for sale on eBay.  Prices are modest.  Most of the items are purchased for decorative display or reuse.  The value of your serving bowl is between $8.00 and $12.00.

QUESTION:  I have a Mossberg Model 190KB 16 gauge shotgun.  What is its value? – V, Janesville, WI

ANSWER:  Oscar F. Mossberg arrived in the United States from Sweden in 1886.  Upon arrival, he found employment with the Iver Johnson Corporation in its bicycle plant.  Mossberg’s interest rested in firearms.  He left Johnson and worked first for Shattuck Arms Company, then Stevens Arms Corporation (19 years), and finally Marlin-Rockwell Corporation, where he helped develop light machine guns for use during World War I.

Oscar Mossberg and his two sons Iver and Harold founded Mossberg & Sons International in 1919.  The company specialized in producing quality firearms at affordable prices.  The company’s headquarters are in New Haven, Connecticut.

Russell Quertermous and Steve Quertermous’ Modern Guns: Identification & Values, Sixteenth Edition (Paducah, KY: Collector Books, 2007) notes the Mossberg Model 190KB 16 gauge shotgun was manufactured from the mid-1950s through the early 1960s.  They value an example in excellent condition at $100.00 and in very good condition at $80.00.

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.