RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES — Column #1321

Copyright © Rinker Enterprises, Inc. 2012 

Questions and Answers

QUESTION:  I own a copy of a Hamilton 500 Ventura model electric watch, which I understand was the first battery-operated watch.  The case is gold.  The serial number is #502579.  The watch sold new for $36.95.  Although my father told me he acquired it in 1959, there is a pamphlet inside that includes a 1969 date.  I had the watch restored.  The jeweler who restored it informed me that he found a silver case example listed on the internet for over $3,000.00.  What is my treasure worth? – GL, Rochelle, IL

ANSWER:  The Hamilton Watch Company dates from 1892, when a group of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, entrepreneurs purchased the bankrupt Keystone Standard Watch Company.  Hamilton was able to resist a hostile takeover by Benrus in the early 1950s.

Hamilton produced the Hamilton Electric 500, the first electronic watch, in 1957.  While many of the mechanical components of the standard wristwatch were retained, the electromechanical movement replaced the mainspring and winding mechanism.  A variety of asymmetrical cases were available, including the Ventura model.  Richard Arbib, who designed the distinctive Cadillac tailfin, created the Ventura case design.   

In 1966 Hamilton acquired Buren Watch Company, a Swiss firm.  The Hamilton/Buren Micro-rotor was the first automatic wristwatch movement.  Hamilton ceased its American manufacturing operations in 1969.  After passing through several owners, the Hamilton brand is now owned by Swatch Group, Ltd.

[TRIVA QUIZ:  What two actors in a 1957 Oscar winning movie and what famous Rock ‘n Roll singer wore Ventura watches?]

Hamilton still makes the Ventura model.  The serial number and the date indicate that the watch does date from 1969 or the 1970s.  Could it be one of the last examples manufactured by Hamilton in Lancaster?  Even if true, this has little impact on value.

Unfortunately, you did not provide the most important piece of information.  Is the watch case 14K gold or gold-plated?  The watch sold for $36.95.  The average price of a troy ounce of gold in 1969 was $41.28.  14K is .58333 gold by weight.  Assuming the watch was discounted by 50% to the retailer, it is unlikely that a $36.95 watch had a 14K gold case.  If the case is not marked 14K, it mostly likely is not.    If the case is gold-plated, your watch has a value around $200.00.  If the case is 14K, the value is over $1,000.00.

QUESTION:  I have a Dobbs Rancher hat box.  The artwork on the side features several artist-sketched western cowboy images including a cowboy swinging a lasso over his head in a desert/cactus scene and a bust image of a cowboy wearing a "Rancher.”  The lid of the box has artwork of a cowboy busting a bronco with “Dobb” above and “Rancher” beneath.  “7 1/8” is written in pencil on the top’s lip.  The hat is missing.  What can you tell me about the history and value of my box? – BJ, Bowie, TX, E-mail Question

ANSWER:  John Cavanagh (1864-1957) created the Dobbs hat line in 1908.  Early in his career, Cavanagh joined Crofut & Knapp as a brim curler.  James H. Knapp, famed as the creator of the American Derby, mentored Cavanagh.  When C&K dissolved its partnership and incorporated in 1893, Cavanagh was one of the five stockholders.  He became general manager and vice president for C&K in 1907.

Cavanagh is best known as the inventor of the Cavanagh edge, a welded edge used in the manufacturing of felt edges.  The Cavanagh edge became an integral part of the felt, replacing the raw edge and bound edge.  The Cavanagh edge was labor intensive, adding 20 to 50 percent to a hat’s cost.  C&K patented the Cavanagh edging process in 1913, allowing Dobbs to use the process as well.

Cavanagh became president of C&K in 1923.  In 1928, he created Cavanagh-Dobbs, a holding company that merged the C&K and Dobbs brands and included Cavanagh Hats and John Cavanagh, Ltd., a New York City retail outlet.  In 1932, Cavanagh was instrumental in the creation of the Hat Corporation of America that merged the Cavanagh-Dobbs brands with Knox and Dunlap.  Cavanagh served as president of the new company until 1937 when he became Chairman of the Board.  He finally retired in 1947, although retaining the position of honorary chairman until he died.

[See: http://thehattedprofessor.bowershats.com/p/cavanagh-edge-primer.html for more information.]

The Hat Corporation of America became a leading manufacturer of Dobbs dress and western hats.  The Hat Corporation ceased operations at its Norwalk, Connecticut factory in 1970, moving production to Winchester, Tennessee. Koracorp, owner of Resistol and other brands, purchased the brand names in 1972.

While I was not able to determine the exact manufacturing dates for the Dobbs Rancher model, the box type you own dates from the late 1940s or early 1950s.  The secondary market for wearable Dobb Rancher hats is strong.  Examples in fine or better condition sell between $75.00 and $100.00.  The presence of the box adds a 20 to 25 percent premium.

The picture that accompanied your e-mail suggests your Dobbs Rancher hat box appears to be in fair to good condition.  Given this, its value is between $10.00 and $15.00.

QUESTION:  I have a pair of vertical wall hangings.  Each contains six intricately carved mother-of-pearl medallions.  The back has a dome-topped label that reads: “Beauty / for the / Home // Sungott Art Studios.”  Stenciled on the back is “DECORATIVE ARTS CENTER / 241 S. FRONT STREET / ALLENTOWN, PA.”    Handwritten at the top of the back of each piece is “598.”  What is their value? – RA. Salt Lake City, UT, E-mail Question

ANSWER:  It is unlikely that Sungott Art Studios was a loft filled with artists creating one-of-a-kind works of art or a single factory producing mass-production wall decorations.  Most likely Sungott Art Studios was a late 1950s and/or 1960s distributor, headquartered in New York City (I was not able to confirm this), of mass-produced, hang-on-the-wall copycats (stylistic copies of older works) and fantasy pieces (designed to look old but were new when made), made by many different manufacturers, that were put into modern antiqued, stylized copies of older frames.  The intent was to convey a sense that the pieces were old and high-quality.  They were neither.

There is no absence of Sungott Art Studios marked pieces for sale on the Internet.  Almost all have a three-digit stock number, suggesting it was possible to order multiples of each piece from a catalog or catalog list.  The “598” on the back of your pieces is a stock number and indicates they were sold as a pair.

Sungott Art Studios produced a wide range of wall hangings from framed, hand-tinted copies of Currier and Ives prints, European scenes, and French fashion prints to hand-painted porcelain plates.  One framed item featured an 18th century valentine, assuming one is willing to believe the label on the back.  The label on the back of a shadow-box framed cameo set in a plaster medallion reads: “Genuine / Hand-Carved / Carnelian Cameo / Made in Italy / Sungott Art Studios / Style No. 809.”  Genuine, a meaningless and misused term in the antiques and collectibles trade, was one of Sungott’s favorite words.  Sungott also produced three-dimensional wall hangings, such as plaques of bust portraits of Beethoven and Mozart and a column with a full figure Greek goddess (alas, properly draped) with a scallop shell above her head and standing on an elaborate plinth with an extended base.

Sungott Art Studios pieces were sold in the decorative departments of middle- and large-size department stores and gift/decorator shops.  In addition to the store stamp on the back of your pair, I located another Sungott object with a J. B. Van Sciver backstamp for sale on the internet.  J. B. Van Sciver, headquartered in Camden, New Jersey, was a manufacturer, distributor, and retailer of inexpensive furniture and upscale reproductions.

Your pair of wall hangings was designed to capitalize on the oriental decorating craze of the mid- to late 1950s. The pair has decorator but no collector value.  The secondary market retail value for the pair is between $40.00 and $60.00.  They will be a tough sell, especially in a market where there is little interest in the Asian decorating look.

QUESTION:  I recently found a toy ironing board made by the Wolverine Company, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  It has a vinyl cover and a yellow cardboard label with “No. sp. 59” on it?  How old it is and what is its value? – AD, E-mail Question

ANSWER:  Benjamin F. Bain founded the Wolverine Supply & Mfg. Co. in 1906.  Originally a tool and die, household utensils, and broom manufacturer, Wolverine began producing toys in 1913.  Wolverine’s first toys were lithograph tin and pressed steel sand powered toys.  The line soon expanded to agate marble and steel ball powered toys.  Ultimately, the Wolverine line included vehicles, tin game boards, and “girls toys,” such as furniture, refrigerators, sinks, stoves, washing machines, and, of course, ironing boards.

Wolverine Supply & Mfg. Co. became Wolverine Toy Company in 1962.  Spang Industries of Butler, Pennsylvania, purchased Wolverine in 1968.  In 1971, Spang closed the Pittsburgh plant and moved its manufacturing to Booneville, Arkansas.  The company became “Today’s Kids” in 1986.

[See: http://www.alleghenycity.org/index.php?ARTICLE=11 for more information.]

If your ironing board has wooden legs, it dates from the 1940s to early or mid-1950s.  If it has metal legs, it was made between the late 1950s and the end of the 1960s.  Its value is between $10.00 and $15.00 with metal legs and around $18.00 with wooden legs.

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, 5955 Mill Point Court SE, Kentwood, MI 49512.  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.