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RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES — Column #1401 Copyright © Harry Rinker, LLC 2013
Questions
and Answers
ANSWER: When I do not know, I usually know who to call or email. In this instance, the right person was Michael Polak, author of Antique Trade Bottles: Identification & Price Guide, 7th Edition (Krause Publications, a division of F+W Media, Inc., 2012; www.bottlebible.com) and a frequent guest on WHATCHA GOT?, my syndicated antiques and collectibles call-in radio show. Mike loves to research bottle types. In this instance, he checked with several additional bottle collectors to confirm his findings. I sent Mike a copy of JJ’s email. Mike emailed back indicating that the tubes inside the bottle appear to date from circa 1880-1910, thus confirming the date JJ assigned to the bottle. Although concerned the bottle looked “new,” Mike concluded that it was highly polished and buffed when it was made. The bottle is a Wine Aerator Spout Pourer or Vinturi Pourer. The goal is to aerate the wine, a process that improves its bouquet and flavor, as it is poured. Mike noted that he has drunk wine poured through one of these devices and could not tell the difference. Modern Vinturi Wine Aerators are available for wine connoisseurs. The product description for a Vinturi aerator reads: “Wine needs to breathe. Wine which has been allowed to breathe tastes better. As wine breathes, it opens up and releases its intended aromas and flavors. Traditionally, decanters were used to aerate wine. However, decanting is time consuming, cumbersome, and inconvenient. Vinturi’s patent pending design speeds up this process with ease and convenience. Perfect aeration in the time it takes to pour a glass…..” Modern wine aerators sell for between $50.00 and $75.00. Mike Polak values your antique wine aerator between $75.00 and $125.00. QUESTION: I own a Remington Model 12 pump action rifle. Its serial number is 215,416. It is in very good condition. What is its value? – R, Elk City, OR ANSWER: Remington introduced the Model 12, which features a slide action, in 1909 and discontinued it in 1935. The serial number block ended with 820,759. J. D. Pedersen designed the weapon. Model 12 uses a 22 short, 22 long, or 22 long rifle rim-fire cartridge. The rifle came in six distinct models, from the 12A basic to the 12C N.R.A. target grade. The Remington Model 12 was a popular gun used in shooting galleries at resort areas and boardwalks. It also was popular for plinking, informal target shooting using bottles, tin cans, and water-filled balloons as targets. The website www.gunsinternational.com lists several Model 12A rifles for sale starting at $275.00 and ranging up to $700.00. A seller is asking $1,795.00 for a Model 12C. A seller on www.gunsamerica.com is asking $355.00 QUESTION: I have a 1984 JC Penney Cabbage Patch Doll still in its box. What is its value? – P, Beloit, WI ANSWER: Xavier Roberts created his “Little People” in 1978. The name was changed to Cabbage Patch Kids in 1982. Coleco began mass producing Cabbage Patch Kid dolls the same year. In the mid-1980s, a Cabbage Patch Kid was a must have doll for young girls. Schlaifer Nance & Company had the exclusive worldwide licensing rights for Roberts’ company. Wallace Berrie founded the Wallace Berrie Company in 1966. In 1979, it secured worldwide rights to The Smurfs. In 1982, Wallace Berrie Company purchased the Applause Division from Knickerbocker Toys, thus securing Disney, Raggedy Ann and Andy, and Sesame Street licenses. In 1986, Wallace Berrie Company changed its name to Applause. Coleco’s Cabbage Kids license allowed it to produce dolls with vinyl heads and soft fabric bodies. Schlaifer Nance & Company was free to grant licenses to manufacturers who used other materials. The JC Penney Cabbage Patch Kids doll, manufactured by Shader’s China Doll, Inc. exclusively for Applause Division of Wallace Berrie & Co., Inc. was a “collector limited edition” Cabbage Patch Kids doll. The JC Penney Doll is 16” high and has the standard adoption certificate. The “collector limited edition” craze was in full frenzy in the early 1980s. The Cabbage Patch Kids speculative bubble was part of it. Mothers bought Cabbage Patch Kids dolls as investments. They were given to children who were told they could not to play with them. The result is that the survival rate the JC Penney Cabbage Patch Kids collector limited edition doll is extremely high. It pays to comparison shop. One eBay seller is offering the doll at $50.00. Another is asking $215.00. Neither doll has sold. “Book” values are not field supported. The generation of young ladies who grew up with Cabbage Patch Kids is experiencing collecting nostalgia. The secondary market is showing surprising strength. Assuming your example of the JC Penney Cabbage Patch Kids doll is near mint in the box, a value of $75.00 to $100.00 is reasonable. If you are thinking of selling it, I suggest waiting another five to 10 years. The value is likely to increase. QUESTION: I have a Hinz’s Nylon Mender. E. E. Hinz Company was located at 1015 Carpenter Street, Chicago, Illinois. Does it have any value? – M, Janesville, WI ANSWER: In 1930, DuPont Company researchers led by Wallace Carothers and Julian Hill were working to develop polymers that could be used to replace silk. At first the fibers were used for fishing line, surgical sutures, and toothbrush bristles. In 1939, DuPont vice president Charles Stine introduced nylon and nylon stockings at a meeting of women’s club members attending the New York Herald Tribune’s Eighth Annual Forum on Current Problems at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. DuPont began full scale commercial production at its Seaford, Delaware, plant in late 1939. The first commercial nylons appeared in New York stores on May 15, 1940. Over three-quarters of a million pairs were sold the first day. The era of the silk stocking ended. [See: http://inventors.about.com/od/nstartinventions/a/Nylon_Stockings.htm] Nylons were expensive and often developed runs. Instructions inside a matchbook-style container holding “Magic Run-Arrestor Wands for Silk and Nylon” reads: “Moisten individual Run Arrestor. Apply to Both Ends of Run in Stocking. Will Remain Fixed Until Washed…” The Hinz mender promised to “Reknit the Original Stitch.” The “simple” device was actually complicated to use. The printed directions that accompanied the device are confusing. [See: http://what-i-found.blogspot.com/2012/07/why-worry-about-runs-in-your-nylons.html ] Nylon mending kits have more curiosity than collecting value. Most examples sell for less than $5.00. In terms of the E. E. Hinz’s kit, the value rests in the packaging graphics. The device is nondescript.Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about
collectibles, those mass-produced items from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
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, $17.99),
Harry’s latest book, is available at your favorite bookstore and via
www.harryrinker.com.
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QUESTION: I collect antique bottles by finding them when walking alongside the river banks in my area. This summer I came across an odd piece. It appears to be a piece of tube of some sort. It measures 3 5/8in in length. There are no manufacturing marks on it. The glass is clear and appears to be hand blown. There are two tubes inside the bottle, one of which is straight and the other curved. The bottom has a hole in it. Other bottles I found in the same area date from the 1880s through the 1920s. Can you identify the use of my bottle and, of course, tell me what it is worth? – JJ, Presque Isle, ME, Email Question.