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RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES — Column #1419 Copyright © Harry Rinker, LLC 2014
Questions
and Answers
ANSWER: Wendell Lewis Willkie (February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was the 1940 Republican candidate for president. President Franklin Roosevelt was running for a controversial third term. Willkie, a liberal Republican, campaigned against New Deal policies that he considered anti-business and inefficient. Although an internationalist, he tempered his views to broaden his appeal to the conservative side of the party. [See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendell_Willkie] Charles Linza McNary (June 12, 1874 – February 25, 1944), Republican Minority Leader in the Senate, was an Oregon politician first elected to the Senate in 1917. He also was a liberal Republican, supporting many of Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. Early in his Senate career, McNary was one of the Republican “revisionists” who supported America’s membership in the League of Nations. In 1940, McNary represented a western balance to Willkie’s strong eastern influence on the Republican ticket. [See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_L._McNary] Willkie and McNary lost the 1940 election to Roosevelt and Wallace. Although the Republicans garnered 22.3 million votes, the Democrats received 27.3 million votes. The Electoral College margin was 449 to 82, the Republicans carrying only 10 states. The Republican elephant was a prominent political image in the mid-20th century. A brass elephant head pinback is one of the most common pieces of Willkie political memorabilia. A white plastic elephant stud is imprinted “LIFE BEGINS IN ’40,” one of the campaign’s slogans, on its body. There was a plaster statuette of a walking elephant with his raised trunk curled back that measures 4 inches long and 3 inches high and is marked on the base “WIN WITH WILLKIE.” The trumpeting elephant standing on its hind legs Willkie/McNary figure is available for sale on the internet on a regular basis. The standard asking price, assuming the paint is in very good condition, is $85.00. Sell through is questionable. WorthPoint.com contains a listing for an example that sold through on eBay on November 10, 2010, for $14.02 plus $7.00 for shipping. All the internet examples of the “white” Willkie/McNary elephant that I found had paint issues. A realistic price for your gold/silver elephant is between $50.00 and $60.00. Because of its paint damage, the white elephant is worth between $15.00 and $20.00. QUESTION: I purchased a G.I. Joe Adventure Team Land Adventurer with Kung-Fu Grip action figure at a garage sale. The box contains a wide assortment of accessories. How do I know what constitutes the complete unit? – T, Florence, MO ANSWER: You raise a critical issue involving modern collectibles—what constitutes the complete unit. Historically, the object was enough. Today, the complete unit consists of the object, accessories, box, box packing, and any literature that was included in the box. Hasbro’s G.I .Joe Adventure Team Land Adventure #7401 was first introduced in 1970. G. I. Joe had life-like hair, a beard, and blue eyes. He was dressed in a camouflage uniform and came equipped with a fatigue hat, revolver, holster, dog tag, and boots. Paperwork included two brochures and a fan club membership application. The box top contains a 1970 date. McMasters Harris Auction sold a very fine example in December 2008 for $150.00. Hasbro offered a limited edition reissue of this 12-inch figure in 2006. It is essential that the two are not confused. Sale sites for this figure note: “Looks exactly like the one from the ‘70s.” Amazon has an example of this 2006 reissue listed for sale at $78.95 plus $7.00 for shipping. It is extremely common to find “boxes” of G.I. Joe and other action figures with accessory pieces from other figures and sets. Mark Bellomo’s “The Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe 1982-1994: Identification and Price Guide, Second Edition” published by Krause [KP] Publications in 2009 and available in Kindle edition, is the best source for determining what constitutes a complete unit for earlier G.I. Joe toys.
ANSWER: I applaud the honesty shown by the Rock County Historical Society. From the mid-1960s through the 1970s, I spent 15 years of my professional career working in the museum profession, exclusively for local historical societies. Typically, local historical societies are object rich and cash poor. During the latter half of the 20th century, local historical societies came to the realization that they cannot save everything. As a result, strict collection guidelines were written and implemented. If a donor wants a local historical society to preserve one or more family heirlooms, the offer of a financial gift to help maintain the object(s) in the collection might encourage a positive decision. However, if the proposed object(s) does not fit the collection objectives, the local historical society still is likely to refuse the donation. Internet research on the history of the wheelchair revealed the earliest image of a wheel chair dates from the 6th century. The wheelchair was a popular fixture by the 16th century, with continuing improvements in mechanical action and seating comfort in the centuries that followed. In 1783, John Dawson invented the “Bath” [England] wheelchair with two large wheels in the back and one small wheel in the front. Spoked wheels, front and back, arrived in the early 1900s. The first motorized wheelchair dates from 1916. Harry Jennings, an engineer, is credited with creating the first tubular folding wheelchair in 1932. [See: http://mobilityscooters.co.nz/history/wheelchairs] My initial recommendation is to donate the child’s wheelchair to a medical museum. I failed to find a Wisconsin “medical” museum, although I did find a few museums with medical displays as part of a broader collection. Extend your search to nearby states if you wish to go in this direction. My second thought is to contact a large rehabilitation hospital. The hospital may choose to use the child’s wheelchair the same way that you did—as a conversation piece. If you persist, I am certain you will find a good home for the child’s wheelchair. READER SEEKING HELP: BB of Reading, Pennsylvania, is seeking information about a mechanical Easter toy. The toy is lithograph paper on stiff board. A standing, elegantly dressed rabbit is pulling a cart filled with Easter eggs and draped with floral garlands. The toy contains a music box between the two stiff board sides. When the music plays, one of the rabbit’s ears moves and a chick rises from a large egg in the center of the card. The toy contains no maker’s mark. It appears to date from the late 1940s or early 1950s.
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 have two metal political elephants. Each is made of hollow pot metal that has a good heft, stands 6 inches tall, and has “WILKIE” printed on one side of the base and “McNARY” on the other. One is painted white, with much of the white painting flaking off. The other is painted in a gold/silver tone. I inherited these from my in-laws and have always been curious about their value. – DA, State College, PA, Email Question
QUESTION: I own a caned back and seat, wooden, child’s folding wheel chair. There are no markings or labels on it. My thinking is that it dates from the 1920s. This is not a family heirloom. It was bought as a “conversation” piece for the lobby of our medical equipment business. When I contacted the Rock County Historical Society, they indicated that they had no interest in it as a donation. Who can I contact to donate it? – MR, Janesville, WI, Email Question. 