RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES — Column #1425

Copyright © Harry Rinker, LLC 2014 

Questions and Answers

QUESTION:  I have a wooden box that contains 30 bottles of pills.  It belonged to my Grandmother.  On the inside of the box lid is a label that begins: “Medicines contained in this case, prepared at Homeopathic Pharmacy of Boericke & Tafel, 635 Arch St., Phila.”  There also are addresses for locations in New York, Baltimore, and San Francisco.  Beneath this is a double column list of the 30 medicines, including:  1. Aconitum nap; 4. Belladonna; 8. Carbo vegatab.; 14 Drasera rotund; 19. Kali bichromic; 22. Petroleum; and, 28. Sulphur (sic.).  The corks on each bottle are numbered.  Most of the bottles still have pills in them.  What is the medicine chest’s history and where can I best sell it? – SR, Reading, PA, Email Question

ANSWER:  Boericke and Tafel survives in its modern form as VSH in Holland, a subsidiary of the Willmar Schwabe Group.  VSH continues to make homeopathic medicine.

Homeopathic medicine traces its American origins to Constantine Hering in Philadelphia and Hans Burch Gram in New York, both of whom began practice in the mid-1830s.  In 1835, William Radde managed J. G. Wesselhoeft’s German/English bookstore in New York and offered homeopathic medicines as part of the store’s merchandise.  Radde eventually purchased Wesselhoeft’s Baltimore, New York, and Philadelphia stores.

In 1853, Francis Edmund Boericke and Rudolph Tafel opened a bookstore in Philadelphia specializing in Swedenborgian literature.  Hering recommended they manufacture and sell homeopathic medicine.   A. J. Tafel replaced his brother six months later when Rudolph accepted a teaching position at the United States Naval Academy.  A. J. Tafel headed west in 1855.

In 1862, Boericke bought the Radde Philadelphia pharmacy while attending the Homeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania (later Hahnemann Medical College).  In 1860, Boericke and A. J. Tafel, who had returned from the west, formed a partnership.  Boericke and Tafel opened branch homeopathic pharmacies.  By 1914, the firm had pharmacies in Baltimore, Chicago (2), Cincinnati, New York (3), Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia (3).  The Baltimore branch closed in 1919, meaning that your case of medicine precedes this date.

[See:  http://www.homeoint.org/cazalet/boericke/story.htm and http://julianwinston.com/archives/bt/bt_history.php.]

Judging by the type font used on your Boericke and Tafel medicine chest label, I date it from the mid-1890s through 1910.  The fact that all 30 bottles with number corks are present is a plus.

The pills present a dilemma.  Normally, I recommend that sellers destroy old medication to avoid it falling into the wrong hands.  In the case of your Boericke and Tafel medicine chest, the pills add to value.

Homeopathic medicine enjoyed a renaissance in the 1980s and 1990s in part because of a growing emphasis on natural products and individuals taking charge of their own health.  Today, homeopathic medicines are featured in health food stores across the country.

The homeopathic medicine renaissance also increased collector interest in homeopathic memorabilia.  Boericke & Tafel published over 100 books and pamphlets, all of which sell well in the secondary market.

Skinner in Boston sold an oak Boericke & Tafel medicine chest containing 23 of 24 bottles for $323.00 in April 2002.  Your example is worth between $350.00 and $400.00.

You will maximize your return by selling your Boericke & Tafel medicine chest at a strong regional auction house that utilizes internet bidding, such as Nye and Company in Bloomfield, New Jersey.  Homeopathic medicine is very strong in Europe.  While European medical collectors will find your chest by scanning American auction listings, you might want to consider approaching Auction Team Breker (www.beker.com), located in Cologne, Germany.  It has a branch office in America.

QUESTION:  I have an old six foot long, crosscut, two-man saw with wooden handles.  It is in good condition.  What is its value? – MH, Bowie, TX, Email Question.

ANSWER:  Value depends on what use the buyer has in mind.  Assuming the saw still can cut wood, it remains a utilitarian object.  Individuals that have woodland cabins/camps with a fireplace and/or wood stove might consider acquiring it to cut wood.   However, it is far more likely the individuals will own a motor-driven chainsaw.

If bought for reuse, the wise buyer will first check on the cost of a new two-man saw.  Prices range from $140.00 to $250.00.  Given this, for a buyer to considered purchasing an older example, the price must be cheap, $45.00 or less.

There are individuals who buy these saws, clean them, paint woodland/lake scenes on them, and sell them as decorative wall hangings.  These desecraters of antiques pay between $20.00 and $30.00.

To attract interest among tool collectors, the two-man saw must contain a manufacturer’s mark and date prior to 1940.  If there is no mark, tool collector interest is minimal.

QUESTION:  I have a metal container designed to hold a small box of wooden matches.  The top of the container is marked: “1893-1894 Grand Central Palace Exposition, New York City.”  What information can you provide about its history? – C, Reading, PA

ANSWER:  When I read 1893 and exposition, I immediately think of the 1892-1893 Chicago World’s Columbia Exposition.  Knowing that international expositions were held jointly in New York and San Francisco in 1939-1940, I wondered if something similar happened in 1893.  Research proved otherwise.

In 1893, Grand Central Palace, an exhibition hall, was built on Lexington Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets in New York City.  It served as a temporary station in 1911 while a new Grand Central Palace was built on Lexington Avenue between 46th and 47th Streets, utilizing the air rights over Grand Central Station.  The 1893 Grand Central Palace was demolished in 1913 to allow for additional development in the Grand Central Station area.  In 1964, 245 Park Avenue replaced the 1911 Grand Central Palace.

No collectible is one-of-a-kind.  Your matchbox holder was mass produced.  However, it has wonderful crossover value – exposition collector, New York City collector, Grand Central Station collector, and matchbox holder collector.  Assuming it is in fine or better condition, its value is between $45.00 and $55.00.

QUESTION:  Christmas a year ago, I received as a Pollyanna gift an oil painting entitled “Private Home” by Dr. John G. Wurtz who lived in Germantown, Pennsylvania.  The painting is a country landscape with a barn along the road to the right and a home in the background on the left.  The frame of the painting measures nine inches by seven inches.   Pasted on the back of the painting is a June 16, 1948 newspaper obituary for Dr. Wurtz.   It reads in part: “ Dr. John G. Wurtz, a founding fellow of the College of American Pathologist, Died Thursday in Women’s Homeopathic Hospital where he had been pathologist for the last two years….A past president of the Pennsylvania Homeopathic Society, Dr. Wurtz also was a fellow of the American Society of Clinical Pathology.  He also was an artist and member of the Art League of Philadelphia.  Many of his water colors have been exhibited here and in other cities in the east.  He wrote many articles on pathology.”   I am wondering if you have come across any of his other works of art. – BW, Reading, PA, Email Question

ANSWER:   The answer is no, or, if I did, I have no memory of them.  I am unaware of any of his paintings being included in a museum collection.  Internet research proved negative.

As a member of the Art League of Philadelphia, Dr. Wurtz had some formal training as a painter.  Hence, it would be unfair to classify him solely as an amateur.  Whether he sold his paintings or gave them away cannot be established.

I found no secondary records of any sales of his paintings, although I am certain one or more must have appeared on the market at one time or another.

Dr. Wurtz’s “Private Home” is representative of landscapes and other types of paintings by tens of thousands of part-time painters whose work held interest at the time but whose names have passed into oblivion with the passage of time.

The painting’s value is primarily decorative.  However, because you know the history of the artist and where he worked, the painting has some interest to collectors of “Pennsylvania” artists, especially if offered for sale in the eastern Pennsylvania/Philadelphia region market.

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.