RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES — Column #1429

Copyright © Harry Rinker, LLC 2014 

Questions and Answers

QUESTION:  I have a Little Mother toy sewing machine.  The tin body is painted black.  On one side, it has a circular decal of a young girl in the upper right corner.  The box contains this information: “LITTLE MOTHER / SEWING MACHINE/ MF’D BY ARTCRAFT METAL PRODUCTS, INC. / WEST HAVEN, CONN.”  What other information can you provide and what is its value? – RD, Reading, PA. Email Question

ANSWER:  The website http://www.antiqbuyer.com/All_Archives/SEW_ARCHIVE/tin-toy-SM.htm contains the following information: “The Artcraft Metal Products Co. of West Haven, Connecticut produced a variety of toy machines during the 1940’s and 50’s.  This model they called the ‘Junior Miss.’ It is mounted on a wooden base and tilts backward to reveal the drive mechanism.”

My recommendation is to write to the Reference Librarian at the West Haven Public Library (300 Elm Street, West Haven, CT 06516) and ask him/her to share with you any information the library has about the Artcraft Metal Products Company.  If the reference librarian is unable to help, ask to be referred to the local historical society.

I found examples of the “Little Mother” toy sewing machine with blue and red frames.  A red-framed example had a teddy bear decal instead of the head of a young girl in the corner.

Your sewing machine is definitely a toy, meant for play rather than functional use.  Sewing machine manufacturers such as Singer made machines that appear to be toys but are actually designed to be used for hemming and other specialized stitching tasks.

In fine condition and with its period box, your “Little Mother” toy sewing machine has a secondary market retail value between $60.00 and $75.00.  Toy sewing machines are a popular women’s collectible.

QUESTION:  I own a five and one-half inch high seated Polynesian figure which could be a planter or mug.  The inside is glazed.  There is a “CW” mark on the bottom.  The glaze inside is starting to craze.  I purchased it at an estate sale.  What is its value? – SK, Email Question

ANSWER:  The Tiki/Polynesian craze in the United States began in 1934 when Don the Beachcomber (Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt) opened his restaurant in Hollywood.  The theme quickly became a Hollywood favorite, reinforced by the Polynesian culture emphasis of the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition.  “Trader Vic” Bergeron opened a set of copycat restaurants.

American military personnel who served in the Pacific Theater during World War II kept the Tiki/Polynesian craze alive through the late 1940s and into the 1960s.  Roger and Hammerstein’s 1949 musical “South Pacific” became a hit movie in 1958.  The television show “Gilligan’s Island” (1964-1967) and the late 1950s/early 1960s jungle exotica spinoffs gave new life to the decorative concept.

Your planter dates from the mid-1950s.  If it was meant to serve as a mug, it would have had a handle.  The opening at the top suggests planter.  The top opening shape also negates the possibility it was a serving vessel for a mai tai or other umbrella drink sold at one of the Tiki bars of the era.

I was unable to identify the “CW” mark.  Although a number of potteries used the mark, I found no mark type that was identical to the mark on the bottom of your planter.  One possibility is that the planter is a product of a home workshop mold or “paint your own” commercial mold supplier.  In this case, the maker, whether commercial or amateur, has no impact on value.

Your planter has a value between $4.00 and $6.00.   Hopefully, you bought it from a fifty cents or one dollar table at the estate sale.

QUESTION:  I have a bottle of Courvoisier Erte No. 1 Vigne Cognac.  At one point this bottle was reputed to be worth close to $10,000.00.  Is this still true? – J, Reading, PA

ANSWER:  Courvoisier is reputed to be the brandy favored by Napoleon Bonaparte.  Today the brand is owned by Suntory Holdings of Osaka, Japan.  Production occurs in Jarnac in the Charente department (state) of France.

Starting in the late 1980s, Courvoisier issued a series of eight Courvoisier collection bottles featuring artwork labels designed by Erte.  Although the 750mm bottles contained Courvoisier Napoleon Fine Champagne grade cognac and the production run was limited, the implied value was the immediate and long-term collectability of the Erte label.

To call the labels original works of art, even a limited edition print, is a misnomer.  The labels are no more than inexpensive commercial reprints of the artwork Erte did for Courvoisier.  There is no inherent artistic value in the label.

The bottles were sold in a presentation box.  A label and numerous printed materials also were part of the packaging.  In order for a bottle to have “full” value, all these elements must be present.

According to the website, www.wine-searcher.com, the value of the No. 1 bottle in the Courvoisier Collection has fallen from a high of $10,000.00 in 2007 to an average retail price of $2,645.00 in 2014.  A low price of $1,496 is noted.  The internet page with this information also lists a company with examples for sale at $2,200.00, $2,500.00, and $3,000.00.

In April 2014, an eBay seller was offering an empty No. 1 bottle in its presentation box for $1,000.00.  Another eBay seller listed a full bottle in its presentation box with a starting bid request of $1,388.74, the odd amount suggesting the primary listing was from a foreign eBay site.

The critical question is whether or not the secondary market decline for the value of your No. 1 bottle has bottomed out.  Tracking on www.wine-searcher.com suggests that it has.  I do not believe this.

As indicated earlier, the value of your bottle rests primarily in the perceived value of the Erte label.  The cognac in the bottle is not a factor in terms of investment growth.  Interest in the commercialization of Erte’s art near the end of his life continues to wane.  Like Dali and Picasso, Erte was exploited by manufacturers and distributors of collector/limited edition material.  Collectors now see this artwork for what it is—mass-produced and exploitive.

The longer you hold on to your bottle the less it will be worth.  Sell your Erte labeled bottle now for whatever you can get.  Will it ever recover its former value?  As the Three Little Pigs said to the Big Bad Wolf “no, no, not by the hair of my chinny chin chin.”

QUESTION:  I have a Barbie 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible in its period box.  The car is a turquoise blue, the trim silver, and the interior pink.  What is its value?  - M, West Bend, WI

ANSWER:  Mattel issued the Barbie 1957 Chevy Bel Air convertible accessory in 1989.  The date is significant.

The Barbie collecting craze was at a fever pitch in the late 1980s.  Early Barbie dolls and accessories were increasing in value at a record pace.  It also was the early days of eBay, a time when collectors were paying “what it took” to acquire what they wanted.

In the early 1980s, Americans became collecting conscious, a universal understanding that post-World War II collectibles, especially those still in the box, were likely to increase in value over time.  As a result, like collectors in other collecting categories, Barbie collectors began buying and hoarding new product hoping to capitalize on a rise in value when they sold in five to 15 years.  Like all speculative bubbles, the Barbie bubble burst.

The result is that the current secondary market is fooled with examples of Mattel’s Barbie 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible in its period box.   Because of the hoarding, MIB (mint in the box) is not the highest condition standard.  Instead, NFRB (never removed from the box) is the “gold” condition.  The implication is simple.  If the car has been removed from the box, even just to be examined, its value falls.

The dealer asking price for NRFB examples of the Barbie turquoise 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible is around $100.00.   It is a tough sell at this price.  Mattel also made a pink bodied example in 1989.  The dealer asking price for this example is around $175.00.  Discount these prices by 20% for examples that are MIB and 50% if the car and box have evidence of use.

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.