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RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES — Column #1431 Copyright © Harry Rinker, LLC 2014
Questions
and Answers QUESTION: My father has a Yamaha ME10 electric organ. It is in excellent condition and works as good as new. He is now 92 and does not play it anymore. What advice do you have in terms of getting rid of it? – DM, Reading, PA, Email Question
ANSWER: This answer is relevant to anyone who is faced with the disposal of an upright piano, parlor pump organ, or electronic organ. All three instruments are extremely tough sells. The challenge is to obtain money instead of paying to have it hauled away. What follows assumes that the instrument can be played and is in tune. Try listing the instrument on Craigslist with a “best offer above $50.00” price. Forget what was paid for the instrument. The goal is twofold: (1) some, albeit minimal, financial gain and (2) making the instrument someone else’s problem Try posting pictures of the organ with a price on 3 inch x 5 inch index cards at your local supermarket, church, work, or any place that has a bulletin board that allows this. This approach has a reasonable chance of working providing the asking price is low. If these fail, you are entering the “free if you haul the instrument away” stage. If a new church is forming in your area, call the organizers and ask if they would be interested in receiving the instrument as a donation. Also contact music departments at local educational institutions (a long shot at best), retirement homes, civic clubs that have auditoriums or stages, or funeral homes (again, a long shot – most use recorded music) If the organization has a non-profit 501(c)3 status, ask for a gift letter and use it to take a tax deduction for your gift. If there is a traditional music store or stores in your community, inquire if one would be willing to take the instrument on consignment. If you are lucky to find such a music store, you may be required to bring the instrument to the store. Antiques and collectibles consignment shops avoid these instruments. If all of the above fail, you have two options left. First, call local auctioneers or estate sale companies. My guess is that you will be told there is no interest in selling the instrument. If you find an auctioneer willing to take the instrument, consider making a larger than usual donation at church the following Sunday. The second option is to put it out on the street two days before trash removal with a sign reading “free for the taking.” Hopefully, someone will take it before the trash collector arrives. I did final several examples of your Yamaha ME10 on eBay sites. In one listing, the opening auction bid was $1.50. There were no bids. Asking prices around $100.00 were common, but no listing sold through. The value of the Yamaha organ was the enjoyment your father had from playing it. It has little to no secondary market resale value. QUESTION: I recently acquired three vintage Walton Humidifier Atomizing Vaporizers. One works, the other two do not. The body of the humidifier is copper. What is the value of my Walton humidifiers? – B, West Bend, Wisconsin ANSWER: The first question that entered my mind was: “Who collects vaporizers?” Being involved in the trade as long as I have, I knew there had to be at least one or more collectors. Chances are they already owned a copy of this unit. My other thoughts were (1) the humidifier may have some reuse value, albeit if it is over 10 years old this was highly unlikely, or (2) the humidifier would serve as decorative accessory in a period room, a long shot at best. Given the above, a price value between $20.00 and $30.00 seems reasonable for a working example. If the humidifier does not work, it has no value. Was I wrong? Curiosity does not kill the cat in the antiques and collectibles business. Instead, it takes the researcher down paths with strange twists and turns. This is one of those cases. In June 2007, Burchard Galleries in St. Petersburg, Florida, sold what is described as a “Walton Arts & Crafts Humidifier with Iron Stand” for $110.00. When I saw the image, I said “WOW!” To understand my reaction, see: http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/3836338. I had to know more. I spent 20 frustrating minutes doing Google searches for a website that might provide a history of Walton Laboratories. Numerous websites did offer parts for Walton humidifiers, suggesting the company might still be in business. An article by Steven J. Howard entitled “there’s ____ in desert-dry air” in the December 1963 Popular Mechanics includes this information beneath two pictures of a Walton humidifier: “ATOMIZING HUMIDIFIER has three basic parts—from left to right: cover, float pan, and motor. Before installation, see float assembly is properly adjusted; MAINTENANCE involves removal of the perforated screen for cleaning. Screen serves as filter to protect unit from foreign matter present in water.” The article explains: “The newest humidifier on the market today is the atomizing unit. It sells for $30 to $80, depending on rating output…” A label on a vintage Walton copper bodied humidifier contained an address for the company at 1187 Grove Street, Irvington 11, New Jersey. A Google listing led me to Humidity Source LLC in Passaic, New Jersey and the company’s phone number. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” as the idiom states. I called the number. Hank Gartland answered the phone. He informed me that William Feldermann started Walton Laboratories in the late 1930s. The company’s first humidifier patent was issued around 1938. Initially, the humidifiers were used for medical purposes, primarily with respiratory units. The company’s early logo contained a medical staff with the snake wound around it. During World War II, the copper reservoir was replaced with an aquamarine ceramic reservoir. Following the war, federal regulations involving the production of medical equipment were stiffened. Walton branched out into supplying humidifiers for home use, offering both portable and furnace installed models. The medical staff was dropped from the logo. Walton continued to improve upon the design of the unit. Two patents US3130246A (published April 21, 1964) and US3155746 A (published November 3, 1964) were obtained by Raymond Banks of West Patterson, New Jersey and assigned to Walton Laboratories in Irvington. Walton Laboratories, which went through a series of ownership changes from the 1980s forward, continued to make a round reservoir portable unit until 1992, when it was discontinued. Eventually, Humidity Sources LLC gained control of the company, closing the factory and ceasing production at the end of 2012. The cataloger of the vintage Walton Atomizing humidifier that is listed on liveauctioneers.com identifies it as Arts and Crafts in appearance. This attribution is false. An eBay seller who listed a unit for sale in June 2013 was correct in calling it “Eames Era.” The humidifier is streamlined modern in design. Measuring 15 inches wide and 8 1/2 inches tall, it resembles a UFO, a bulbous flying-saucer type. With or without its stand, the portable (tabletop) Walton “Custom Atomizing Unit” Humidifier is definitely a conversation piece and an accessory that would grace any Modernist or Outer Space decorated room. Not working but in fine or better condition, its value is between $75.00 and $90.00. Working and in fine or better condition, the value jumps to $115.00. If the metal stand is present, add an extra $35.00. QUESTION: I purchased a vintage Dasco meat cleaver in a $1.00 box lot at an auction. What is it worth? – J, Janesville, WI ANSWER: On the day of the auction, obviously less than one dollar. If you have no meat that needs cleaving, it is worth even less. The Idaho Auction Barn sold a vintage Dasco meat cleaver for $11.00. See: idahoauctionbarn.hibid.com/lot/11526539/vintage-dasco-handmade-meat-cleaver. The aging is classic. It has 11 dollars of conversation value when hanging on a wall. Caringtransitions.com, a senior relocation, downsizing, and estate sale site has an example of a Dasco 111-8 meat cleaver listed at a $40.00 reserve – little wonder it has not sold. Modern meat cleavers range in cost from $17.00 to $55.00. Given this, anyone wishing to buy a vintage meat cleaver for reuse will expect to pay one-quarter or less of these prices. A vintage Dasco meat cleaver would make a great movie, stage, or television prop. Those who acquire props have limited budgets. Do you have a find from your $1.00 box lot? If you have a use for the meat cleaver, you do. If you are hoping to get rich from selling it, forget it. QUESTION: I have a Multiplier and Divider pencil box. It is marked “Made in Occupied Japan.” What is its value? – J, Altoona, PA ANSWER: A Canadian eBay seller has listed a box that is identical to the one you own for a “Buy It Now” price of $48.50. The listing contains several illustrations. The top is divided into two sections. The first has a sliding lid that serves as a 9-inch ruler and is labeled “MULTIPLIER AND DIVIDER PENCIL BOX.” When slid open, a chamber to hold pencils is revealed. 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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