RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES — Column #1495

Copyright © Harry Rinker, LLC 2015 

Questions and Answers

QUESTION:  My husband has a Green Bay Packers pennant he acquired as a child.  We are guessing it is from the mid- to late 1960s.  It is a photo picture pennant made by Idea Promotions in Winona, Minnesota.  A color photograph, measuring approximately 5 inches by 3 inches is inserted in the pennant.  The picture features Paul Hornung #5 running the ball.  Bob Skoronski is running beside him.  The Packers are playing the Vikings.  The picture is in very good condition, but the pennant is starting to show age.  My husband does not remember how he got it.  Could you give us some idea of its age and value? – TA, Janesville, WI

ANSWER:  Bob Skoronski played tackle for the Green Bay Packers from 1956 to 1968.  Paul Hornung played for the Packers from 1957 to 1962 and again from 1964 to 1966.  Given this and the above provenance, I date the pennant to 1965 or 1966.

I was not successful in finding any information about Idea Promotions and their “PHOTO PENNANT.”  I did find a 1969 New York Mets “National League Champs” color-photo insert pennant manufactured by “The Button House” of Winona, Minnesota.  I also was unsuccessful in finding information about “The Button House.”

Winona, Minnesota is home to WinCraft, whose website www.wincraft.com notes: “WinCraft, established in 1961, is a leading manufacturer of licensed and promotional products for retailers, professional sports teams, concessionaires, colleges, businesses, distributors, and schools…”  An October 22, 2013 article in the “Winona Dailey New” reports: “For more than 50 years, Winona-based WinCraft has been producing towels, pennants, posters, trash cans and flags for the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, and the Olympics – just to name a few.” Requiring a minor leap of faith, it can be assumed that Idea Promotions and The Button House are early predecessors of WinCraft.

The value of your pennant depends heavily upon the marketplace in which it is located.  If it is in “Cheese Head” territory, its value is between $65.00 and $85.00.  The value would increase by a minimum of 50% if the printing and felt were in better condition.  Outside of Wisconsin, the value diminishes by 50%, the exception being a Green Bay Packers loyalist who is far from Lambeau field.

QUESTION:  I have a Griswold cast iron #20 skillet.  It is in good condition.  What is its value? – R, Bozman, MT

ANSWER:  In 1865, members of the Griswold and Selden families founded the Griswold Manufacturing Company to manufacture door hinges.  The factory was located at the corner of 12th and Raspberry Street in Erie, Pennsylvania.  A line of cast iron cookware was added.  At the dawn of the 20th century, Griswold expanded to include cast aluminum products.  An enameled cookware line followed in the 1920s and electrical products in the 1930s.  Griswold began experiencing financial difficulties in the 1940s, finally closing its Erie plant in 1957.  Griswold molds were acquired by the Wagner Manufacturing Company of Sidney, Ohio, Griswold’s major competitor.

Unlike most collecting categories, age is a value factor when dealing with Griswold cast iron.  Older pieces tend to bring a higher price.  The marking on the back of a skillet helps date the piece: (1) 1884-1909—diamond with ERIE inside; (2) 1897-1920—large cross logo with “Griswold Manufacturing Company” in italics; (3) 1919-1940—large cross logo with “Griswold Manufacturing Company” in block letters; and, (4) 1937-1957—small cross logo with “Griswold” in block letters.

The Griswold #20 skillet is often referred to as the hotel pan.  Asking prices vary over a wide range on the internet, especially on eBay.   An eBay example sold at auction closed on September 22, 2015 at $401.00 plus an additional $23.21 for shipping and handling.  I followed the bidding during the last eight hours.  Much to my surprise, the bid remained unchanged until the item closed.  There was no frenzied last minute bidding.

An example with a $400.00 “Buy It Now” price remained unsold, albeit one handle was replaced.  Another #20 skillet on eBay was listed with an opening auction bid of $615.00 and a “Buy It Now” price of $825.00.  Thus far, it has failed to attract a bid.

The above suggest that the value of your Griswold #20 skillet is around $400.00.  However, eBay is not the be all and end all of internet sale sites.  When using the internet, it pays to comparison shop.  The price to acquire a Griswold #20 skillet on other sites ranged from $100.00 to $250.00.  Think conservatively.

Assuming your Griswold #20 skillet is in very good condition and usable, its secondary market value is between $225.00 and $250.00.

QUESTION:  I have an engraving entitled “Portraits” and marked “Copyright 1804 by G. Dubufe.”  The difficulty I have is that Dubufe was not born until 1853.  Can you explain the discrepancy? – DD, Ozark, MO, Email Question

ANSWER:  Guillaume Édouard Marie Dubufe (May 16, 1853 to May 25, 1909) was a French decorator, illustrator, and painter.  His father was a painter, his mother a sculptor.  Guillaume studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.  He married and had residences in Paris and Anacapri on the Isle of Capri. He decorated the ceiling of many famous buildings throughout France, for example, the Lobau Gallery at the Hôtel de Ville and the library at the Sorbonne in Paris.  See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillaume_Dubufe.

The print (a halftone print) that you have is based upon an 1893 painting by G. Dubufe.  In 1893, Dubufe did an edition of 1,000 prints.  These are marked “Copyrighted 1893 by G. Dubufe” and measured 6 1/2 inches by 10 inches.  An eBay seller has a “Buy It Now” listing for one of these prints for $18.99 plus $5.95 for shipping.

When authenticating an antique or collectible, everything about the object must be consistent.  The dress of the mother and children, the style of chair in which they sit, and the doll on the floor are consistent with what one expects from a scene painted in the early 1890s.

How then does one explain the “1804?”  The answer is simple.  A subsequent edition of the 1893 print was issued.  Instead of typesetting the copyright date as “1904,” the printer made a mistake and set it as “1804.”  Rather than scrap the work, the prints were sold as printed, the assumption being that no one cared about the incorrect copyright date.

This date error does not increase the value of the print.  No one cares about the error in 2016, just as in 1904.

QUESTION:  I recently paid $5.00 for nine bentwood chairs from a bar in northern Wisconsin.  Four of them are marked – two are marked “Thonet,” one “Radomsko” and the fourth “Empire Chair Company.” 

ANSWER: The Thonet chairs most likely were manufactured by Thonet Industries, headquartered in York in the 1970s.

In the 1950s, Thonet licensed ZPM Radomosko, a Polish firm, to produce a variety of Thonet bentwood chair designs.  When the license expired, ZPM Radomsko continued to produce Thonet bentwood chairs and marked them under their own label.

Trying to identify furniture attributed to the Empire Chair Company is difficult.  There are several firms that used the name.  The Empire Chair Company with factories in Elizabethton and Johnson City, Tennessee is the best known.  I could not find any indication that this firm made bentwood furniture.   I did find evidence the Empire State Chair Company, located in Haverstraw, New York, and founded in 1932, did make bentwood furniture, including restaurant chairs.  The Empire State Chair Company still was in business in 2000.

Given the limited amount of detail you provided, my assumption is the chairs were acquired in the 1970s or 1980s.  If true, this means they have seen heavy use, perhaps the reason why you acquired them so cheaply.

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.