RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES — Column #1534

Copyright © Harry Rinker, LLC 2016

You Cannot Put a Square Peg in a Round Hole

The more you know about an object, the more valuable it becomes is an antiques and collectibles industry truism.  Sellers often spend hours trying to identify objects and assigning a date, manufacturer, designer, pattern, provenance, and other value added attributes.  Chances that the assigned information is inaccurate are higher than most suspect.  In many cases, close is worthy of a cigar.

[Author’s Aside #1:  I offer no apologies for using dated phrases in my writing.  Close but no cigar is a phrase meaning an almost but not quite successful attempt to achieve a successful outcome.  The phrase achieved popularity in the mid-20th century, the era during which I grew up.  Fairground carnies used it when a contestant did not complete a task to win a prize.  By the late 1940s, it was a commonplace newspaper phrase.]

Individuals, especially sellers, researching antiques or collectibles are not willing to accept the concept that failure is an option.  These individuals are determined.  They will find (more often than not fabricate) evidence to support their point of view.  They accept an educated guess as indisputable fact.  Once convinced, these individuals see no need for additional confirmation from a second or third source.

The ability to determine a detailed identification for an antique or collectible is below 50 percent.  Detailed identification means a full description of an object is 100 percent accurate.  First, there is no way the object can be confused with another object unless the two are identical.  Second, the identification descriptors are confirmed by multiple sources.

Recently, I received a request from Carole Deutsch, a writer for AntiqueWeek.  She had received a request from a friend asking help identifying and valuing 10 Christmas window displays.  Carole’s approach was simple, but egotistical: “Harry.  If anyone would know the answer, it would be you.”

The text accompanying her request read: ANIMATRONIC CHISTMAS DISPLAYS: (10) Christmas Window Displays from the 1960s.  Purchased by Hersheypark (sic.) in the 1980s from Macy’s New York, some of the platforms the displays are built on are stamped P. H. Von Maur.  The Petersen Harned von Maur (Petersen’s) Department Store was a high end retail store in the mid-west known for its holiday window displays.  I believe the displays may have been built by the Silvestri Art Manufacturing Company of Chicago, who built some of the known displays for Petersen’s and many other department stores at that time.”  No size was provided.  I asked Carole to call the person who contacted her.  The three-dimensional exhibits measured roughly 34-inches across the front and about 40-inches high.

I grew up during the Department Store age.  Hess’s, Leh’s, and Zollinger’s were the three major stores in Allentown, Pennsylvania.  Bush and Bull reigned in Easton and Bethlehem.  Macy’s, Gimbel Bros., B. Altman, and Saks Fifth Avenue were New York powerhouses.  Wanamaker’s, Strawbridge & Clothier, Lit’s, and Gimbel Bros. were big names in Philadelphia.  Christmas window displays were an integral part of the Christmas season.  Stores competed with each other for the “best” display.

If there was one similarity, it was the displays were larger than life.  They filled the entire window.  Figures ranging in height from six to twelve feet were commonplace.  These displays were not 34-inches across by around 40-inches high.  At best, these are countertop display dimensions.

The December 1966 issue of “Popular Mechanics” contains a detailed article about the window displays created by the Silvestri Art Manufacturing Company.  The displays were spectacular, bigger than life.  Altman’s was Silvestri’s New York City client.  Given the competitive nature of the department stores, it is safe to assume that Altman’s had an exclusive New York City contract.  Nowhere in the article did it suggest that Silvestri recycled displays, that is to say took displays back, refurbished them, and used them in another city the following year.  Further, department stores had too much pride in the 1960s to use the same window display twice.

[Author’s Aside #2:  This is not true today.  During our Christmas holiday trips to Munich to visit its famed Advent Markt (Christmas Market), my wife Linda and I noticed the multi-window Steiff display at Kaufhof, a major department store, did not change from year to year.  We still love seeing it, but the initial delight is gone.]

The above calls into question three assertions in the window display descriptions.  First, the displays are not window displays.  Second, they were not made by Silvestri.  Third, it is highly unlikely they are from Macy’s unless they were used inside the store.

Assuming the stamping “P.H. Von Maur” is correct, detailed research needs to be done on the 1960s Christmas decorations found in Petersen, Harned & Von Maur stores.  The Midwest Chain headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, had stores in several Midwest communities.  Local historical societies, perhaps (albeit highly unlikely) the department store archives, should have photographs of the store’s Christmas display windows and interiors.  I found no evidence that Peterson’s was a Silvestri client.

Prior to the creation of the modern day Hershey [Pennsylvania] Park, there was a Hershey Museum that was filled with curiosities, such as an Apostolic Clock depicting the Life of Jesus Christ.  It is highly probable the Hershey Museum bought the Christmas window displays and exhibited them.  I visited the museum on several occasions as a youngster and do not recall them.  I need to see the documentation for the Macy’s purchase before I accept the provenance.  At this point, the evidence is hearsay.

When teaching writing or public speaking, I penalize my students every time they use the phrase “I believe.”  I explain that is an excuse for I do not know.  If you do not know, do not guess.  I am not a proponent of baffle them with bull___.

In attempting to identify the manufacturer of the displays, I revisited my file on Baranger Studios who made mechanical advertising displays that were rented to jewelers between 1925 and 1959.  Theses displays measured 21-inches wide, by 12-inches deep, and 12-inches tall and were of a far higher quality than the 10 window displays in question.

The December 1966 “Popular Mechanics” article mentions that Silvestri attended an annual trade show for manufacturers of department displays.  Although I was not able to find information about the show, it most certainly contained dozens of additional exhibitors in addition to Silvestri.

This example of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole contains multiple lessons for the antiques and collectibles community.  First, only a fool blindly accepts what anyone tells him or her about an object.  The key is to question every piece of information.  Where is the proof, not where is the beef, with apologies to Clara Peller, Wendy’s, and members of the younger generations who have no idea about what I am writing.  Unsubstantiated facts are just that – unsubstantiated.

Second, the burden of proof is on the listeners and readers.  If they do not question, they face the prospect of being deceived.  Americans are a trusting people.  When dealing with antiques and collectibles, trust is fickle.

Third, a peg only fits into the hole designed for it.  If the fit has to be forced or fudged, the fit is wrong.  Antiques and collectibles researchers are too quick to accept, more willing to guess than persist, and do not give a darn if they are wrong.   It is uncommon for sellers to face any consequence, legal or otherwise, for providing false information.  The covering cloak is caveat emptor (let the buyer beware).  More than one seller has given thanks the cloak is so large.

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.