Questions and Answers

QUESTION: I am writing to find out about a Shirley Temple red pen and pencil set that was given to me in the late 1930s or early 1940s when I lived with a family in North Dakota.  When I left that family, it was somehow left behind.  Recently, the family was cleaning out stuff, found the pen and pencil set, and mailed it to me in Pennsylvania.  It still is in its original box, which is in fairly good shape.  The pen is a fountain pen with the name Shirley Temple engraved on the clip and pen.  One end of the box is printed with “DAVID KAHN, INC. / NO. BERGEN…N.J.”  The other end has “WEREVER” in a triangle.  I would appreciate any information you can give me on this.  --  ED, Easton, PA

ANSWER: Born on April 23, 1928, in Santa Monica, California, Shirley Temple was the most successful child movie star of all time.  She was discovered while attending dance class at the Meglin Dance Studios in Los Angeles.  Fox Film’s Stand Up and Cheer (1934) was her first starring role.  She made a total of twelve pictures that year.

Gertrude George, Shirley’s mother, played a major role in creating Shirley’s image and directing her licensing program.  Requests for endorsements and licenses were immediate.  Hundreds of products were marketed.

By 1935 Temple was the number one box office star, a spot she retained through 1938.  In 1940 Temple starred in The Blue Bird and Young People, her last film for Fox.  She immediately signed a $100,000-a-year contract with MGM and starred in Kathleen in 1941, her first teenage/adult movie role.  Shirley married for the first time in 1945.  She retired from films in 1950, the same year she divorced her husband and married Charles Black.

In 1957 Shirley hosted the television show, Shirley Temple Storybook.  This show introduced the second television generation to Shirley and led to a revival of her licensed products.  After serving as a U.S. Delegate to the United Nations and Ambassador to Ghana, she became Chief of Protocol in Washington.  Her final government service was as Ambassador to Czechoslovakia in 1989.

Do the mathematics.  The movie generation that watched Shirley Temple movies in theaters is now in their seventies and eighties.  Since collecting is about memories, interest in 1930s and early 1940s Shirley Temple collectibles is waning.  Those exposed to Shirley in the late 1950s would rather have the television-licensed material rather than the movie-licensed memorabilia.

In the early 1990s when Shirley Temple movie-licensed memorabilia experienced its most recent and probably last “hot” craze, your pen and pencil set had a value of slightly over $100.00.  In 2004, a more realistic secondary market value is between $45.00 and $50.00.  Expect its value to decrease in the years ahead.

QUESTION: I own the Bonanza game, played similar to Rummy Royal.  My late wife bought it before 1981.  The box lid features a picture of the four Cartwrights playing the game.  I do not think the game was every used.  The game consists of a wheel device, four inserts to hold small chips (which are all there), a deck of cards, and rules.  I would like to know the approximate value of this item.  --  RG, Madison, WI

ANSWER: The first episode of Bonanza aired on September 2, 1959.  The show, with several cast changes along the way, remained in production for fourteen years.

Producer David Dortort pitched his show as a western with a Knights of the Round Table theme—men with strong moral compass who would right wrongs and bring a sense of justice to the western landscape.  Dortort felt many of the 1950s westerns depicted their male hero as inept and bumbling.

Dortort cast Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright, Pernell Roberts as Adam, Dan Blocker as Hoss, and Michael Landon as Little Joe.  Between 1964 and 1967, it was the most watched television program in America.

As the years progressed, Lorne Greene’s character was softened, moving from a stern disciplinarian to a wise father.  The Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker, and Michael Landon characters were fleshed out.  By the mid-1960s, the show dealt with a number of controversial issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, racial prejudice, psychological problems, and wife abuse.

At the end of the sixth season, Pernell Roberts left the show.  Ray Teal, who was the local sheriff, had his role increased.  David Canary arrived as Candy the ranch foreman in the ninth season.  When he left after three seasons, the character of Jamie Hunter, a teenage orphan, was introduced.

Parker Brothers introduced its Bonanza Michigan Rummy game in 1964.  The early 1960s was the golden age of Bonanza product licensing.  In 1997, I valued the game at $40.00 in my Antique Trader’s Guide to Games & Puzzles (Antique Trader Books, 1997).  Alas, 1997 is pre-eBay.  The game appears regularly for sale on eBay.  On a bad day, the closing bid is around $10.00.  On a good day, it reaches $17.50 to $20.00.

QUESTION: I have a bowl that has “Mallo-Ware / 52 fruit dish 10 / P.R. Mallory Plastics Inc, Chicago, 41, ILL” on the bottom.  Where was it made and how can I find more? – BB, E-mail Question

ANSWER: Michael Goldberg’s Collectible Plastic Kitchenware and Dinnerware, 1945-1965 (Schiffer Publishing, 1995; 190 pages; $29.95) provides this information about Mallo-Ware: “Mallo-ware, made by P. R. Mallory Plastics, Inc. in Chicago, is attractive because of its color palette, the number of pieces, and its sturdy, simple design.  Each piece is identified on the back with a stock number.  Some pieces are backstamped ‘Mallo-Belle.’  This is possibly a later lightweight restyling of the original Mallo-ware line…The P. R. Mallory Plastics company also created the well-known Raffiaware line featured in the kitchenware section.”

Mallo-Ware pieces are plentiful, appearing regularly on eBay.  However, you can expect competition from an unexpected source, Lu-Ray Pastel collectors.  Mallo-Ware is the melamine dinnerware line that most closely mimics the Easter-egg colors and shapes of Taylor, Smith, and Taylor’s Lu-Ray.  The five Lu-Ray colors are Windsor Blue, Surf Green, Persian Cream, Charon Pink, and Chatham Gray.

While fruit bowls book around $3.00 each, they sell on eBay for $1.00 or less.

QUESTION: I have a beautiful figurine planter.  It is marked on the bottom “E&R / ERPHILA / GERMANY.”  I tried researching it in several books I acquired at the library but was unsuccessful in finding any information about the firm.

ANSWER: This year “Rinker on Collectibles” will celebrate its eighteenth anniversary.  In the course of a year, I receive questions that I answered years earlier.  Yet, not all my readers have followed the column for its full eighteen years.  Since I frequently see “E&R/Erphila” pieces in the field, I felt it was time to share information about Eberling & Reuss once again.

Sharon Bowers, Sue Closser, and Kathy Ellis’ Czechoslovakian Pottery: “Czeching” Out America (Glass Press, 1999; $34.95; softcover, 224 pages) notes: “Erphila was an import company owned by Ebeling & Reuss of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The company imported high-quality pottery from many factories in Czechoslovakia, operating from approximately 1920 to 1940.”  An article that appeared in the June 1997 issue of Antiques Journal revealed that Ebeling and Reuss also used German manufacturers to make pieces bearing the Erphila trademark.  The Erphila trademark was used on a wide range of giftware items, e.g., animal jugs, to dinnerware.

While Ms. Bowers, Closser, and Ellis feel Erphila ceramics are “high-end,” the truth is that prices in the trade do not reflect their point of view.  There are only a handful of Erphila collectors.  Vases and planters sell on eBay for a few dollars to a high of $25.00.  Pieces with a strong Art Deco motif are the one exception.

Realistically, the secondary market value of your planter is between $8.00 and $12.00.

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the twentieth century.  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, 5093 Vera Cruz Road, Emmaus, PA 18049.  You also can e-mail your questions to rinkeron@fast.net.  Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered.

Watch Harry as the COLLECTOR INSPECTOR on Saturday evenings at 6:00 PM and 10:00 PM ET/PT on Home & Garden Television (HGTV).  Check your local TV schedule for the exact time in other time zones.
 

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