Questions and Answers

QUESTION: I have enjoyed your column for many years.  A co-worker recently wrote me as follows:  “Forgive me for bothering you with this but since both of you do a significant amount of collecting I thought perhaps you might be able to help me identify these.  I was looking into Tinker Toys for a teaching aide in a workshop.  In searching eBay, I came across a person selling Tinker Toy Beads…These items would make a teaching point ever so much better than Tinker Toys…I cannot find anything on Tinker Toy Beads.”  I looked at the picture that accompanied her e-mail and questioned the seller’s assertion because of the pink color of the beads.  Can you answer my friend’s question?  --  MA, Beatrice, NE

ANSWER: The objects in question are Tinker Toy Beads, albeit a mixture of several sets rather than one set.  This is a common occurrence.  As a result, it is difficult to collect “complete” sets.  It is the same problem trying to collect Legos.  Kids open the boxes and mix the pieces together.  One needs an advanced college degree to sort them.

Craig Strange’s Collector’s Guide To Tinker Toys (Collector Books, 1966; 208 pages, $18.95) provides this background information about Tinker Toy Beads: “Tinker Beads No. 1, No. 2, No. 3.  Tinker Beads appeared in 1923 in the company listings.  They were advertised at 25¢, 50¢, and $1.00.  In the 1924 Toy Tinkers catalog, they were listed as consisting of beads in seven pastel colors, in oval and round shapes.  The seven colors found in the jar of Tinker Beads which I bought from a dealer were: light pink, bright pink, light blue, dark blue, purple, green, and yellow.  The enameled beads were 5/8” round and 1” oval.

“The jars were glass with a metal lithographed lid in white, pink, and dark blue.  The lid shows two little Tinkermen side by side, and announces that the beads are made of harmless enameled colors and are waterproof.  The 50¢ jar contained 63 beads, 28 were oval with four in each of the above colors, and 35 were round with five in each of the colors.  The No. 1 jar had 28 beads, reported to be enough to make a necklace that would go over the head easily.  Tinker Beads No. 3 contained 133 beads, which was more than twice as many as the No. 2 set.

“All sets included polished cord with a celluloid bead at one end to keep the wood beads from sliding of, and a safety needle to help string the beads.  After 1927 the polished cord was replaced by stringing tape, which appears to be a fabric-like flat material.  Another change occurred after 1926, when the oval beads were listed being 7/8” long instead of 1” long, as they were in 1924….The Tinker Beads No. 1, 2 & 3 were listed in newspaper ads and company catalogs until 1939.”

There were other Tinker Toy bead products in addition to these glass jar sets.  The company sold a selection of round beads in a cardboard box labeled “Tinker Beads.”  These beads were painted in primary rather than pastel colors.  Tinker Bead sets were also sold in a bag and tin box.  In 1930 Tinker Toy introduced a No. 6 set consisting of 118 beads in three different sizes.  The set was advertised for use in kindergartens.  Finally, Tinker Toy offered a wide variety of Bead Dolls including Baby Doll Tinker, Belle Tinker, Bunny Boy Tinker, Gym Tinker, Lanky Tinker, Mammy Tinker, Tinker Rabbit, Siren Tinker, Tom Tinker, and The Tinker Twins.

Tinker Bead sets, more correctly groupings of Tinker Toy beads, appear regularly for sale on eBay.  The typical opening bid is between $15.00 and $25.00.  Few sets attract a bid.  Book value for the bead sets is round $20.00 for the No. 1 set and $30.00 for the No. 2.  When the jar and string is missing, value drops by fifty percent.

QUESTION: I have a Seeburg model 100B juke box that plays 45 rpm records and is in working condition.  The cabinet is good except for some scratches and that some of the little mirror squares are missing around the front grill.  I think it is close to sixty years old.  How much do you think it is worth?  --  BR, WI, E-mail Question

ANSWER: The following Seeburg history was found on the website, www.nationaljukebox.com: “Born in Sweden in 1871, Justice P. Seeburg came to the United States at the age of 16.  He settled in Chicago and worked in the piano industry as a mechanic and supervisor.  In 1907, J. P. Seeburg started his own manufacturing company using his own name.  The J. P. Seeburg Piano Co. soon became the premier maker of Orchestrions in the United States.  These automatic pianos had several instruments inside that could sound like a complete band.  Seeburg continued with this line of instruments until 1927 when he discontinued the manufacturing of pianos and retooled for the new coin-operated phonograph.

“Seeburg was one of the first manufacturers of a multi-select jukebox with the introduction of the ‘Audiophone’ in 1928.  This wide-body, eight-selection box had pneumatic control values making it half nickelodeon and half phonograph.  This model was a reasonable success….By the 1930s other manufacturers had entered the market and were actually selling more jukeboxes than Seeberg….When J. P. Seeburg entered his 60s in the late 1930s he turned the business over to his son Noel.  He was a very sharp businessman and reorganized the company to compete more effectively with Wurlitzer and Rock-Ola.  From 1940 to World War II, Seeburg produced some very reasonable and glitzy jukeboxes and did quite well.

“But it was the year 1949 that would prove to be the year Seeburg would change the face of jukebox history when it engineered a mechanism that could play both sides of 50 records, a true 100-select jukebox (Peggy Lee with M100A).  This mechanism was so reliable that it nearly put all other manufacturers out of business.  In 1950 Seeburg introduced the M100B, the first jukebox to play 45 rpm records.  During the 1950s Seeburg enjoyed a dominant place in jukebox production, and in 1955 introduced the V-200, the first 200-select jukebox.

“Like most other jukebox manufacturers, Seeburg suffered through the changing demand in the 1970s and after going in and out of business stopped operations in the United States.”

In late October 2005, a Canadian seller offered an unrestored model of a Seeburg 100B on eBay.  Described as “complete except for mech cover and cashbox door” and with an offer to deliver it to The Chicago Jukebox Show in St. Charles, IL., the unit sold for $800.00 to a single bidder.  A second Internet seller, located in Phoenix, Arizona, is asking $1,575 for an example that “needs complete restoration.”  A recent check indicated it still was for sale.

Realistically, your jukebox has a current value in its unrestored condition of between $750.00 and $850.00.  Fully restored, its value will jump to between $2,250.00 and $2,500.00.

QUESTION: I have a General MacArthur plate.  On the front it indicates he graduated from West Point in 1903, notes he was the youngest division commander in the A.E.F. (American Expeditionary Force) 1917, and pictures the Island Fortress of Corregidor.  The back indicates the plate was made by Vernon Kiln.  What is the value of my plate?  --  DK, West Allio, WI

ANSWER: In 1912 George Poxon established Poxon China in Vernon, California.  Initially the company made tiles.  Following World War I production shifted to earthenware dishes and hotel and restaurant ware.  In 1928 George Poxon turned the company over to his wife Judith and her brother James Furlong.  The company was renamed Vernon China.

In 1931 Faye G. Bennison bought Vernon China and changed the name to Vernon Kilns.  Initially the company produced decal ware utilizing older Vernon China/Poxon shapes.  An earthquake in 1933 shattered most of the company’s inventory and did extensive damage to the kilns.  This proved a blessing in disguise as Vernon Kilns introduced numerous new shapes and pattern lines.  The late 1940s and early 1950s saw the production of hundreds of commemorative patterns and series.  In January 1958 a decision was made to close the company.

Maxine Nelson’s Collectible Vernon Kilns: An Identification and Value Guide (Collector Books, 1994: 256 pages, $24.95) contains a detailed list of Vernon Kilns’ commemorative plates.  Nelson notes: “Picture plates, 10 1/2”, were the most numerous and ordered most often.  Subjects were cities, state picture, state maps, famous people, counties, universities and schools, World War II commemoratives, religious groups, organizations, transportation, advertising, foreign countries, souvenirs, and children’s dishes.”  Nelson identifies two versions of the General Douglas MacArthur plate, which was a stock rather than special order item in the Vernon Kilns’ inventory.

In 1994 Nelson valued the MacArthur plate between $18.00 and $35.00.  That was then.  This is now.  Eighteen Vernon Kilns MacArthur plates were offered on eBay in a nine-day period in October 2005.  Opening bid requests ranged from $5.00 to $19.99.  Only one of the plates received a bid.  It sold for $5.99.  I recently bought an example for my collection.  I paid $10.00.  Realistically, your plate’s secondary retail market value is between $8.00 and $10.00.

QUESTION: I own an electric candle which is marked on the base “DURA” in a triangle / “EVEREADY TRADEMARK / ELECTRIC CANDLE NO. 1654.”  I would like to know more about it.  --  EB, Maryville, MO

ANSWER: The website, http://plasticliving.com, provides this information: “Little information can be found about The Dura Company.  Contemporary sources have proven rare and elusive….One source told me the company was founded to create chrome auto parts; and moved into decorative items in the 1920s.  We can only date the company to circa 1910-1950.

“It is known the esteemed designer, Helen Dryden, was, at one point, the art director of the company”….The website provides pictures of a “small sampling of items manufactured by The Dura Company.  At the time they were distributed by G. A. Soden and Co., Chicago.  These items are all very rare and many are not marked.  They are often made of ‘Dura Metal’ (like chrome) and bakelite.”  The site does picture the electric candle case made for Eveready.

Your electric candle is an excellent example of Art Deco design.  Its value is between $35.00 and $40.00.

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.

Home & Garden Television (HGTV) currently lists COLLECTOR INSPECTOR as on hiatus from January 1 through March 30, 2005.  Whether or not it returns as reruns in April depends entirely on HGTV.
 

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