Questions and Answers
 

QUESTION:  I have two requests.  My maternal grandfather owned the Empire Furniture Company, a firm that manufactured bedroom sets.  The company was located in lower Manhattan or Brooklyn, New York.  The business closed in 1929.  First, I would like to find someone who could research the history of the company for me.  Second, I would like to acquire an example of an Empire Furniture bedroom set.  --  JG, E-mail Question

ANSWER:  The key to doing research is detailed information.  While the information you supplied may appear specific to you, it is fraught with problems.

I began by consulting American Manufactured Furniture, a reprint of the 1928-1929 Zone 3 Furniture Dealers’ Reference Book (Schiffer Publishing, 1988).  I found the following listings for Empire: Empire Case Goods Company (Jamestown, NY); Empire Chair Company (Johnson City, TN); Empire Couch Company (Medina, NY); Empire Furniture Co. (Huntington, WV); Empire Furniture Co. (Texas, MD); Empire Manufacturing Co. (Rockford, IL), and Empire Uph. Co. (Boston, MA).  As I am certain you have noticed, none of these factories are located in either Manhattan or Brooklyn, New York.

However, all is not lost.  Empire Case Goods Company (122 Foote Avenue, Jamestown, NY) bills itself as a manufacturer of bedroom furniture.  Likewise, it maintained sales offices at the New York Furniture Exchange in New York City and the American Furniture Mart in Chicago.

Like many companies of its time, it produced a wide range of products including: “Bedroom Suites Complete, including Bench, Chair, Rocker and Night Table; Bedroom Suites, Four Pieces Only, including Bed, Dresser, Vanity and Chest; Benches--Bedroom, Dressing Table, Toilet Table; Chairs; Chests of Drawers; Chifforobes; Chifforobes, Cedar lined; Desks; Dressers--Standard, Vanity; Dressing Tables; Night Tables; Rockers; Also manufacturers of Hotel Bedroom Furniture.”

The Empire Chair Company of Johnson City, TN, did not maintain a New York City sales office.  Although the Furniture Company of Huntingdon, WV, also maintained a New York City office at the Furniture Exchange, I suspect your family connection is with the Empire Case Goods Company.

Assuming this is correct, my first recommendation is to obtain a copy of American Manufactured Furniture and make a photocopy of pages 266 and 267.  Page 266 provides general information about Empire Case Goods Company’s designs and construction.  Page 267 pictures and discusses the company’s No. 61 Bedroom Suite.

Once done, contact the Jamestown, NY, public library and ask for the reference librarian.  Chances are the library will have a file on the Empire Case Goods Company.  If you get lucky, the library also may have copies of one or more of their catalogs.

Also ask the reference librarian if there is a city and/or county historical society in or near Jamestown.  Check with these institutions to see what information they may have about the Empire Case Goods Company.

Remember that you are asking individuals to do detailed historical research on you behalf.  As a courtesy, offer to reimburse them for their time and expenses.  At the very least, pay any photocopy and postage costs involved with sending information to you.  If they insist on providing the information free of charge, make a donation to their institution.

If the reference librarian at the library or historical society indicates there is simply too much information and recommends you visit Jamestown and do your own research, I recommend you do it.  If you chose to hire someone to do the research for you, expect to pay a fee of between $25.00 and $50.00 per hour.  The old adage of “you get what you pay for” applies--the higher the fee, the more highly skilled the researcher.  If you do hire a researcher, you should set a series of dollar limits, e.g., $250.00, $500.00, etc., at which you expect a progress report and are free to decide whether or not you want the researcher to go forward.

Having researched furniture companies, I know that you are going to find the company produced dozens of different styles and designs of bedroom suites.  While you currently may be of the opinion that any style will do, my recommendation is to find a half a dozen styles you like and search specifically for those.

Locating a bedroom suite made by the Empire Case Goods Company will prove a challenge, especially if you narrow your search.  My first suggestion is to do general Internet searches on a weekly basis.  You have to be creative.  Some immediate search patterns are: (1) Empire +furniture +bedroom; (2) Empire +Jamestown +bedroom; and (3) Bedroom suite +Empire.

EBay now has a “Want It Now” feature.  While this is definitely a long shot, it is free.  Post your request on it.

It is my policy never to list the full name and e-mail address of a question writer.  I am making an exception in this instance in hope that one or more of my readers has or knows about an Empire Case Goods Company bedroom suite that is available for sale.  If you do, e-mail Janice Gilman at lmtwingles@hotmail.com.

As Janice is aware, value in the trade depends on buyer interest.  Knowing Janice is a very interested buyer, I am asking potential sellers to resist the temptation to put a “go for the jugular” price on the bedroom suite.  Also, take into consideration the cost Janice will have to pay to move the bedroom suite once she acquires it.

If you are successful in acquiring a bedroom suite as a result of my answer, please let me know.  I also would very much appreciate receiving a picture of the bedroom suite and the story behind the acquisition.  I love show and tell as much as the next person.  I am hoping your quest will have a happy ending.

QUESTION: One of the members of www.bobblesandmore.com found an old bobble head.  It is made of wood and appears to be from the early 1900s.  Perhaps one of the experts from POP NATION: AMERICA’S COOLEST STUFF can provide us with some information as to where it was made and how much it is valued.  Our members cannot wait for POP NATION’s October premiere on Discovery Channel.  --  MO, E-mail Question

ANSWER: The picture that accompanied your e-mail closely resembles the bobbing head papier-mâché Halloween candy containers that were imported from Germany in the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first fifteen years of the twentieth century.

I strongly suspect you have what I refer to as a basement-workshop collectible.  For whatever reason, an individual working with wood in his basement decided to make his own copy of a papier-mâché candy container.

Analyzing the picture, it is apparent the maker’s skill level is not very high.  The piece is passable, but this is the best one can say for it.  However, this may be enough.  The piece is primitive (translate this as crude) enough to enter the realm of Folk Art.  I am a member of a small cadre of individuals in the trade who believe Folk Art is nothing more than a market-hype term used by dealers and others to drive up the value of poorly made objects.  Further, I firmly believe that a few key players manipulate values within the Folk Art market to achieve their own economic and personal status gain.

The more buyers one sees for an object, the greater its value is likely to be.  Your bobble head obviously appeals to the Folk Art community, Halloween collectors, and bobble head collectors.  As with any object, each group has its own perceived value.  In the case of Folk Art collectors, the wooden bobble head has a value around $500.00.  Hopefully, the individual within your organization who purchased the piece did not pay more than $100.00 for it.  Because it is a fringe collectible as far as Halloween collectors are concerned, their perceived value is most likely between $60.00 and $75.00.

QUESTION: I have a World War II two-man mountain tent.  This is not a pup tent.  It is reversible from olive drab to white and has a floor.  I purchased this tent as World War II surplus when I was in the Boy Scouts.  I have had it for many years and used it all the time.  What is it worth and where is its market? -- CB, MN, E-mail Question

ANSWER: Sergeant First Class Harry Rinker, Jr., my son, is actively involved with World War II military re-enactment groups.  I forwarded the three pictures that were attached to your e-mail.  His response follows:

“Yes, indeed, it is a US ARMY mountain tent.  It is inside out….

“The technical manual for the tent is TM 10-8340-221-13: Operators’, Organizational and Direct Support Maintenance Manual for Ten, Shelter-Half and Tent, Mountain, Two-Man (Reprinted W/Basic incl. C1-2, dated 7 September 1972

“The tent was designed for the 10th Mountain Division and was put into use in 1944.  It was manufactured and used well into the 1970s.

“Cumbersome to carry, the tent has a secondary market value between $100.00 and $150.00 if in very good condition or better.  In later years, the mountain tent was issued with a tarp for extra weather protection.”

The secondary market for this tent is limited to militaria collectors, with re-enactors who like to use period equipment the principal buyers.

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.

HOW TO THINK LIKE A COLLECTOR (Emmis Books, 2005: $14.95), Harry’s new book, is available at your favorite bookstore and via www.harryrinker.com

Harry currently is working on POP NATION, a new television show that focuses on objects made after 1960 and premiers on the Discovery Channel on Saturday, October 1, 2005.  To learn more about the show, see www.discovery.com/popnation.
 

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