Figural Tobacco Jar

Many figural tobacco jars were made in the late 1800s and early 1900s marked with just the letters “JM” or the letters and the printed word “Bohemia” or “Czechoslovakia.” The jars held loose pipe tobacco but they were not humidors made to control humidity. The figural jars are about 18 to 20 inches high with […]

Apothecary Sign

Large signs with flashing lights, clever electric signs with moving graphics, and ads that successfully identify a store by brand or content are important. But there were no electric signs before Edison invented the light bulb, so what did they use? The cigar store sign, a life-sized carved wooden Indian often holding tobacco leaves, is […]

Chelsea Porcelain Goat and Bee Jug

Chelsea porcelain was made in Chelsea, England, about 1750. One of the famous pieces is the “Goat and Bee” milk jug that was designed by Nicholas Sprimont (1716–1771). He was born in Liège (in what is now Belgium) and started working in London about 1742. An auction of important early porcelain was held recently by […]

Folk Art San Rafael Figure

Fra Andreas Garcia was an 18th-century Mexican Franciscan friar and folk artist who worked in what is now New Mexico. He carved and painted wooden figures of saints, called bulto, that were about 12 to 18 inches high. The figures were used as devotional images as well as artistic objects. A polychromed wood bulto made […]

Enamel Plate

Enamel has been used to decorate metal since medieval times, creating elaborate designs on copper, silver and other metals. Early pieces made in Europe, especially pieces used in religious services, were created in ever-changing styles. Enameled pieces for home use were rare before the 1800s. About 1880, a few artists on the East Coast made […]

Lion Footstool

Footstools were used to elevate the feet of a person sitting in a chair as long ago as ancient Egypt. The stool was usually rectangular with four small feet. In the following centuries, footstools were made as long rectangles with four or more feet. They were used by all those sitting on a bench in […]

Newsboy’s Newspaper Wagon

Toy wagons, those that are large enough to give rides to children or to haul packages of newspapers for a newsboy, were first made in the 1880s in the United States. Most were made of wood that was painted red. Newspapers were sold to newsboys by the bundle. The boys kept them in a wagon […]

Cream of Wheat Advertising Sign

Cream of Wheat, a cereal first marketed in 1898, is still a popular winter breakfast cereal. A trolley sign in a recent auction showed the picture of a box of Cream of Wheat and two children eating it from a bowl. The sign read, “Summer Favorite Served Cold with Fruit.” Was Cream of Wheat originally […]

Child’s Barber Chair

Little boys are often terrified when they are taken for a first haircut. All those highchairs, strange men, and flashing scissors. So for generations some barbers have had special figural chairs for children. The most popular is probably a horse. There are barber chair collectors who have enough room to display them or antique lovers […]

Coin-Operated Scale

Most of us diet and have to check our weight, but the days of tall scales sitting on a street corner waiting for someone to put a penny in the slot and step on the scale is almost gone. It was during the 1920s and ‘30s that coin-operated scales were important. The first coin scales […]