A reader wrote that, thanks to Kovels newsletter, she and her husband sold this 9 7/16-inch penguin cast-iron doorstop for a big profit. Here’s what she wrote: “At a northern Virginia estate sale in August ’08, I paid $46 for a Taylor Cook doorstop and sold it on eBay for $1,650. The doorstop is marked ‘No. 1 Taylor Cook, copyright 1930’ and is pictured on page 123 of Jeanne Bertoia’s book, Doorstops: Identification and Values.” We love stories like this one.
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Another reader was pleased we wrote about Harris Strong tiles in May 2008. Her note said: “Your newsletter made me familiar with this artist. Otherwise I would have passed on one of his horse tiles, which I purchased for $5 at a flea market—then found out it was worth $85.
A member of the International Match Safe Association (IMSA) emailed to comment on our article about silver match safes in last month’s newsletter. He wants our readers to visit the association’s website, MatchSafe.org, to learn more and to join the association. Members receive a quarterly newsletter. He also said that over the past 10 years, Wallace Silversmiths has made reproductions of antique sterling match safes for IMSA.