Nothing Like A New Eggbeater To Make
A Collector’s Day

BOOK REVIEW

A homemaker would definitely head for the dime store if she needed more clothespins. A lot of 20-30 today would be valued at $6-$10.

The second edition of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s & Beyond is now available from Collector Books.

It contains a little bit of a lot of things, with the individual collector pieces augmented by reprints of advertisements and catalog reprints. Values are included, and the author has the following comment to make regarding prices:

“...most of my kitchen collecting friends buy what they love and will pay a little more for something that they must have. Because paying a little more is still in the affordable range for most kitchen collectibles, the majority of kitchen collectors do not seem to be as concerned with what a piece is worth in the same way as one who collects high-end perfume bottles or antique jewelry might be. One can relax a bit more when purchasing an eggbeater for $16... I want to add that prices do vary from one part of the country to another... so keep that in mind when hunting.”

During the dime-store era, homemakers decorated their cupboards and shelves with brightly colored coated paper. Shelf paper boxes, with contents, are among the items included in the book. Nine feet of shelving paper sold for a nickel in the 1940s; collectors today can expect to pay between $10 and $20 for that same box.

Also at the dime store, homemakers could buy colorful decals and doilies to brighten the kitchen or fancy up the table. They’d also head for this store to get their canning supplies. Boxes of canning lids or household wax, canning jars by Ball, recipe booklets, all came from the dime store, as did most of the everyday cookware and eating utensils.

Other sections of the book include Dry Goods & Everyday Linens, Junior Homemakers (remember the Knitting Nancy?), Washday Laundry (sprinkler bottles, for example,) Nursery Items, Health and Beauty Items, and more - all of which could be found at the local dime store.

It’s a fun book to read, especially if you remember those homemaking years yourself, and will be very helpful for any collector or dealer handling these items.

Hot Kitchen Collectibles, by C. Dianne Zweig ((ISBN: 978-1-57432-639-0) is priced at $24.95. Check with your local bookseller or contact Collector Books, online at www. collectorbooks.com.

Donna Miller

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Books From Schiffer Publishing Continue
To Have Wide Variety

BOOK REVIEW

Among the interesting titles recently released by Schiffer Publishing are Exotic Skin, Alligator & Crocodile Handbags; Hammered Copper; and Gretsch 6120, The History of a Legendary Guitar.

Exotic Skin, Alligator & Crocodile Handbags, by Victoria Stowe, features handbags by the most well-known designers of the past. It covers a 100-year time span, from the Victorian period through the 1960s, when these handbags were the ultimate fashion status symbol.

The first section of the book groups bags by decades, and helps in dating a vintage bag. Those made for the Flapper Twenties were not at all the same as those made for the Ladylike Thirties, for example.

The next section discusses the primary brands/makers, from Department Store brands to Gucci. Lucky is the collector who finds a vintage Gucci bag. They sold for several hundred dollars in the 1950s. Today, they usually fetch in the thousands when offered at auction. The department store products, from stores such as Macy’s or Sears, Roebuck & Co, were more affordable when new, and much more affordable now.

A short section covers the exotic skins themselves, plus a few in addition to alligator and crocodile, such as turtle, lizard and ostrich. The book also includes tips of buying, using, and identification.

Exotic Skin Alligator & Crocodile Handbags (ISBN: 978-0-7643-3477-1), hardback with dust cover, is priced at $49.99.

***

Hammered Copper, by Sandy Baum, is part of a Mexican Arts

Series. The copper vessels featured in this book were made in the small Mexican town of Santa Clara del Cobre, located in the southwest state of Michoacan.

Starting with flat sheet copper, the artists here have been making both useful and decorative items for five centuries, all with hand tools. The sculpturing done to many of the pieces is a unique feature of many of the items.

The book describes Santa Clara del Cobre itself, covers the source of the copper, visits several of the different copper workshops located in the town, describes the early training of the young people to learn the copper hammering techniques and has almost 400 colorful photographs of the work produced.

Hammered Copper (ISBN: 978-0-7643-3502-0), hardback, is priced at $29.99.

***

Gretsch 6120, by Edward Ball, documents the evolution of this collectible vintage guitar.

The book discusses the cultural, corporate and musical factors that contributed to the Gretsch company’s flagship instrument.

The author states, “So refined are the current automated processes of instrument construction, modern materials, and technology of sound, that is hard for some to accept that a guitar from fifty years ago could possibly be better than a new one. ..

Using the marketplace as a gauge, some musicians are willing to pay many times over what they would for a brand new modern guitar to possess one from the Golden Era of the 1950s and ’60s. It seems there must be something better about them.”

The Gretsch company began when Friedrich Gretsch opened a musical instrument shop in New York. His son, Fred, by 1916 was a major distributor and manufacturer of musical instruments such as banjos, accordions and drums.

The company transitioned to making self-branded acoustic guitars in the 1930s and its own electric guitars in the late 1940s. Fred’s son, Fred, Jr., saw the company through the Golden years of the 1950s and 1960s. He was at the helm when musician Chet Atkins endorsed Gretsch’s Model 6120.

In addition to following the development of the Gretsch guitars, the book includes a lot of miscellaneous interesting tidbits about music and performers in general.

Gretsch 6120 (ISBN: 978-0-7643-3484-9), hardback, is priced at $39.99.
For these books, check with your local bookseller or see the Schiffer online catalog: www.schifferbooks.com.

Donna Miller

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Trivets Are Useful And Also Decorative

BOOK REVIEW

The Expanded A to Z Guide to Collecting Trivets, by Margaret Lynn Rosack, is an updated version of her first book, published in 2004. The book includes antique American trivets, antique British trivets, hand forged and hand cut trivets, most of which are cast iron, brass or bronze.

A special mention is made of advertising stands. These are a subset of the more-or-less triangular shaped pieces, with three legs, that were made to hold a pressing iron. They were usually made of cast iron with a brass, nickel or japanned finish, A few were made of brass. The plated ones are most desirable, but only if the plating is in good condition. If it’s flaking off, the iron underneath will usually show signs of rust.
Also included in the book are a few trivets made of other materials, such as pottery and wood. Contemporary trivets, from 1945 to the present, are placed in a separate section.

Old trivets often come with a large measure of grease and grime. The author includes some tips on the proper cleaning of cast iron, and then seasoning it. This is helpful information for handling all types of items made of cast iron.

The book has a chatty, personal format, and ends with some conversations with several trivet collectors.

The Expanded A to Z Guide to Collecting Trivets (ISBN: 978-1-57432-641-3) is a value guide. It is a 2010 publication of Collector Books. Check with your local bookseller or see the online catalog at www.collectorbooks.com.

Donna Miller

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