Value Guide Available For Barbie & Friends

BOOK REVIEW

The Barbie Doll Years, the Sixth Edition, is a comprehensive listing and value guide for Barbie dolls and accessories. It is written by Patrick C. Olds and Joyce L Olds. This latest edition is a 2006 Collector Books publication.

The book contains over 3,600 different entries for dolls of Barbie, her family and friends. There are also more than 2,500 different entries for cases, pets, vehicles, clothing, furniture, structures and miscellaneous items.

This is primarily a value guide listing reference, not a “picture” book, but it does include several pages of photographs of every type of vintage Barbie doll.

If you’re a Barbie and friends collector, you’ll want to add this comprehensive reference book to your library. It is priced at $19.95.

Donna Miller

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Pumps Worth More Than The Gas, Barely

BOOK REVIEW

The second edition of Gas Station Memorabilia, by B.J. Summers and Wayne Priddy, is available from Collector Books. Included are sections on pumps, globes, signs, containers, license plate attachments, clothing, clocks, thermometers, displays and the always-necessary “miscellaneous.”

Today, probably the primary thing a motorist looks for when it’s time to fill the tank is the price; and while that’s always been a consideration, there was once a time when other considerations also came into play - did the station give away premium dishware? trading stamps? or did they provide the best service? These were especially considerations in the 1950s and 1960s. The give-away premiums have been popular with collectors for a long time.

However, most of us didn’t pay too much attention to the pump that was dispensing the gas, other than to read what our final cost was going to be. Today, the early gasoline pumps dating back to the 1920s, are selling for thousands of dollars. And this is one of the collecting areas where restoration to the original condition is not only acceptable, but desirable, as long as it is done by a master craftsman.

The globes that were placed atop the pump are also highly collectible. They began to appear about 1910-1915 and most of them were generic. Some simply said “Gasoline.”  Other terms found are “visible gasoline” or “correct measure.” As the industry grew, the artwork on globes became more important as an eye-catching advertising feature. These are the globes that are most sought-after by collectors.

The license plate attachments are interesting. They advertise a variety of things, such as  places - Colorado’s Pike’s Peak; foods - Drink All-Jersey milk; and  patriotism - Remember Pearl Harbor.

Even for the non-collector of gasoline memorabilia, the book is fun, especially for those who are of an age to remember when all these items were in actual use, and I’m in that category. (One of the pumps pictured looks a whole lot like the one I hit broadside the first time I tried, at age 16, to put gas in my boyfriend’s car.)

Gas Station Memorabilia, by B.J. Summers and Wayne Priddy is priced at $29.95. It contains a value guide. Contact Collector Books, www.collectorbooks.com or write to Wayne Priddy, P.O. Box 22825, Louisville, KY 40252.

Donna Miller

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Hall China Made Lots Of Pots

BOOK REVIEW

Teapot collectors will probably agree that there is no one company in the United States that has made more different shapes of teapots than Hall. These teapots, along with coffee pots, are the subject of a recent book, Hall China Tea and Coffee Pots, The First 100 Years, by Gary and Paula Barnebey. Actually, it includes even more because apparently the company itself was not always certain when a particular pot was a teapot, a coffee pot, a hot water pot, a beverage pot or a creamer. Company catalogs may call the same item any one of the above names at different times.

The Hall China Company began business in 1894 as The East Liverpool Pottery Company in Ohio. After a brief affiliation with several other potteries in the area, the principals disassociated themselves from the group and, in 1903, incorporated as The Hall China Company at the original location. It had three bottle kilns and 33 potters, who began making bedpans and hotel items.

Part of the eventual success of the company was due to the development of a high temperature single firing process that eliminated crazing. Crazing is always a potential problem when clay is fired once to the bisque stage, and then glazed and fired again, the usual technique.

By 1910, Hall was concentrating on producing lines of hotel ware, and its business expanded, especially during World War I when the European companies were not able to supply goods to the American market.

In 1917, the company began adding gold decoration and stamping to many of its commercial teapots, and this look became very popular.

As the years passed, the company continued to upgrade and keep abreast of market trends. It is still in operation today.

The book has sections that describe the various teapot, hot water pot, coffee pot and beverage pot shapes; sections on each of the series which the company made; and special sections on Eva Zeisel designs, Red-Cliff Ironstone and Ernest Sohn Creations. A complete listing of bottom marks is included.

 Hall China Tea and Coffee Pots is a Schiffer publication. It includes a value guide. The book sells for $39.95 and is available at book stores; from Schiffer Publishing at 4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, PA 19310; or online at www.schifferbooks.com. Please add $3.95 for shipping if ordering from the publisher.

Donna Miller

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