Early Peep Show Art Seems Tame

BOOK REVIEW

Machines called Mutoscopes offered quick shows for a penny from 1895 until as late as the 1970s. The machine flipped cards to create the impression of a “moving picture.”  The speed of the “movie” depended on how fast the viewer could turn the handle.

Found most often at amusement parks and in men’s restrooms, they were notorious as a source of cheap peeps. The popular pin-ups used in the Mutoscopes may seem tame by today’s standards, but they were apparently exciting by the standards of the earlier 20th century.

The artwork was similar to that used for pin-up calendars - voluptuous women in two piece bathing suits, sheer lingerie, short shorts, garters and silk stockings, etc. The artists who painted for the Muto scopes were often the same ones producing the calendar art, such as Gil Elvgren and Billy DeVorss.

During the 1940s, the Inter national Mutoscope Reel Company began to manufacture coin-operated vending machines that delivered individual cards to collectors. These Mutoscope cards, measuring 5 1/4” x 3 1/4”, portrayed everything from souvenir scenes to movie stars, but the most collectible cards, then and now, were the sexy pin-up girls.

They are the subject of Peep-Machine Pin-Ups, 1940s-1950s Mutoscope Art, by Don Preziosi and Tina Skinner.  Over two hundred examples are shown, with suggested values. (Most cards are still valued under $10.) The book is a 2006 Schiffer publication and sells for $29.95. Check with your local bookstore or see Schiffer’s online catalog at www.schifferbooks.com.

Donna Miller

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Perfume Bottles ‘Wonderful’ In New Collector Book

There were very few companies producing perfume in the United States in the first quarter of the 20th century. One of these few was the Bacorn Company, which was in business from 1909 to 1927.

The companies had offices in New York City, Boston, Chicago and Seattle. It did a good business, not only as a perfumer, but also as a manufacturer of other vanity items and pure food products, until most of the factory was destroyed by fire in 1927.

The items that were not destroyed in the fire were put in storage, where they remained for the next 75 years. Among the items in storage were many of the Bacorn pressed glass perfume bottles, along with the essences used to make perfume, some advertising and some catalogs.

These were sold on the internet. Much of the material was acquired by Jane Flanagan, who has incorporated a large selection of Bacorn information in her recent book, The Wonderful World of Collecting Perfume Bottles (Collector Books.)

The Bacorn bottles were manufactured by the Swindell Brothers, a Baltimore, Maryland, company. Just as interesting as the bottles are the beautifully designed labels which they carried. The intricate designs were in a variety of shapes and many of them featured beautiful women, representing both Art Nouveau and Art Deco designs, as the company changed with the prevailing fashion of the time.

The perfume fragrances tended to feature names of flowers – Rose Petals, Carnation, Lily of the Valley – although one interesting fragrance was called “New Mown Hay” and one bottle with a flapper girl label is called “Menthol Headache Cologne.” (Was the flapper girl flapping a little too much?)

Some products were apparently made for men, such as the Henry IV items.

Collectors of perfume bottles will enjoy all of Flanagan’s book, and should find this new information on Bacorn especially interesting. The Wonderful World of Collecting Perfume Bottles (ISBN: 1-57432-502-7) is priced at $29.95. It includes a value guide. Check with your local bookseller or contact Collector Books, online at www.collectorbooks.com.

Donna Miller

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New Publication Combines Information On Nippon Porcelain

BOOK REVIEW

Author Joan Van Patten has authored seven books on Nippon porcelain. As she uncovered new information, it would be included in the next volume published. Now, she has compiled all of these books into Van Patten’s ABC’s of Collecting Nippon Porcelain.

It includes historical information, and the different designs and techniques that were used. Hundreds of backstamps are included (There are some Nippon pieces that are not marked, however.) The book also has a large section on reproductions, with 150 fake items pictured.

The word Nippon was used on backstamps of items imported to the United States from 1891 to 1921. Collectors, therefore, can date their pieces fairly precisely.

While the Japanese were innovative in many ways, they also copied many types of decorating from other countries, such as jasperware from England, Belleek from Ireland, Royal Bayreuth from Germany and Limoges from France. The export wares sold to the United States appeared in dime stores, as souvenirs at resort areas, and were given as premiums by S & H Green Stamps and Jewel Tea. Some of these items once acquired so inexpensively now may sell for hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of dollars.

Collectors should find this book very useful, with the information from Van Patten’s previous book compiled in one place, along with new updated information. Van Patten’s ABC’s of Collecting Nippon Porcelain (ISBN: 1-57432-448-9) is priced at $29.95. Contact Collector Books at (270) 898-6211 or online at www.collectorbooks.com.

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Decorate For Halloween

BOOK REVIEW

It’s time for Halloween, and time to get out your Halloween decorations. And these are the subject of a new Schiffer publication by Claire M. Lavin, Time for Halloween Decorations.

It highlights examples made between 1950 and 1985, from four leading manufacturers, in almost 400 color photographs. Most of the pieces were made by the Beistle Company and come from the company’s archives.

The sections include party helps, die-cuts, party games, party hats and masks, lanterns and shades, and the ever-necessary miscellaneous category. Information on the items includes detailed descriptions, little known facts, release and production dates, materials, maker’s marks and values.

Time for Halloween Decorations (ISBN: 0-7643-2606-6) is priced at $29.95. Online, see www.schifferbooks.com.

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