#Middlebury #Antiques
How do you keep a heavy door from slamming shut? That was a problem by the mid-18th century when huge brass hinges held the doors. It was solved with wedges, heavy rocks or doorstops of many sizes and shapes. Cast-iron figural doorstops were made in the early 1900s but did not become popular until the 1910s, when many American companies began making figural examples.
Huckleberry Finn is the name of this doorstop marked Littco. The 12 3/8-inch-high figure sold for $325 a several years ago.
One of the most interesting is called “Huckleberry Finn,” a figure of a farm boy in blue overalls and a yellow shirt carrying a fishing pole and bait bucket. It’s 12-3/8 inches high and has a wedge back. The doorstop is marked Littco and was made by the Littlestown Hardware & Foundry Company that started in 1916. It made doorstops, bookends, hammers and fireplace accessories until 1940 and the war. After the war, the company started making cast aluminum products. In the 1990s, it stopped iron casting. One of Littco’s most famous doorstops, Halloween Girl, a costumed girl with a pumpkin in excellent condition, sold for $29,500 in 2016.
“Huckleberry Finn” is an important book written in 1884 by Mark Twain. It was the first “bookstore” book written in vernacular English, and it included swear words and descriptions of good and bad parts of life at the time. An excellent example of the Huckleberry Finn doorstop with almost perfect paint sold for $325 in 2016 at an important Bertoia auction of just doorstops.
Q: My daughter was given two Norman Rockwell collector plates 25 or 30 years ago and never displayed them. One plate is titled “Balcony Seat” and the other is “Quiet Reflections.” They still are in the original boxes. What are they worth?
A: Collector plates made in “limited editions” were popular in the 1970s and ’80s. Some collectors specialized in Norman Rockwell plates, and tried to get all the plates in the series. Interest began to wane in the 1990s, and collector plates don’t sell well today. Most Norman Rockwell collector plates sell for less than $25 in spite of the fact that Rockwell original paintings now sell for up to a million dollars.
Q: I have a small soft-sided Coca-Cola cooler that has two zippered compartments. The top compartment holds six 16-ounce glasses. The glasses are decorated with umbrella tables and chairs and are marked with an anchor on the bottom. What is this worth?
A: The anchor mark was used by Anchor Hocking of Lancaster, Ohio. The cooler with six glasses sells online for about $10-$15.
Current Prices
Nodder, policeman, writing summons, gray uniform, head and body both nod, 9 inches, $90.
Lunchbox, Hogan’s Heroes, dome top, barracks, barbershop scene, yellow, gray, 1966, $410.
Magnifying glass, mother-of-pearl, rectangular, case, velvet lined, 5-1/4 inches, $690.
Doorstop, wine merchant, green jacket, red pants, red and yellow bottles, cast iron, 1920, 10 inches, $2,830.
TIP: Use a Depression glass or plastic knife to cut lettuce. The lettuce won’t turn brown.
For more collecting news, tips and resources, visit www.Kovels.com.
© 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
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