#Middlebury #Antiques
Christmas toys were popular in Victorian times. Hundreds of different family card and board games were manufactured and sold. Today they are collectible as complete games or parts. The box decorated with an attractive Christmas picture of Santa and snow scenes can be propped on a shelf. The board for the game can be framed or hung with removable hooks. The playing cards often picturing children, Christmas characters or decorations can be displayed in groups or slid under the protective glass top on a table. Just the 19-by-10-inch board of “Game of the Visit of Santa Claus” was auctioned for $275 by Soulis Auctions recently. The game was made by McLoughlin Brothers in 1897.
If you don’t want to play the antique Christmas board game you own, you can prop it against the wall near your tree. The Christmas scenes of children in the snow and Santa Claus hard at work checking on his toys will add thoughts of the past.
Q: We have a wooden board that is 8 by 9 by 1 1/2-inch thick. In the center is a 7 1/2-inch round elaborately carved design that is 1 inch deep. The design looks like some sort of house with a figure on each side surrounded by falling leaves. The bottom and the border have repeating crescent patterns and the inner rim is fluted. We would like to know what this was used for.
A: Your mold probably was made for lebkuchen, a soft ginger honey cake popular in Germany for centuries at Christmas. Lebkuchen dates back to 14th-century Germany. The earliest was made in monasteries, where, long before sugar, bakers kneaded flour and eggs with honey from local beekeepers. That gave lebkuchen its unique flavor and acted as a preservative. The dough was claylike and pressed into wooden molds that were delicately carved with pictures that told the stories of Christmas and the saints, like St. Nicholas. When trade routes opened, spices were added to the dough, making it more like it is today.
Lebkuchen is still made around the holidays, and molds and recipes can be found online. Your mold is probably from the 19th century, and if clean, there is no reason why it couldn’t still be used.
Q: I have a collection of Avon pewter Christmas ornaments, but I’m missing the ornaments for 1998 and 2003. Were any made for these years?
A: The first ornament in this series was issued in 1993. A different ornament has been issued each year since then, except in 1998 when none were sold because of “transportation problems.” The 2003 ornament is a snowflake. It’s harder to find than some others, but is available at some online sites. We saw one for $39.99.
Current Prices
Copper chestnut roaster, squat pot, round lid with reeded edge, openwork collar, flat tapered handle, loop end, 21 x 9 inches, $40.
Wine glass, venetian glass, deep red and gold gilt, menorah and star of David design, twist stem, marked, Murano, 1950s, 5 1/4 inches, $145.
Christmas cookie jar, drummers drumming, around Christmas tree, Fitz & Floyd, 18 1/2 x 13 3/4 inches, $245.
Doorstop, poinsettia, two-tone, red, green, stenciled pot, 9 3/4 inches, $840.
TIP: Chocolate molds can be used to make candy and other party food. Pour melted butter into the mold, put the filled mold into the freezer. Take the mold out and unmold the fancy-shaped pieces of butter for parties.
For more collecting news, tips and resources, visit www.Kovels.com.
© 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
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