#Middlebury #Antiques
Children have always wanted to imitate the activities of people they see. So, toys have been made for centuries that are dressed to look like friends and, if possible, let them pretend to cook, play or work like grown-ups. In Germany, toy factories made small colorful tin toys from about 1880 to 1914 that could move and imitate a mother cooking or a boy roller skating. The price of the small toy was a penny, so they were named “penny toys” by today’s collectors.
The toy schoolboy sold at auction was admiring a picture on the desktop that was hiding candy. Discovering and eating the candy made the toy great fun. Today it is a collector’s treasure costing $840. The excellent condition of the original paint adds to the price.
About 175 antique penny toys were sold in an important Bertoia auction recently, and prices were much higher than a penny. The lowest price was $180. The highest price was $11,400 for a walking camel with a well-dressed Arab rider. The top of the rider’s turban could be turned to make the clockwork toy move. There were several toys showing a boy or a girl at school sitting at the traditional bench attached to a desk. The child’s arm moved and opened the top of the desk to show candy hidden inside. This schoolboy penny toy sold for $840. Toys today are much more complicated with electric motors or digital instructions, but kids still play school.
Q: Is there an easy way to date an unused postcard? I know the amount of the postage stamp has often changed and there are lists of the prices and dates. But when were photographs rather than color pictures used? When was it called a “postal card”?
A: Postcard collectors know and have listed the table of postage and postcard changes online, and they are in our book “Kovels’ Know Your Collectibles.” A postal card is an early card called “pioneer” with no picture used from 1893 to 1898. A government-printed card had printed postage, a privately printed card required a stamp, and a divided-back card was used from 1907 to 1914.
Photochrome cards were used after 1939. Collectors call them photographs, although many are lithographs with a shiny finish. Real photo cards were used since 1900. If you want to sound like an expert, refer to them as RPPC. Used cards can be dated by the amount of the postage stamp; the postmark; a two-digit postal code, used after 1943; and a five-digit ZIP code, used after 1963.
Current Prices
Clock, Petal style, green, blue, orange, composite, enamel, metal, style of George Nelson, 17 1/2 in. $75.
Delft Charger, pedestal, fern fronds, flowers, blue, white, 14 in. $280.
Elephant Match Safe, silver plate, cream tusks, trunk down, c. 1900, 2 1/4 x 1 1/2 in. $430.
Lustres, cranberry, bohemian glass, scalloped edge bowls, cut glass prisms, enamel & gilt flowers, 14 in. pair. $680.
TIP: Be sure that any restorer, refinisher or upholsterer working on your antique is insured.
For more collecting news, tips and resources, visit www.Kovels.com.
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