Candy containers are meant to attract buyers

#Middlebury

An attractive box can help sell a product, especially if it can be reused in a new way. Since the 19th century, candy containers have been made to attract buyers. Figural glass bottles were first made in the shape of the Liberty Bell in 1876. Papier-mache animals with removable heads and hollow stomachs, and lithographed tin boxes, pails and even figural tins were used later. All of these are collected today, and some sell for hundreds of dollars.

Little Red Riding Hood is outsmarting the Big Bad Wolf by giving him some candy from a pail and rescuing Grandma. Not the original story but a great way to sell candy. The Lovell & Covell lithographed tin pail sold for $115 several years ago at a Hakes auction. (Submitted photo)

Canco is the name found on a series of lithographed tin pails that held candy by Lovell & Covell, a candy company in Fulton, Mass. The pails are decorated with nursery-rhyme figures. The Queen of Hearts, Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood and Peter Cottontail are the easiest to find in the series. In excellent condition, they retail for over $100. The Canco mark was used from 1910 to 1921 by the American Can Company, a 1901 firm.

If vintage candy containers are not modern enough to be of interest, consider the most popular candy container collected now, the container and dispenser for Pez. The first ones were made in 1949 and thousands of different heads have been used on other Pez dispensers.

Q: I have a lovely gutta-percha hand mirror and am looking for information as to how to care for it. I can see a change in color (turning to a beige) in areas and think it might be drying out. I don’t know if that’s correct, but it needs help and I would like to preserve it. Should I be using some kind of oil to nourish it?

A: Gutta-percha is made from sap from trees found primarily in Malaysia. It was molded and used to make toilet articles, canes, golf balls, knife handles, picture frames and other items in the 19th century. Daguerreotypes often were framed in molded black cases that were mistakenly called gutta-percha. The cases were made of a black mixture of wood and shellac. Today gutta-percha is used by dentists, who use it to fill root canals. Gutta-percha deteriorates when exposed to sunlight and can change color. Don’t use oil to “nourish” it. Some oils will dissolve gutta-percha.

Current Prices

Pince-Nez eyeglasses, rimless, plastic spectacle case, womens, Estonia, 1930s, 4 inches, $55.
Barber-shop razor strop, brown leather, brass medallion handle with crisscross design, round base, mounting holes, c. 1900, 29 inches, $195.
Candy jar, “Lolly Pops For Little Boys & Girls,” Disney, Ludwig Von Drake, Mickey and Donald, ceramic, conical lid, 1961, 9 inches, $345.
Spinning wheel, flax, wood with red stain, weaver’s bobbin and leather strap, turned supports, spindle legs, c. 1850, 38 x 31 inches, $580.

TIP: For every 24 inches of shelf, use about 20 books. Too many books make it hard to take a book off the shelf.

For more collecting news, tips and resources, visit www.Kovels.com.

(c) 2018 King Features Synd. Inc.