http://sfgate.com/new/schron/old/oct-12-94/ho56370.html (World Wide Web Directory, 06/1995)Ralph and Terry Kovel
In the 1920s the factory made a series of Art Deco theatrical figurines including the well-known Pierrot and Pierrette.
Other figurines were made in the dress of the day, including a series of bathing beauties. The figurines were often signed by the artists.
A collector will pay hundreds of dollars for one of the Art Deco pieces. The bottom of each is marked with the name ``Rosenthal.'' Look for them.
Q. I have a toothpick holder with a figure on one side that is labeled ``Skookum.'' On the bottom it says ``George Borgfeldt & Co., J.S. Sears, Sale licensee.''
Who is Skookum? He looks like a little boy with a very large head.
A. Skookum, the Bully Kiddo, was an Indian used in ads for the Northwest Fruit Exchange and Skookum apples about 1916. He was quite popular. A Skookum doll was made, with a feather headdress and blanket.
The item you own was originally painted. The holder at the side was molded to look like a brown tree stump. Skookum is wearing a breechcloth and moccasins with green trim.
George Borgfeldt & Co. of New York was an importing firm that started in 1881. It sold imported and domestic dolls and toys. The Skookum containers were made by Westmoreland Specialty Co. and L.E. Smith Co.
Q. What is cobalt blue glass? Do you know who made it?
A. Cobalt blue glass is dark royal blue. It has been made for centuries.
Early 19th century glass factories in the United States made many forms of blown cobalt blue glass and bottles. Twentieth century factories such as Cambridge, Duncan & Miller, Heisey, Westmoreland, Fenton and Paden City made vases and tablewares in the dark blue glass. Some Czechoslovakian, English, French and German glassworks also produced the blue glass.
It is difficult determining which company made each specific piece.
Q. Our daughter has a wicker rocker, chair and love seat. One of the pieces has a metal plate that reads, ``F.A. Whitney Carriage Co.''
A. The F.A. Whitney Carriage Co. was established in 1858 in Leominster, Mass. The company, which was well known for its wicker baby carriages, expanded into the furniture business. It went out of business in 1952.
Carriage collectors pay high prices for Whitney rattan and reed baby carriages.
Q. When I was young, I listened to Captain Midnight on the radio. I have a Captain Midnight Secret Squadron 1946 decoder badge. Does it have any value?
A. ``Captain Midnight'' started as a regional radio program in Kansas City, Mo. In 1940, Ovaltine bought the rights to the show and broadcast it nationally for 13 years.
The show's hero was a daring World War I pilot who completed secret missions. In real life, he was Stuart (Red) Albright.
Each year, ``Captain Midnight'' listeners were offered the chance to send in an Ovaltine label and get a Mystery Dial Code-O-Graph so they could send and decode secret messages. A Secret Squadron Handbook came with each decoder.
Your 1946 version is actually a Mirror-Flash Code-O-Graph. It is worth $40 in mint condition. The manual from that year is worth $125 in mint condition. And that year's premium Mystic Sun God Ring is worth $350.
Captain Midnight switched to television in 1954 and lasted until 1956.
Q. We saw a stuffed Naugahyde creature from the 1970s at an antique show. Is it rare?
A. When the Nauga was introduced in 1967, the odd-shaped, four-fingered critter was a copywriter's delight.
Was it discovered by a shipwrecked sailor in Sumatra, or a demented Swedish trapper in Alaska?
Actually, Nauga was created to draw attention to Uniroyal's Naugahyde vinyl products.
Early Naugas were available by mail for $14.95. They were more than a foot tall from toes to ears and had an arm span of nearly two feet.
Newer Naugas, found at furniture shows and some furniture stores, are smaller and softer. They still have the same pointed-tooth grin and outstretched arms.
Old Naugas sell from $100 to $150. __
DAY: WEDNESDAY
DATE: 10/12/94
PAGE: 9/Z1
© 10/12/94 , San Francisco Chronicle, All Rights Reserved, All Unauthorized Duplication Prohibitted