Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Magazine caddies and early aluminum items







These pictures were received before Christmas from someone hoping we could furnish some information concerning age, maker and value. My only conclusion is that from the appearance of the hammer marks the piece is not hand hammered. It reminds me of a waste basket that I have that was made by West Bend. However, my waste basket may not be as sturdy as the caddy shown


Caddy is 17" high including the upright handle, and is 20"long
It is 12' wide and shows no dents  so  may was probably used
for magazines.




From my collection, this magazine holder is rather unusual with it's wooden base and divider/handle.

                                                  
The low relief motif is a hunting scene.
Made by L Gene Stewart.

When Hammered Aluminum, Hand Wrought Collectibles was first published in 1983, we received a flood of letters listing many kitchen items made of aluminum that various collectors had accumulated. Most of these were utilitarian and usually more useful than many of today's "updated" items. I have a few of those myself and treasure their place in my kitchen.


Top, dated 1906,on handle
 Denison Fair inscribed in
handle

Over the years, as the special gleam of aluminum drew me to display tables, I accumulated a few very useless item that I thought were interesting. The mirror had an interesting but fabricated story behind it, some pieces were dated and some I bought simply because I could not resist aluminum....well, they were a bit unique and old!
The larger hair pin has
rhinestones; the smaller is
simply twisted.

The handle has a pressed design;
the back of the brush is
decorated with a macrame  type of cord work

Delicate flowers at either end of
both sides of the comb.
Marked Aluminum Manotoc


Blogger is refusing to load several other photos, one of a glasses case and one of a note pad holder dated 1908.
Another time when the system is more agreeable!






  

Monday, December 13, 2010

More Servers

These servers are marked Cellini Shop;
an identical set has Cellini Craft
                                                                      

     Corrections have been made to the Dec.12 post. Three Cellini photos captioned Cellini Craft should have read Cellini Shop. Correct marks are important as indicators of when an item was produced. Often identical pieces will have different marks as in the case of the items above.
     Thanks, Charlie, for calling those marks to my attention. Book Two shows three marks, but not Cellini Shop.

Everlast...Daffodils
Everlast...Bamboo



Everlast...Pine cones

Everlast...Rose

Everlast...Geese



Everlast...Grape

                  Everlast..."tomatoes"  *



Unknown
Everlast...Chain link              
                                                      
       Everlast..."tomato"  *


Wendell August
DW
          
                   L to R California Made,
                   DePonceau, Continental
            DW
Buenilum
DW
Rodney Kent salad servers
DW
Continental
DW








Wendell August
DW
Wendell August
DW

                                                              
Palmer-Smith

DW
Kraftware, displayed to
show notching on curve
of handle.
DW

*The motif that is often called "tomato" may officially be Apple , The original Apple was either worn or replaced without the motif name changing....so I've been told. I have a small piece that shows the motif to be distinctly an apple. Later ones certainly appear to be a tomato. We have a collector in our group who can probably set us straight on this, if she reads this.


Blogger has its limitations and today I have been dealing with all of them. I have yet to restore some photos that have disappeared and hope that the existing ones do not scatter wildly in the process.

Dannie



Sunday, December 12, 2010

MORE SERVERS & A SURPRISE



     Before moving on to sharing more of Charlie’s photos of his collection of servers, let me share a surprising incident of the past week.
      Replacing our home’s  old single-paned north windows with those of a more energy saving style is the last major upgrade on my list of  home improvements.
     While a representative of the window replacement company and I were talking business , he noticed a Farber Ware tray hanging n the wall and mentioned that his mother had a lot of “that stuff” in her house.
     I responded by gesturing toward a roomful of aluminum displays and was absolutely astonished as he continued to tell me that his mother’s mother’s father had owned the Cellini Craft shop….Ernest Gerlach!  I was talking business with the great, great grandson of one of our most esteemed aluminum makers. Obviously, I was impressed with the coincidence!


                                                                        


MORE SERVERS:                  
                                                               
Arthur Armour/Poinsettia
Arthur Armour/Goose 
Arthur Armour/Pine cones
Arthur Armour/ goose
Arthur Armour/Zodiac

Cellini Craft w/black Bakelite (?)
Cellini shop argental               

Argental
Rodney Kent, ribbon
 
Cellini Shop-Also Cellini Craft Argental

California Made, 21" also 14"
Cellini Shop Argental 
Unknown/copper wrap wrap, 12",
 also in 19"
Unmarked/ Buenilum twist, loop, and ball




  


















    The remainder of this collection, all by Everlast,  will be in the next post. I hope to add a few pieces from my group.
    I'm sure you have noticed the identifying techniques in these sets: the ribbon trim of Rodney Kent; the more pointed aluminum plate on Arthur Armour's servers, and of course the twists and loops of Buenilum! I have also noticed from a few old catalog pieces of California Made, that they were also partial to some form of twisted strands of aluminum and also occasionally added a touch of copper.


The waiting list:
   Now, Cellini Craft has been added. Space limitations in the book left a few interesting bits of the         company's history unpublished
    Then there's our visit to the Forge so very long ago!


    Other collections will also be interesting to share...some collect boxes or silent butlers, or pieces that hold china or tile insets......Every one will not have photos but it will be interesting to learn what some of us have become hooked on!
Dannie




                                          
                         Ft. Worth light lights.  Photo by Corbin & Maretta 








Saturday, December 11, 2010

Servers

This post will feature a part of Charlie's collection of servers. The process of transferring them into this viewing area has been challenging: first into iPhoto, then one by one here. In making their moves the captions Charlie had so thoughtfully included, first turned into gibberish and then stayed in iPhoto, leaving me to make the match-up. I'm sure there is a slick, easy professional way to have handled this but I have none of those traits.

Some of these servers represent companies that did not manufacture a great amount of products, so that makes them even more unique and I am looking forward to sharing the remainder of the 43 photographs.



Millpond Copper Craft

Moderne
Palmer-Smith Greek Ke
Arthur Armour w/twist
Wendell August cake server


               
Millpond Copper Crafts
Palmer-Smith   Flamingo
Posibably Argental w/butterscotch bakelite
Cellini Craft...Argental
California Made....14"


Wendell August...cross stripes


This blog has been visited by persons who are familiar with Grove City, either living there at present, or having other connections there. I welcome them and hope that if they have memories of the Forge or any of the workers, they will consider sharing them with us.

I have had a request for pricing information on Palmer-Smith items; both aluminum and linens. I am assuming these have a direction connection to the Palmer family but have no pictures or other information. Can anyone help with this? What is going on in the PS sale world. I am especially lost on the prices of any of his linens. 

I recently saw a Rodney Kent tray advertised as being gold anodized. This is new to me. Has anyone seen a RK piece that came from the factory as a gold anodized piece?

PRICE WATCH:
Electric Continental Coffee Urn...$112-----Sold
Rodney Kent:...  Sm. 3-pc. dish with glass insert priced at $40.00

Next post very soon. In the line-up are more servers, additional match box covers, and a few pieces of the old pre-hammered era aluminum items.

Dannie