Questions and Answers

QUESTION:  I inherited a 13in, 1962 National Football League Green Bay Packers bobblehead doll.  I know that these were used in store promotion displays.  It has some damage to the base of the helmet, which I know is normal, and a couple of small scratches in paint on the helmet.  Otherwise it is in great shape.  I am having trouble finding the history and value of my bobblehead.  Can you help me out? – PP, Sussex, WI, E-mail Question

ANSWER:  The bobblehead doll, also known as a bobbing head doll, nodder, or wobbler, dates back to the mid-19th century as a form.  Nikolai Gogol’s The Overcoat, a short story written in 1842, refers to the main character’s neck as “like the necks of plaster cats which wag their heads.”

Today’s bobblehead dolls have a light spring that attaches the head to the body.  When the head is touched, it nods or bobs back and forth.  Historically, the ceramic nodders of the later nineteenth century featured heads with a pin through the neck.  The pin rested on an indentation in the body.  When pushed, it rocked or nodded back and forth.

Bobblehead dolls experienced a number of crazes, the first of which occurred near the end of the Victorian era and produced the “antique” ceramic bobbleheads.  A 1920s New York Knicks bobblehead doll is acknowledged by collectors to be the first sports bobblehead doll.        Sports bobblehead dolls reappeared in the 1950s.  In 1960 Major League Baseball had licensed a bobblehead doll for each of its teams. The 1960 World Series saw the first personality bobblehead dolls – Roberto Clemente, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Willie Mays.  The National Football League also licensed bobblehead dolls.  The team dolls all had the same head, only the paint scheme differed.

The bobblehead dolls of the 1950s and 1960s were made primarily in Japan and of papier-mâché, which chips and cracks.  Eventually, ceramic heads replaced the papier-mâché heads.  The craze spread to other personalities, e.g., the set of four Beatles nodders, and advertising characters.  By the mid-1970s the bobblehead doll craze was over.

The current bobblehead doll revival occurred in 1999 when the San Francisco Giants gave away 35,000 Willie Mays nodders as a marketing promotion.  In the past eight years, thousands of different bobblehead dolls have been produced.  Today’s bobblehead dolls closely resemble the character or personality they are portraying, including hairstyle, scars, and tattoos.  Many also are accessorized with clothing and other equipment associated with the individual.

Tim Hunter’s Bobbing Head Dolls: 1960-2000 (Krause Publications, 2000) is the primary collectors’ reference.

As you probably suspect, your Green Bay Packer bobblehead display doll has more value in the Green Bay and Wisconsin area than it does elsewhere in the United States.  The value of team sport collectibles is very regional.

Countering this is the fact that you have a “display” size example.  This expands interest to the bobblehead collectors as well as the Green Bay Packer collectors.

I realize the damage appears minor to you.  It may not be to a serious collector.  Since no picture(s) accompanied your e-mail, I cannot make my own assessment.

As my readers are aware, I like to be conservative in my estimates.  The standard size Green Bay Packers bobblehead dolls from the early 1960s in very good and better condition sell between $225.00 and $250.00.  If still in their packaging/box, add another $100.00.  Given this, your display bobblehead doll has a value in excess of $500.00.  How much in excess is best determined by offering the doll for sale at auction.

QUESTION:  I have a sterling silver cigarette case.  It has four hallmarks, a shield with a lion passant, a shield with an anchor, a shield with a Roman capital A, and a shield with “W. N. Ltd.”  I would appreciate any information you can provide. – JG, E-mail Question

ANSWER:  Your question allows me to call my readers’ attention to a book on silver marks that I recently added to my library—Diana Sanders Cinamon’s All About Antique Silver with Internation Hallmarks (AAA Publishing, 2005).  While there are several books and websites that provide information about English silver hallmarks, there are few that cover marks from other countries.  Ms. Cinamon provides information on silver marks from twenty-nine countries and several companies, e.g., Gorham, Samuel Kirk and Son, and Tiffany.

Regulation of the content of silver in the United Kingdom dates back to 1238 when Henry II instituted the assay of gold and silver to prevent fraud.  The law specified that items made of silver contain 925 parts of silver to 75 parts of other metals.  This was the silver standard used for coins of the realm.  While the law changed over the centuries, the standard remained the same.

English silver can contain a variety of marks.  Marks for quality (lion passant), town, date letter, and maker are the most common.  The lion passant mark means that your cigarette case meets the Sterling standard.  The anchor mark indicates the case was made in Birmingham.

The date letter system is different for each town.  When researching the date of a piece of English silver, it is critical to know in what town it was manufactured and to use the appropriate chart.  A capital “A” in a shield was used in Birmingham in 1849 and again in 1925.  Normally, the 1849 shield also features a profile stamp of Queen Victoria.  Further, cigarette cases did not exist as a form in 1849.  Hence, the logical assumption is that your cigarette case was made in 1925.  “W.N.Ltd” is the manufacturer’s mark.  Unfortunately, my reference books do not provide maker’s mark identification information.  However, an Internet search revealed that your cigarette case was made by William Neale & Sons.

Since you did not provide any information about the size of your cigarette case or surface design, I cannot provide a value.

QUESTION:  I have two Flexible Flyer sleds in somewhat good condition.  What is their value? – CF, Hellertown, PA, E-mail Question

ANSWER:  If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the Flexible Flyer management went through life with big smiles on their faces.  Its sleds and advertising were the industry standard.  Most other sled manufacturers copied their designs and market strategy.

I had a Flexible Flyer as a kid.  As it so happens, I lived on East Depot Street in Hellertown.  When it snowed in the late 1940s and 50s, the police barricaded several streets with steep slopes to allow for sledding.  The East Depot Street hill was one of them.

Samuel Leeds Allen, a manufacturer of farm and garden equipment, is the father of the Flexible Flyer sled.  In the 1880s, Allen manufactured a variety of bob sleds designed primarily for adults. On February 14, 1889, Allen applied for a patent for a sled with a T-shaped runner and slatted seat.  He called it the Flexible Flyer.  The name was trademarked on May 7, 1904.

Allen spent the next two decades marketing his sled.  Eventually, he convinced R. H. Macy in New York and John Wanamaker in Philadelphia to carry his Flexible Flyer.  In 1915, Allen’s company sold its full inventory, 120,000 sleds.  In 1936, Flexible Flyer received a Disney license for “The Mickey Mouse Sled.”  In 1939, the company’s 50th anniversary, it offered sleds with a pair of running lights.

Beginning in 1950, the model name of the sled was moved from the top to the back of the slats.  Flexible Flyer models dominated sled sales throughout the 1950s and early 1960s.

In 1968, Leisure Group, Inc., of Los Angeles purchased Flexible Flyer and Blazon, Inc, a manufacturer of outdoor play equipment.  In 1970 production of the Flexible Flyer sled was moved from Philadelphia to Medina, Ohio.  In 1973 a group of private investors purchased the Leisure Group’s toy division and moved all operations to West Point, Mississippi.  In 1989 Flexible Flyer celebrated its 100th anniversary and introduced a Centennial model.  In 1993 Roadmaster Corporation purchased the Flexible Flyer brand and moved production to Olney, Illinois.  In 1996 Roadmaster sold off Flexible Flyer toys.  Production moved briefly to China in 1998 and officially ended in 1999.  The Flexible Flyer name continues to this day (see www.flexible-flyer.com).  The company is headquartered in West Point, Mississippi and makes swing sets and hobby horses.

See Joan Palicia’s Flexible Flyer and other Great Sleds for Collectors With Value Guide (Schiffer Publishing, 1997) for more information.

The more made, the greater the survival rate is one of the general rules of collecting.  The survival rate for Flexible Flyer sleds is very high.  As a result, collectors seek only sleds in fine or better condition.  If the sled shows signs of heavy use it is a difficult sell.

Unfortunately, you did not provide model information (on the back of the sled) in your e-mail, and I was unable to determine the model from the attached images.  The chrome front bumper was introduced in 1955.  Hence, they date after that.

The secondary market retail value of your sleds is between $35.00 and $40.00.  Because they are “late” and common, they will be tough sells to a collector.  Your best marketing approach is to find someone who wants to buy them for them for display/conversation value.  Finally, there is always reuse value.

QUESTION:  I have an oval picture of the capital building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  The frame measures 24in by 18in and has a 4in “mahogany” border.  The picture is in color and has iridescent features.  Your comments, please? – WH, E-mail Question

ANSWER:  You have a reverse painting on glass, most likely dating from the very early part of the twentieth century.  Normally, I encounter similar pictures featuring the sinking of the battleship Maine, the Statue of Liberty, or generic castle and landscape scenes.  I have seen other examples of the Pennsylvania capital in Harrisburg.

As a local collectible and assuming there is minimum flaking and/or paint loss, a common problem associated with these reverse-painted pictures, the value of your picture is between $85.00 and $100.00.  Outside of the greater Harrisburg area, the principal value of your painting rests in the frame.  Individuals wishing to recycle the frame pay around $50.00, removing the painting from the back of the glass and inserting their own picture or creative handiwork.

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the twentieth century.  Selected letters will be answered in this column.  Harry cannot provide personal answers.  Photos and other material submitted cannot be returned.  Send your questions to: Rinker on Collectibles, 5093 Vera Cruz Road, Emmaus, PA 18049.  You also can e-mail your questions to harrylrinker@aol.com. Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered.

You can listen and participate in WHATCHA GOT?, Harry’s antiques and collectibles radio call-in show, on Sunday mornings between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM Eastern Time.  If you cannot find it on a station in your area, WHATCHA GOT? streams live on the Internet at www.goldenbroadcasters.com.

SELL, KEEP OR TOSS?: HOW TO DOWNSIZE A HOME, SETTLE AN ESTATE, AND APPRAISE PERSONAL PROPERTY (House of Collectibles, an imprint of Random House Information Group, $16.95), Harry’s latest book, is available at your favorite bookstore and via www.harryrinker.com.