Questions and Answers

QUESTION:  I have a Hafner train set that I received in 1947.  The key-wound engine is numbered #2000.  The blue-sided, coal car is impressed “HAFNER” on one side.  The caboose, “CHICAGO & NORTHWESTERN” is number 614333.”  I also have a Lionel Lines, yellow-sided, blue-roofed box car, No. 1514, with couplers that allows it to be included in the set.  I also have enough track to create an oval.  The cars are scratched.  I played with them.  The “coal” in the coal car shows signs of rust.  What is the value of my train set? – MW, Janesville, WI

ANSWER:  William Frederick Hafner founded The Hafner Manufacturing Company, located in Chicago, in 1914.  The company produced clockwork-powered O gauge toy trains until its sale in 1951.

William Frederick Hafner was one of the founders of American Flyer.  Why he left the company is a mystery.

Hafner Manufacturing Company’s specialty was inexpensive train sets, i.e., sets retailing for three dollars or less.  Hence, the company survived the Depression in good financial order.  John Hafner, William’s son, assumed control of the company in 1933.

Hafner Manufacturing Company was unable to secure government contracts during World War II.  It survived by making bottle caps for the Fox Brewing Company.  William Hafner died in 1944.

Post-war competition took its tool.  All Metal Products Company, who manufactured toys under the Wyandotte brand, bought Hafner Manufacturing Company in 1951.  Financial difficulties continued. Louis Marx and Company purchased Hafner’s tooling in 1956, assigned it to a Mexican subsidiary, and used it to manufacture battery-powered and windup sets.  Marx thus eliminated one of its major competitors from the marketplace.

Hafner Manufacturing Company never made electric trains.  Those which appear in the market have been refitted with a Marx electric motor, a common practice.

Also, look inside your cars.  Hafner, like Marx, used “recycled” lithography, i.e., defective tin plate that was flipped over and reprinted.  Recycled lithograph tin came from internal defective printings as well as from outside sources.  As a result, some Hafner collectors specialize in collecting interior variations.  There are dozens.

Is there a relationship between an object that was inexpensive when new and its long-term secondary market value?  The answer is yes.  If the object was inexpensive new, chances are strong that its secondary market value also will be low.  Toy train collectors prefer American Flyer, Ives, and Lionel, the high-quality brands.  Although collectors for Hafner and Marx lithograph tin trains exist, their number is small.  Individuals are reluctant to admit that they owned an “it’s all I could afford” toy.

[Author’s Aside:  If you have never visited the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, include it in your upcoming vacation plans.  It houses one of the finest collections of toys in the United States.  I am going to recommend to its curatorial staff that they mount an “It’s All I Could Afford” exhibit.  It is a subject well worth visiting.]

A complete Hafner freight set consisting of the No. 2000 engine, a Santa Fe box car, hopper car, caboose, oval of track, and box (great graphs) books at $60.00 in good condition and $120.00 in fine condition.  Individual rolling stock is valued between $8.00 and $10.00 in good condition and $12.00 to $15.00 in fine condition.

Based on the photographs that accompanied your letter, your engine and rolling stock is between fair and good condition.  As a result, the value of your trains set is around $30.00.  Its “real” value is to wind it up and enjoy it.

QUESTION:  I have a watercolor, entitled on the back “The Barn Sign,” that measures 20in x 26in, pictures the side of a Pennsylvania German bank barn, and signed “William W. Swallow.”  Information on the back indicated that the barn in located in the Powder Valley region near Old Zionsville, Pennsylvania and that the painting was done in the summer of 945.  I know Swallow was an art instructor at Parkland High School.  What additional information can you provide and what is my painting worth? – MW, Schnecksville, PA, E-mail Question

ANSWER:  William W. Swallow (1912-1962) is one of the lesser members of the Baum Circle, a group of artists influenced by Walter Emerson Baum.  The Baum Circle included many better known painters such as John E. Berninger, Richard Peter Hoffman, and Antonio Martino.

Swallow was the life partner of Richard Peter Hoffman (1911-1997).  Mahlon Hellerich and Scott Swank’s A Pennsylvania German Precisionist: The Art of Richard Peter Hoffman, published by the Pennsylvania German Society in 1990, chronicles his work.

The Trojan Art Gallery at Parkland High School, Whitehall, Pennsylvania, includes several of Swallow’s works including at least two other watercolors of this same barn.  Swallow’s work also is included in the collection of the Daniel Boone Homestead in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania.

I spoke with Brent Souder of Sanford Aldefer Auction and Appraisal (501 Fairgrounds Road, Hatfield, PA 19440; alderferauction.com) about William Swallow. Under Brent’s guidance, Alderfer Auction has become one of the leading sources for the sale of Baum School, Delaware River Impressionists, and other regional art from Eastern Pennsylvania and its surrounds.

Brent informed me that there was some local interest in Swallow watercolors and oils.  He indicated that oils sell in the $1,900.00 to $2,100.00 range and that watercolors bring between $300.00and $500.00.

Regional/state art has enjoyed a growing popularity over the past two decades.  The difficulty in assigning value is that its value often is limited to the region or state in which it originated.  If removed from that environment, its value decreases.  As with any general rule in the antiques and collectibles trade, there are exceptions, primarily local artists who achieved national recognition.

Unlike national/international art where value rests in name and in some cases aesthetics, regional/state art value is influenced by age (one of the few cases where old is a value factor), gender (female artists often command premium prices), scene identification (the more specific, the better), identification with a local art school or group of artists, and local auction/gallery hype.  Many regional and local artists are semi-trained amateurs.  Hence, the quality of their work varies.  Surprisingly, many local collectors ignore poor and unaesthetic quality in regional/state art.  The fact the painting is “local” is all that is needed to create value.

QUESTION:  I have a 1979 ceramic Avon beer stein, handcrafted in Brazil, with an automobile scene featuring a 1910 Stanley Steamer.  What is its value? – BL, Emmaus, PA

ANSWER:  Avon issued its first commemorative ceramic beer stein in 1976.  Ceramarte in Brazil made the early examples.  While I was not able to determine from the Internet whether Avon still offers commemorative steins, I did find a 2002 example.

Avon steins had themes, e.g., Flying Classics (1981), Age of the Iron Horse (1982), American Bald Eagle (1990), A Century of Basketball (1993), and Clydesdale Hitch (2002).  Some were issued with cologne.  Others were sold simply as steins.

Value in the secondary market depends on the sale venue.  Several Internet dealers ask between $15.00 and $40.00 plus shipping depending on the theme.  Age does not seem to impact value.

In the past month, more than a dozen 1979 Avon steins were offered for sale on eBay.  Opening bid requests ranged from $0.99 to $20.00.  Shipping costs varied from a low of $5.37 to $12.25.  Obviously, those with higher shipping costs were planning to make up some of their lost profits through excessive shipping rates.

The unfortunate news for you is that none of these steins sold.  Alas, the all too obvious conclusion is there is no viable secondary market for Avon steins.  They are cheap collectibles, but so cheap that no one wants them.

QUESTION:  I owned a copy of Charles Schulz’s Snoopy and the Red Baron, published in 1966 for the Weekly Reader Children’s Book Club.  It is in exceptional condition.  When you open it, the binding still makes noise.  Is it worth anything? – DB, E-mail Question

ANSWER:  I like answering questions that rekindle a childhood memory.  I read the My Weekly Reader when I was in grade school in the late 1940s/early 1950s.  Does it still exist?

The answer is yes.  Charles Palmer Davis of Agawam, Massachusetts, launched Current Events, a newspaper for middle and high school students, on May 20, 1902.  In 1927, Davis incorporated American Education Press and moved the company to Columbus, Ohio.  My Weekly Reader, aimed at elementary school students, was introduced on September 21, 1928.  For more history, see the website, weeklyreader.com.

Holt, Reinhart and Winston printed the first hardcover of Schulz’s Snoopy and the Red Baron in 1966.  The company also did a special printing for the Weekly Reader Book Club.  Fawcett Crest published the first soft cover edition in 1967.

My research indicated a limited secondary market for this title.  I found more than a dozen listings on various websites, all priced at $5.00 or less plus shipping.

The “real” value of your book comes from reading it.  Time to crack that noisy binding.

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.gcnlive.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.