Questions and Answers
 

QUESTION: I have a couple of old Dorney Park posters and tickets that date somewhere between the mid-1940s and mid-1950s.  The first poster is headlined “Dorney Park Bathing Pool.”  The general adult admission for a person with his own suit was 35¢ and a season adult pass cost $7.00.  The second poster reads “SWIM IN SHORTS / The Healthful Way / AT DORNEY PARK / Bus Stops at Pool.”  The third poster is for “CIRCUIT OF SPEED / NEW CAR RACES / ’55 CADILLAC—PACKARD   OLDS—FORDS—CHEVS ’55 / DORNEY PARK ALLENTOWN, PA / SAT. NITE SEPT. 3.” The ticket strip is from the early to mid-1950s.  Do these things have any value?  -- CR, New Tripoli, PA, E-Mail Question

ANSWER: You can find a detailed history of Dorney Park on the website www.dorneypark.com.  Dorney Park traces its history back to the 1860s when Solomon Dorney built a fish hatchery along Cedar Creek west of Allentown, Pennsylvania.  In the 1870s Dorney added a host of features among which were playground-style rides, a hotel and restaurant and a small zoo to his “Fish Weir and Summer Resort.”  In 1884 Dorney renamed his estate “Dorney’s Trout Ponds and Summer Resort.”  A host of amusement part rides such as an Old Mill and Ferris Wheel quickly followed.

In 1899, the Allentown-Kutztown Traction Company completed a double track trolley line between Allentown and Kutztown and included a stop at Dorney Park.  In 1901 the Traction Company purchased the park from Dorney.  1901 also marked the year when Dorney Park’s Dentzel Carousel was introduced.

In 1923 a wooden roller coaster was built.  The year also marked the purchase of Dorney Park by Robert Plarr, Bill Ruske, and Ray Sandt.  Plarr bought out his partners within a few years.  1927 saw the addition of an open-air dance pavilion.

In 1954 Dorney Park celebrated its 70th birthday as an amusement park and Plarr marked his 50th year of association with the park.  He had worked at the park many years prior to his purchase.  The Coaster and Denzel Carousel were painted a golden yellow.  It was not until 1980 that the park was enclosed and an admission fee charged.  Prior to that date, attendees purchased individual tickets for the rides.

I grew up with Dorney Park.  Community days were a prominent promotional feature in the late 1940s and 1950s.  Women and children spent the day at the park.  The men joined the women after work.  Individuals congregated under the picnic pavilions either by family group or church organization.  The swimming pool was still open.  As at the beach, I spent all my time in the penny arcade rather than in the water.  While in high school and attending Lehigh University, I went to dances at Dorney Park.

Of course, your posters and tickets have value.  Anyone with fond Dorney Park memories is a potential buyer.  Before assigning my value to your posters and ticket strip, I decided to call David Bausch, a friend and local collector.  Dave’s values agreed with mine.  Your posters are worth between $60.00 and $75.00.  Ticket strips are quite common.  A full strip has a value between $8.00 and $10.00.

QUESTION: I found what I believe to be an original Ben Hardaway hand ink drawing used as a model sheet for Bugs Bunny.  It measures about 10in by 12in and is on a thick artist board with a printed label on the back.  I would like to learn anything I can about this piece.  – CP, Seattle, WA, E-mail Question

ANSWER: The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons (Chelsea House Publishers, 1980, 2nd Printing), edited by Maurice Horn, provides this biography of Joseph Benson Hardaway (1891-1957):  “American cartoonist born near Kansas City, Missouri, in 1891.  Joseph Benson (Ben) Hardaway started his career as a cartoonist for the ‘Kansas City Star’ around 1910.  During World War I he was the top sergeant in Captain Harry Truman’s 129th Field Artillery.  After the war Hardaway resumed his cartooning career on various Midwestern newspapers, finally deciding to move west and into animation at the end of the 1920s.

“In the early 1930s Hardaway was among the first group of artists working on the Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes produced by Leon Schlesinger;  as a scriptwriter he earned the nickname ‘Bugs’ because of the outrageousness of his plot lines.  His moment of fame came in 1938 when he co-directed (with Cal Dalton) ‘Porky’s Hare Hunt,’ in which there appeared for the first time a wisecracking rabbit of whom more was to be heard.  In 1940 the rabbit, officially named Bugs Bunny in reference to Hardaway, became the star of the studio—ironically, since 1940 was also the year Hardaway decided to leave Schlesinger for Walter Lantz.

“At the Lantz studios Hardaway worked variously as animator, writer and director on many of the ‘Woody Woodpecker’ cartoons.  In the early 1950s he left Lantz to write stories for Temple-Toons Productions in Los Angeles.  He died at his home in North Hollywood on February 5, 1957.”

“Porky’s Hare Hunt” was released on April 30, 1938.  Chuck Jones directed “Prest-O Change-O,” a cartoon featuring the second appearance of a wise cracking white rabbit and released on March 25, 1939.  Cal Dalton and Joseph “Ben” Hardaway were assigned to direct “Hare-um Scare-um,” the third cartoon featuring a rabbit.  Only this time the rabbit’s color was changed from white to gray.  Hardaway submitted a model sheet signed “Bugs’ Bunny.”  The name stuck, and Bugs Bunny became a star.

Your drawing features Bugs dressed in a World War II outfit and wearing a baseball/worker’s cap with an upturned bill on which “SPEEDY” is printed, hence dating the sketch between 1942 and 1945.  Hardaway (1) worked on only two Bugs Bunny cartoons and (2) left Looney Tunes in 1940 to work for Walter Lantz.  Hence, your sketch cannot be an animated cartoon model sheet.

Many different animation artists drew Bugs Bunny.  It was and remains a common practice for cartoon artists to draw images of their favorite characters and present them as gifts to friends.  Your picture is labeled “H’YA CHUCK” just off Bugs’ left shoulder.  This suggests it falls into the individualized present category.

Because the drawing was done during the Second World War, there is the remote possibility that it is a sketch to be used for the nose of an airplane or for a poster.  However, the personalization appears to preclude this possibility.

Bugs Bunny sketches by Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng are far more common than those by Ben Hardaway.  Your sketch has a value between $60.00 and $75.00.

QUESTION: My late father-in-law drove to Cooperstown, New York, every year to attend the induction ceremony for new members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.  He has left behind three autograph books filled with notables such as Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, and Cy Young.  Can you tell me how to go about finding if there is a market for such items and what they might be worth?  -- CN, Lancaster, PA, E-mail Question

ANSWER: In math class, I learned “the sum of the parts is equal to the whole.”  When it comes to antiques and collectibles, the truth often is that “the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.”  Such is the case with your autograph books.

The good news is that your autographs are authentic.  Your father-in-law stood there and watched the players sign them.  The bad news is that he did not leave a certified letter behind stating that he did this.  Hopefully, he had some of the players date their signatures.  This would go a long way in establishing the believability of your story.

There are several difficulties in valuing autograph albums.  The first is that you only can display two pages at a time.  The second is that a potential buyer most likely is interested in only a few of the signatures in the album and does not care about the rest.

You cannot determine the value of the album by valuing each signature separately and adding them up.  The two to five top valued signatures determined the value of the album.  The only way to maximize the value of the signatures is to cut the album apart and sell the signatures separately.

The fact that the albums contain Hall of Fame players is very good news.  Hall of Famers are among the most desired baseball signatures.

If you wish to sell the albums or have them formally appraised, my recommendation is to contact Brian Marren of Mastronet (195669 Kingery Highway, Willowbrook, IL  60527 / bmarren@mastronet.com).

QUESTION: I have a copy of Lawrence Welk’s Wunnerful Wunnerful, an autobiography written by Welk and Bernice McGeehan.  It is inscribed from “Cal / Xmas of 1971.”  Does it have any value?  --  HH, Walnutport, PA

ANSWER: I did a quick search of the title on www.abebooks.com.  I found 590 copies of the book for sale ranging in price from $1.00, with plenty of choice at this price, to $499.00.  The $499.00 copy was autographed, but so were most copies ranging in price from $45.00 to $499.00.  In fact, I did a comparison between the listing for the $45.00 copies versus the $499.00 copy and found no difference whatsoever.

The value of any objects rests upon what someone is willing to pay for it.  What you need to remember about all the copies listed on www.abebooks.com or any site listing antiques and collectibles for sale is that the reason they still are listed is that no one has agreed to pay the price asked.  Maybe someone will and, then again, maybe they will not.

What is the value of your book?  I like $1.00 to $2.00.  If you have read and enjoyed it, its real value is to pass it along to a friend who will do likewise.

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 rinkeron@fast.net.  Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered.

Home & Garden Television (HGTV) currently lists COLLECTOR INSPECTOR as on hiatus from January 1 through June 30, 2005.  Whether or not it returns as reruns in July depends entirely on HGTV.
 

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