"TWAS THE TOY BEFORE CHRISTMAS"

On December 22, 1822, the distinguished scholar, Clement Clarke Moore, recited to his children a poem he wrote for them as a gift.

Luckily, a house guest copied down "A Visit From Saint Nicholas" and sent it to a New York Newspaper, the "Troy Sentinel," where it was published anonymously a year later. Moore's description of St. Nicholas bore and uncanny resemblance to the family's plump, long-whiskered, pipe-chewing, merry caretaker, Jay Duyckinck. The portrait of the jolly old elf descending chimneys and filling fireplace stockings from a bundle of toys flung on his back, changed Christmas forever.

The author finally allowed it to be published in book form in 1844. A few years later, coincidence or not, a great worldwide industry emerged. Today, toys comprise one the strongest arms of the antiques' market. Old tin toys are amongst the highest prized.

In 1848, the "Philadelphia Tin Toy Manufactory" began producing one of the first of many lines of commercial tin toys. Thin, tin-plated sheet steel was hammered into molds, forming blank toy sections and parts. The toys were assembled by clamping the parts together with metal tabs or soldering.

Finally, the toy was hand-painted and stenciled. Ingenious moving clock mechanisms were introduced to tin and other toys in the 1850's by a Connecticut clock-maker turned toy-maker, George Brown.

Brown not only invented many of the his toy's internal mechanisms, but he also did most of the design work as well. The beautiful tin toys: riverboats, horse-drawn wagons, locomotives, fire-fighting wagons, made by Brown and his contemporaries such as "Charles Ives" of Bridgeport, CT, or "Hull and Stafford" of Clinton, CT, and even German guildsmen remained popular until the end of the 19th century.

Then, affordable "lithograph" (printed) decorated German import toys captured the market. But that's just one class of toys. Old rocking horses, French china dolls, marbles, miniature tea sets, German penny toys, Japanese spring driven toys, "Steiff" teddy bears, trains, plastic "Star Wars" spaceships-all are among the thousands of hotly collected categories. Becoming familiar with old toys can take a lifetime. Here's a few general tips.

Toys need not have age to have collector value. Remember the soaring prices when the "Cabbage Patch Doll" craze hit a few years ago?

Condition is usually key. An early 1960's boxed "Flintstones" game can be worth $200 in pristine condition, or $2 in poor shape.

Beware of fakes and reproductions, especially in cast iron toys.

Toys made in their pioneer early years usually have premium value. For example, a 1959 "Barbie Doll" or a 1952 "Mr. Potato Head" set, when Mr. Potato Head really had a potato head.

Toys with movement; mechanical clock, spring, even battery operated, can have premium value.

Appeal counts. Baseball, African American, cartoon, celebrity, and other types of toys are coveted. As are toys made by collectible manufacturers such as "Hubley," "Ives," and "Lionel."

Early toys, especially those that were costly in their day, can have great value. For instance, a sophisticated tine hose-reel fire-wagon in pristine condition made by George Brown in 1875 brought $231,000 at auction a few years back.
 

by AntiqueTalk.com

Reprinted with permission
Copyright by Wayne Mattox ©

Teddy Bears

The first Teddy Bear was named November 15, 1902, when men trapped and chained a great black to a tree endeavoring to improve the luck of a rugged young American President taking a leave after his first year in office to hunt in Mississippi. Eminent as a statesman, soldier, orator, and one of the most widely read writers of his time, Teddy Roosevelt was also a proud hunter and a naturalist.  He refused to shoot the tethered bear. The following day a political cartoon captioned "Drawing the Line in Mississippi," illustrated this event in the Washington Post.  The half-ton bear was drawn by its artist, Clifford Berryman, not as a wild carnivore, but as a cute cub with sad eyes, round ears, and a button for a nose.  He looked more like a doll than an animal and thus he became one.

Within months the President had given his approval to Ideal Toy Company founders, Russian emigre' brothers Morris and Rose Michtom, to apply the name Teddy Bear, to their jointed wool-filled toys. Teddy was an overnight success.  By the year 1907, the greatest innovators and artisans in stuffed toy history, the German firm started by wheelchair-bound Margarete Steiff, was turning out almost a million bears annually.  Today, Teddy is the most popular of all soft toys.  He has starred in classic stories like The Tale of Teddy Bright Eyes (1909), and Winnie the Pooh (1926), and A Bear Called Paddington (1958). He has appeared on lunch boxes, dishware, buttons, sheet music, post cards, and early photographs. All these categories are coveted by antique collectors, but not nearly as much as the huggable old bear himself.

As you can well imagine, old teddies are regularly discovered at tag sales, auctions, church bazaars, shops, and shows-sometimes for only a few dollars. One may be quietly hibernating within a box or trunk in your own attic. The world record price in is a whopping $176,000 achieved for a circa 1905 Steiff bear at a December '94 auction. A similar bear brought $86,000 in 1989, however, before you star tearing apart your attic, take note that these prices are aberrations. As Yogi would say, "They're not your average bear."   Teddies a few years old will sell for only a few dollars, and most older bears, even by coveted firms like Steiff, Schuco, Chad Valley, Ideal, or Shackman, bring tens or  hundreds, not thousands. 

Before investing serious money in pristine old bears you'd be well advised to visit museums, fairs, and auctions, specifically dedicated to old teddies where you can see and handle them. Experts learn the smell and feel of genuine examples that commonly have mohair plush and wood-wool stuffing. Begin your pack with worn examples. They often have an undeniable integrity associated with their very price tag. Who would bother faking a haggard old bear for only five or ten dollars? Next week, we'll talk a little more about the courageous Margarete Steiff and particulars on how to discern the age of precious old teddy bears. Until then, remember that such antiques cannot be bought, only adopted.

by AntiqueTalk.com

Reprinted with permission
Copyright by Wayne Mattox ©
 

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