Advertising - Part 3

Following some 50 possibilities presented in a computer search, conclusion was reached by John Resnik that Jockey Club was a perfume!?........You weren’t ready for that one were you? John tracked down the company into the early 1900’s. The identical logo appears on some print advertising from the 1850’s. It is known that this product was sold in California, but point of origin had not been established in 1989, when the Lettered Pieces were documented by Mr. Resnik. Just a thought: We don’t recall that there was a gift shop at the Del Mar Racetrack, north of San Diego, which might have been the marketing hub for the perfume, but perhaps in earlier days there was. A custom prevails whereby ladies attending “First Day” racing at Del Mar, try to “outdo” one another by wearing huge, elaborately decorated hats. At the turn-of-the-century, perhaps it was fashionable to wear “Jockey Club Perfume……….for Good Luck?”

Some books refer to “marigold” in this particular pattern. However, our example of the flat plate purchased in Feb. 1995 presents the “hint” of marigold in the iridescence. However, it does have a much lighter amethyst base than some of the lettered pieces. Presented under certain lighting, it could be mistaken for marigold.

A very pretty hand-grip style plate sold on Ebay, 4/13/03 for $1276.01! A flat plate having the marigold appearance sold from the Adams’ collection 11/22/03 for $1600. The prettiest bowl we have ever seen sold over Ebay on 1/2/04 for $962.89, purchased by Mickey Reichel, the auctioneer. Another bowl was purchased by Mickey Reichel for $1302. on 3/19/04. A SUPER hand-grip plate from the Halliburton collection in Texas brought $2000 in a Buy it Now offer on Ebay, 5/7/04.

The Ogden Furniture and Carpet Company came into existence early in 1902. 2432-2436 Washington Avenue, Ogden, Utah was their initial location. By 1910, expansion had led them to encompass 2422-2434 Washington Ave. By 1920 their address became 2422-2428 Washington Ave., indicating a downturn. Business had not improved by 1930, and they had moved to 385 24th St., and by 1931, no business address could be found for them.

Print advertising by the company indicates they sold a full line of home furnishings including; furniture, carpet, window coverings, stoves, and appliances. Mail order was also a part of their business.

John Resnik lists the ruffled and IC shape bowls, and the handgrip plates as scarce. The flat plate should be considered RARE. Only two bowls and one plate sold at auction in 2001……two examples were beyond the $1000 figure. The same seller from Ogden, Utah placed a bowl and a flat plate for sale on Ebay. The bowl realized a price of $1,000, the plate, $1200, each selling on 4/14/03. A handgrip example brought $1100 when the Adams’ collection sold on 11/22/03.

Our plate came from a small antique shop we found to the east of El Cajon, CA, along a more-or-less deserted road in the desert country. The elderly gentleman could not decide whether he really wanted to sell the plate, and once that was determined, could not establish the price. This was November 1987. It is a beautiful example, and well-worth waiting for all this to transpire……….nearly all afternoon! IF we had made the gentleman an offer (close to true value) to speed things up, we probably would have “changed his mind about selling”, but as it was, he priced his own merchandise. For once in our “collecting career”, we came away with a “real deal”! They are few and far between, as most of you can attest, if you have ever looked for one to purchase!

Rood’s was born in 1889, as the Pueblo Cracker & Confectionary Co. The business changed hands several times between 1891 and 1909, with attendant names such as American Biscuit & Mfg. Co., and later as Colorado Confectionary Co. The owner during this latest tenure was the National Biscuit Co., (NABISCO). Aaron Rood had been employed by this company, in various capacities, since its’ inception. In 1909, with total capitol of $150,000, he acquired ownership and incorporated the company. By 1910 Rood had built a new 32,000 sq. ft. facility at 408-416 W. 7th St., Pueblo, CO. During this transition the name was changed to the Rood’s Candy Company.

Aaron Rood died in 1921 and his son Jesse assumed control of the company. Jesse sold his interest in the business in 1935 and retired to Calif. The new owners retained the Rood’s name until the company’s demise in 1939.

During WWII, the Pueblo Jr. College System acquired the old Rood’s building and utilized it as a vocational training center for wartime assembly line workers. Following the War the building was used as a warehouse facility for the local school district. In 1981 the old building was placed on the national Register of historic Places, thus insuring its’ survival. (Above info. taken from The Encyclopedia of Carnival Glass Lettered Pieces by John Resnik).

In 1988-1989 as Mr. Resnik correlated the statistics for entry into his Book, 3-4 examples were known in this extremely rare advertising flat plate. $1500-$2000 was the price range listed in his guide. Since “those days”, and along with the acceptance of the wonderful book; prices have escalated into the $4000 bracket when one of these surfaces! We don’t know of any hand-grips or bowls in this design.

How accurate that count of 3-4, is today, none of us can say. It remains next to impossible to obtain an example! At about the same time we acquired our beautiful plate from an antique dealer who walked into a meeting of the Southern Calif. Club in Long Beach, in May of 1994, another example turned up in a Colorado collection. We received a call from a man in Montana, who had secured one. Whether each of these three were included in John’s original count is anyone’s guess.

The antique dealer mentioned above was not a collector, but had come to the meeting with sale of the plate in mind. As he walked to the registration table, I noted the “interesting small, colorful piece in his hand”. Noting him to be a non-member, I made a “bee-line” to the desk, asking whether the piece was for sale?..........His answer: “Yes, if I can get my price. If not, I’m going to send it to John Woody for inclusion in one of his sales.” His price was top-dollar, naturally, but we happily paid it, and enjoy our prize daily.

The case cannot be made that this was given away as some Christmas Holiday premium when one realizes that Paradise Sodas are actually CRACKERS! Proof of that is illustrated in the photo showing an actual packing box for those crackers, which was found about ten years ago by Wally McDaniel of Rough and Ready, CA. (That box just might be as valuable as one of the Glass Advertising examples!)

The Paradise Roller Mills came into existence during the mid 1800’s, long before Modesto, California was even a city. The company’s primary function was the grinding of whole grain into flour. “Roller Mill” describes the specific process used, and is a variation on grist mill.

Very little historical fact was available about this company, John Resnik found in his search for his 1989 Book on the subject of Advertising pieces. Apparently they expanded around the turn of the century, making cracker products. The exact cause of the demise of this company is not know, but there is no mention of its existence after 1919. Though no specific losses were named, this could be the causal factor.

Very likely this particular plate (no other known shapes exist) is the most available of all the 6” Advertising pieces. Sales of four plates are listed in the 2002 Mordini Price Guide. Results of $310-$650 are given, indicating this to be an ideal and very reasonable place to begin collecting these specialty items. Interestingly, following the hike in price results for Advertising during the Nov. ’03 Adams’ sale where this pattern was not sold, three examples appeared on Ebay from 12/20/03-1/4/04 with those results: $464, $550, and $576! Things are definitely looking UP!

As stated previously, patience and perseverance are requirements in collecting these Advertising examples. Once a color preference has been established within your mind, many times a piece will present itself, but not be within that color realm of acceptance to match the others you have accumulated. Then, you must wait for another opportunity.

For nearly three years during the mid ‘80’s, Dee Sponsler, Erma Shaputis and I (Diane) shared space for antique shows held at the San Diego Fairgrounds in Del Mar and also in Glendale, CA. Three Carnival collectors in the same booth made for some tight moments on occasion, but one lucky moment came my way the day a dealer from Los Angeles area set up in our aisle. He offered a good price for the piece, so that day in Sept. 1988 was when we became owners of this nice little “cracker of a plate”!

In 1913 when Mr. Smith was distributing these pieces to a population of something under 1000 in the small city of Rome, Georgia, his endeavor to promote business interests may have been fruitful. In 1989, the population had grown to a thriving 30,000 residents. Presumably, at that point in time, and since, availability of these Advertising examples diminished considerably! After 1922, no records of his business exist. It has taken nearly twenty years to claim a nice plate example in this pattern. Thanks to a recent tip from a friend who searches Ebay on a daily basis, (Neil Smith), we were led to bid on this piece from that source, obtaining it from W.J. Warren in New York State. (We bought our first piece of Carnival Glass from him via the old Antique Weekly publication about twenty years ago!)....It really IS a small world!

Although John Resnik states that all three shapes; bowl, H/G and flat plate are scarce to very scarce, in the years since 1989, we conclude that availability SHOULD be revised to the status of EXTREMELY scarce! Apparently none sold during 2002, at least publicly.

Our purchase in June 2002 provided $1250 for the handgrip plate. Another Ebay sale in Sept. 2002 realized $2800 for a flat plate. The Adams’s plate example brought $1400 in Nov. 2003. In Dec. 2003, a bowl brought $651 over Ebay. Another very pretty bowl sold in May 2004 over Ebay for $550.

The Garden Mums pattern which accompanies the written matter on those Advertising pieces manufactured by Fenton is worth noting as the “blank”, or basic mold, allowing for change from one “advertiser to another.”

To quote John Resnik, “The historical data on this company is very sketchy, but a reasonable facsimile of events would seem to be as follows: Reason G. Davis entered the furniture business in Sacramento, California shortly after the Civil War. In the late 1800’s he expanded his enterprise to the San Francisco area. Somewhere along the way he acquired a plethora of partners. The first telephone listing for the company occurred in 1900, and lists the parent organization as Sterling & Bunster-Saxe. Various addresses up and down Market St. are listed, until about 1910, when the company arrived at 1049, the address shown on this article. One Bunster-Saxe or another is consistently shown as president. In 1961 the San Francisco store was closed and the company moved to Daly City, California. By 1970, retail sales had been terminated and the company specialized in manufacture.

Ruffled and ice cream shaped bowls, handgrip, and flat plates are found in this Sterling design, with the bowls considered very scarce and the plate shapes are in the rare category. This fact is born out with a lack of an auction transactions during 2001 and 2002!

Our claim to fame was in answering an ad in the old Antique Trader in late July 1987. We phoned the owner in Colorado, and when this lovely handgrip plate arrived, we were tremendously pleased with our new-found treasure!

That last statement brings us to a slogan used by Michael Sponsler during the mid-‘80’s when he and Dee helped us so admirably to get the San Diego Club going full steam. “Which piece is your favorite?....The last one you bought!”……….AHH-SO!

“In the case of this item, I may never have known from whence it came were it not for the Western Bell business office.. I requested the 1915 location of telephone number 478, and a computer readout later, from Salt Lake City. The rest was easy.

Utah Liquor was founded in 1894 at 167 South Main Street. Mr. Jacob Bergerman relocated his business to 223 South Main Street on March 30, 1903. I know the exact date because, quite by accident, I happened upon an ad in the Salt Lake City Herald announcing the move. Statewide prohibition came to Utah in 1917, and Mr. Bergerman had to find another line of work.

Made by Fenton with the Wide Panel exterior, this design can be said to have extremely elusive qualities! We were led to discovery of the first known flat plate in this design by a lady who visited our booth during an antique show held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in the Spring of 1989. She knew the gentleman dealer who had it in his shop on the eastern outskirts of El Cajon, CA, giving us directions to the shop. It was well into the desert area, nearly two hours from coastal San Diego, where we lived.

engaging in “possibilities” surrounding this newfound curiosity was required in order for a price to be established. This was an elderly gent who felt he should sell, after being afforded the opportunity, but having no previous record to work from, was very cautious. Since we never make offers, nor attempt to take advantage of ANYONE, it became a very long afternoon-into early evening! The outcome was gloriously satisfactory!

Our next mission was to contact John, knowing he was about to wind up his research and go to print. As with all writers, including Mrs. Marion Hartung who never wrote about anything she had not handled personally, skepticism entered into our report by phone concerning our newfound first-of-its-kind-treasure!

Very few examples have sold-at least publicly- since the advent of John’s BOOK. $650. was paid during a Sept. 1990 auction for a hand-grip plate….Jan. 31, 2003, another hand-grip sold over E bay for $1500. A high bid of $1,325 was offered for a flat plate in this design over E bay on 4/9/03, but failed to meet the sellers reserve.

When John wrote the book on Advertising, there must have been no known example of the card tray or double handgrip shape. However, on July 5, 2003, a very nice example in that shape sold for $792. over Ebay. On 7/23/03, $1,031.39 was paid for a nice flat plate on Ebay! Sale of a magnificent example in HG style brought $1,025 over Ebay on 9/2/03. A double handgrip sold on 11/22/03 for $900 at the Adams’ sale in MO.

Other than an advertising plate in the Penny & Gentle’s design, purchased in a Midwestern auction, which we have no specific knowledge of, this concludes our series about this specialized line of collectable Carnival Glass. There are no other designs on record---in the 6” amethyst types.

Stories of acquisition and the interesting folk surrounding that, are a large part of the enjoyment we sustain. Time spent in the pursuit, and the intricacies of personalities encountered, create cherished and fascinating memories as we move along this path of life! These reflections are evident as we view and appreciate the results! We wish you great results along your trek over this trail! It becomes a worthy pursuit.

Camaraderie is definitely a part of friendship, and camaraderie itself can often produce friendships, too. When we reach out to others, they reach out to us. It’s a two-way street practically lined with balloons and streamers in celebration of the unique bonds of friendship.”