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Salt and pepper shakers can be fun to collect

Looking for an inexpensive, amusing collection for a small display area in your house? Or perhaps an item to encourage your children to be collectors and go to antiques shows with you?

Kids can learn a lot about prices, money and history without a cellphone. Salt and pepper shakers come in all sizes and prices, but the figural ceramic ones are the most fun for a beginner. Salt cakes into a lump in damp weather, so in the 1700s, salt was served in a small dish with a tiny spoon. Pepper was in a tall shaker or a caster. Most were made in thin pear shapes or cylinders. They usually were glass or silver. But by the late 1800s, inexpensive novelty sets were popular, in shapes that did not match the dinnerware. Sports were popular, with ball and bat or mitt and glove sets. McCoy made a set from two different vegetables. There might be a Dutch girl and a windmill, or a pair of dogs.

Animals and birds, fruit, miniature furniture, even toys or typewriters, movie stars and celebrities were inspirations for salt and pepper sets. You could tell which was the salt because it had at least five holes in the cap; the pepper had one or two. The salt often had a few grains of rice in the container to keep the salt dry. Glass sets were the rage in the 1930s. You can find clear bottles with metal caps, McKee glass Art Deco square sets in amber, a green glass called jadeite, or ball-shaped ceramic sets to match Fiesta or Harlequin dinnerware. Enesco imported sets that look like mice or snails. Holt-Howard made pixies. Pick a theme and enjoy the hunt. Most sets cost less than $20.

Q. I have a desk with four drawers and a drop-down writing top. It has a yellowed paper sticker on the back that says, “Maddox Table, Jamestown N.Y.” with a drawing of a “mad ox.” The sticker has lines for Pattern No., Finish Date and Order No. Sources say the Maddox Co. was started in 1898. However, the label states “Finish 1-9-1889.” Can you provide any other information about this?

A. William Maddox moved to Jamestown, N.Y., in 1885. He invented the first reclining rocker and started a small business called Maddox Reclining Chair Co. Beman, Breed & Phillips was a small furniture shop that started in Jamestown in 1886. Maddox bought out Beman and Breed and the company name was changed to Phillips, Maddox & Co. They made tables for parlors, libraries and offices. Changes in partnership meant more name changes: Morgan, Maddox & Co. in 1887 and Maddox, Bailey & Co. in 1890. By 1898, his company was called the Maddox Table Co. Maddox was one of the first manufacturers in Jamestown to experiment with new advertising techniques, and he was one of the first furniture manufacturers in the U.S. to trademark his products. In 1889, he sent a salesman on a worldwide promotional tour to increase visibility and sales. So, Maddox had his name on tables for years before he was sole owner of his company.

Q. I have a Louis Vuitton of Paris trunk. For its age, I think it’s in excellent condition inside and out. It is marked on the inside “Louis Vuitton (in script) / 1 Rue Scribe Paris / 454 Strand London” and has the number 117 033. What is it worth, and where can I get the best price?

A. Louis Vuitton Malletier (1821-92) opened a shop in 1854 in Paris. The first trunk was introduced in 1858. Vuitton’s trunk was covered in gray Trianon canvas, waterproof, and the first to have a flat top. The checkerboard pattern on your trunk, called Damier canvas, was introduced in 1888 and is still used. Squares were either deep red and white (rare) or dark and light brown, like your trunk. Worked into the design is a trademark logo. From about 1890 to 1900, the Vuitton London store was located at 454 Strand, near Trafalgar Square. That address plus the serial number on your trunk dates it to the late 1890s. The value of Vuitton steamer trunks depends on condition. In rough condition, your trunk is worth $3,000 to $4,000. In professionally cleaned but not restored condition, the value would be $5,000 to $7,000. In completely restored condition, L.V. trunks like yours have sold for as much as $23,000 at auction.

Q. My grandmother left me a tea set she received as a wedding gift in 1949 from her aunt, who also had received it as a wedding gift. The pieces are shapely and have very angular handles. They are decorated with flowers in panels and marked on the bottom with a crown and “Victoria Austria.” Can you tell me about the company and when it was made?

A. The mark on your tea set was used from 1904 until 1918 by the Victoria Porcelain Factory ,operated by Schmidt & Co. in Altrohlau, Bohemia. The company was founded in 1883 as Lazarus and Rosenfeld Ltd., but was sold within two years to Franz Schmidt, who gave it his name. Bohemia was separated from Austria to become part of Czechoslovakia at the end of First World War. Altrohlau changed its name to Stara Role and is now part of the Czech Republic. Schmidt & Co. closed in 1945. Your tea set is worth $100 to $150.

TIP: Never glue or tape a piece of paper that a sports player has autographed. The glue could bleed onto the signature. The tape could leave stains.

CURRENT PRICES

– Pirkenhammer figurine, woman, kneeling, nude, arms on head, white, 1900s, 7 x 4 inches, $30.

– Lindbergh badge, photo button, airplane illustration, American flag ribbon, Minnesota’s own, 3 1/4 inches, $145.

– Kate Greenaway match safe, silver, girls sitting on fence, field, flowers, gold washed interior, 2 x 1/14 inches, $245.

– Opera glasses, enamel, flowers, coral beads, gilt embellishments, cobalt blue ground, c. 1920, $350.

– Buck Rogers pin, blue, Buster Crabbe, space helmet, rocket ship, back paper, 1939, 1 1/4 inches, $650.

– Biedermeier sofa, fruitwood, shaped crest rail, scrolled arms, paneled sides, molded seat rail, scrolled legs, 73 x 27 inches, $1024.

– 1909 Calendar, Lauer Brew’g Co., red brick factory, world map, frame, full pad, 31 1/2 x 23 inches, $1,280.

– Webb Burmese vase, Virginia creeper, green enamel, gilt, gold berry cluster, 8 inches, pair, $1,510.

– Red Crown Gasoline thermometer, Power Service Economy, red, blue, white ground, 74 x 19 1/2 inches, $2,160.

– Anna Pottery flask, “Hot Spring,” applied woman, man, hat, belt, sword, cobalt & manganese glaze, c. 1880, 5 7/8 inches, $10,455.

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