I enjoy learning, it keeps life fun. I am amazed by the little bits I learn while traveling around finding items for my collection or resale. Sometimes they are real mysteries. For example, a few weeks ago I found this cute little Scottie Dog at a local thrift store. A simple little pressed glass crystal dog I took for a pipe rest by the shape and design. I thought it might be 30's - 40's and perhaps something that was created due to the popularity of Fala, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's beloved Scottie dog, noted as one of the most popular of the US Presidential Pooches. My research showed that some collectors believe it to be a pipe rest, as I did. However, most attribute it to the L.E. Smith Glass Company as a creamer that was made for Post Grape-Nut Cereal as a giveaway for kids in the 1930's. According to Tom Felt, L E Smith Glass Company, The First One Hundred Years, none of the factory inventories corroborate this information. But, he continues, special order items would have been shipped in their entirety to the purchaser (Post). It is clear that L.E. Smith used the Scottie dog in many of their designs. Also, Felt tells us that the value of the piece may be in the number sometimes noted on the bottom (1 - 37). Some numbers are difficult to find, such as no. 36 and are highly sought-after. Some like to collect all numbers. So, is this a 1930's enticement for kids to want Grape-Nut cereal for the creamer “toy-surprise” or is it a pipe or cigarette rest?Tom's Book is a great by the way and I recommend it.
There was one of these in our house when I was growing up in the 1950's. My mother who was born in the 1920's told me it was came in a box of cereal when she was growing up. I was told it was a cream pitcher.
ReplyDeleteThere was one of these in our house when I was young. My mother who was born in the 1920's told me it was a prize in a box of cereal when she was young. She told me it was a cream pitcher. I have it now and a few more I have picked up over the years.
ReplyDelete