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New Books for Collectors
—
December 2008
Kitchen Glassware
of the Depression Years, Seventh Edition
by Cathy and Gene Florence
Reviewed by Robert Reed
(Antique & Collectible News Service)
 |
It has been eight long years since the last edition Kitchen Glass of the Depression Years by Cathy and Gene Florence last appeared. Now it sparkles in its newest seventh edition.
“Availability of older kitchenware, or the lack thereof, has been the primary concern,” note the author couple. Choice items for new pictures have been few and far between. This seventh book is a compilation of items from earlier books so that, now, over 5,000 pieces of kitchenware are included in priced.”
The selection is vast, from butter dishes and coffee pots to syrup pitchers and water bottles. The colors are a rainbow as well from glittering amber to green and from gleaming pink to yellow.
The authors also offer some sound coverage regarding condition of those kitchen treasures of long ago.
“A price range has been given for kitchenware items to allow for some ware and a little roughness that is normally not acceptable in collecting other forms of glass,” they note in the book’s introduction. “Remember, these were utilitarian items and most were in use for years; therefore, most kitchenware collectors will tolerate some evidence of use. This does not mean cracks, chips, or chunks are acceptable.”
Kitchen Glassware of the Depression Years, Seventh Edition, by Cathy and Gene Florence, hard cover, color illustrated, 272 pages is $24.95 plus shipping from Collector Books, 1-800-626-5420.
A Century of
Royal Doulton Character and Toby Jugs
by Stephen Mullins and David Fastenau
Reviewed by Robert Reed
(Antique & Collectible News Service)
 |
There are really about 1,600 reasons to find an interest in the newly released book, A Century of Royal Doulton Character and Toby Jugs.
The 1,600-figure represents the illustrations of these delightful jugs from Aladdin’s Genie to Dr. Zhivago and from Louis Armstrong to John Wayne. The photographs are supplemented with remarkable coverage, which even includes many never before seen prototype jugs.
This substantial volume provides a fascinating array of character jugs in sweeping alphabetical order. There is a large color photograph of each character in all of its sizes. Among them: Albert Einstein, Annie Oakley, Clark Gable, Frankenstein’s Monster, General Custer, Groucho Marx, Orville Wright, William Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes.
In this quality book’s introduction, Louise Irvine explains, “Strictly speaking, a Toby jug features a full or standing figure. However, since ancient times, potters have made jugs in the form of human faces. These ‘face jugs’ were given the name character jugs by Royal Doulton and this pottery set the standard for the revival of figurative jugs in the 20th century.”
Further, the book also includes Royal Doulton offerings of ash pots, banks, bookends, busts, candlesnuffers, napkin rings, teapots, whiskey decanters and related items.
Major authors of the volume are Stephen Mullins and David Fastenau. Mullins has been collecting Royal Doulton character jugs for more than 60 years. Today his collection numbers 6,500 items from around the world. Fastenau’s interest in collecting character and Toby jugs began when he inherited a small collection of Royal Doulton jugs from his grandmother.
A Century of Royal Doulton Character and Toby Jugs by Stephen Mullins and David Fastenau, hardcover, 464 pages, 1,650 illustrations, is $125 plus shipping from Schiffer Publishing, 4880 Lower Valley Rd., Atglen, PA 19310.
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