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Archives -  Spring 2004
SHAWNEE TALES  by  Linda Romberg
Oct  2005
Sept 2005
  Suddenly another month has gone by and I was caught unprepared for the deadline!  This has been a hectic month - as of yesterday I am semi retired - well, as much as a part owner can retire - for now,  no set hours and I am looking forward to having a lot of "free" time!   Just came back from a trip to Los Angeles to visit friends - what an experience - I had not done the antique shops there in quite a few years and as is typical across the country, a lot of shops have been the casualty of Ebay and the economy - so many favorite shops are no longer open.  Pomona was fun with lots of good pottery but so many of the shops have closed, very sad.  They have a street fair the last Saturday of every odd month - January, March, May. July, September and November  - I had to be in San Diego so couldn't stay for it but have always found it to be worth the trip in past years.
  I had only ONE find but what a find it was - a gold Bo Peep for only TWENTY DOLLARS. It was in the first shop I stopped in. Unbelievable that anyone would place such a low price on such a beautiful piece.  It made my trip.  I did not see ONE Smiley pig cookie jar or shakers anywhere - but did see one plain Smiley water pitcher marked $425.
  Readers,   I had no response to my request for pictures of jars with hair, bugs, bees, flowers or unusual markings and I know they are out there.  I did have one friend send pics of her collection which I will post as there is a Smiley with hair in the display!  I have some other friends sending some photos this weekend so part of the reason the newsletter will be posted late!  We need participation to keep this newsletter going!!!!!!!!!

( And she means it. Doug )
  Have had numerous requests for a feature on the Smileys with hair and
variations of the jar - often times there are also hand painted green and rust/orange
flowers on the bases of these jars - usually because the jars have flaws such
as inside rim chips, firing blems under the glaze or bubbles in the glaze. 
Being mostly yellow bibs, these are earlier jars and often not as high quality
as later jars.  There are very few red headed Smileys and most have been found on Chrysanthemum bases which in itself is unusual as we rarely if ever find a plain Chrysanthemum jar with a green bib lid - normally the red bib.  If I recall the one shown with the gold shamrock base was found on a Chrysanthemum and married to the shamrock green base as it seemed to be the right base for it.
Another was found on the gold shamrock base.
  The black haired versions are most often found with the full toupee but as
you can see there is a wide assortment of hair styles.  I recently acquired the
one with the curls on the outside and a part almost in the middle, it had eluded me for years on end.  I was with a friend at a flea market in Kentucky almost 15 years ago when she acquired one.
  Back in the late 80's I had a friend call after he had walked through the
Springfield market where he had seen a Smiley with hair on a blue bib - since he
would have had to drive back over a hundred miles to get it the next day, I
never got that one but know the collector who has it - have not heard of any others nor have I seen that one in person.  No telling what is out there to be discovered. 
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