SHAWNEE TALES
Nov 2007
by Linda Romberg
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Go to - Moment
A little Fall color
Hey, guys, the months roll around pretty fast and we are not getting any
assistance or input from you collectors - the newsletters are going to be getting shorter and shorter or less frequent as a result.
In September we called attention to the new bidder ID's that showed up on a
few auctions. For those of you who check bid history, you may have figured
out this is Ebay's new way or scrambling the actual bidder ID. Several of us
were suspicious of the coincidence of similar bidders B****D and assorted
combinations of same. I had a response from Bill Cobb's assistant (One of
probably thousands), President of Ebay, explaining once again how these changes
are to protect the bidders....... more to protect Ebay and keep all the buyers
and sellers from outside Ebay contacts! You can sometimes figure out who
the bidder is based on their feedback number!!
Larry, mcckoy4u2 in Kentucky, has been up to his fake gold work once again - I think Doug has more pictures to share. To keep up with Larry's charades check in at Moment . Pictured below are shakers for comparison -
Doug had an inquiry on a variation of the Muggsy cookie jar mold - particularly the feet being wide apart - the jar looks authentic but none of us have
ever seen this before - my opinion is if one is found with gold and decals
that are typical, it would give some credibility to authenticity. Is it possible long time collectors could have missed this jar or is it a rare variation that was never put in to long term production????
I spoke with Pam Curran earlier this week, she was not aware of any such
variation - her computer was down but we are sending her pictures to analyze as
well. We had a nice visit reminiscing about the "good old days" pre-Ebay
when the newsletters would arrive in the mail box then the phones would start
ringing - the grapevine across the country was faster than the Internet in
spreading news of finds. It was typical for most of us to have $200-300 phone
bills from spending hours on the phone networking and sharing information. We
were all so obsessed with anything Shawnee! Pam had the inside track with
several former employees & designers from Shawnee .
Many lifelong friendships were established during the that time. Ebay opens
the country to us but back then we had such camaraderie among collectors and
it was such a rush - the new collectors miss out on that experience as well as
having had to deal with the glut of reproductions on the market. I wish for all your sakes we could generate that spirit once again and have collectors
contribute pictures and information. Check your collections and see if any of
you have the wide apart feet Muggsy cookie jar - let us know!
A long time collector sent in pictures of a beautiful pair of gold Smiley
range shakers with three decals on each - great shakers that have the decals we
find on the yellow and blue bib cookie jars - what a find.
Next month I will have pictures of a trio jars a collector friend recently
added to her collection - stunning trio, an early Christmas present!
Real
Real
Larry's
<<< So please go check your Muggsy cookie jars, if you have one like this let us know. Your input may help sort this out.
from Delaware
"... I was wondering if someone would send you that, I was going to if it hadn't been done already!
Another thing I have discovered about these yellow and the gray teapots is that they are two different sizes. I have never seen them show up in any other colors, and while the yellow glaze might match the Valencia very well, I wouldn't lump them as Valencia, but just another separate set of pots. Why would a teapot be the only Valencia piece that was glazed in gray? And there IS a Valencia teapot in a vintage brochures/ads in Curran's, that I have seen actual photos of, which is round and has a looped handle and finial far more compatible with the other pieces in the Valencia line.
My opinion? Obviously yes on Shawnee, but no on Valencia!"
"As for that teapot... I guess we will never know. I was ready to be convinced... that sticker looked old and worn, and the seller was none I recognized, so I sincerely believed it was something he/she really found that way. I suppose it could have been "doctored". But I think I would lean more toward Camark rather than Brush, if I was gonna lean away from Shawnee? I dunno, I hear her on the USA not being quite Shawnee-shaped, and I guess it's not really very Camark, either... argh. The spouts on these gray/yellow pots are so nicely shaped, I only see this with regularity in Shawnee and Hall, and I am pretty sure they ain't Hall! I guess they will stay on my overloaded Mystery Shelf for quite a while."
Doug's Corner
The rectangular teapot revisited. The gray teapot with a Shawnee label on Ebay last month brought this email to my inbox. Terri has contributed to the website before and is a knowledgeable teapot collector. Below is part of our conversations, her side only to try to stay brief. After her initial contact I got in touch with some of my back-up knowledge base and updated the teapot page. Which I will update again.
The Mystery Shelf, that seems to say it all. I was ready to be convinced as well.
During the teapot discussion a creamer & sugar mystery came up. I'll save that for next month.
Happy Hunting, Doug
After learning there are unused Shawnee labels, real or not, in the world the next note follows -
While digging through some pics I discovered another one. This one really has the Brush type "S".
