Sentimental Value

From the March/April 2009 issue of Reminisce Extra

Love Seat Toy Box

When I was a kid, this LOVE SEAT was purchased as a toy box for me. My dad worked for a scale company and went all over Iowa adjusting scales at sale barns and creameries. Farmers once sat on this at a creamery, and Dad talked them out of it! I think he paid only a dollar or two for it, sometime in the late 1950s. —Mark Christophersen, Belle Plaine, Iowa

Be it for entry, bedroom, kitchen, children’s room, walk-in closet or bathroom, this bench could fit all needs, even as a toy box.

Midwestern manufacturers made golden-oak furniture pieces by the thousands from 1900 to 1920, and this was perfect as an entry piece where one could sit down but still hide away outer clothing inside.

The beautifully scalloped apron with applied decorations, the delightfully curved-out armrests and the triple cutouts add ornate style to the piece.

Value: The original blackened-shellac finish has been removed to reveal the figured tiger-oak grain. The value is $350.

 

Pink-glass Centerpiece

I believe this pink-glass CENTERPIECE with fluted edges was a wedding present to my parents, in June of 1925. It was among my mother’s things when she died, in 1955.

There are no names or markings on it, and all four “vases” can be removed from the unique centerpiece. It seems to be a flower vase, but the parts are very shallow. —Arlene Bareman, Holland, Michigan

Any epergne centerpiece gives the “wow” factor when placed into service for holidays or special occasions. The rest of the year, it stands on its own as a beautiful work of art.

Initially, its use was to save steps for diners so they wouldn’t have to pass dishes. The earliest ones, from the 1800s, were sterling with elaborate stands and receptacles to hold lavish morsels of food.

Later, porcelain versions featured rising branches to support smaller dishes or even suspended baskets. By 1920, models similar to your item became more of a centerpiece for a buffet table. Three single-stem vases surround the elongated central trumpet, all with crimped and ruffled rims and wrapped with spiraling loops of glass.

The fluted, shallow base would hold fancy edibles or floating flower blossoms.

Value: Only with great TLC are such lovely pieces still around to be enjoyed. Your crystal centerpiece heirloom is valued at $850.

 

Foot Warmer

This FOOT WARMER has been in our family for a number of years and is not damaged in any way. It has no date on it but has the letter M stamped on the bottom. Beneath the “Doulton’s Foot Warmer & Water Bottle” logo is the following: “Made in England for Sharp & Smith, Chicago.” —Merle Smock, Earlville, Iowa

Warming pans, foot stoves and water bottles were common household items before central-heating systems arrived in homes and other buildings.

The item was filled with water or sand after breakfast and left on the back of the hearth or stove in readiness for slipping it between frigid bedcovers at night. They would also be placed in sleighs and carriages for people to prop feet on and then carried to church services or other destinations. The water temperature could remain warm enough for a morning shave.

The screw-down cork plug on top would have been chained to the knob at right. Doulton Riverside Pottery closed, in the 1950s, and reproductions are printed with “Doulton’s Improved Foot Warmer.”

Value: Your foot warmer is one of Doulton’s original “stone pigs,” and the excellent condition puts its worth at about $75.