Ask Sharon

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03/09/05

Hello everyone and welcome to a feature on Kitschy Koo called Ask Sharon. The premise here is for you to send your questions about anything at all regarding your collectibles, collecting in general, me (because, remember, it IS all about me!), the Kitschy Koo site....etc. If I can answer the question intelligently (or not, depending on my mood), I will post both question and answer here, as opposed to individual emails. Many of the questions I receive are interesting and, I believe, of interest to the world at large.

Please remember that I am not an appraiser, so if I mention the value of something, it is based solely on my research and experience as a dealer and collector. If you are seriously looking for the worth of something you believe is very valuable, it would be better to have it professionally evaluated. Also, it is very difficult, if not impossible to put a value on something based on a description, without a visual, so please include a photo if possible. Most of the time, I present the email as I receive it. I rarely edit.......

So! Ask away! Click here to send an email with your question : Ask Sharon

Feb. 27, 05
Jessica Moore wrote:

I have recently been given a glass pitcher and bowl. They are both a frosted glass lower 3/4 of it is green frosted they both have a gold trim around the edge. The pitcher has the gold trim a little down from the edge because the spout is blown I guess, it's kind of curved , I guess to accomadate better pouring. The pitcher is skinny, and about a foot and a half tall. The bowl looks like it may be a fruit bowl or something. Neither has any markings on them. Know anything about these? Thanks! Jessica Moore

From: Sharon Potts
To: Jessica Moore
Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2005 8:51 AM
Subject: Re: green frosted glass.

Hi Jessica,
There are so many different patterns of glass, it's impossible to say without seeing it. can you send a picture?

Sharon

Here are the pictures. Let me know what you think. Thanks, Jessica

From: Sharon Potts
To: Jessica Moore
Sent: Monday, February 28, 2005 2:21 PM
Subject: Re: green frosted glass.

See what a difference a picture can make? These pieces are called Blendo. Made by West Virginia Glass around the mid century. Fairly common with other colors being orange, red, blue, yellow, etc. The pitcher came with matching glasses, available as sets, in a variety of shapes and sizes( i.e, rocks, tumbler, stem cocktail, etc) and probably a glass stirrer. The bowl is a salad or fruit bowl and came with smaller bowls in the same shape. Sometimes it was part of a chip & dip set - in a gold tone holder - with the large bowl sitting on the bottom and a smaller dip bowl (same as the small salads) on a little platform above. FYI, they aren't in the best of condition, i.e. wear on the gold trim and frosting, so not worth much, but fun to use!

Sharon

wow - you're good - thanks so much for the info!. Thanks again soo much. If you ever run across somebody looking for the missing pieces to their set - tell them to email me. They are neat but my heart isn't set on them. :-)
Thanks again, Jessica Moore

RASTETTER UPDATE: 03/08/05:

Although I'm still getting email from people all over the country regarding their Solid Kumfort pieces, I have not heard from Bill Rastetter since 12/03. Very intriging, this Rastetter business. I've concluded that the line must have been distributed by the Sears & Roebuck & Montgomery Ward mail order catalogs because of the far reaching distribution of furniture. This is not a regional line by any means. I'm basing this on the email I receive from people spread far and wide across the US. And so we'll watch and wait.........

OH! And if you want to check the patent number (found on the label on the back of or underneath the chair) to date your piece, go HERE . You can check on the date of any US patent at this site.

The Ratstetter Dialog.........

Question:

I HAVE 2 SOLID KUMFORT CHAIRS PATENT NO.1926840 AN WAS WONDERING IF YOU HAD ANY KNOWLEDGE OF THEM AN WHETHER THEY COULD BE WORTH ANYTHING.
THANKS ALOT
RONALD

I purchased a folding chair made by Loius Rastetter & Sons CO. Ft Wayne Indiana. No zip code available. The name of the chair is SOLID KUMFORT. Cannot make out entire patent number but the last four digits are 6840. Cannot even find this Co. Can you see if you can give me any info on this peice of furniture? Thank you very much.

Sincerely,
Trudy

Answer:
I cannot tell you how many emails I receive regarding this company. I give everyone the same answer....I have no info other than what I wrote in the listing. Click here to see:
Toys & Games I purchased my set from the Set Decorating Dept. of the film Unbreakable during the end of movie sale. They got it....somewhere! Obviously, the Louis Rastetter Company manufactured plenty of these sets and they were distributed around the entire country, because the emails come from everywhere! BUT! There is no documentation that I have been able to find out so far. Weird, huh? So, research is continuing and when and if I find any more about it, I will post it here. Thanks for all the emails.
S

Rastetter UPDATE!
Hey Folks! Guess what? Bill Rastetter emailed me after finding my site. I'm posting the 2 emails here. Hopefully, this will bring more info to all of us looking for it.

Dated 12/14/03

Email 1:

I just stumbled across your site. The Louis Rastetter & Sons Company went out of business 30 years ago. He (Louis) was my great grandfather. His son (William) and grandson (my father, William, Jr.) later ran the busines.

Must have been a good product if people are still asking about it....

Email 2:

First, I misstated. The factory closed approximately 40 years ago, and dad died in 1975. We (my brother, sister and I) are the best source of information.

Second: Frankly, until today (seeing your site and exchanging e-mails) it hadn't occurred to me that the history of the company ought to be preserved. But, I can't argue with the fact that chairs and tables made 40-80 years ago are still functional and solid (pun intended, although I never did like the K in Solid Kumfort, the trademark).

My problem is that I simply don't have time to put together the history, at least in the short term (see http://www.envlaw.com/profiles/rastetter.html , also my wife has an incurable immune disorder and we have two teenage sons). But there are sources from which a history could be gleaned, and maybe my siblings and I will be inspired. Funny that you should ask about product info., because just last summer my sister showed us some stuff from the 20's that had been stored at the family lake cottage in northern Indiana. So, yes, we could put together some information; but I can't imagine it happening anytime soon.

This is Sharon:
Poor Bill. Hopefully, he will try and put together some info. for us. Here's to you and your family, Bill, from all the world who loves the furniture.

S

Answer:
Great question, G.L.! I myself have puzzled over this very same thing since acquiring so many of these cool big glasses. The thing I've finally noticed is, it's very hard to differentiate! The companies such as Libbey, Bartlett-Collins, Federal & Hazel Atlas, who were the big boys (& girls) of the glassware industry during the 40's, 50's & 60's made both specific cocktail sets & regular glassware sets consisting of many sizes of glass in the same pattern. The ones that did the 32 oz giant thing, also made what was called a Hande-Shaker, which had the exact same pattern & body shape - the only difference being the addition of a plastic lid with a covered opening. These plastic lids very often did not survive the years because they turned yellow over time & people just threw them away, creating the confusion of us modern day groupies. I have never seen an entire set of 4 or 6 32 oz. iced tea glasses. Only singles. Okay, so with all that in mind, a 32 oz. giant iced tea is pretty much the same as the 32 oz. mixing glass and the glass is lighter weight; thinner, I mean. A glass made specifically to be a shaker or mixer was usually heavier and thicker, but not always, to confuse the issue even further. These are the ones that have recipes written on them or oz. markers & lines, or, yes, just plain patterns, etc. I list them all in cocktail because, in my opinion, not many people are going to use a 32 oz. single to drink THAT much liquid, so it's best to consider it a cocktail or other beverage mixer. (Although I sold several 32 ouncers to a woman for her husband who DOES drink that much liquid. He remembered them from the old days. She bought all I had on spec and sent back the heavier ones and kept the lighter ones, so that sorta reinforced the difference even more.)
S

Answer:
Without seeing the actual piece, it's hard to pinpoint value. There were at least a dozen styles of this lighter produced during the Occupied Japan years. Most, however, are in the $10 - $20 range in value according to Occupied Japan Collectibles by Gene Florence, as of it's 2001 publication. BUT, as you may know, Occupied Japan is very collectible and there may very well be someone out there willing to pay more for it if they really want it and can't find one, as is true with ANY collectible. Have to find the right buyer. AND collectible prices rise and fall through the years. Safe to say Florence's value is probably pretty close at this time, maybe 10% increase by now.

Thanks for your time,
Duane H.

Answer:
Sounds like a delightful lamp you have there, Duane! I've looked through my Art Deco books, which seems like the era that the lamp was made, and have not seen a lamp that resembles what you are describing, and don't recall ever seeing one in my travels. What I always tell people who write with ID questions that I can't answer is to go to Ebay and do a search, both in active & completed auctions, or a good bookstore and spend some time browsing the Antiques & Collectibles section. I've spent many an hour doing just that and have discovered some surprises and, usually, loads of information to cram into my already junk filled mind. Nothing more pleasant on a cold afternoon than to get a Mocha Cappuccino and leaf through books. The danger? Finding a book that has things in it that you didn't know about, but suddenly you have to have every one ever made! I digress, however. I have to say, I have no info to help you. Anyone out there have any idea? Send an Email and I will forward to Duane.

UPDATE!!! One 7/31/03, I received the following email from a kind and helpful Kitschster:

Hi Sharon:

Regarding Duane H.'s "Saturn Lamp," what he describes sound like an exact (but green) version of a lamp I recently purchased. See a picture of this lamp here:

(I didn't buy my lamp from DecoBob.com, but he has the best picture of it.)

As stated by DecoBob, this lamp is (supposedly) a reproduction of an original which was introduced at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. That lamp (the original) might have had its switch actually on/in the lamp (mine is in-line on the cord), and might have been able to do a good job of projecting the stars on the walls and ceiling (mine doesn't). Maybe Duane H. has an "original?!?"

I first saw a reproduction of this piece in a mail order catalog 15-20 years ago, and I finally was able to get one a few months ago through the wonders of the internet.

Hope this helps Duane.

Take care.

Mike Sebek
Georgia, USA

***There ya' go, folks! Wonders of the internet, indeed! Isn't this fun? Thanks, Mike!!!

Question:
I'm trying to find the worth of an ashtray. A 4 to 5 inch round sculpted in the shape of an iron skillet. Made of cast iron; inscribed "The Blanket Store, Pleasant View, Tennessee." Original condition, used, never sand blasted......
Rick

Answer:
This is a typical advertising novelty ashtray, Rick. Many stores gave away gimmicky ashtrays as a thank you for a purchase and they are a nice collectible, if only as a reminder that stores used to do that sort of thing. I see skillet ashtrays often, not always with advertising. Not all that special, unfortunately, unless one lived in that area, or worked at the store, back in the day. As one hears all the time, condition is everything in collectibles, so the fact that yours is well used takes away from it's overall value, which I would estimate would be worth about $10 - $15 or so.

Answer:

Well, Jamie, the only tumbler that would be considered Genuine Fiesta would be the ceramic tumbler made by Homer Laughlin. Any other glass that was made to match Fiesta would be considered a"Go Along." Was there any single glass that would be "authentic"? There were several companies that manufactured glassware that could go along, so there was no official glass. The most popular and the one usually associated with Fiesta, by me, was made by Hocking in the early 30's through the mid 40's. The tumblers had thin horizontal stripes on subtle wide ribbed glass. There were a couple of different variations produced, so look for glassware that has the same (or close) colors as the Fiesta original: yellow, green, turquoise, cobalt, red (or Fiesta red that was actually orange), etc. Usually with an added black or white line. Hocking also produced a Mexican line in 1938 that had handpainted Mexican figures in Fiesta colors that were "offered at a price 1/6 that which the metropolitan glassware buyers have been paying for similar items made by Greenwich Village artists." In 1948, a tumbler was made that was actually called Fiesta stripe, with a wider horizontal stripe of a single color alternating with white in red, orange, green, etc. (three colored stripes, 2 white stripes). But really, any vintage glass with the same color palette could go with Fiesta! There were dots, dutch figures, Mexican or Spanish designs, flowers and many more patterns.
Other companies that jumped on the Fiesta bandwagon are Hazel Atlas with their 12 Band and Mexican Scene lines, Federal and Bartlett -Collins.