#Middlebury #Antiques
There doesn’t seem to be any type of antique that isn’t sold at auctions, flea markets or shops. We were surprised years ago at a flea market when a dealer was offering a wooden artificial leg. It was sold an hour after we saw it. He said it went to a woman who wanted to make a statue, and she had wondered if he had any more. We have seen many sets of false eyes sold, samples of what surgeons would use to replace a missing eye. And bottles of cures too strange to describe.
This 1880s optician’s eye test chart was made by Globe Optical Co. of Boston and was for sale in a Massachusetts antiques shop for $2,200. It’s painted wood with a metal lamp visor and has a linen scroll with rows of letters in graduated sizes.
The picture to the right shows a 19th-century optician’s eye test chart made of black painted wood from Andrew Spindler Antiques & Design, a shop in Essex, Massachusetts. It has a metal lamp visor and a linen scroll with letters of different sizes. It was purchased at an antiques show in New York City about 18 years ago for about $1,800. It has since been rewired and the scroll restored, and it was priced at $2,200.
Keep your eyes open at antiques shops and you may find another eye test chart. It certainly will be a rare antique. Wonder what the prescribed glasses looked like? Lots of collectors can show you their favorite odd antique. Sometimes those are the most fun.
Q: Do you know who made the first commercial ice cream scoop or dipper, and what it looked like? Any other interesting information about serving ice cream in a soda shop would help me with a school paper.
A: We are told George Washington liked ice cream made from ice cut from a frozen river. Without refrigeration, ice was a luxury, so ice cream was for the very rich. The first U.S. ice cream factory was started in Philadelphia in 1851.
The first ice cream scoop was made in Pennsylvania in 1876 by George William Clewell. It was shaped like a tin cone with an attached handle. The knob on top was turned to move a metal strip that scraped the lump of ice cream from the scoop.
Later, scoops were made in fancy shapes. The most famous is the heart-shaped scoop made in 1925. There were also heart-shaped dishes to hold the ice cream and toppings for a sundae. The few heart-shaped scoops known today have sold for over $1,000 each. You might learn more from The Ice Screamers club (www.icescreamers.com).
Current Prices
Roasted peanut warmer, Ko-Pak-Ta, children, dancing, jumping, sunset, trees, 17 inches, $120.
Automobilia, tractor seat, cast iron, American Harrow Co., c. 1880, 14 x 15 1/2 inches, $145.
Loetz, crete pampas, green iridescent, squat base, baluster mouth, signed, 1899, 8 1/2 inches, $415.
Copper, figurine, lobster, jointed limbs, hammered plates, signed, Japan, 7 1/2 inches, $550.
TIP: Look for vintage light fixtures and lamps at flea markets and thrift stores. Paint or polishing can often restore them.
For more collecting news, tips and resources, visit www.Kovels.com.
© 2020 King Features Synd., Inc.
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