Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before Buying

If you are a vintage collectible or antique reseller like me, and if you are reading this you probably are in one way or another, then there is hardly a flea market, yard sale, estate sale or antique market that you can pass without stopping.  In fact, for me, the best part of being a vendor is being the hunter or picker.  I love to go out to find a bargain that I can turn a profit on; and for me the profit doesn’t have to be 100% or 200% . . . any little profit is good because I enjoy the hunt more than the actual selling.

When picking or hunting for antiques or collectibles, there are five questions you should ask yourself:

1.  Is the item rare?  If a company many hundreds of thousands, then chances are it isn’t rare.  If many were made but were fragile and many broke, they might be rare.  If only a few were made because only certain people could afford it, then it is more likely rare.
2. Does it look nice? Is it aesthetically pleasing?  This is one of the more objective questions because “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”  However, you can still make a judgment call when you tie this question in to the next.
3. Would anybody else want it?  I made a bet with my niece one time because I bought at auction what she thought was a most hideous wall hanging ever.  She thought I would never be able to resell it.  It was the very first thing that I sold at my shop the next day.  My niece was flabbergasted.
4. Is it real?  Sometimes this is the one that gets even the experts.  There are many commemorative, replica or outright fake items on the market.  Anything from cookie jars to cufflinks can be faked.  Many unscrupulous sellers will not tell you when they are replicas or fakes.  Caveat Emptor always applies.  Can the seller provide proof that the item is the real deal?
5. Is the item in good condition?  Keep in mind that since the items are antique or vintage, they should absolutely not look “new.”  If they do look “new,” they could be fakes.  On the other hand, a beautiful vintage Murano glass bowl is not so appealing to others if it has a large chip or crack running through it.  

Little Red Riding Hood Cookie Jars Made by Hull Pottery

Looking on eBay recently I spotted a cookie jar up for auction that was billed as a McCoy Pottery Little Red Riding Hood cookie jar. Is this a real McCoy Pottery cookie jar or a fake? McCoy Pottery was started in 1910 by the father and son team of Nelson and J.W. McCoy in Roseville, Ohio. In the mid-1920’s, they started producing and selling art pottery. However, most experts agree that McCoy Pottery never produced a Little Red Riding Hood cookie jar. So the cookie jar on eBay was a fake and even included a fake McCoy mark on the bottom of the jar. In this case, there is no real McCoy. The original Little Red Riding Hood cookie jar which is also the most sought after and most valuable was produced by Hull Pottery and Regal China.

The Hull Little Red Riding Hood cookie jar was patented by Louise Bauer of Zanesville, Ohio in 1943. The cookie jar blanks were produced by Hull Pottery but then shipped to Regal China for painting, glazing and decorating. Later, Regal China began producing their own Little Red Riding Hood cookie jar. This causes quite a bit of confusion as to who made which cookie jar, especially since the red glaze used in both the Hull Pottery cookie jar and the Regal China cookie jar are the same. Sometimes the best way to tell if you have an authentic cookie jar is by looking at the measurements. The Hull Little Red Riding Hood cookie jar measured 13 inches tall and weighed 5.6 ounces. According to published reports, a Hull Little Red Riding Hood cookie jar is worth from $250 to $375 depending on condition.

Addis E. Hull founded the Hull Pottery, which specialized in stoneware, in Zanesville, Ohio in 1905. In 1907, they acquired Acme Pottery, which specialized in semi-porcelain dinnerware. With this acquisition, Hull was able to diversify into other products which included planters, art pottery and tiles in addition to using state of the art airbrush techniques and glazes to set themselves apart. After a flood that destroyed the plant in 1950, they rebuilt and again re-equipped with the latest technology. They were successful through the mid-1970’s with their dinnerware and floristware products but had to close their doors in 1985. Hull products however have become very collectible and enjoy a wide audience with Little Red Riding Hood leading the way.