Sentimental Value

From the September/October 2008 issue of Reminisce Extra

Waterbury Clock

This Waterbury CLOCK was a wedding gift to my grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. C.E. Burnett, Osseo, Michigan, when they married, in 1889.
—Kent Froehlich, Osceola, Missouri

The Waterbury Clock Company, Waterbury, Connecticut, made clocks in the Naugatuck Valley, known as the “Switzerland of America.” When the firm added a line of pocket watches, in 1890, it became the largest clock maker in the U.S.

The company was 34 years old in 1891, when it started making perpetual-calendar clocks that showed the time, date, month and day.

Your “Calendar No. 32” has an 8-day movement and strikes on the hour and half hour. The lower dial compensates for leap years and makes provision for various lengths of months. “Regulators” are a category within the clock trade also known as “double dials.” They are the most accurate of all traditional clocks and are used as a standard by which other clocks may be set.

The walnut case has a stick-and-ball design with applied and incised decorations. Higher values are given clocks with original dials, hands, pendulums, keys, unrestored wood cases and polished brass movements. Your clock is in excellent condition because of a lifetime of TLC. Value: $2,000.

 

Stein pieces

These PIECES (left) were bought in Germany, during WWII, by my husband, for a carton of cigarettes. There were six smaller steins, but only four remain, three unbroken and a fourth that was broken and glued back together.
—Frances Hoagland, Ridgecrest, California

This pewter and cranberry-glass flagon and smaller matching tankard, or stein, certainly is a majestic-looking pair.

Flagons are elongated tankards with a pouring spout; many years ago, they were intended for ecclesiastical purposes. Most flagons have matching tankards.

Both pieces have hinged lids with double-step thumb lifts, applied clear-glass handles and a cranberry-glass panel on the bottom that transmits light.

The “LBC” marking probably is for L. Bauernfreund & Company, a pewter foundry in Munich in the 1880s. The cylindrical bodies have a repetitive etched pattern and the triple-tiered finials add slenderness and height. Value: Your beautiful flagon, $850; each perfect tankard, $350.

 

Jumper/walker

This jumper/walker has been in our family since at least 1911. My mother, who is 90, used it to learn to walk. Recently, her great-great-granddaughter was the latest to play in it.
—Norbert Kruschke, Kennewick, Washington

This family keepsake proves that an antique is a memory that you can touch. An early-1900s ad shows a similar model and marketed it by saying, “We promise it will not tip over and will last for generations.”

This hardwood combination jumper/walker was designed for safety and comfort, with ball-bearing casters, a rounded wood-ring top, shaped seat and coil springs. It has an adjustable tilt to fit the lengths of babies’ legs. For its original price of $3.25, a baby could have two activities.

Most baby items of this era were beds and buggies, so this new concept was welcomed by mothers. Value: $145.