Posted on: Saturday, June 14, 2003
WHAT'S IT WORTH
Miniature stoves were common girls' toys about 100 years ago
By Leslie Hindman
Editor's note: One answer addresses two questions about these miniature stoves.
Q. This is a salesman's sample stove manufactured by Abendroth Brothers, New York. I included a 12-inch ruler in the picture to show its size. What's it worth?
— Stan Richmond, Allendale, N.J.
Q. This stove is cast iron and is 13fl inches tall. It was made by Grey Iron Casting Co., Mount Joy, Pa. The word "Spark" is cast into the lower door. I believe that it is a salesman's sample.
— James Petzold, Lake Zurich, Ill.
A. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, salesmen commonly carried model replicas of items that were not easily transportable, such as canoes, farm equipment and appliances.
But salesmen's sample stoves are very hard to come by, and the majority of stoves that people think are samples are, like yours, toy stoves.
Karen Mullins of Orlando, Fla., collects toy stoves and notes that they were a common play item for girls from about 1890 through the 1930s.
Mullins warns that most miniatures on the market are neither salesmen's samples nor authentic toy stoves, but instead are reproductions. "The only sure way to detect the fakes," says Mullins, "is to know your iron. The iron on the reproductions will be rough and grainy, not smooth and silky like on the old stoves."
Everyone I talked to about miniature stoves agrees that there is a paucity of reference material on the subject and that the market is not well-established. Therefore, I thought it would make sense to get two opinions on value.
Clifford Boram of Monticello, Ind., operates the Antique Stove Information Clearinghouse and made me promise to issue this warning: Any estimates he offers will be just that — estimates.
The pot-bellied Spark model, Boram says, is relatively common and is also less desirable because its maker, the Grey Iron Casting Co., did not make real stoves. The most desirable toy stoves, says Boram, are those made by stove manufacturers. His estimate on the Spark, which he dates from about 1915, is $150 to $200.
The other stove, made by Abendroth Brothers of Port Chester, N.Y., is called the Uncle Sam Jr. and is a replica of the company's full-size counterpart. It would have been made to the highest standards of stove manufacturing and is an expensive "range" model, as opposed to a less desirable "cook stove." Boram dates the Uncle Sam Jr. to the last quarter of the 19th century and estimates its value at $4,000 to $5,000.
Theriault's (www.theriaults.com), an Annapolis, Md., auction firm that specializes in dolls, learned about miniature stoves by accident.
A representative of the firm was viewing a doll collection when he was ushered into the basement to view the owner's miniature stove collection — some 750 of them. Theriault's held an auction in January and the catalog for this sale, with prices realized, is now an important reference.
Auctioneer Florence Theriault knows quite a bit about miniature stoves. She estimates the pot-bellied Spark is worth $100 to $150, while she puts the Uncle Sam Jr. at $1,200 to $1,500.
Leslie Hindman is the author of "Adventures at the Auction," host of an HGTV show and owner of Leslie Hindman Gallery in Chicago. She welcomes letters but cannot reply to them individually. Send photos of object (sorry, we can't return them) with identifying marks visible, a brief history, and your daytime phone number to: Home & Garden, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611, Attn: What's It Worth?
