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March 22, 2011

Yardsale Bliss - Seeing RED

Last Saturday was really nice outside and warmer than usual - 82 degrees!  With the warmer weather, more and more folks are having yard sales and I went to some nice ones.  I came home with lots of goodies and most of my favorite items were RED.


My amazing deal of the day was a teapot, which it turns out is probably a coffee pot.  The lady selling it was selling a few other vintage items, but I didn't think the teapot was old or particularly special.  I just thought it was pretty.

Warning:  
I've included lots of info on this coffee pot in this post. 
It's interesting to me, but could bore someone else to tears.  
You may want to skip over this section.

Once I got home, I decided to look it up.  The first one I found was priced at $212.  Holy cow!  I kept looking. Most of the ones I saw were over $100. I found one for $58, but that was the only one less than $100 and it had different markings on the bottom.

I think I paid $3 for mine. Or it might have been only a dollar.  I paid a bundle price (a whopping $15) for lots of items so it's hard to remember.

After lots of research, I am still confused on a few issues.   I found that it's made by Hall China in East Liverpool, Ohio. They were the largest producers of teapots in their heyday. They made this model for the Tricolator Company, Inc.

The style is Buchanan.  Some call it a coffee pot.  Some call it a tea pot. Which is it? Judging by the sources, I'm pretty sure it's a coffee pot. The originals were made in the 1930's. The Buchanon came in two different lid types. A screw lid makes it more rare - mine has a screw lid.

 I found a drip section for the coffee pot on Etsy.   Description: A very unique vintage aluminum art deco style drip coffee maker circa 1920-30's. Built by the Richheimer Tricolator Co., Patent date of 1923 engraved in filter. Top cap has "MAXWELL HOUSE COFFEE" and "GOOD TO THE LAST DROP" stamped into it. This early drip "crown" was designed to be placed on top of a serving pot. Ground coffee is placed in the basket and hot water is then poured over the grounds. The coffee steeps and drips into the pot below.

I found this complete set on GoAntiques.com.  It lists for $95.99 plus shipping.  The vendor dates this as 1923, which conflicts with the other dates I saw. Regarding the bottom stamp on the pot (there was no photo of this), the description says,  The tea pot is marked "HALL" on the bottom and stamped "Pour Right."   It looks like the Buchanan style.  Again, more questions.

Richheimer Tricolator made the top metal parts for coffee makers, so this is very likely the company Hall made the pots for, even though another source called it Tricolator Company, Inc.

NAGGING QUESTIONS

The teapot looks so good.  I wonder.  Is this one of the newer replica's?  Hall has been producing replicas of some of their patterns. I didn't see the Buchanon for sale now, but maybe they produced it for a short time and then moved on to other patterns. I don't know.  On the other hand, all of the Tricolators up for sale look equally good.  Maybe they held up really well.  Hall, after all, was famous for their amazing techniques with china.

My Tricolator - Screw Top Lid & Bottom Stamp
 On the other hand, my stamp looks exactly the same as the one selling for $212.  It looks the same as the ones over $100.  HALL is not stamped on the bottom of any of those.

The $58 dollar Tricolator had a bottom stamp very different from mine.  The Ebay description claims it, too, is vintage.
I'm guessing a newer version would have Hall on it since they would no longer be making it for another company.    I'm keeping this little jewel, at least until I find out more about it.  The good news is, even the replica's seem to go for around $50 or so.

More info on Hall China:
Hall China and Chinese Red and Hall Teapots -  Ohio River Pottery (Note - This was my source for the ads!!!)
Hall China - Yahoo Groups
Tea or Coffee: Hall Had it - by Antique Week
Hall Chinese Red - Replacements.com



I picked up a number of other 
red items at this same sale:
  • DAZEY wall mount can opener Model #85 in a fire engine red with chrome and Bakelite handle - 1940's - sells online for around $26
  • A vintage egg beater/hand mixer by Maynard. 1950's. This one is really nice and it works great!  I already have a red vintage beater that belonged to my grandmother.  The Maynard one works better. I'm keeping it. These sell for around $10 to $20 depending on the color and condition of the handles.  My handles are in perfect condition!  They've obviously never been tossed in the dishwasher.
  • Small red cast iron utensil holder.  All the old utensils were crammed into this heavy pot.
  • The chrome and red dish drainer is probably not vintage.  I think this one may have been sold by Ikea at one time.  I'm going to use it as a display rack in my booth. 

And as if that weren't enough, I also got these from the same sale.  
They aren't red, but I guess that's OK. :-D

 I've joined these link parties: