The Real McCoy

In 1910, J.W. McCoy formed a company in Roseville, Ohio with his son Nelson McCoy. The Nelson McCoy Sanitary Stoneware Company lasted through most of the twentieth century. McCoy hired artisans to to experiment with new and blended glazes.

Early designs by Walter Bauer reflected nature in the form of leaves and berries, and coloration was typically earth tone with browns, greens and creamy whites. In 1933, the company changed its name to the Nelson McCoy Pottery Company. The 1930s designs introduced some of McCoy's best known work beyond the floral themes of Walter Bauer, producing charming planters such as The Wishing Well, The Hunting Dog, and Down By the Old Mill Stream. Cookie jars, such as the original "Mammy" design, were produced in between 1940 and 1960 and remain extremely popular with collectors today.

In the 1960's, McCoy went into decline as cheaper overseas imports made profit increasingly difficult. McCoy was first sold to The Mount Clemens Pottery Company in 1967 and later to the Lancaster Colony Corporation in 1974, and all further production ceased in 1990 and the company went out of business.

WT surprised me with this old metal medical cabinet about 15 years ago. He brought it home from a hospital auction and it was a tad on the dented and rusty side. I had it painted with the electrolysis method, and  replaced the knobs. It's perfect for displaying my vintage matte white pottery. I like to keep an eye out for McCoy at garage sales and flea markets. It’s especially thrilling to find apiece that’s been in someone’s garage or basement for years with dirt still in it, for a dollar or two!

McCoy Pottery and so forth...

click to embiggen

I love the lush details in the pattern, the yummy color.

Every Friday I go to Goodwill.  I know, I'm obsessed.  Believe it or not, I sometimes walk out empty-handed, but not today.  I found a lovely McCoy 1930s basket weave planter for two dollars.  The fun part is researching online when I get home. It's currently selling for $50.  

McCoy is an American company which produced pottery in Roseville, Ohio, from 1910 to the mid-1970s.  I like to keep an eye out for unmarked pieces in garage sales and thrift stores.  My favorites are those I find with dirt still clinging to the sides, maybe even a dead plant.

Click here for a peek at some of my other pieces.

This little crack in the rim is not damage, but a manufacturing flaw.
You can tell by the way it is unglazed around the crack. 

Magpie Tales No. 1

Today is opening day for my creative writing blog, Magpie Tales.
Your initial response was incredible. A warm, woolly thank you to all
who signed up to participate, making today a huge success. I can't
wait to read all of your amazing tales.

If you consider yourself a creative writer, and happened to miss
this first photo prompt, no problem. A new weekly prompt will
be issued each Thursday, with the piece of fiction or poetry due
the following Tuesday. So, please join in whenever you can.

This is my sample piece, posted last week. For those of you who
might have missed it, or are wondering what Magpie is all about,
here it is again. The instructions were to write a short fictional piece
inspired from the photo, below.

General Washington's favorite dessert was tipsy pudding. Timing

was everything. When he was home in Philadelphia, he made it a

habit of stopping by Mrs. Anne Lippincott's row house as near tea

time as possible, preferably ten minutes to four, not a minute past.

His three-cornered hat neatly on the peg by the door, he was seated

comfortably by the fire, in time to hear her mantel clock chime four.

.

Anne's table always brimmed with scones, fresh fruit, and pudding

made with the finest sherry in the region, over sponge cake light as

a goose down feather bed. She was one of his dearest friends, and at

times, he wished he had met her years ago, before he had set his cap

for his Martha.

.

The general never took sugar in his tea, just a spot of milk, always

set out in a small, delicately engraved pewter pitcher, near his cup.

.

On a gray November day, some 200 years later the estate of

Anne Lippincott's fourth great grand niece, Stella, went up for auction

on the front lawn of her stately farm house in rural Delaware County,

Ohio. The auctioneer called out from the front porch to the small

crowd gathered outside.

.

A lot of kitchen goods. Do I hear 10?

.

I raised my hand, taking a chance on the worn cardboard box with

the green Palmolive logo on the side. Kitchen lots were dicey. But,

it was a thrill to see what prize my ten dollar bill might land; maybe

a quirky McCoy planter or a Bakelite handled spoon.

.

10 once. 10 twice. Sold to the lady in red for 10 dollars.

.

I carried the box out and slid it into the back of my old Land Rover.

Once home, I emptied the box onto the kitchen counter, piece by

piece. Two well used metal ice cube trays, several nice Mason jars

with lids, a worn, but pretty yellow calico apron, and jostled in the

bottom, an assortment of odd utensils, nearly covering a small

pewter creamer, with a delicate wreath etched on each side.
.

Two Treasures

Vintage bisquit tin with embossed pattern, $8. (hers)

........

Matte white McCoy vase, bird pattern, $9. (mine)

It was a glorious day! We had tons of fun digging in
several antique malls, with plenty of vendors.
The photos above are two of our special finds.

high as an elephant's eye

Blue Door Antiques, Sunbury, OH. (Closed. Darn.)

I know. All of you are probably thinking I've fallen off the face of the earth. Forgive me, for it's been over a week since I've been round the bloggyhood . My daughter was home to Willow Manor for a rare week-long visit, so I've shopped till I dropped, staying up to the wee hours listening to all the latest gossip, eating like a complete pig, and participating in wicked killer Scrabble championships. I guess you could say I was making rather merry.

However, like the dutiful blogger, I did take a few photos to share. We visited our favorite sellers of all things vintage this week, including the largest antiques dealer in the Midwest, the massive Heart of Ohio Antique Center, as well as shops in the villages of Powell, Sunbury, and Delaware, Ohio.

The corn in my neck of the woods is super lush this year from all the hot sun and rain; definitely high as an elephant's eye. The skies in Central Ohio were kind enough to give us a glorious display of what I like to call "N.C. Wyeth skies", or in keeping with the "high as an elephant's eye" corn, it was a glorious "oh, what a beautiful morning" Oklahoma kind of sky.

In addition to the ubiquitous corn fields, on our antiquing excursion, we passed wonderful old red barns, court houses in town squares, quaint gas station buildings now used for car repair, and an empty grain elevator, still in use, not for grain, but as a cell phone transmission tower, and last but not least, lots of proudly displayed American flags.

Clockwise: courthouse, Sunbury, OH; empty grain elevator outside Delaware, OH;
car repair shop in Delaware, OH; and a residence in Sunbury, OH.

E crossing the street in Delaware, OH, to Sandusky Street Antiques

So, did I find any goodies? I always find goodies. I like to keep my eye out for interesting pottery, mostly American, of course, although I do collect some West German, and actually found a nice piece of Waechtersbach in Powell, this week. (below, center) A quirky little Pigeon Forge, TN piece (left) found in Sunbury, and a mod aqua McCoy piece (right) waiting for me in Delaware....Ohio, that is. My daughter, E, has an excellent eye and loves to find all kinds of stylish, inexpensive stuff to take back to New York.

my loot from this week

It will take me a while to come down from my "elephant eye" high, but I'll be slowly making my way around to your particular street in the bloggyhood this week. First, I must write a little something about tomatoes for this week's Magpie Tales creative writing prompt. Click HERE to join in the fun! See you soon, my friends. xx

calling all writers and poets

Here's a new idea, I've been kicking around for a few weeks. The
J. Peterman post this week inspired me to give it a shot. I'm starting
a new creative writing blog called Magpie Tales. Each week, I'll
throw out a photo of one of my personal objects. (This first object is
rather tame, but believe me, I've got some quirky ones.) This will be
the prompt for a fictional account or poem telling of its history
and/or how it came to your possession. A Mr. Linky widget will be
available for open participation.

Come on, join this wacky magpie; it will be loads of fun! Check it out
by clicking on the link on my sidebar, or on the link at the end of this
post.

Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, here is my first Magpie
Tale, just to get your juices flowing...

General Washington's favorite dessert was tipsy pudding. Timing
was everything. When he was home in Philadelphia, he made it a
habit of stopping by Mrs. Lippincott's row house as near tea time as
possible, preferably ten minutes to four, not a minute past, hat
on the peg by the door, and comfortably seated by the fire, in time to
hear her mantel clock chime four.

Her table always brimmed with scones, fruit, and pudding made
with the finest sherry in the region, over sponge cake light as a goose
down feather bed. She was one of his dearest friends, and at times,
he wished he had met her years ago, before he had set his cap for his
sweet Martha.

The general never took sugar in his tea, just a spot of milk, always
set out in a delicately engraved pewter creamer, near his cup.

On a gray November day, some 200 years later the estate of
Mrs. Lippincott's fourth great grand niece, Stella, went up for auction
on the front lawn of her stately farm house in rural Delaware County,
Ohio.

A lot of kitchen goods. Do I hear $10?

I raised my hand, taking a chance on the worn cardboard box with
the green Palmolive logo on the side. Kitchen lots were dicey. But,
it was a thrill to see what prize my ten dollar bill might land; maybe
a quirky McCoy planter or a Bakelite handled spoon.

10 once. 10 twice. Sold to the lady in red for 10 dollars.

I carried the box out and slid it into the back of my old Land Rover.

Once home, I emptied the box onto the kitchen counter, piece by
piece. Two well used metal ice cube trays, several nice Mason jars
with lids, a worn, but pretty yellow calico apron, and jostled in the
bottom, an assortment of utensils, nearly covering a small pewter
creamer, with a delicate wreath etched on each side.

.

THIS JUST IN:

I've had so many ready to participate, I went ahead and set up
Magpie Tales, with the first photo prompt and Mr. Linky widget
ready for Tuesday, February 16. Hop on over and sign up!

http://www.magpietales.blogspot.com/

What's Hot

I am SO into orange this summer. It's such a warm, pleasant, spicy

color, don't you think? The first photo is the lid of an African hand

carved soapstone box I picked up at HomeGoods, of all places. I also

found a luscious burnt orange silk throw there, last weekend, as well.

.

Clockwise in the collage photo, throw pillow from the sofa in the

family room at Willow Manor, my fave orange handbag, orange

ginger jar (also a HomeGoods find), and a sweet little piece of vintage

McCoy pottery.

.

Orange brings to mind this poem I love, by Janet Frame.

.

.

Summer

.

At midday then the sweltering mother

bedded in wheat and wharves rose

to give food

gold sea and salt bread to the city.

.

Deep from her blue apron pocket

she drew a ripe orange to slice

and squirt light

--your mouth was stained with sun.

it's about passion

my vintage rosaries
click to embiggen

I'm not sure exactly how I contracted the passion for collecting, but the symptoms were evident at a very early age. Maybe I enjoy collecting because it takes me back to the simple comfort and joy of my childhood Little Golden Book and postage stamp collections.  

It may lie dormant for a while, but once you have caught the virus, it is a life long condition and it often returns with a renewed vigor. It might just be that it is instinctive for humans to collect, just as a magpie is compelled to hunt and gather shiny objects and drag them back to her nest.  I definitely like to have my things about me, like Mary Kate Danaher in The Quiet Man.

McCoy pottery, mercury glass, insulators, tarnished silver
in my retro metal medical cabinet

chalkwork icons
click to embiggen

There is a certain explorer spirit in me. I like to dig in dusty places. One discovery often leads to another, to a fresh search and the start of a new collection. In fact, I would have made a great archaeologist.  

Garage sales, flea markets, Gee-Dub (my local Goodwill store) and various antique shops are my favorite places to forage...the junkier the place, the better.  The rarity or value of a particular piece, is not the objective for me, but the mellow and a little bit worn, the unwanted, the unappreciated and orphaned, are what happens to strike my fancy.

the manor is filled
with the scent of old books

Other people's gatherings are endlessly fascinating, since it reveals an obvious look at the personalities behind the collections.  What objects do you like to hunt and gather? 

I think that interiors need 

a bit of a twist... most have 
no sense of irony or of real life, 

and there is nothing harmonious or soulful.

  

--Hubert Zandberg