Big Larry digs a hole in Toronto's history

Big Larry is a professional excavator with a backhoe and great reputation for finding early Canadian glass and pottery. He brings thirty years of digging experience to the Dumpdiggers' collective. He also brings a backhoe and a healthy sense of humor - here I caught him on the job in the oldest part of the City of Toronto (east of Yonge st, south of Queen).

April 25^th 2008 was an exciting day. Big Larry was removing some suspicious soil under the parking lot behind 252 Adelaide St E, which any knowledgeable local historian will tell you is the site of Toronto’s very first post office (circa 1834).

The Town of York website hosts the story of Toronto's first post office amid the trappings of so many dedicated historians; this page is a veritable treasure trove of facts and information concerning James Scott Howard. The dig site also contained something valuable - what Larry found in the ground is important.

It was a small hole, and not even that deep, but look at the stratigraphy. On the morning of April 25^th 2008 it was possible to see the shifting sands under this great city right back to 1834 when this exact spot was a mini marsh with cattails and bullfrogs.

Look carefully and note the bottom is clay and layers of top soil and finally gravel and asphalt as each generation used and improved the property. And of course let’s notice that log at the very bottom of the hole. That’s not a fence post, or a foundation beam…

According to Big Larry that post is the mooring of a small dock which may have existed here on the south side of a swampy pond almost two hundred years ago. The piles may have once supported a wooden dock or retaining wall – the whole mess was covered in and filled over in the 1830s and the land supported the busy post office.

Big Larry was just doing his job; he was digging a hole in a construction site. But like the wise old man, Larry keeps his eyes open all the time – especially when he’s working in history. As I watched him, he watched the hole. After a glimpse of ash, and the flash of glass, Larry jumped out of the cab and down into the pit, to grub knee deep in the mud on a hunt for the prize.

And it was worth it – from the depths of time Big Larry retrieved a ‘Riddel & Burns / 406 Yonge St / Toronto’ aqua torpedo bottle.

How did this bottle get here? The site is not a dump, but may have been dumped on all the same... This bottle was probably pitched into a water filled ditch sometime in the late 1860's or early 1870s by someone who wasn't interested in collecting the deposit. TimBits tells me that the bottle was made in 1869 by Francis Ridell and AW Burns, the proprietors of the beaver soda company. It was one of the last torpedo bottles made, before they came back into fashion again briefly in the early 1900s.

This is a very rare bottle; even good information is hard to find.

When Dumpdiggers went searching about for data on these two early Toronto beverage makers, we rediscovered the Canadian Bottle Lover's pages, and their wonderful photo gallery collection of early Toronto sodas.

But there's no Riddel & Burns torpedos on display here; the only similar specimen is a broken 'bowling pin' squat soda.

When Larry cleans and tumbles this piece I hope to do a follow-up on Francis Riddel & AW Burns. Anyway Big Larry, nice find.

Watermarks on Wood Furniture

There was a time not long ago when I moved deeper into the heart of Toronto on a quest for a better apartment. I made the switch in the middle of winter, and in the middle of a snowstorm; it was painful on so many levels. But I live downtown now, and all I left behind were bad memories.

Like this one particular bad memory I shall relate here:

Do you have any watermarks on your wood furniture?

Inside my old apartment I had kept an avocado tree in the window.

I had raised this plant from a seed. One of the first avocados I ever consumed no doubt. The plant is a good friend and almost ten years old.

See here how it has wept for me... But I did not know this.

For many months, I did not realize that the water leaked from a tiny hole in the bottom of the pot to leave a circular ring underneath. The water had scared the top of the white oak window ledge. Honestly, I did not know the urn had been compromised.

The wise old man has taught me that anyone can turn any disaster into a learning opportunity.

And as a blogger with a popular domain, I can learn and teach at the same time.

Here's an article I wrote last year that's devoted to the subject of How To Get Watermarks off Wood Surfaces. This was just the second hand knowledge I needed, and so I followed my own 'terrific' advice.

Without any hesitation, I retrieved my camera and a jar of mayonnaise and I set about rubbing the smelly stuff into the wood using an old rag (which I threw out after as it was so disgusting) .

I worked up quite a steam and soon the whole room smelled like a chip wagon.

In summary, although the author of this Gomestic article is a genius, the work is just not accurate in many respects, and it fails to note how long term damage cannot be cured by any miracle polish short of paint. The only remedy here is to sand the watermarks out of the surface and reapply lacquer.

Dumpdiggers finds a new voice on Squidoo

The earth has turned; all living things are starting fresh again outside my window. The leaves on the trees are green and the entire cityscape is suddenly alive with spring.

Timbits has been calling me, and Ace of Spades and even Chester Huff in Kenora – there’s a big dig brewing somewhere and these veterans are eager to pitch a hole.

There's excitement surrounding Dumpdiggers.com, and as many of you know there'll soon be an awesome social networking website at this domain; the launch date is June 1st 2008.

In the meantime, I, Rob Campbell would like to show readers the official Dumpdiggers Lens on Squidoo. Remember Squidoo? This is a multi-platform web publishing site that was created by Seth Godin to offer free media to anyone that wants it, for ANYTHING they want.

I discovered the site last year and used it for the first time last week, when searching for new and innovative mediums in which to market the Margaret Laurence book turned movie, The Stone Angel , and so I created The Stone Angel Squidoo Lens.

Big deal. Its free right?

Even though Squidoo is totally free to use, there's value here for readers and that creates a purpose for authors. Dumpdiggers just loves the flickr photo slide show widget, and the youtube.com channel, the eBay widget and the Google Blog search engine are also remarkably on topic. Check the official Dumpdiggers Lens.

Have a look and tell me what you think - I will respond to all queries.

How to Spot Good Costume Jewelry #2

Your Grandma’s fake jewelry probably isn’t junk, but just how valuable is it?

When shopping in flea markets or rummaging through garage sales, Dumpdiggers can spot vintage costume jewelry from well known designers of the 1940’s and 50’s and 60’s. If you are shopping for items in a local market to sell to collectors in a global market, there is nothing better than good fake jewelry.

In Canada, look for pieces by Gustave Sherman of Montreal 1947 -1981. Sherman was a jewelry designer and manufacturer who worked as a jewelry salesperson right after WWII in Montreal – this is important. He became a retail sales expert first, and was very knowledgeable in what people were buying, and what jewelry best complimented Montreal clothing styles. With no formal training as a designer or a businessman he opened the Sherman Jewelry Company in Montreal in 1947. At that time he had just one employee, Jimmy Koretza, a Hungarian jeweler who must have provided the expert craftsmanship for Sherman’s exquisite designs.

The company flourished in the 1950s, and Gustave Sherman soon became Canada's foremost jewelry designer. His firm was known for creating very high quality pieces that rivaled the real thing. He used only the finest Swarovski cut crystal, even when cheaper alternatives were available. Daniel Swarovski and Gustave Sherman were friends; the Swarovski company cut stones to spec for Sherman pieces and provided him with "reverse foiled" rhinestones. Sherman vintage costume jewelry was expensive when it was made, and it should be no surprise that it is expensive on eBay today.

How can you identify Sherman costume jewelry?

There is a wonderful Guide to Sherman at Family Jools.com where the authors have gone to great length to photograph and present helpful details.

Here are some quick tips for Dumpdiggers: Sherman pieces are usually monochromatic colour schemes – the signature colors are Siam Red, Fuchsia, Rose, Peridot, Emerald, Sapphire, Black and Topaz, as well clear and Crystal Aurora (which is Swarovski’s Aurora Borealis stones developed in a partnership with Christian Dior). Round stones include both brilliant cut and chatons. Baguettes were used, but not as commonly as other stone shapes. And the stones are always prong set, never glued. The bracelets had safety chains and hidden clasps. Sherman costume jewelry was known for its meticulous design.

Each piece is usually stamped "Sherman" or SHERMAN somewhere, but experts today acknowledge the signature sometimes came separately inside the box from Birks, for example, and as a result there are many unsigned Sherman pieces today. The signature stamp on necklaces in often on the dangle and not on the clasp. If your necklace is missing the dangle, it could be an unsigned Sherman. The oval nameplate is found on earlier pieces (1950s), while the square plate was introduced in the 1960s.

What happened to the Sherman Jewelry Company?

Because Sherman’s jewelry was of the highest quality, production costs were also very high, and the finished pieces were pricey. The simple designs and easy to fabricate items were often sold at good profit to Montreal and Toronto department stores, while the more elaborate designs were distributed directly to small upscale jewelry shops and boutiques.

Somewhere in the 1970s, Sherman lost touch with his customers. When the market was trending towards silver and gold tone plate jewelry, Sherman continued to make high quality, high end jewelry with Swarovski crystal. When eventually he did incorporate more gold and silver in his jewelry, he used the real thing, and if you remember your history, the late 1970s is when the price of gold rose to over eight hundred dollars an ounce. The Sherman Jewelry Company closed its doors in 1981.

Sherman jewelry is highly collectable and sells well on eBay. The japanned pieces with purple, red, black and yellow stones are especially desirable. Marshall Gummer believes that Sherman cuff bracelets are the best investments, and online auction prices will confirm that these items in particular have doubled in value three times in the last five years.

Found jewelry must be cleaned as meticulously as it was manufactured. Do not spray Windex directly onto your jewels or submerge anything in soapy water. Do not hold your pieces under running water from a faucet - rhinestone jewelry with foil backing should never be submerged in water.

Use an old (soft) toothbrush that will not scratch the surface of the plate, or the gems. Be particularly careful with Aurora Borealis stones as they can be easily scratched. Dab some Windex on a cloth or tissue. Make sure it's not too wet – the cloth should have just enough moisture to get the dust off the piece. For the hard to get to places, use a Q-tip with tiny little bit of Windex. Squeeze the excess wetness out of the Q-tip so that it's barely damp.

After you clean your jewels, leave them out to dry for at least an hour, and make sure they're completely dry before you box them again. Moisture increases the oxidation of all metallic elements and it will even work to deteriorate the quality of the crystals themselves. It can make them cloudy.

Here is an example of some cloudy jewels for sale today. This is vintage signed Sherman figural leaf brooch on eBay that features premium Swarovski crystals in a rhodium plated setting. This piece is in overall good condition with the exception of the cloudy crystals shown in the photo. The brooch still shines well and is otherwise quite beautiful. It measures 2 1/2 inches long by 2 inches across at the widest, and has a domed appearance. If the buyer replaces the cloudy stones they will have a stunning piece. Check the link to see the price – it was $18.00 US at the time of this post, with a day and half left in the auction.

How to Spot Good Costume Jewelry #1

Your Grandma’s fake jewelry probably isn’t junk, but just how valuable is it?

My eyes fill with tears when I think about how my beloved Grandmother would wear her costume jewelry so proudly - each piece matched a specific dress or hat; worn in rotation, depending on the season, each brooch made it to church about six times a year. I have a shoe box filled with memories of her today. Of course I would never sell any of her pieces, I couldn’t. But it would be nice to know what they are worth, and why.

Dumpdiggers frequently find shiny metallic brooches, bakelite hairpins, nickel plated buttons, and loose rhinestones in their excavations in town dumps and privy pits. I have found ruby red glass beads and the remains of bracelets and necklaces in Toronto dumps. Costume jewelry is found in early 1900’s dumps because this inexpensive jewelry was disposable – if it broke or became tarnished it was discarded, and seldom repaired. Today however, it’s worth keeping around

Marshall Gummer, The Appraiser, ranks vintage costume jewelry as one of the ten best things to collect, in the MoneySense Magazine’s Trash or Treasure? March 2006 "Countless Canadian women received costume jewelry back in the 1950s to celebrate their high school graduations. Even though the jewels are fake, the better stuff is now worth big bucks."

What's the best costume jewelry to collect?
Mr. Gummer mentions Gustave Sherman of Montreal, and Rafael Alfandary (who signed simply "Rafael") of Toronto in the 1970s. Alfandary created unique pieces for Maggie Trudeau, Lorne Greene and Liberace. Both of these jewelry makers and others like Jacques Hobe, Stan Haggler, Marcel Boucher, and of course Gustavo Trifari…will be explored later in this series.

The secrets to collecting good fake jewelry are revealed only after amassing lots of otherwise useless information about the history of costume jewelry. The common sense wisdom of ‘the older the better’ doesn’t completely apply to this art of many forms... 'Name, rank and serial number' would be better advice. Which jewelry designer in which firm made the piece? When? Where? And from what materials?

Above is a Vintage Trifari Cabachon Crown Pin on eBay that sold for $72 US last week. The piece was made in 1944 and follows Trifari Sterling Des. Pat No. 137542. This pin was designed by Alfred Philippe as part of his ‘Jewels’ series – the design features at least six different types / colors of stones.

Here is another very similar Trifari Crown Pin on eBay that sold for $71 US a few hours later. Different sellers, different buyers, same price.

The best costume jewelry is ridiculously flashy... But where did it all begin? Did the Egyptians wear costume jewelry? How about the Romans? No. Probably not. But there were some baubles three hundred years ago…

Costume Jewelry in Louis XIV’s France
There is strange annotation in the 17^th Century regarding Madame de Sevigne, a French aristocrat credited with popularizing faux gem-studded baubles to accent the plunging necklines in period clothing fashions. She wrote a series of open letters to her daughter, which included a trip to the waters at Vichy in 1676, and of Louis XIV’s court in 1688. The letters were copied and circulated throughout French society. One can only imagine how this primitive ‘press release’ stimulated the Great Age of French innovation – her letters served as a modern fashion magazine inspires designers today. I can only image that de Sevigne’s gem studded brooches were really composed of bits of colored glass; I wonder where that coloured glass was created? As Madame de Sevigne married François Adhémar de Monteil, Comte de Grignan, who became the Lieutenant Governor of Provence, I’d be inclined to believe the glass ‘gemstones’ originated from the Island of Murano in Venice, or maybe they were polished minerals from the mines and mills of Bohemia? Conversely, it is possible that the homegrown French glassmaking workshops that Colbert established for Versailles had already perfected the art.

Indeed some part of the combination of glass, art and jewelry was inspired by Lalique in the late 1800’s. His Art Nouveau pieces were highly esteemed on both sides of the Atlantic. Queen Victoria was one of his devotees and Agnew's of London even held a special Lalique exhibition in 1905.

The term ‘costume jewelry’ dates back to the early 20th century. Some fashion historians and collectors have published books wherein they claim the term reflects the use of the word ‘costume’ in making a fashion ensemble; ladies could use the ornamentation to accent their attire as they compose new stylish clothing combinations, everyday. Thus the jewelry worn with everyday fashion (costumes) grew to be known as "costume jewelry."

Another theory is that the term refers to the jewelry worn in theatrical productions, and indeed New York City was a hot spot for the design and manufacture of some early pieces. There is scant evidence today however on which to hang the idea that one particular play, piece, or designer inspired the entire art form.

Secret #1: Buy historic gemstones in fake jewelry
Costume jewelry is personal ornamentation composed entirely of non-precious materials. Instead of diamonds, rubies and sapphires set in silver or gold, early costume jewelry designers used bakelite, brass and other alloys, celluloid, enamel, horn, paint, paper, rubber, textiles and wood. Inside the art movements of the 1920s ‘material snobbism’ was rejected by young designers who spurned imitating expensive authentic jewelry and worked hard to make ‘fake jewelry’ respectable by the end of the Second World War.

“The House that Bengal Built’ by Mary Sue Packer follows Jakob Bengal’s rise from a provincial German watch chain manufacturer, through two decades of innovation and experimentation, to become a leading producer of costume jewelry in the 1920s and ‘30s. The book contains a comprehensive photograph collection of his best chrome and galalith pieces.

Milk Plastic Gems
Galalith, also know as ‘milkstone’ (Milchstein) was developed in 1897 by combining the milk protein casein with formaldehyde – today this called milk plastic in children's science craft books. In the early 1900s however it was high technology and used to decorate many household items. It was simple to make, and inexpensive; it was easy to color, and heat-resistant. Mrs Packer estimates that in the year 1913 about 30 million liters of milk was converted to 1.5 million kilos of Milchstein. Jakob Bengal made beautiful Art Noveau and Art Deco jewellery using this material. But the use of galalith for jewelry was prohibited in 1939 by the Nazi regime at the outset of WWII to save raw materials, and Jakob Bengel’s signature jewelry production thus came to an end.

Early Mineral and Glass Gemstones

Dumpdiggers love colored glass, in all shapes and sizes, and most vintage costume jewelry uses very well crafted synthetic gemstones in place of more valuable materials. Modern costume jewelry uses high end crystals, CZs or cubic zirconia simulated diamonds, and some semi-precious stones – but that wasn’t possible in the 1880’s.

Early costume jewelry features rhinestones and then ‘diamante’ which is a diamond simulant made from rock crystal. Originally, rhinestones were rock crystals gathered from the river Rhine. The availability was greatly increased in 1775 when the Alsatian jeweler Georg Friedrich Strass had the idea to imitate diamonds by coating the lower side of glass with shiny metallic powder. Hence, rhinestones are still called Strass in many European languages.

Swarovski Lead Glass Crystal
In 1895 Daniel Swarovski founded Swarovski Crystal with the assistance of Franz Weis and Armand Kossmann in a small town in Austria (Watten) located near a hydro electric dam. This was convenient because Daniel had just patented an electric crystal cutting machine. Between the years of 1908-1912 the Swarovski family perfected the art of making and cutting crystal. All early examples of Swarovski crystal are of course very valuable today.

The firm was very successful all through the twenties and thirties, before they created their famous 'Aurora Borealis’ crystals in 1956. The innovation produced gems coated with an almost imperceptible layer of metal to give the stone a rainbow sparkle. Manfred Swarovski, Daniel's grandson worked with Christian Dior to perfect this process.

Secrets to Collecting Costume Jewelry #2 will start with Coco Channel and the everyday fashion revolution that emboldened European and American women in the 1920s.

Herb Atkinson plans for Antiques Fair in April

Herb Atkinson manages a not-so-busy antiques store at Queen and Roncesvalles in Toronto, Ont Canada. Sedate Antiques at 1703 Queen St. West specializes in vintage kitchen and bathroom fixtures. The store is stuffed full of bargains, and only lacks customers. But Herb doesn't care - that's because he's really an interior designer, and the antiques store is just a cover, a place to 'store' all his junk.

Yesterday Dumpdiggers learned that Mr. Atkinson will be heading south to Chicago on 25-28 April 2008 to attend The Merchandise Mart International Antiques Fair™ . This is surprising, because that place/event is huge.

Dumpdiggers asked ‘Why would you shop for bargains there?’ To which Herb replied ‘For me the trip is not about securing merchandise, it’s about gaining wisdom.’ and Herb is already a wise old man. He says, ‘Antique objects are rare and beautiful, but they should be functional too – even when they do nothing.’

Known as the premier antiques fair in the Midwest, the Merchandise Mart International Antiques Fair provides collectors, designers and the general public an intimate environment to see a broad range of antiques.

This is the kind of place where experts conduct seminars and dispense their wisdom to thousands of eager listeners. One hundred and thirty antiques and fine art dealers will display the finest in 20th Century Design - Barometers, Ceramics, Coins, Decorative Arts, Folk Art, Furniture, Glass, Jewelry, Paintings, Posters, Prints, Rare Books and Maps, Sculpture, Silver, Textiles, and even Tribal Art will be displayed. This year’s event will also feature the return of dealers from the famed Marche aux Puces in Paris and members of LAPADA, Britain’s hallmark of quality antiques dealers.

We Find Bone China

Occasionally diggers discover dishware that isn't damaged.

It’s not a miracle. Veteran dumpdiggers don't break much.

We find all manner of kitchenware in old dumps, including earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. Among porcelain products, we rarely encounter soft paste, and more often find fine china and bone china. Many well appointed homes in the late 1800’s stocked at least one type of dishware, if not a combination of two or more of these categories. When pieces broke or went missing, wealthy families could afford to replace the entire collection, and discard the older material - even though it was perfectly functional. Some of the best pieces recovered in the Quest in Campbellford Ontario were the china plates from the Windsor Hotel on Bridge Street.

Confirming authentic Fine Bone China
All dumpdiggers hope to find intact dishes and recover genuine, well preserved fine bone china. Genuine china from a reputable pottery can be very easily traced today – most historic English pottery catalogs are online. As diggers we hope to encounter genuine Aynsley, Belleek, Coalport, Hutschenreuther, Johnson Brothers, Minton, Poole Pottery, Royal Albert, Royal Doulton, Royal Worcester and Wedgwood.

Most diggers carry lots of water, and upon finding intact dishware they will power wash the bottom of the piece searching for maker’s marks. I will drench a dish in water first, and scratch and nibble away at debris stuck on the piece only very selectively – DO NOT WIPE YOUR THUMB ACROSS THE BOTTOM OF THE PIECE right after the relic has come up out of the ground. It needs time to breathe and get used to the different pressure / temperature zone. Some glazes will come right off on your fingers if you handle them; the heat and pressure of the dump might have loosened the finish.

Cleaning Fine China
Antique bone china should be washed by hand; any ‘dump stains’ can probably be rubbed out with a damp cloth dipped in baking soda.

History of English Bone China
Fine Bone China was developed by Josiah Spode in Staffordshire England in the 1770s. There were two men by this name – father and son. While Josiah Spode senior was carrying out his pioneering pottery in Stoke, his son, Josiah II was in London marketing the company's products. They had a shop in Cripplegate in 1778, and a traveling salesman named William Copeland. The salesman had a great working knowledge of the market and he probably inspired old Mr. Spode to concentrate his experiments on making a new fine bone china.

After a century of importing Chinese porcelain at good profits, the East India Company reduced the trade in 1780s as demand was failing due to the rise of a Neo-Classical fashion movement with which Chinese decoration was decidedly not compatible.

Josiah Spodes experimented with ox bone ash – which is the calcified remains of ox skeletons and that’s very medieval and creepy... Bone ash is the white, powdery ash left from the burning (calcination) of animal bones. It is very fine and is primarily composed of calcium phosphate. It is commonly used in fertilizers, polishing compounds, and in making bone china.

The use of bone ash had been known from the middle ages, when it was first used in cupels for the assaying of metals. Interest in bone ash as an ingredient in tableware pottery emerged thirty years earlier - the Bow Factory in East London had some success in soft paste porcelains. Their recipe was a carefully guarded trade secret and there is a good story about a man named Robert Browne who accepted a position at the factory only so he could hide in a barrel at the end of his shift to learn the components of ‘the batch’.

Today, fine bone china is a true porcelain of china clay and Cornish stone with 45%-50% calcined bone. Cornish Stone is crushed kaolinized granite and is therefore a mixture of minerals rather than a feldspar, which is a single mineral. Four grades of English cornish stone are marketed. The highest grades contain about 77 percent feldspar, 16 percent quartz, 7 percent kaolin and 0.5 percent fluorspar is sometimes present.

What’s kaolin? I wondered this too. Kaolin is a clay mineral more correctly known as kaolinite. It is also called china clay. Kaolin is made up of individual crystals that form units termed "booklets" of stacked sheets. Kaolin is a soft mineral, white in colour when it is fairly pure.

Kaolin's whiteness, opaqueness, large internal surface area and non-abrasiveness properties make it an ideal filler material for paper production. As a coating agent in paper, kaolin provides a smooth, opaque surface with good printability and ink retention. Eighty percent 80 per cent of all kaolin production is used in paper, other uses include fillers for rubber, plastic, paint and adhesives, as well as in ceramics such as porcelain and refractory products.

By 1796, Spode wrote a customer named William Tatton and invoice which contains the first known reference to 'English China'. By 1799, two years after his father's death, Josiah Spode II was successfully selling bone china, which he initially branded as 'Stoke China' in London markets. Because it was such an obviously superior product, the rest of the industry was forced to follow – But yet Dumpdiggers cannot determine how everyone else came to know the recipe? Did Josiah Spode II willingly share his technological breakthrough?

Here is a vintage Copeland Spode China set in the Cowslip pattern for sale on eBay. This dish set was made in England in the 1930s, and each piece features a distinctive brown stamp on its bottom. They set is numbered S713 and everything is in pristine condition. How much? The winning bid is $950.00 US

Marshall Gummer, The Appraiser, has these lovely pieces to admire on his website.

First here's a Shelley hand painted Art Deco Flower Handle Cup and Saucer that Marshall valued at over $1,000, and next is a Royal Albert hand painted Butterfly Handle Cup and Saucer which is worth about $500.