Pieces’ practicality vanishes over time

Sometimes furniture from another era is a mystery. Would you know how to use a 4-foot-high rectangular wooden box with inlay and carvings and a door in the front that flips down? Not unless you are still using a coal stove for heat and keep the extra coal in the box.

Would you realize that a small table with a chair attached at the side could be a telephone table, popular in the 1930s? And what would you do with a 4-foot-high carved pedestal topped by a shelf that was tilted? It certainly couldn’t hold a potted plant. Keep it as a decoration, but realize that it’s probably a speaker’s podium made to hold an open book so it can be read easily.

There are many antiques that seem mysterious because we no longer have a need for them. Bed steps needed to climb up into beds with several thick mattresses are now used as end tables. Poles with fire screens that kept the hot flames of the fireplace away from your face are now just decorations standing in the corner of a room. And desk sets with blotters, pen holders and boxes with small sections for stamps are admired today for their decoration, not their usefulness.

Future generations will probably by confused by smoking stands with huge ashtrays or a desk with a pull-out shelf for a typewriter. We even hear under-30 collectors asking about the use of a slide rule or milk can.

What are we using today that will go out of style and no longer be needed because of computers, DVDs or new methods of cooking, heating and lighting the home? Whatever it is, we predict there will be collectors who will want to use the “relics” in a new way so they can keep the past alive.

Q: We own three stoneware crocks we think date from about 1910. They’re all marked with a large wing-shaped stamp and the words “Red Wing Union Stoneware, Red Wing, Minn.” in a large oval under the wing. The largest crock is also marked “6” and “Ice Water”; it has a small hole for a spigot. The other two are marked with a number — “4” on one and “2” on the other. There are no handles on the crocks.

A: The Red Wing Union Stoneware Co. was in business in Red Wing, Minn., from 1906 to 1936, when it became Red Wing Potteries Inc. (which closed in 1967). The wing trademark was used starting about 1909. The numbers on your crocks tell their sizes — they hold 2, 4 and 6 gallons. The way your crocks are marked indicates that they date from about 1910 to 1915. So you’re right about their age.

A single crock the age and size of yours generally sells for $50 or more.

Q: We have a Windsor chair with a label on the bottom that reads, “The Liberty Furnishings, Joseph McHugh and Co., 42nd Street West at 5th Ave., Popular Shop Trade Marks Registered.” I am curious about the chair.

A: Joseph P. McHugh (1854-1916) opened his furnishings business, The Popular Shop, in New York City in 1878. The shop moved to 42nd Street in 1884. His company was among the first in the United States to manufacture and popularize Mission style. He later sold Colonial Revival furniture, including Windsor chairs.

Today the company, named J.S. McHugh Inc., sells furnishings to schools, libraries, hospitals and recreational facilities.

Tip: Dust Christmas ornaments after removing them from the tree. Do not store them covered with dust. Wrap each ornament individually in paper.

Ralph and Terry Kovel’s column is syndicated by King Features. Write to: Kovels, (Las Vegas Review-Journal), King Features Syndicate, 888 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10019.