QUESTIONS FROM OUR WEBSITE
Just in time for Christmas, the CAS
Collectors Mailbag has a perfectly-timed question about that jolly (and
rare) old elf, St. Nick!
Dear CAS Collectors:
I collect holiday items
year round, and was recently pleased to run across a Ceramic Arts Studio “Santa
& Evergreen”. However, I have some other CAS pieces, and the tree that came
with “Santa” looks just like the tree I already have with “Paul Bunyan”. Are
they supposed to be identical?
Also, some of the paint
on “Santa”s red costume seems to be peeling off. Why is that? And can I fix it?
I’ve never noticed this problem with other Ceramic Arts figurines.
Dear Virginia:
You can rest easy. Santa and Paul Bunyan share
the same Evergreen. Only one tree, intended for use with either
figurine, was created by the Studio, and released in 1953. You’re lucky to have two Evergreens in
your collection: some Santas and Paul Bunyans have to share.
The paint problem you noted is because the red color of Santa’s
suit was cold-painted, after the figurine had already been fired. At the
time, this was the only way a “true red” could be achieved. Sprucing up Santa
with a bit of identical red paint where the coloring has flaked off will
certainly add to his visual appeal in your collection. (However, if you intend
to resell Santa, you will want to note any after-the-fact improvements.)
A current value estimate for a Santa in mint condition would be
$200-225, $125-150 for his Evergreen. Paul Bunyan, (easier to find,
since he doesn’t spend most of the year recuperating at the North Pole), will
average $75-100.
A side note on Santa: our good friend, and Club
Historian, the late Margaret Purucker, had quite a collection of these.
First-time visitors to her home were urged to “take a Santa with you”.
Attempts to resist this generous offer were always fruitless: at visit’s end,
Margaret would follow you out to your car, clutching a Santa, and
insisting you accept it, as if it were just a plate of cookies! Best of all, it
would be a Santa in, as Margaret would say, “tip-top condition”.
Yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus. And sometimes
her name is Margaret!
--
The Riddle Solved
At last! A definitive answer to a Question raised in a
previous issue! We’d been asked if the Chick & Nest pair were
actually salt-and-peppers, since no one seemed to have run across a Nest with
pour holes. Was it just a mini-salt dip?
Well, David Slotten assures us that this definitely is
a salt-and-pepper pair, and he has the pour-hole-equipped Nest to prove
it. And now we know the rest of the
story. Thanks, Dave!
And, until next time, we tie up the top of the CAS
mailbag. Do you have a