Maureen Love and Hagen-Renaker

Regular readers of this blog will know that I enjoy finding horse figurines by the California pottery Hagen-Renaker, Inc. at estate sales.  But yesterday I found a horse figurine that will always stand out from the rest of the small herd on my shelves. It's directly related to a Hagen-Renaker horse figurine, but this one was not produced by Hagen-Renaker.

Read on!

Of all the figurines that H-R has released, my favorites are the horse models designed by Maureen Love Calvert, usually just known as Maureen Love.

That's why, a few months ago, I was so pleased to be able to get a copy of the March 1962 issue of Western Horseman magazine.  It contained a one-page article, "Sculptress at Work," illustrated with many photographs, on Maureen's work.

In the article, by author Maggie Kennedy, Western Horseman identified her as "Marjorie Love."  

Here's the full text of the article, which begins:

Sculptress at Work

by Maggie Kennedy

Recently, a very interesting and talented person came to our ranch to sketch our Appaloosas and use them for models. Marjorie [sic] Love of Covina, Calif., puts her talents to use for the Hagen-Renaker Potteries who distribute horse statuettes in ceramic in all the Fifty and South America. She herself rates as one of the most prolific of sculptresses, since reproductions of her original models number into the many thousands...

And here are the photos:

An interesting article, with insights on how Hagen-Renaker horses were created.

When I shared the article with my friend Joanie, who had known Maureen Love personally, I discovered that Western Horseman had not only gotten Maureen Love's name wrong; it also mis-identified one of the photographs in its article, perhaps for the sake of the narrative "flow" of the story.  In the photograph of Maureen Love working on the Appaloosa figurine just removed from the mold, the discarded mold looks sort of like a blob.

But in the photo of the molds inside the Hagen-Renaker factory, all of the molds are rectangular and solid.

Joanie told me that the horse in the picture of Maureen Love with the discarded mold was one of Maureen's own personally-created versions of the design:

Maureen would have made the original sculpture from clay, then made a quick 'waste mold', like a shell. Unlike [Hagen-Renaker's] production molds, they were shells, with interlocking pieces. Then Maureen would have cast [a ceramic horse] from these molds, then would have eventually cast a wax horse, that she would have cleaned up and detailed for the Hagen-Renaker mold shop to make their master and production molds from. 

Joanie knew Maureen very well, and had taken me with her to meet back Maureen in 1991.  Maureen Love died in 2004, leaving behind a huge body of work -- the models she created for Hagen-Renaker as well as her own animal sculptures.

Joanie and her kids, Maureen and another model horse collector,
Kathleen, in Maureen's garden in 1991.

Meeting this outstanding artist and seeing her own collection -- in the company of friends who also appreciated Maureen's work -- was one of the high points of my model horse-collecting career. 

Maureen Love's personal collection of her own work, including horses, 
birds, a cat, and cattle, circa 1991.The pieces were sold individually at auction in 2005. 
On the lower shelf you can see a white bisque version 
of the Hagen-Renaker Appaloosa, that Maureen kept.

Bear that in mind while I tell you about the estate sale. In my weekly Internet trolling of ads for upcoming sales, I found one in northern San Diego County that showed this small and grainy but intriguing photograph:

Are those two Hagen-Renaker Appaloosas on the top shelf...? 
If so, why are they different colors? The Appaloosa only came in one color.

I immediately arranged to meet Joanie at the sale.  "Get there before daylight," we agreed. We were first in line, ahead of many other estate sale shoppers. 

We came home with not just the two horses in the estate sale ad photograph.... 

One of Maureen Love's ceramic Appaloosas,
next to the mass-produced Hagen-Renaker Appaloosa

But also with a third horse, which the previous owner had mounted on fabric inside a display case.  Joanie carefully removed it from the case so we could examine it alongside the other two horse figurines.

The second Maureen Love Appaloosa at the estate sale, darker than the other.

Two Maureen Love Appaloosas, one Hagen-Renaker Appaloosa.

They all look like the same horse, but in different styles. In the photo above, the two figurines at the top are Maureen Love's own renderings of her own original clay sculpture. The one at the bottom was the Hagen-Renaker production piece.

So how did these three exquisite little pieces of equine art end up at one estate sale?  The answer is in the Western Horseman article.  Maggie Kennedy wrote that Maureen had visited to sketch her Appaloosa horses.  Appaloosa breed records show that OK Ya Ta Hey and other Appaloosa horses were owned by William H. and Margaret Kennedy. Margaret Kennedy died at age 87 earlier this year.  It was the sale of her estate. Maureen Love must have given her the two original works and possibly the Hagen-Renaker version of Maggie's Appaloosa mare, which was named OK Rain Dance, as well.

Hagen-Renaker gave many of its animal figurines that Maureen Love designed, names -- Arabians like "Abu-Farwa" and "Sheba," Quarter Horses such as "Two Bits" and "Erin."  Hagen-Renaker called its own version of this pretty Appaloosa, "Love."  Appropriately named, I think.

Left: Hagen-Renaker Appaloosa from my collection.
Right: Maureen Love Appaloosa. It's slightly larger than the H-R.

You can read more about Hagen-Renaker and Maureen Love at the links below:

http://www.hagenrenaker.com/Newpages/index.php

http://hagenrenakermuseum.com/

http://muddyhoofprints.blogspot.com/

http://sharethemaureenlove.blogspot.com/


UPDATE: More information has surfaced on the history of the "Love" Appaloosa, from Hagen-Renaker historian Nancy Kelly! Read my update here: 

http://estatesalechronicles.blogspot.com/2015/07/but-wait-theres-more-update-on-maureen.html

The Power of Pyrex

A recent article in Country Living magazine reminded me that 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of Pyrex, the "glass you can cook in."  The first ads for Pyrex came out in magazines in the fall of 2015.

I find Pyrex bowls and covered dishes at almost every estate sale I attend.  There are probably two reasons for this: one, Pyrex containers were popular with homemakers throughout most of the 20th century; and 2) they tend to last a long time. 

I can't buy all of the Pyrex bowls I see, of course, but I have been able to collect quite a few of them. They don't just sit on my shelves -- I use them almost every day.

I also find Pyrex ads in vintage magazines at estate sales.

Here's a website devoted to Pyrex glass patterns:
http://www.pyrexlove.com/vintage-pyrex-pattern-guide/

The Corning Museum of Glass exhibition on historic Pyrex runs June 6, 2015 through March 17, 2016.
http://www.cmog.org/collection/exhibitions/pyrex

The Country Living article on Pyrex is here:
http://www.countryliving.com/shopping/antiques/a35240/pyrex/

You can find photographs and links to other blogs about Pyrex bowls and dishes on Pinterest:

https://www.pinterest.com/explore/pyrex-bowls/

Globe-Wernicke Recipe File Box

They call them "barrister bookcases," those vintage sectional stacking wooden bookcases with glass doors that lift up, rather than to one side.  The patent for the design was held by Otto Wernicke of Minneapolis, but many companies crafted them in the early 20th century.

Author Fred Taylor calls them "elastic storage" in his article for Worthpoint:

http://www.worthpoint.com/article/elastic-storage-multi-section-stacking-bookcases

Taylor points out that so many of these kinds of bookcases were made, they're not really rare. But the older ones are not exactly cheap, even at estate sales.

The Globe-Wernicke company made other wooden furniture, including file cabinets and desks. The only Globe-Wernicke piece I've ever been able to afford, though, was a recipe card file box.  

Made of solid wood, it holds 3x5" index cards with recipes written on them.  It's not in the best shape (after probably more than 80 years), but I don't want to mess with the labels.

The Globe-Wernicke name is on the front...

And on the inside of the box.

The attention to detail for something so small is tremendous; you can easily see the dovetail joints on the sides.

Inside the box is more of its history: a few hand-written recipe cards from previous owners.  Some of the recipes sound like they might not be bad, but others look like they were written out but probably never tried.

Chipped Beef Casserole. Piggies in Rice.
Curried Cold Cheese Ball with Pears. (Okay.)

A clue about a previous owner of the wooden recipe file box was tucked in the very back, past all the alphabetical index cards.

Written on the back of a page from a "Party Game FUN Book" is a list of gifts she received at a bridal shower.

Reading the list gave me pause. Between "Billie - Strainer & Pancake Turner" and "Gail - Can Opener" is the notation "Lola & John - Iron Monster." At least that's what I think it says. Exactly what the iron monster was, or why a new bride would need one, is one of those little details lost to history.

And that bride of yesteryear forgot to make note of who gave her the recipe file box.

Whoever you were, a belated thanks, folks.
_____

Another short history of the Globe-Wernicke company is here:

http://www.globe-wernickeusa.com/globe-wernicke-history/

Blog Posts about Children's Books

I just completed a post about small vintage children's books.  You can find more blog posts about children's books and illustrators here at The Estate Sale Chronicles:

A Bear Called Paddington
http://estatesalechronicles.blogspot.com/2014/12/finding-paddington.html

Beautiful Joe
http://estatesalechronicles.blogspot.com/2014/07/beautiful-joe-and-band-of-mercy.html

Strongheart the Wonder Dog
http://estatesalechronicles.blogspot.com/2014/06/strongheart-wonder-dog.html

Horse Book Illustrators:
Paul Brown
http://estatesalechronicles.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-horse-book-illustrators-part-one.html

Wesley Dennis
http://estatesalechronicles.blogspot.com/2014/06/horse-book-illustrators-part-two-wesley.html

Sam Savitt
http://estatesalechronicles.blogspot.com/2014/06/horse-book-illustrators-part-three-sam.html

Walter Farley's Horse Books
http://estatesalechronicles.blogspot.com/2013/04/old-friends-on-shelf-horse-books-by.html

Winnie-the-Pooh
http://estatesalechronicles.blogspot.com/2014/02/happy-birthday-to-pooh.html

Old Friends
http://estatesalechronicles.blogspot.com/2013/11/remembering-old-friends-childrens-books.html

Read-Aloud Children's Books

On International Children's Book Day (April 2, which is the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen), it's good to remember the books that someone read to you when you were little.

Any child born between the 1940s and today, who was blessed enough to have books in the home and someone who read to them, probably remembers Little Golden Books, Wonder Books, and others like them.

I find a lot of them at estate sales.

Having Ladybug Hitch Hikes Home, a Bonnie Book,
read to me is one of my earliest memories.

They were small, sturdy, easy to read and (in a child's eyes) wonderfully illustrated.   They were inexpensive and, importantly, available in grocery stores, variety stores, and other places where grownups liked to shop.

Ponies, a Rand McNally Book-Elf Junior book.

In the 1950s and 1960s, cartoons and other pop culture figures found additional life in small children's books.

Tweety and Howdy Doody and the Monkey Tale were published by Whitman. 

Many small children's books featured Disney characters such as Bambi.

The Lone Ranger: Desert Storm was a Tell-A-Tale book by Whitman.

Dondi was a Wonder Book (with Washable Covers).

Walt Disney's Savage Sam was a Little Golden Book.

They made good Christmas gifts, too.

The Christmas Puppy was a Wonder Book.

Huckleberry Hound and the Christmas Sleigh was a Little Golden Book.
It looks like Pixie and Dixie the mice are in the sleigh, on the cover.

The most important thing about these small books is that they facilitated reading aloud.  The importance of reading aloud to a child cannot be understated.  

When I was a kid, it was almost a given that your parents or grandparents told you stories and read aloud to you, particularly at bedtime.  They showed you the pictures and talked to you about the story.  

You wanted your favorite books read to you over and over again, and if the adult grew tired of this and skipped a page, you corrected them and made them go back and read the part they'd missed.

Walt Disney's Lucky Puppy was a spin-off of the animated version of 101 Dalmatians.

  

Then there came a momentous afternoon, when you picked up your favorite book and no one was available to read it to you, so you read it to yourself.

What book do you remember from your childhood?  Do you still have it?  If not, find a copy from an online retailer, or at a yard sale or estate sale.  

Read it to yourself.  Enjoy the illustrations.  Read it to someone small, and pass it along.