High-Flying Playing Cards Come Up Aces

Dear Collector: I inherited some odd items a while back: a pack of playing cards from WWII. I have never seen anything like them. They were intended to teach aircraft recognition and the instruction card lists some learning games using aircraft silhouettes.

Reproduced in the early 1990s ($7-$9 per pack), yours are the real thing dating from 1943. One of many means in identifying aircraft, including charts, flash cards, slides, etc., these playing cards are also highly collectible in their own right and are currently worth at least $100. Coca-Cola also produced a set, now valued at about $200.

Dear Collector: I would like your opinion of what I believe is a fishing reel marked and dated “J.H. Nuttall, 1909.”

Collectors call this trout reel a “birdcage,” due to its openwork wire construction. Patented in 1859 (supposedly the first commercially patented fly reel in the nation), your later model is possibly worth $300 or more, while an original Billinghurst example goes for almost $1,500.

Dear Collector: My mother-in-law gave me four plates that have “Martin Limoges” on the back.

Your keepsakes were produced in the now defunct Martin & Nephew factory at Limoges, France, between 1912 and 1935.

Dear Collector: I have an oil painting by Theodore Girard. Can you tell me anything about the artist?

Girard was a 19th century French artist who specialized in harbors and nautical scenes. A high of $2,000 has been realized for one of his works.

Dear Collector: Stamped on the base of our cookie jar are the words “Abingdon, USA.”

According to the photo you enclosed, you have a “Granny” jar repainted to look like a mammy. With the impressed number “471” dating it sometime in the 1940s, this jar has a guide book value of $550.

Dear Collector: I found a comic (“Blue Bolt” No. 5/3) behind a framed photograph. It was printed in 1944. What could be its current value?

The questions that should be asked are how did it get where it was, and why? I guess this is a mystery that will never be solved, though I’m sure there was a little boy involved. “Blue Bolt,” a hero with super powers, first appeared in June 1940. Enlisting in the war effort in 1943, he abandoned his costume and cape. In 1949 the comic’s title changed to “Ghostly Weird Stories,” which lasted until 1953. Depending on condition, your comic is now worth $15-$25.

Dear Collector: I got a book called “Elsie’s Young Folks” from an estate sale. There are no dates in the book, but Martha Finley wrote it. Have you heard of such a book?

Finley wrote a series of books for publisher Dodd Mead beginning in the 1880s, all of which featured her heroine, Elsie Dinsmore. Depending on the title and condition, prices range from $10 to over $100.

Dear Collector: I have no idea how old my “Community Plate” tea set is.

Oneida Silversmiths of Sherrill, N.Y., introduced their Community Plate line in 1902.

Recommended reading: “Propaganda Postcards of World War II,” (Krause, 2000, $21.95). Ron Menchine, broadcaster, author and collector, exhibits more than 300 cards (with prices) from both sides of the conflict, including examples from neutral nations.

This oversize paperback book is well researched and informative.

“Evolution of the Pedal Car,” Volume 4 with price guide, no author or editor credited (L-W Book Sales, 2000, $29.95). The first portion of this 295-page paperback contains catalog reprints in black and white, while the second half is filled with hundreds of color photos. The diversity of cars will surprise the tyro hobbyist and please the seasoned collector.