What's New Down Under?

Collectors are wondering … What’s New Down Under?

Ralph Finch pins down some interesting Australian items

Ilike Australia — Australian people, Australian cities, and Australian glass — and I always like the unusual items you find at ABCR Auctions. The recent sale, featuring “998 Lots featuring more rare milk bottles, a brilliant range of Australian marble bottles (*1870s Codd bottles), crown seal beers, ginger beers, *garagenalia, demijohns, pot lids, bitters and more!” (*garagenalia? Sounds like the name of a low-budget sci-fi movie from the ’50s.)

But, let’s go back to Melbourne, Australia, and the April 15 auction filled with, as usual, an amazing offering of good stuff and intriguing stuff.

ABCR, based in Victoria, is the product of Travis Dunn, editor of the Australian Bottle and Collectables Review, and David Bruce. Travis is a nice guy I’ve corresponded with for several years and states, in part, “We are an auction house run by collectors, for collectors.” But out of 998 items, I picked out just one. Lot 659, a 1900s household rolling pin. But why? I like rolling pins. I have one, turned out of wood on March 3, 1933, by my uncle Ralph, who died in 1939 at the age of 21.

I have also liked glass rolling pins, because during my forty trips to England and the thousands of antiques booths I’ve perused through there, I have seen many rolling pins, including many attractive ones. And while I am now eighty, I don’t think I’ve ever actually used a rolling pin. (Maybe, in my subconscious memory bank, I remember watching my grandmother use one.)

Wikipedia says of the rolling pin: They come from every country and are made of every material: glass, ceramic, acrylic, bakelite, copper, brass, aluminum, silicone, wood, stainless steel, marble, and plastic. Wikipedia adds “A rolling pin is a cylindrical food preparation utensil used to shape and flatten dough. Two styles are found: rollers and rods. Roller types consists of a thick cylinder with small handles at each end; rod type rolling pins are usually thin tapered batons. Rolling pins of different styles and materials offer varying advantages, as they are used for different tasks in cooking and baking. The first civilization known to have used the rolling pin was the Etruscans. These people may have migrated from Asia Minor to northern Italy or may have originated in Italy.”

And: “Vintage glass rolling pins vary from simple clear examples to the famous Bristol blue colours, to elaborate multi-coloured Nailsea examples and to examples with motifs and words. Glass rolling pins, although functional, developed into quite an art form. They also became known as love tokens, as they were often given by departing sailors to there loved ones with words on such as ‘Be true to me,’ ‘Remember me,’ ‘Forget me not,’ etc.”

COLUMBUS PIN: Note the name in very small letters. David Stott was and remains a big name in Detroit. There is a 38-story art deco skyscraper named Stott, built by the heirs of Detroit’s flour king. It cost $46.3 million in today’s money, but opened the day the Depression hit. RALPH’S PIN: The small pin — seven inches — was made by my uncle Ralph on March 3, 1933. It is photographed on a kitchen table that I use every day, and likely my uncle also sat at it, since my grandparents purchased it, used, around 1938. The large rolling pin is the one Janet uses to threaten me.

WHITE WINGS: Self-rising flour was invented by English baker Henry Jones about 1844. He hoped to sell his invention to the Navy, “as the only bread those poor blokes ate aboard ship was hard tack.” In a way, it’s kind of a cheat product, as it is simply a mixture of other already existing ingredients, but either way, it worked for the English baker, who sold a ton of it on British ships!

Mason’s Extract of Herbs bottle. TRADE CARD: Newball and Mason were manufacturing chemists based in Nottingham in the 1800s. It was Thomas Mason who invented the ‘Extract of Herbs’ a concentrated essence that could be made up into a non-alcoholic Botanic Beer. One researcher said, “I’ve seen a couple of their ‘Extract of Herbs’ bottle labels and each has an illustration with a dandelion on it.” The card says: “The little busy bee improves the shining hour and prefers Mason’s Extract of Herbs before the laborious old fashioned method of extracting it itself.”

I also saw a 19th-century large Bristol blue glass Mariners Rolling Pin painted with a central scene of “The Great Australia Clipper-Ship” with side verse and scenes titled Mariners Arms; “Success to the fisherman” and “True love from Hull.” (One sold for £300 at Hutchinson Scott, May 2017). Nautical themes were common on rolling pins, with sea-faring motifs, ships, mottos and inscriptions. These would be applied as painting, gilding and printing. Some of the designs are quite intricate and attractive original Victorian rolling pins are much sought after. Rarer examples include anti-slavery messages and those marking special events such as coronations. Some are hollow, holding salt, and would have hung in the kitchen or by a fire to keep the salt dry. The Nailsea examples were not only made at the Nailsea works in Somerset but also Bristol, Newcastle, Sunderland, Wrockwardine Wood in Shropshire, Alloa in Scotland and elsewhere. Nailsea has become the generic term for the type of glass produced in these areas.

Got that? Now you are an expert (at least, you are on a roll). But let’s return to ABCR’s Lot 659, embossed: “Make Beer at Home from Mason’s Extract of Herbs / Antidote for Indigestion - ‘Coombs’ Aerated Pastry Flour’ - Sold in 3d 6d 1/- and 2/6 Bags / You must use Kilverts’ Pure Lard if you want good pastry / Antidote for Indigestion - ‘Coombs’ Eureka Flour’ - Awarded 5 Gold Medals // Thos. Farrar Whitefield Regd Trade Mark ‘Isobel’ Manchester Patentee // For Trade terms apply to Coombs’ Flour Co., Nottingham and 8A Farringdon Road London.” Plus, a green Mason’s Extract of Herbs bottle was part of Lot 659.

It was described (edited) as a “white ceramic advertising rolling pin. Blue Print, wooden handles. Plus wooden stand for display. In excellent condition with fine crazing throughout . Valued as $200$300 Aussie, it sold for $580 ($371 U.S.).

Travis later commented: “We have sold a few rolling pins over the years. The advertising examples are quite sought after in Australia. Back in Auction 29, lot 619 was an example advertising White Wings Self Raising Flour. We estimated $400-500 on this piece, it actually sold for $747.”

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* A Codd-neck bottle is a type of bottle used for carbonated drinks. It has a closing design based on a glass marble which is held against a rubber seal, which sits within a recess in the lip. In 1872, British soft drink maker, Hiram Codd of Camberwell, London, designed and patented a bottle designed specifically for carbonated drinks. Friend Alan Blakeman of England remembers, as a child, finding Codd bottles and break them for the marbles.

FYI: An angry housewife wielding a rolling pin as a weapon is a common cliché in humor, as, for example, in the English comic strip Andy Capp.

Advertising pin for "Coombs' Eureka Flour." Also on the pin are the claims "Antidote for Indigestion" and "Awarded 5 Gold Medals."