Hopalong Cassidy was a cowboy hero who first appeared in 1907 in a series of short stories. He was a hard-drinking ruffian in the stories, but when he was featured in movies in the 1930s, he became a white-haired, clean-living gentleman cowboy.

William Boyd starred as Hoppy in 66 feature films from 1935 to 1948 and then did a 1950s TV series. He owned all the syndication rights and licensed hundreds of products picturing Hoppy.

This red metal clothes hamper pictures William Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy with his horse, Topper. The half-round hamper auctioned for 8.

Collectors today search for the children’s toys, games and accessories from the ’50s. At a recent auction, a chenille bedspread picturing Hoppy brought $110, a 1954 lithographed steel lunchbox by Aladdin Industries brought $140 and a cap gun and holster by Wyandotte brought $193.

Posters, books, toys and even wastebaskets sell quickly. Perhaps it is because so many people remember seeing the TV show in reruns.

My souvenir from the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair is a pinball game. My aunt and her girlfriend went to the fair and bought the game for my brother. He was 18 when he was killed in World War II.

Because the game was my brother’s, we have taken good care of it. It has 10 metal balls, a working spring and a glass front. The game’s backing is a blue-and-white board with the fair’s whirling-planet logo and the words “Souvenir of a Century of Progress, Chicago, 1933.” What is it worth today?

Souvenirs from the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair are favorites of World’s Fair collectors. A Chicago Fair souvenir pinball game, 12 inches by 20 inches, was made by the Northwestern Mail Box Co. The game is rare and sells for about $450.

My round flower vase is glazed a solid green. It has about 20 holes near the top as a decoration.

It is 4 inches tall and is marked “Kelloggs.” Was it a promotion piece for the cereal company?

No. Stanley Kellogg founded the Kellogg Studio Pottery in 1948. He worked in Petoskey, Mich. It was an area known for ancient fossilized coral. He made many small pieces of pottery to sell to tourists.

Your vase has holes to hold flower stems; it is a form of a flower frog. Some of his other flower frogs resembled coral, or “Petoskey Stones.” The Kellogg Studio closed in 1976.

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