Paintings, sculptures, coins, books and furniture were all collected in ancient times. It was not until the late 19th century that oddities and mementos of everyday life were seriously collected.

Today ,there is added interest in collectibles related to work and industry. Early tools, objects connected to the automobile and transportation industries, office equipment like old typewriters and cash registers, and household equipment are all collectible.

There are even serious groups of collectors who concentrate on “automobilia” anything related to cars. Spark plugs, hubcaps, gas pumps and license plates are wanted by collectors who have organized clubs. Hood ornaments, taillights, nameplates, tire rims, gear-shift knobs and more can be found at flea markets.

Gas pumps are being restored, and the glass globes that sat at the top of the pumps are popular collectibles. There are four major categories. One-piece glass globes with no inserts were made from 1912 to 1931. Designs were etched, raised, baked on or fired on. Metal globes with 15-inch or 16-1/2-inch glass inserts were made from about 1915 to 1935. From the 1920s to the early 1960s, 13-1/2-inch glass inserts were made for the metal globes. Plastic bodies with 13-1/2-inch glass inserts were made from 1932 to today. Complete globes can sell today for $350 to more than $2,000.

Our shelf clock was a wedding present to my grandparents in 1902. I had the clock professionally restored 10 years ago. The restorer told me the clock is called a “kitchen clock,”” although that’s not a name I would have given it. It is 22 inches tall and has a press-molded oak cabinet. The dial face is marked “Ansonia Clock Co., Ansonia, Conn.” Since the clock is a family heirloom, I am interested in learning something about Ansonia and why this clock is called a kitchen clock.

“Kitchen clocks” like yours were big sellers from about 1880 to 1900. They were marketed as practical but handsome household clocks. They were not fancy or formal enough for the parlor, so they wound up on a kitchen shelf or mantel. Most strike on the hour and the half-hour. Some even have loud alarms meant to waken the whole family. Early ones were carved. Later ones, like yours, have press-molded sides and tops. These clocks were made by the thousands by Ansonia Clock Co. and other American clock makers. Ansonia was founded in Derby, Conn., in 1850 and moved to Ansonia in 1854. It became one of the largest clock manufacturers in the country. The company went out of business in 1929. Pressed-oak kitchen clocks like yours, in working condition, sell for about $200.

In 1973, I purchased a set of Franciscan Ware dishes in a pattern called Jamoca. The dishes are dark brown with an orange geometric center design and border. I have a full service for 12, with many of the serving pieces. I still have the brochure listing all the other patterns available at the time. I know Franciscan’s Desert Rose pattern has become collectible. What about Jamoca?

Franciscan’s Jamoca pattern was introduced in 1973. It was one of the four original patterns used on the company’s “Picnic”” shape dishes. By 1975, there were eight Picnic patterns, and Jamoca was the most popular. While Franciscan’s Desert Rose and Apple patterns continue to be collector favorites, Jamoca is a popular ’70s pattern. A single dinner plate sells for about $12, and the large oval platter for about $80.

I cleaned out our basement a few months ago and unboxed an old, wooden wall telephone that had been stored there for 24 years. A relative who collected old phones gave it to us. Two of the three boxes on the front of the phone have keyholes, so I took it to a locksmith. He happened to be a phone collector and told us that our phone is very old and that he had never seen one like it before. He opened it and discovered that everything inside is intact. The phone’s top box is stamped “Western Electric Co., Chicago, New York.” On the side it’s stamped “Type 21, Blake Transmitter, Made for the American Bell Telephone Co. and licensed to be used only with it’s telephones.” There are also six patent dates, ranging from 1882 to 1893. Can you tell us more?

Gray and Barton, an electrical-products manufacturing firm founded in Cleveland in 1869, moved to Chicago in 1877. With the move came a change of name to Western Electric Co. The company began supplying Western Union with its telephone equipment in 1878. In 1882, it became the sole supplier of equipment to American Bell Telephone Co. (which became AT&T in 1900). The Blake transmitter was designed in 1878 by Francis Blake Jr., who sold his invention to Bell. The transmitter was improved and became standard Bell equipment. Your phone was made sometime between 1882 and 1900. Three-box phones like yours, in excellent condition, are worth more than $2,000.

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