Baby dresses, silver rattles and cups, spoons, dishes, cribs, cradles, even baby walkers from centuries past are popular collector items.

Technology has made other types of baby memorabilia possible, such as tinted photographs, picture frames surrounded by alphabets or nursery rhymes, and bronzed baby shoes. Tiny worn shoes have been saved for generations.

In 1929, Violet Shinbach, a Cleveland housewife, came up with the idea of bronze-plating baby shoes. She founded the Bron-Shoe Co. in Columbus, Ohio, in 1934. The company still bronzes baby shoes and sneakers. The shoes have been used to make bookends or were mounted with an inkwell for a desk.

Shoes today can be plated in bright bronze, antique bronze, pewter, silver or gold. It is also possible to have the shoes “porcelainized” in white, pink or blue. You can also have other, larger items bronzed, including running shoes, game balls or even tennis rackets.

My family was stationed in Germany from 1949 to 1954. For my birthday one of those years, I received a Hummel lamp. The base is a tree trunk with a girl sitting halfway up the trunk. She’s wearing a blue dress and a red polka-dot scarf. The lampshade is light-brown leather with three painted pictures of Hummel-like children. Over the years, I have seen many Hummel lamps. I’ve never seen one with a shade like mine. Is it rare?

Your lamp base is Hummel’s factory No. 44B, titled “Out of Danger.” It was first made in 1936, and it continued to be in production until 1989. The shades Hummel sold with the lamps through the 1950s were plain light tan. The surface was silky, not leathery. We asked the Hummel Collector’s Club about your lampshade. One of the club’s officers told us that your shade was most likely made by a local craftsperson trying to generate income by making items GIs were buying after the war. Your lamp base alone is valued at more than $300. Your shade is an interesting conversation piece, but it does not add much to the lamp’s value.

I collect small action figures, including G.I. Joe and Star Wars characters. I’ve been on the hunt for one line of figures, and I’m having a hard time. They’re “Sgt. Rock” figures, made by a company called Remco. Can you tell me anything about Remco and what the Sgt. Rock figures sell for?

Remco Industries was located in Harrison, N.J. The company was founded in the late 1940s but is best known for toys that date from the ’60s. They include the Barracuda Sub and Mighty Matilda Atomic Aircraft, both introduced in 1962. Remco also made three toys based on the TV show “Lost in Space.” One of those toys, the “Lost in Space” robot, sells for close to $800. Remco’s fortunes dipped in the ’70s, and the company and brand name were sold to Azrak-Hamway International of New York City. Remco’s Sgt. Rock figures were made in 1982-’83. They were based on a DC Comics series. The price of an unopened mint figure in a mint package is about $10.

My pressed-glass compote has a lid with a design showing two women and eight stars. The compote itself is decorated with portraits of two women. Have you seen a pressed-glass pattern like this, with portraits?

THIS DESK ORNAMENT INCLUDES TWO BRONZED baby shoes. It was made about 1940, and it sold at a flea market for 0.

Your compote is probably a piece of Actress-pattern glass, made in the 1870s and 1880s. Many of the pieces picture actors and actresses who were well-known in their day. The compote shows Fanny Davenport and Maggie Mitchell on the base, and Annie Pixley and Maud Granger on the lid. Other pieces show Kate Claxton, Lotta Crabtree, Adelaide Neilson, Mary Anderson and actors Sanderson Moffatt, William H. Crane and Stuart Robson. When the performers were no longer famous, the glass company removed the names and left just the pictures of the actors and actresses.

My mother-in-law, now deceased, gave us a small, octagonal table 20 years ago. I’ve never seen another like it. It’s too small to be a center table and too tall to be an end table. The label reads “Peerless.” Can you help us identify the maker and use?

For lack of a better term, a table like yours is often called an “occasional” table. It could be placed in a dark corner to hold a lamp. Your table might have been manufactured by the Peerless Furniture Co. of Grand Rapids, Mich., which was in business during the early 1920s. It specialized in making small tables and book troughs.

Tip

Lacquer is a clear coating that is put on brass, copper or silver to keep the metal from darkening. All lacquer will eventually yellow, peel or break down, and the metal will darken. When this happens, you must have the lacquer removed and then replaced. Do not lacquer pieces like serving bowls or trays that will be used to hold food.

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