The front hall, the introduction to the house, was an important part of the Victorian home. Its furnishings were selected not only to make it a useful place to hang a hat and coat, store an umbrella and leave a calling card, but also to show family wealth, social position and knowledge of current styles.

A hall stand or a hatrack was the most important piece of furniture. These were new forms that appeared about 1840, as homes became larger and social visits became more structured. By the 1920s, houses had changed. The front hall was smaller, and furnishings usually were just a chair, a table and perhaps a mirror. A closet held hats and coats.

The Arts and Crafts house of the early 1900s had a small front hall, so a hanging hatrack was sometimes the answer to the problem of storing visitors’ coats and hats. One cleverly designed rack was made with hat holders, coat hooks and a mirror that could be swiveled to be flat against the wall when not in use. The complicated shapes of the spindles and hooks created an interesting pattern on the wall.

Q: My dad found two Theda Bara lobby cards in a Kansas City unclaimed storage lot around 1957. Both heavy-cardboard cards are 11-by-14-inch originals in very good condition, and they both advertise the movie “Salome.” One card pictures Bara as Salome reclining on an animal sculpture, and the other shows her with a group of people in costume. What do you think the lobby cards are worth?

This unusual Arts and Crafts piece is a hanging hatrack for the front hall. The 31-inch-wide rack has a swivel mirror, movable hooks and barley-twist supports. It sold in March for 46 at a Treadway/Toomey auction in Oak Park, Ill.

A: Theda Bara (1885 or 1890-1955) was born Theodosia Goodman in Cincinnati. She made more than 40 silent movies in three years, most of them period pieces with spectacular costumes. She often played a heartless, alluring woman, as she did in Fox Film Corporation’s 1918 version of “Salome.” Not a single copy of the film is known to exist today. Your lobby cards are worth at least $300 each, but you might be able to get $1,000 for the pair. Lobby cards are produced in sets of eight and were sent to theaters for display before and during the time the movie was showing. After the movie’s run ended, theater owners sent the cards on to the next theater playing the movie. So it’s hard to find old cards in good condition, and it’s almost impossible to find a complete eight-card set.

Q: My three Walt Disney glow-in-the-dark cartoon pictures date from the late 1940s. Each one is in a lightweight, white, 8-1/2-by-11-inch frame. My pictures are of Thumper and Flower from “Bambi,” and Donald Duck. In the lower right corner of each, there’s a copyright mark and the words “Walt Disney Productions.” What can you tell me?

A: Your luminous Disney cartoon pictures were sold by Henry A. Citroen from 1944 to 1946. You have three from Citroen’s extensive line of pictures, which also included Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Snow White and other characters from “Bambi.” We have seen the Citroen luminous pictures for sale at prices ranging from $10 to $45 each.

Tip

Remove grease stains from suede by rubbing the stain with ground oatmeal. Then brush with a wire brush.