Decorators used to try to hide a phonograph or radio because it did not match the rest of the room’s decor.

They still worry about how to hide a stereo or television, but attractive speakers and flat screens have made technology less intrusive. The early 1900s room had to hold a record player with a large horn. Soon horns were made more decorative with painted designs.

A few years later, when phonographs could be made with internal sound amplifiers, a record player was often combined with a radio inside a large piece of wooden furniture. There was even space to store records.

But one unique solution created about 1925 is the phonograph lamp. The Capital Elect Co. made a table lamp with a fringed fabric shade that covered the working parts of a disc record player. The brass lamp was made to sit on a table so at night it could be lit and turned on to play recorded music. The disc phonograph hidden in a table lamp went out of style quickly, and today only a few are ever offered for sale.

A restored phonograph lamp, a true conversation piece, sold for $1,200 at Morphy Auctions in Denver, Pa., in August.

Q: I inherited some green Depression glass dishes from my uncle, who bought them in the 1920s. I have the original sales receipt. Where can I find information? I would like to know the value in case I decide to sell them. The dishes are marked on the bottom with the letter “C” within a triangle.

A: Your dishes were made by Cambridge Glass Co. of Cambridge, Ohio. The company was founded in 1901. It closed in 1954, reopened briefly, then closed again in 1958. The mark you describe was used after 1920. It’s impossible to suggest a value for your dishes without knowing the pattern. Cambridge glass dishes can sell for anywhere from under $10 to well over $100.

Q: I have a huge piece of wooden furniture we bought in San Mateo, Calif., in the early 1980s. When we got it home, we had to reconstruct the kitchen to make it fit. It’s made up of a long base of cabinets topped by three revolving glass doors and an upper cabinet of regular glass doors. The facing plate on one section says “O.M. Whitman & Co., Boston, Mass., Patented,” and then lists several dates ranging from June 12, 1883, to Feb. 7, 1899. What do all the dates mean, and what can you tell me about O.M. Whitman?

A: The dates are patent dates that relate to various refrigeration patents obtained by Orrin M. Whitman, the founder of O.M. Whitman & Co. Whitman made refrigerators for grocery stores. The glass-fronted rolling drawers on your furniture were once refrigerated for store displays of butter and cheese.

Q: I need help identifying a canvas banner that says “Jamestown Exposition 1607-1907.” It pictures two Indians watching a ship sailing toward them.

A: Your textile is a souvenir from the Jamestown Exposition, which commemorated the 300th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the American colonies. The exhibition was held at Sewell’s Point, Va., about 30 miles from the actual site of the settlement. The town of Jamestown was out of existence by the mid-1700s. The exhibition ran from April 26 to Dec. 1, 1907. Your textile is a “crossover collectible” of interest to collectors of historic textiles and memorabilia as well as to those who collect souvenirs from national expositions and World’s Fairs. After the Jamestown Exposition, the land and buildings used there were purchased by the federal government. It’s now part of the Sewell’s Point Naval Complex.

Q: I have a pump organ that belonged to my grandmother in the 1940s or earlier. The family story is that she used it in her one-room schoolhouse in Jackson County, Ohio. It still works. It’s labeled “Crown Organ.” On the back it says, “Geo. Bent, Chicago, U.S.A.” I would appreciate any information you can provide.

A: Crown organs and pianos were made by the George P. Bent Piano Co. The company was founded in about 1870 in Louisville, Ky. In 1881 it advertised itself as a jobber of organs and sewing machines. In 1889 the company moved to Chicago and was awarded several medals at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. Sears Roebuck & Co. sold some Crown organs. Bent was bought by Winter Piano Co. in 1927. Plain pump organs sell for about $50 to $100 and up.

Q: I have a figurine of a man in a plumed hat with a red beard, 7 1/2 inches tall. The mark on the bottom looks like a backward “C” connected to a regular letter “C.” Who made it?

A: The mark was used by Cordey China Co., founded by Boleslaw Cybis in Trenton, N.J., in 1942. Cordey made figurines, vases, lamps and other decorative items that were sold in gift shops. It was bought by the Lightron Corp. in 1969 and made lamps under the name Schiller Cordey Co.

Tip: Clocks that are wound from the back should be wound counterclockwise because that’s really clockwise if you’re facing the front of the clock. Never wind an old clock counterclockwise.

— Terry Kovel answers as many questions as possible through the column. By sending a letter with a question, you give full permission for use in the column or any other Kovel forum. Names, addresses or e-mail addresses will not be published. We cannot guarantee the return of any photograph, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The volume of mail makes personal answers or appraisals impossible. Write to Kovels, (Lawrence Journal-World), King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.