An Interesting Questions About Mugs

Below is an interesting question that was recently asked about some collectible mugs. The answer gives a glimps into the research needed to answer these type of questions.

Q.What are my Schultz and Dooley mugs worth?
One is tall, with blue flowers around the body and a mustachioed face on the lid. The other is short, with a green shamrock painted on the front.

A. Schultz and Dooley were mug-shaped characters in a series of early TV commercials for Utica Club beer, which was produced by West End Brewing Co. (Webco) of Utica, N.Y.

The black-and-white commercials aired in the Northeast U.S. from 1959 to 1965, and increased beer sales and won awards.

The brewing company contracted with Schmetzer Inc., a New York importer, to buy 5,000 sets of ceramic mugs based on the advertising characters. The mugs were made in Germany.

The original mugs can be identified by their marks. Schultz, the large "German character" mug, is marked "The West End Brewing Co., Utica, N.Y., 59-CSM" in blue letters under the handle. Dooley, the smaller "Irish character" mug, is marked the same except "59-CDM" and in green. The bottoms of both are impressed "Webco, Made in Germany."

A pair of these original steins sells for about $300 to $500. Schmetzer imported thousands more of the steins during the 1960s, but these do not have the "CSM" or "CDM" marks. They sell for less, perhaps $50 a pair.

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steins, mugs, Dooley, Schultz, answers, questions

Bob Lamson Beer Steins.com

Another great source of information for the Stein collector is Bob Lamson Beer Steins.Com this web site is a wealth of knowledge about Beer Steins and Breweriana in general. If you are looking to identify a piece from your collection or to replace a piece this web site will definitely come in handy.

They have information for the following steins (among others);

Budweiser Steins

Anheuser Busch Beer Steins

Coors Steins

Miller Beer Steins

German Beer Steins

Coca Cola Steins

Gerz Steins

Anheuser Busch Military Stein Series

And they have many more. According to their web site they have over 20,000+ steins in stock.

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collecting, beer, steins, Anheuser-Busch, Coors, Miller, Coca Cola, Military

US Navy USS McKee (AS 41) Mug / Coffee Cup

Click to purchase

This mug / coffee cup commemorates the US Naval Ship USS McKee (AS 41).

USS McKEE was the third EMORY S. LAND - class submarine tender. During her 18 years of service the McKEE was awarded the the Battle E (4 awards), the Meritorious Unit Commendation (3 awards), the Golden Anchor Award, and the Southwest Asia Service Medal.

USS McKEE was decommissioned on October 1, 1999, and is currently held in reserve at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Va.

This mug is ceramic and would be a great addition to your military mug collection. It was made by the MIL-ART CHINA CO. Chelmsford, Mass. 01824. This mug is 4" tall and can hold aprox. 8 oz. of your favorite blend of Joe.

The graphic is only on one side of the cup please see the photo.

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collecting, mug, cup, Navy, USS McKee, AS 41, Military

The Stein Site: A Reference

In today's post I want to share with you one of my favorite sources of info for Steins. This sites bills itself as the "The Ultimate Budweiser Stein Reference Site." And I think that is not too far off the mark. Time and time again I find myself going back to this site to get information about collectible steins.

The Stein Site

The site allows visitors and researchers to;

View Anheuser-Busch beer steins by CS#.
View Anheuser-Busch beer steins by Series.
View other Anheuser-Busch beer steins.
View other (non Anheuser-Busch) Ceramarte beer steins.

The creator of the site states that;

I have tried to catalog all the steins in the collector's series from various sources, including, but not limited to, Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Stein Collection (First Edition) book published by Anheuser-Busch in 1990, The Official Collector's Guide to Anheuser-Busch Steins book published by Anheuser-Busch in 1993, various internet Web sites, dealers and fellow collectors.

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collecting, beer, steins, Anheuser-Busch

Cup Couture or Mug Fashion

Coffee and high fashion do not always go together. Which is why I'm so pleased that a Seattle company has come up with a way to perk things up — pun intended. It's called CupCouture.

Says Pamela Sitt in an article from the Arizona Daily Star.com titled Seattle company dresses up coffee cups.

Sitt goes on to explain, what I think could add a little fun to any mugs or coffee cup collection.

file under;
fashion, collecting, cups, mugs

Designer Jonathan Adler and his mugs.

Design-guru Jonathan Adler has a new book about design out. Tim Mckeough in the Gloge and Mail.com reviews Adler's new book and interviews him in his article Live happy.

Mckeough says in his article of Adler's new book.

"Adler entered the decor industry 12 years ago, after being fired from his office job in the entertainment industry and deciding to follow his passion for clay. He dedicated himself to making pots and mugs by hand (even though his professor at the Rhode Island School of Design had once told him he was talentless), and ended up selling his work through Barneys New York. From there, business took off and he had trouble keeping up."

"Adler's pottery has a signature playfulness. A naiveté, whether rendered in crazy stippled polka dots or Cat in the Hat-style stripes, makes his vases and figurines highly collectible. The organic shapes characteristic of his work have also inspired today's lust for root-vegetable-shaped objets -- from lamps and vessels to tableware."

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Jonathan Adler, mugs, designer, collectibles

Types of Collectible Shaving Mugs

Decorated mugs - Originally from Staffordshire, England; France, Germany and Austria, decorated shaving mugs rarely were used until the late 1800s. When they became en vogue, the mugs were manufactured in Europe and decorated in the United States. Most of them were simple white porcelain decorated with the owner's name and a hand-painted overglazed enamel.

Occupational mugs - The majority represented middle-class professions. The few mugs that were designed for the lower- and upper-class professions make these types rarities.

Fraternal mugs - Owned by members of fraternal organizations - Elks Lodge, Odd Fellows and Masons - fraternal mugs were decorated with a painted logo of the organization.

Scuttle mugs - These have a ledge on one side, usually with three perforations, where gentlemen placed shaving brushes. The holes allowed the water and soap to drain back into the mug.

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collectibles, shaving mugs, shaving, mug, mugs, cup, cups

Shaving Mugs Are Popular

In an online article at Cincinnati.com Wes Cowan (from the Antique Road Show) gives an overview of Shaving Mugs and traces their history from the times when they were used daily through today, when they are very collectible.

You can read the article here, Shaving mugs look sharp to collectors.



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collectibles, mugs, shaving

Vintage Diesel Submarine Naval Officers Mug

Click on image to purchase this mug.

This mug has a graphic of the USS Navy's Submarine officers qualifications (dolphins) and the words, SUB DIV 12-9. This item is from Submarine Reserve Division 12-9 (SubDiv 12-9).

Sub Div 12-9 was located at the Alameda Reserve Training Center. From the late 1940's until 1969 the Submarine USS Parche (SS 384) was the Naval Reserve Training Submarine assigned to Sub Div 12-9. The USS Charr (SS 328) replaced Parche in 1969 as the boat for Sub Div 12-9 until the early 1970's when she was decommissioned.

This cup most probably was owned by a Naval Officer who was stationed on one of these diesel powered submarines, during the 40's to 70's.

The graphic is only on one side of the cup please see the photo.

file under;
cup, cups, mug, mugs, Navy, Submarine, Naval