Sparky Jr.

read this article about me: BELMAR Stuffed, century-old "toy" dog stumps appraiser Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/6/05 BY PATTI PARDINI STAFF WRITER Appraiser George Beyers said Sparky was the most unusual thing he had seen all day, and he couldn't put a price on it."You'll never see another one," Beyers, of Manchester, said to Connie and Ron of Avon, who had brought the 100-year-old stuffed dog to the Belmar Historical Society's Antiques by the Atlantic Sept. 24 at Taylor Pavilion on the boardwalk.Connie said the heirloom was a conversation piece, but she was trying to find out more about it.She said her grandfather had a very tiny dog named Sparky, a breed called Black and Tan that was so rare, when it died her grandfather had it stuffed. He put Sparky under a glass dome to be displayed and handed down through the generations. Sparky now belongs to there son, Anthony."My grandfather would win bets in the bar," Connie said. "He'd say he had a real live dog in his pocket, and it would run up and down the bar."Historical Society President Patricia O'Keefe said this was the second year for Antiques by the Atlantic. Last year it offered only appraisals, but this year it included nine antiques dealers, and 174 items were appraised."People can learn about their stuff," O'Keefe said. "All profits go toward the preservation, restoration and acquisition of Belmar historical items."Pat Provenzano, an estate appraiser and a member of the Belmar Borough Council, looked over a Christmas ornament she called a Kugel and said it was made in Germany between 1870 and 1895.The golden amber glass shaped into a bunch of grapes belonged to Virginia Simpson of Spring Lake Heights, who said as a 4-year-old, her mother received it as a gift."See this cap on it?" Provenzano asked Simpson, pointing out the embossed brass top of the ornament. "That's an indication. The most desirable Kugels are fruit designs."The Kugel was appraised at $300 to $345.Maureen Caslow, Belmar, brought in a petal-shaped bowl in an iridescent peachy orange that Provenzano called Depression glass or carnival glass. He said it was mass-produced and put its value at $10."They gave it to you when you went to the movies during the Depression," Provenzano said. "It was to get people to go to the movies."Members of the Jersey Shore Bottle Club displayed their goods and fielded questions.Bob Randolph, Wall, said the bottles they collect are hand-blown vs. the machine-made bottles of today. He said that earlier in the day, he had sold a beer bottle from about 1905 that was from S. Michelson of Belmar, who operated a hotel."Back then, you bought beer in keg form and bottled it in your own place," Randolph said. "A glass house would use the same mold and change the plate to change the embossing."They did that because . . . they wanted them returned. How else could you show itwas yours?"Tom Volker of Belmar staffed a Belmar Historical Society table with artifacts and photos.He placed a note on the table asking anybody who recognized anyone in the photos to write the name down."And they did!" he said.