Old L.C. Smith typewriter is a common type

Q: This typewriter once belonged to my parents. The name on the piece is "L.C. Smith." I do not know its age, but I do know it needs work. Any information would be welcome.

A: Many current collectors seem to love certain types of innovative technology. Typewriters can be a fun area of collecting because there are so many types and varieties.

It is hard to imagine, but Hugh Hefner's college typewriter recently sold for $130,000 at auction (other Hefner-associated typewriters sold for much, much less). In addition, a model called the Malling-Hansen Writing Ball from 1867 has sold for more than $100,000, also at auction. Unfortunately, run-of-the-mill 20th-century typewriters made by L.C. Smith with no celebrity associations are not in this exalted company.

In the 15th century there was Gutenberg and his movable type, and then, almost 400 years later, there was Englishman Henry Mills, who in 1714 invented a mechanical device designed to imprint letters and numbers on a piece of paper. All we have of Mill's machine is some patent papers. A practical typewriter did not appear until the mid- to late 1860s.

Many inventors tried their hands at making an efficient typewriter, but the father of the American typewriter is said to be Christopher Latham Sholes, who, among other things, originated the QWERTY keyboard still in use today. In 1886, Lyman Cornelius Smith and his brothers (Wilbert, Hurlburt and Monroe) founded the Smith Premier Typewriter Co. to manufacture a typewriting machine designed by Alexander T. Brown.

The brothers left Smith Premier Typewriter Co. because of a disagreement concerning the production of a frontstroke typewriter. They founded L.C. Smith & Bros. Typewriter Co. in Syracuse, N.Y., in 1903. They merged with the Corona Typewriter Co. in 1925 to become L.C. Smith Bros. & Corona Typewriters and Co. (i.e. Smith Corona).

Studying the photographs you sent, we believe (but cannot be 100% sure) this is an L.C. Smith No. 5 with a 10-inch carriage that was made between 1911 and 1923 (the serial number would have provided an exact date of manufacturer). This is not an uncommon typewriter, and it was made when such machines were standard office equipment.

The photograph along with the note in the letter ("it needs work") suggests to us that this particular machine would probably retail in the $35 to $75 range.

Chocolate set

Q: Like all boomers I am in the process of shedding all those things acquired or passed on to me throughout many years. My mother-in-law insisted on giving us this chocolate set. It has been boxed in the back of a closet for a couple of decades now. Any thoughts on how to price or dispose of it?

A: We are boomers also and understand all too well the predicament. And as estate specialists, we deal with this potential problem every day.

The first rule is a biggie: Never dispose of anything until you know what it is and what it may be worth. That old painting some people think is hideous might be worth big bucks, or that piece of glass purchased years ago while on vacation in Italy might now pay for another trip to an exciting place.

To be clear, most of the household junk people collect over the years is just that — junk. But some of it might have potential value, and the possibility needs to be explored before things are sold, given away or just trashed.

The pieces in today's question are marked with an image that looks something like a bullet with the word "Austria" boldly printed underneath. Many collectors call this bullet-shaped symbol with its two stripes across the middle a "beehive." But it is actually a "Bindenschild," which was the shield-shaped symbol in the center of the Austrian or Habsburg coat of arms.

The mark was first used by the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory as an impressed mark in 1744. Founded by Claudius I. Du Paquier in 1718, the firm was soon taken over by the Habsburgs and became the Imperial & Royal Porcelain Manufactory, sometimes shorthanded to "Royal Vienna." This chocolate set is a commercial interpretation of Royal Vienna's more artistic work.

The company ceased to exist in 1864, but the Bindenschild mark continued to be used by many other companies around the world to this day. Because the pieces in today's question are marked "Austria," we feel they were made in that country sometime between 1891 and the World War I era. The mark was placed there in response to the American McKinley Tariff Act, which required that items exported to the United States after 1890 had to be marked with the country of origin.

Austrian companies that used the mark during this time frame include Josef Vater (Vienna), Franz Dorfl (Vienna), Carl Knoll (Fischern, Bohemia), Radler and Pilz (Vienna), and Josef Riedl (Giesshubel, Bohemia), among a few others. The decoration on the example is transfer printed, not hand-painted, and while this is an attractive set, it is not of superior quality. It's a fragmentary set with six dessert plates, five cups and saucers, one creamer and one chocolate pot, but it still should bring around $150 to $175 at a good mid- to lower range auction.

Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson have written a number of books on antiques.