Antiques & Collecting: WPA dolls made for schools or museum displays

Labor Day is a good time to reflect on the history of workers in America. One of the most interesting periods came during the Great Depression with the Works Progress Administration, later called the Work Projects Administration, from 1935 to 1943.

As part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal, artists were employed to work on federally funded projects.

Some of these projects are pieces by great artists of the 20th century, like photographs by Dorothea Lange, sculptures by Augusta Savage, or murals by Grant Wood.

Others, often collected as folk art today, were utilitarian items made by workers with little or no previous artistic training.

These include the cloth dolls known as WPA dolls. They were made for schools or museum displays.

Many had educational purposes, like the dolls dressed in historical or international costumes, or representing characters from stories and nursery rhymes. Some were for children’s play.

This doll with long blond braids and a pink dress sold for $354 at Apple Tree Auction Center. Listed as a “WPA Cloth Girl,” not a specific character or historical figure, she was probably made as a toy for a school or nursery.

After all, as psychologist Jean Piaget said, play is the work of childhood.

I have two Dirigold napkin rings in the original box. Can you tell me how much they are worth

Dirigold is an alloy of several metals, including copper and aluminum, that resembles gold or brass. It was invented in 1914 by Swedish metallurgist Carl Molin, who produced and exported it with Oscar Von Malmborg. Dirigold was used to make flatware and hollowware.

Their company opened a sales office in Minneapolis in 1924, then a factory in Kokomo, Indiana. In 1935, the company was sold and became American Art Alloys.

The name of the product was changed to Dirilyte after a 1935 suit from the Federal Trade Commission that said the name “Dirigold” was misleading because the metal did not contain any gold. A bonded protective coating to prevent tarnish was added to pieces starting in 1961.

The company became part of Hand Industries Inc., in Warsaw, Indiana, in 1971. Production of Dirilyte stopped in 1986.

Today, sets of Dirigold or Dirilyte flatware can sell for about $50 to $150, depending on the pattern and how many pieces are in the set.

Individual serving pieces like trays or decorative pieces like vases or candlesticks can be worth anywhere from about $10 to $100.

Napkin rings appear to be fairly rare, so we estimate yours may be worth about $20 to $50; possibly more if they have a very elaborate design like the figural silver plate napkin rings popular in Victorian times.

Tip: Don’t store fabrics in plastic bags. Use a well-washed white pillowcase. Plastic holds moisture, and the fabrics should “breathe.”

Current Prices

Tool, chest, machinist’s, lift lid, fold down front panel, drawers, top handle, H. Gerstner & Sons, 20×14 inches, $285.

Game, bagatelle, Shooting Star, planet and star graphics, orange, yellow, white, blue ground, Gotham, 21 inches, $335.

Coin-operated, gumball machine, figural, rocket, metal, round windows, painted, red, white, blue, on stand, 63 inches, $1,065.