ULTRA-RARE EMPLOYEE INVENTION, CHILDREN\'S MUGS w/Orphan Annie, Homer Laughlin for Sale

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ULTRA-RARE EMPLOYEE INVENTION, CHILDREN\'S MUGS w/Orphan Annie, Homer Laughlin For Sale

$ULTRA-RARE EMPLOYEE INVENTION, CHILDREN\'S MUGS w/Orphan Annie, Homer Laughlin$
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ULTRA-RARE EMPLOYEE INVENTION, CHILDREN\'S MUGS w/Orphan Annie, Homer Laughlin:
$449.85

ULTRA-RARE EMPLOYEE INVENTION, CHILDREN\'S MUGS w/Orphan Annie, Homer Laughlin
These mugs - a mirror-reversed matched pair - were done by an employee at the Homer Laughlin Factory circa\' 1932. The mugs do not have the normal ink-stamp mark found on most versions of this promo mug. These mugs are the truest example of one-of-kind \'invented\' creative employee work. They were acquired at the East Liverpool High School annual sale in 2001. The story behind them is that the employee that created them had twin girls - one ended up being right-handed and the other left-handed. Hence the two mugs - one made for each girl. The typical Orphan Annie decals were trimmed of all the usual lettering and advertising with the exception of the artist (Harold Gray) signature in the body of the decal. of course, Sandy the dog still says ARF! on the back. While these were originally designed around 1930 or so, the mug was used in production for over 30 years in various promotions and children\'s sets.You\'ll never find another set like this one guaranteed! Overall very good...minor wear to the maroon painted trim. Decals are nice and clean. The right-handed mug has an old hairline crack that is stable and has been there a long time.
See photos for details. The last image is a copy of an Ovaltine advertisement from 1932 showing the Orphan Annie mug.Ships via the internet:
Mark Gonzalez. Copyright 2023The child\'s mug was a generic shape made by the Homer Laughlin China Company. It appeared in the 1929 catalog under Cable and Special Items (see #2 in the image below). There is evidence the mug originated with the Sebring China Company of Sebring, Ohio. In fact, designer Frederick Rhead wrote in his journals on more than one occasion about the \"Sebring mug\" when talking about this piece. It has also been called a \"Premium mug\" or \"Ovaltine mug\" since HLC used the shape as a promotional piece for The Wander Company (makers of Ovaltine) in Chicago. I will use the terms Child\'s, Premium, and Ovaltine interchangeably when referring to the mug.In the spring of 1931, Rhead noted the mug in his journals as an Ovaltine premium. It was to replace the older ceramic mug made by Sebring which featured Uncle Wiggily characters which were first made in late 1929. HLC\'s mug was made in the special vellum glaze which had recently been developed. It was completed with Little Orphan Annie decals and trimmed in green. It was given a Wander Company marking, but unlike the Uncle Wiggily Sebring mugs, there was no mention of HLC in the backstamp.