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From Warren:
A very good day to you Miss Kitty,
 Picked up this Forman Family bowl in a thrift shop two days ago. Was looking up more information on the company myself when I read your post. I have spotted the serving platter to my piece, person thought the design dated from the sixties. Note the edge is very distinct as well as sharp. Was pleased to see that two of your pieces have the same fine floral pattern. It's a great more attractive than the average.
Would love to know if you have found out any thing else. Have a very good day.
 Warren
Honolulu
Hi Warren,
And a very good day right back at you. Of course, since you live in Honolulu, all of your days are good!
Don’t you just love thrift shop treasures? Your Forman Family bowl is lovely and in great condition. And now you’ve found a matching serving platter, too? What fun!
Your email sent me on a new internet hunt to try and find out more about the Forman Family, and darned if I wasn’t successful this time! A man by the name of Solomon Forman (1903-2001) started Forman Brothers, a small metal ware business in Brooklyn, NY, with his brother and sister in 1920. The company name was changed to Forman Family sometime around 1938 when Sol’s brother left the company to start his own tool and die business.
 Sol was a prolific industrial designer with over a dozen patents to his credit. In 1931, he patented a drip coffee pot (Patent No. 1,792,218), the base of which was produced by Hall China Company, so that explains the Hall China Company connection I’d discovered earlier. One of Sol’s most famous designs is this gorgeous Art Deco cocktail shaker that he patented in 1936 (Patent No. 1,991,871).
For the first 30 years the company produced an extensive line of chromium plated stamped metal giftware and serving pieces for the general public, hotels, and restaurants, but branched out into aluminum pieces during the 1950’s. The company went out of business in the mid-1970’s. The whole country was in an economic slump and foreign competitors were able to sell similar products for less than the price American companies had to pay for the raw materials.
Surprisingly enough, what Sol Forman is most remembered for isn’t his metal company, but rather his restaurant, Peter Luger’s, also in Brooklyn. This restaurant had been opened in 1887 by a German immigrant, specialized in steaks, and was right across the street from the Forman factory. Evidently Sol was a regular customer, sometimes eating as many as three lunches a day with his customers whenever a trade show was in town! The restaurant, however, went out of business in 1950 due to a general decline in this industrial area of Brooklyn. When the restaurant was auctioned off, Sol was the only person to show up and bought it for the price of the land. Sol’s wife Marsha was the restaurant’s meat buyer until her retirement at age 80. Marsha died in 1998 and Sol died in 2001. Their daughters, Marilyn Forman Spiera and Amy Forman Rubenstein, run the restaurant to this day. Marilyn’s daughter Jody Spiera Storch is the meat buyer, having gained her experience by accompanying her mother and grandmother on meat buying trips from the age of 8! Rumor has it that Peter Luger’s makes the best porterhouse in the world and a two-week wait to get a reservation is not unusual.
So now we know! Thank you so much for your email that sent me on this latest research binge. We’ve added your email and photos to our emails pages. Happy thrift store hunting!
Best wishes,
Miss Kitty
Ask and you shall receive!
Well don't dat jus beat all! Miss Kitty, you done your homework in spades. A-plus! And I just saw their establishment on the Food Channel about two months ago. Enjoyed your follow-up sooo much I posted it to my facebook wall with a link.
Now tell the boys to saddle up the horses so we can mozy down the trail so the Formans can rustle us up some very fine grub. Me and Herman, my horse, will be along presently.
a Big Mahalo Miss Kitty
Warren
PS: Say howdy to the Marshal and Festus for me.
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From Paul:
 Hi, I am trying to find information about a brush I have. It is marked Lucite Ming, is light green in color, has oriental design on top. Sending pictures. Can you give any info on this item?
Thanks,
Paul
Hi Paul,
Ol’ Swaphos forwarded your email to me and I’ve been all over the web trying to find out about your beautiful brush or anything else about Lucite Ming. I can certainly see why you’re having difficulty getting information. Lucite is a trade name of DuPont, but there’s absolutely nothing out there that gives any historical information whatsoever about who made Lucite Ming items or when. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful. I’ll post your question on the Emails section of our site and see if someone else knows the answer.
Best wishes,
Miss Kitty
I appreciate your prompt reply. The brush is marked Lucite Ming on the side of the top. Someone must know about this item. Nothing on Ebay, worldwide.
Thanks,
Paul
Paul,
I understand your frustration. You know the brush exists, you have it in your hand, but can't find out anything about what it is and/or who made it. Lucite only refers to the DuPont company that made the plastic material That is no help because they never made brushes or any of the plastic products their material was used in by other manufacturers.
The "Ming" (based upon the design) is just as likely to be a pattern name as a company name. We do know that brushes of this shape were often part of a larger men's dresser or grooming set that might have included other brushes and combs, even shoe horns. The one you have may have been either a clothes brush or, if you are old enough to remember duck tails, there was a time when I remember these sets having two hand-sized brushes for brushing back the hair on both sides into those mid-century duck tails, ala the Fonz.
If you could scan the markings on your brush so we can see them, that might help, but maybe not. If it was part of a larger set the company name may have been on another of the pieces or perhaps on the bottom of a dresser tray that came with the set. Obviously if it was a set, it was quite beautiful. Where/how did you get it? Perhaps there is a clue there that you are overlooking.
At any rate, click on the link to our site and read the email exchange I had with Jackie about the "ASCOT" purse. They are out there; I have seen several; Jackie has one; I have one. I even have an advertisement for them placed by the ASCOT company in a trade magazine back in the '50's. But I have driven my self crazy trying to find anything on the ASCOT company or even the trade magazine.
Miss Kitty already put your question on the site and maybe one of our visitors will know something. Just remember this: part of the fun of collecting ANYTHING is the fact that you are constantly being a detective, looking for either that elusive piece you need for your collection or that elusive piece of information about something you have or wish you had.
Meanwhile, maybe you will find something on our site that kindles a flame of desire in your heart while we all ponder your MYSTERY MING!
Best Wishes,
Ol’ Swaphos
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From S:
I found your website while researching Beam decanters. I have a 1969 Bonded Beam milk glass Decanter in its original box. I was just wondering if you might be willing to help me with it's value. There are no chips and until yesterday (my cat knocked it over) still had all the bourbon in it. The labels are still on it. If you’re interested in helping me, I’d be happy to email a picture. Let me know. Thanks.
Dear S:
We are always happy to help our site visitors.
Jim Beam Decanters and collectible decanters in general are in a slump right now. There are many reasons for this. Some people say too many were made and that too many variations exist. That may be part of it, but frankly I think the real reason is that a lot of the guys/gals who used to collect these decanters religiously are now retired/downsizing/dying off. The result is that there is a glut of large collections available and being dispersed. That has driven the price way down and as of yet there is no growing market of younger collectors emerging to buy and thus hold the prices up to what they should be.
That sounds awfully negative from a guy who sells antique and vintage items. Actually, it isn't. I am just reporting the reality of the real world of collecting. These things go in cycles. Sterling silver objects are another category which has been in a slump but is just now starting to emerge, partly because the market price of silver itself is going up. Unfortunately, as estates are dispersed via garage sales and online auctions by unknowing people, much history and value is lost. This, however, can be a tremendous investment opportunity for astute collectors. I have seen valuable items in the trash because someone thinks "I grew up with this 'junk' as a kid and I don't know WHY Mom and Dad kept it." So in the trash it goes. Well, Mom and Dad kept it because they appreciated the art and the beauty and the limited nature of these things, but failed to educate the children of the potential.
It is both sad and funny that values spike and often the buyers at premium prices are the very people who earlier put such items in the trash and thereby contributed to their rarity. Society in general for years has promoted a "use it and dispose of it" mentality.
In short, I am not negative, but very positive that the cycle will turn and you will be glad if you hold onto your beautiful decanter for its artistic as well as utilitarian value. (Yes, you can refill that decanter and use it in your home bar.)
A word about destructive cats, dogs, grandkids, etc., etc., etc. Like unappreciative heirs, these additional sources of destruction also add to the rarity of collectible items. Now a very positive comment on YOUR destructive cat. It has always been a myth perpetrated by some dealers that these decanters must be full and the seal unbroken to retain their value. They even concocted stories to cover sealed but obviously empty bottles: they lost their contents over the years by "evaporation". That is balderdash nonsense. Many of these decanters were made and sold by the distillers as empty commemorative decanters. Some even affixed seals to the bottles. Astute collectors have always recognized that alcoholic content actually complicated the legality selling, as well as the shipping of these decanters. SO DON'T KILL THE CAT! It cost you nothing in terms of value of your decanter.
 Is this perchance the decanter of which you speak?
Best wishes,
Ol’ Swaphos
Dear Swaphos,
Thank you for your educational and humorous response (not to mention speedy!). You were correct in picturing my decanter. I have attached an actual photo. You'll be happy to know it was easy to forgive my little furball as no real damage was done. I will hang onto the decanter. Should I empty and wash it before I put it back into the attic?
Thank you very much for your help.
Sharyn
Sharyn,
By all means empty it. If you need help, invite us over You know what Miss Kitty used to do in Dodge City before I made an honest woman of her. So we can help you organize a bottle emptying party. Actually, anyone wanting to sell one of these old decanters needs to empty it! That’s because neither the Postal Service nor FedEx will ship alcohol at all, and UPS requires that the shipper be a licensed alcohol distributor!
Now an additional word on storage. First, KEEP THE BOX. It is the collectible with the original box that always commands a premium. Second, make two printouts of the picture you sent me and put one copy inside the box after you make notes on it about what the bottle is, year, where you got it, and a warning to "check the value before putting in the trash, you ungrateful heirs!" If you intend to store it in an attic (or anywhere else), beware of mice and other vermin. They will eat the box. What to do: first get a ziplock bag big enough for the box, then wrap the ziplock bagged box in several layers of newspaper. DON'T STOP THERE! Now wrap it tightly in heavy aluminum foil and tape it shut. Then tape the second printout of the decanter to the outside. The mice may eat it, but you were smart and put another inside.
Next, tell all of your friends about the wonderful helpful people you found at Santa Fe Trading Post and send everyone in your email address book our website! Then look at all the wonderful things we offer and buy at least three of them as gifts for yourself and others. :-)
As always,
Ol’ Swaphos
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