EUGENIE LAMP

Q: I bought this lamp at a friend's garage sale for $20. She said it was an Empress Eugenie lamp. I can't find anything about it. Can you help?

A: Oil lamps with figural stem bases were popular from about 1865 to 1880. Most bases were gilded or bronzed, but the finish is often worn off like yours. The figure on your lamp is Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III of France. She was empress consort from the time of their marriage in 1853 until they fled to England at the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. The pattern of the glass font is Inverted Teardrop Band, a design patented by John Bridges in 1872. During the 1950s, oil lamp bases and fonts were sometimes used as vases for flower arrangements. The lamps sell for about $150-$200 in worn condition.

HITLER SKUNK

Q: This little skunk figure was sitting on a table at home as far back as I can remember. I recall my mother saying it was "The Phew-er." What can you tell me about it?

A: During World War II, novelty anti-Axis items were popular. Many represented Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo and sold for less than a dollar. The Johnson Smith & Co. 1944 catalog offered several anti-Hitler items, including a cast-iron skunk figure called "Der Phew-er" ("shows Hitler as he really is"), a Hitler skunk ashtray, a Hotzi-Notzi pincushion (according to the catalog, FDR had one on his desk), and a Hitler squealing pig bank. Johnson Smith Co. is still in business in Bradenton, Florida, and still sells novelty items through its catalogs. Several different Hitler skunk figures were made in cast iron, chalkware, pottery, and plastic. Twin Winton made a ceramic Hitler skunk, Mussolini pig, and Tojo rat. Reproductions of your Hitler skunk figure have been made. If yours is an original cast-iron Hitler skunk, it could sell for close to $300. Pottery versions sell for about half that.