Friday, April 8, 2016

4/8/16 Report - Not a Mickey Mouse Find. Markings and Copyright Laws. More on Elks Item.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Porcelain Body of Donald Duck

There is no accounting for the taste of some people. Here is a picture of an item I recently found while surface hunting - Donald Duck without head.

The figure is about four inches tall and made of something like porcelain.  It appears to me to be an early Donald Duck figurine.  If he only had his head I would prize it more than a common 1715 Fleet cob.  That is what I mean by not being able to account for some people's taste.

I still need to do some research.  The markings appear to be very early.

On his back collar is what looks like S1334.  Don't know what that might mean.

And on his bottom is the copyright symbol followed by "Walt Disney."

Those two things should eventually tell me everything I might want to know, including a date range.

Donald's Bottom Showing Copyright Mark.

Mark On Donald's Collar.
If anyone can tell me the meaning of those markings and save me some time I'd sure appreciate it.  Thanks for any help.

Here is an informative web site telling how Disney drove the copyright laws in the past and possibly into the future.  Very interesting!

http://artlawjournal.com/mickey-mouse-keeps-changing-copyright-law/

And here is a web site showing various production marks used by Disney over the years.  The one on this item is not included in those listed on this web site.

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Disney-Collectibles-Production-Marks-Disneyana-/10000000000072493/g.html

You always learn some interesting things when researching finds.

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Not too long ago I posted a picture of an Elks item found by John C.  I wondered about the clock.  Here is what I found.

THE ELEVEN O'CLOCK TOAST
At every meeting of the BPOE, and every social function, when the hour of 11:00 p.m. tolls, the Lodge conducts a charming ceremonial known as the "Eleven O'clock Toast." In fact, the clock tolling the eleventh hour is part of the BPOE official emblem, and is directly behind the representation of an elk's head in the emblem of the Order. 

Regular meetings of Subordinate Lodges have always been held at night. In the earlier days, they were usually held on Sunday nights and were concluded about eleven o'clock. As the participants departed, the Brothers made inquiries about the absent Brothers and expressed sympathetic interest in the causes of their absence. 

It soon became a custom for some member to propose a toast to the Brothers who were not present. And in the course of time, this custom was quite generally observed whenever a group of Elks were together at eleven o'clock. Eventually, the Grand Lodge specifically provided for such a ceremonial to be observed during Lodge sessions; and designated it as "The Eleven O'clock Toast." Under this provision, whenever a Lodge was in session at that hour, the regular order of business was suspended for a few moments while the Exalted Ruler recited the beautiful ritual prescribed, concluded with the words: "To our absent Brothers." Since women were permitted to join the Elks since 1995, the toast is now pronounced as "To our absent Members." 


For more information about the Elks, here is a good web site.

https://www.elks.org/lodges/LodgePages.cfm?LodgeNumber=183&ID=8896

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SuperRick, who usually hunts meteroites and nuggets out West, was on the Treasure Coast and found this cut on the 6th.

Photo by SuperRick.
The weather is absolutely super for being outdoors.  The wind today is mostly from the west. Tomorrow it will be coming from the north.  Even though the surf won't be big, the tides will be pretty big.

I'm working on some stuff for future posts.  I'm also working on a foreword for a book that you won't want to miss when it comes out.  I read a draft of the book and loved it.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net