Cast Iron Doorstops

Tuesday, January16, 2018
Overcast
-3 C  26.6 F

Cast Iron Figural Doorstops

Please click here to visit this highly successful auction company

You've probably read many of my posts about cast iron toys. However, most interestingly, these companies manufactured other products. They produced hardware for houses. This would include door hinges and door locks.  They also produced doorstops. Back in the 1870's and later on, houses weren't built  as well. Many houses also were quite old, so settling of the houses into the ground created some problems. One of these problems was tilting. This might not have been so apparent from the outside of the house, but inside, the doors often would slam into walls if the doors didn't have doorstops. So,doorstops were manufactured to keep the doors against the wall or keep them at any angle needed (such as when keeping the front door open for fresh air in the summertime. Being made of cast iron, these doorstops were heavy, and you had to watch out to ensure that you didn't smash your toes or foot against them! These items are very desirable as collectibles, and can be seen at flea markets and at auctions. The category of these collectibles is Cast Iron Figural Doorstops, as they were manufactured in many common forms, as you can see below. I've only taken a "sampling" of these fascinating items, but if you go to Liveauctioneers, you will see many of these items listed at auctions.

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day or night.

Stacey Bindman

Toysearcher@gmail.com

Hubley Doorstops

Thursday, December 11, 2014
Overcast,  snow mixed with rain,warm

The Beautiful Hubley Doorstops

   Yesterday, I was searching on Liveauctioneers when I was attracted to some cast iron doorstops. I immediately know that's what I was going to write about for today. As I was writing this post, I decided to check when I last write about these. I checked  and I wrote in October 2012, and In May 2013. Today's post is for the Hubley cast iron doorstops,but most of the major toy cast iron toy manufacturers of the time made these as well.and most of them are quite ornate and beautiful. Houses back in the 1880's and into the first quarter of the 20th century were not made as well as today, nor did they aways have concrete foundations. So doors tended to tilt with"mini" small rubber doorstops, doorstops in the time of cast iron doorstops were doorstops!  They were large decorative pieces meant to keep those doors "in their place", but  also to act as decor for people's homes. These were beautiful figures of art, and were meant to be! Some of the companies even hired well-kwon artists to design and draw these magnificent pieces.

Please click here to visit this fine American auction company

For today, I sleeked just 5 fine samples,but there are 1000's and thousand's to be found on Liveauctioneers, ebay,   and many to be found on auctioneers websites. If the Smithsonium had some,and I'm sure they do, I would like to see an exhibition of these fine American items. They are truly fine pieces of art, and some of them look almost like porcelain pieces like Royal Doulton!

I selected a mere 5 Hubley animal doorstops.If you were to look, you'd find a huge cache of these items.Dog,there would be a doorstop for probably every breed of dog, beautifully cast horse, people, caricatures of people,  and boats, and so on.

Fred Everett's name appears in 2 of today's doorstops. He must have been a fine artist and designer, and I'm sure there's a post to be written on Mr. Everett in the future. You have to admire the skill and craftsmanship of these cast iron figures.  Just go to ebay and search for "reproduction" cast iron toys. Then examine then in large-size mode if you can.  They're nowhere near the quality that these doorstops are from so long ago!

The piece below is just one-sided,hot bilaterally-symetrical, having an identical left and right side and with held to ether with a screw or an iron rod hammered at the end to hold the halves together.

"Monsieur Penguin" (my name for the doorstop) is elegant in its simple design,

and I love those feet!

Beautiful!

If I were to visit someone in late afternoon on a winter day, and I was tired, I'd probably have a second or third look at these figure. With harsh sunny light streaking into the house, this Peke would catch me off guard, and I'd wonder if it was ready to attack since it was so quiet.  Having m y own dog,Buddy,I like all dogs and usually pet them when I see one while walking Buddy. However Pekes, and Yorkies, and a few other small dogs are barkers no matter how nice I try to be. There are some quiet ones though. 

For sure with this doorstop angled just the right way to state at me, I'd  be wondering!

Buddy seems to be a barker when we're home.And he always barks at the mailman.My mailman,Kenny won't even go near Buddy, try as I may to get the two together. Kenny has had "experiences" with dogs on his mail route.  

However, sometimes Buddy is quiet and doesn't bark, especially when you want him to bark! I call him facetiously our "guard Poodle".  He's smart though,and I bet he  understands the word "facetious" and just  turns away on purpose to show me his "derriere". 

If you're a dog owner, you'd know what I mean!

Thanks for dropping by,and as always

have a great part of the day or night

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

Antique Cast Iron Door Stops

Saturday, October 27, 2012
Cloudy - A Storm is Coming

Antique Cast Iron Door Stops

    What's interesting about this area of collecting is that I can't remember  when I was young ever seeing a door stop. I think, when we used to go to Mississquoi Bay in the 1950's there was one in the cottage that we rented, but I can't recall what it was.  

    What's even more interesting for me, is that there are so many door stops still available after all of these years.

    And what's even more amazing to me is my wondering (I think "differently" sometimes) why there were so many doors in the early times that didn't stay open and needed door stops? Larsen, the famous newspaper cartoonist of the 1980's-early 1990's, would have had a field day with cartooning about door stops. I guess the answer from my point of view was that house foundations were not made as good as today.As a result the homes shifted, and  naturally the doors became imbalanced!

    Yesterday, I mentioned that I'd write about this subject, even though it's "off topic" from my regular toys. What attracted me to door stops is the fact that there are so many of them. Every time, I'd be on E-Bay looking for toys from a particular seller, sure enough he/she would have a door stop. I kept that in mind, but never thought much about it. However, since I'm working form other peoples' images, I figured that straying from my normal subject of toys, would not bother anyone.

    So for today, I'm presenting some of the fine examples of photography and door stops that I came across on my latest locale for accessing nice photos and permissions - and of course, their fine listers on their site - icollector

     As you can see, there certainly is a diverse selection of doorstops. I only selected these fine examples from 1 site, but you can imagine how many door stops and door stop collectors there are out there.

    If you happen to be reading this post today, I'd be curious to know if youactually have "working" door stops in your house. Also how many times have you stubbed your toes onthese helpful aids?

Thanks for dropping by,

and, as usual, have a great day

wherever you my be.

And if you're in the USA, please take care for the upcoming storm. It's been upgraded again to a hurricane called Sandy, and it's going to be very powerful!

Stacey