Cody, Wyoming-Part II

Skookum Indian dolls are popular Western collectibles. The biggest size, 36 inches, dates from the 1920s and ’30s and sells for $1,800. Dolls with eyes looking to the right are the most common. The first doll heads were made with shrunken apples. Later heads were clay, then composition, then plastic from Japan. Some dolls have plastic feet and wear blankets with unusual patterns. Dolls sell for $100 up.

A dealer in high-quality Navajo rugs told us the bright red in the early rugs was made from trader’s cloth that was unraveled and then rewoven into the rug. Look carefully at a Navajo rug. A Navajo loom was upright and the weaver sat on the floor in front of it. A “lazy line” was made when the weaver moved to the next position. It looks like a diagonal imperfection, but it should be found in a good rug. The edge of the rug was made of cord. A thread was looped over the cord during the weaving to make the edge. There was no fringe. Average room-size rugs from the 1920s-1940s were selling for $2,000 to $3,000. The most expensive rugs date back to the 1880s. The best at the show was $75,000.

Newly made Metis beadwork clothing was being offered. Metis are Canadians with a mixture of Indian, French, Irish, and English ancestry. Beadwork designs featured stylized mixed flowers. Prices were high. A fringed vest had metal tassels made from Copenhagen and Skol snuff-can lids. The metal is wound into cone-shaped tassels for “jingle” dresses.

Another dealer was selling Mexican clothes from Oaxaca. Blouses embroidered with large flowers were $200. Large earrings of gold, seed pearls, and colored glass made in the 1920s-1940s were selling for $300 to $1,250. Gold coin necklaces were $3,000 to $7,500. Women earned money, then spent it on gold-coin jewelry for themselves. Their necklaces were like savings accounts.

Other thoughts about the show: We saw old round cans with fake paper labels for $50 to $85. Each was different, but all were in the same booth. When asked, the dealer said he didn’t know the age of the cans. Advertising signs were very high priced, and almost every one pictured a horse or a cowboy. New colored horsehair bracelets made by convicts at the prison in Springfield, South Dakota, were selling for $7 each; key chains for $7, and hat bands for $22.

One booth featured reproduction store cabinets for museums and collectors to use for displays. Cost: $300 to $15,000. Tip from a poster dealer: Never dry-mount a poster. It destroys the value. He displays his in big plastic sheets. Anri-type carved wooden bottle stoppers were $30. The metal turtle spittoon was seen in one booth for $395 and in another for $695. A “Welcome Nugget” square label used on tobacco bundles by T.C. Williams Co. was offered for $125. We own an original and a copy made about 20 years ago and doubt if very many people can tell the difference.