Dear Lee,

Fakes are nothing new. Years ago I stopped at a small local flea market and picked up a Coca-Cola tray with some wear, but I immediately realized it was a recent copy. The owner-seller came over and told me it had belonged to an elderly relative and the picture was used on the 1942 tray. But I knew it was new. So I politely said I thought it was a recent copy and, of course, upset the seller.

We have been offered fakes many times, sometimes by amateurs who didn’t realize an item might be a fake, sometimes by people who knew the truth. At the Seattle Century 21 Exposition in 1962, we saw a green ceramic frog with black shadow glaze in the Chinese exhibit. It was a planter that looked old but was inexpensive, so I bought it to use even though I was told it was 150 years old. I scrubbed it before I planted it. All the black “glaze” disappeared and I had a new bright green frog.

Many flea market dealers have “cinnabar” or other antiques made of red plastic that look but don’t feel old. Wrong weight, too smooth, but good enough to fool a beginner. I still see a white “Buffalo Pottery” plate picturing a caricature of a black airplane pilot with a hand-drawn copy of the Buffalo Pottery mark on the back. It is a copy of a round cardboard advertising sign. “How much?” I once asked. “$85.” “How old is it?” “Don’t know. I bought it at a sale in a Victorian house.” The pilot picture is crude and the mark is drawn with wobbly lines. The fake buffalo has large horns. If the date is about 1911, it’s an even better clue. The plate copies a cardboard ceiling fan light hanger for J.P. Alley’s Hambone Sweets cigars. The airplane image is a parody of Lindbergh’s 1927 flight. The fake was made about 1980 and there are several similar ones. I see one or two a year. Remember the rules — Buyer Beware! And “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”