This weekend's hunt

[Lee Peedin]

BTW, this is Lee in NC.

Hope everyone had a great weekend "hunting".
Guess I'll have to catch my breath next
weekend as I'll be at the beach for a week
of fishing (3rd week in Oct. ritual). 
Brought home 9 pieces on Sat. but there's two
I hope some of you can help with.

The first is a log planter.  Had to look
long and hard before my wife found the McCoy
signature.  On the lower left corner of one
side was "USA", but on the lower right
corner was McCoy.  Both were in very small
print - less than a 1/4" even though the
planter is 8" long.  I found a log planter
in the Huxford book, but I don't think
they're the same.  It doesn't have the wagon
wheel as in the Huxford picture. The
following items are part of the mold: a
chain that appears to wrap around the log; a
two man cross-cut saw on one side; and an ax
on the other side.  Almost past this item up
thinking it was unmarked.  Found another
planter at the auction on Sat. night, but
recognized it from Huxford.  It's the two
shell green planter.  Its mark is also less
than 1/4" and the small c in McCoy is almost
invisable.

The second and most interesting (to me) item
>from this week end is a small (4"-5") blue
vase.  It is only marked USA, but I believe
it to be Brush, since the S is larger than
the U & A.  I think it was here than someone
said that was a Brush characteristic.  The
interesting thing about it is that the USA
is backwards.  A reversed mold? Can anyone
shed any light on this.  Was it a "mistake"?,
would the mold continue to be used?. Have I
found a "real" treasure?  Saw a piece on
ebay last week that had a reverse McCoy and
it was being "sold" as a unique piece. 
Either way - I like it and I didn't miss a
meal due to the price.

You know - it's nice to find a piece that
the "books" list a higher value than was
paid, but values really don't concern me
that much.  I buy McCoy because I just love
to look at it.  We have nearly 100 pieces
displayed in our den and sometimes I just
love to imagine the stories each piece could
tell.  Especially the 40-50 year old pieces.
Who ate cookies from that jar? - was that
planter sent to someone in the hospital -
was this piece a gift to someone that stuck
it back for 40 years until their child or
grandchild decided to clean up?  And as much
as I like some of the unusal pieces, I can't
possibly imagine why anyone would have ever
bought something like that new - was it a
"joke".  

Well guess I've babbled on enough for one
night.  In case you haven't noticed I'm 
obcessed with old pottery - especially McCoy.

I'm serious about everyone coming to Selma
and let's have a get together.

Lee in NC

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