Our shop is ordinarily closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. Laurence and I had decided that this week we would go and have a look around the Roadium on Wednesday morning. http://www.roadium.com/ There are a lot of vendors at this market, and most of them do not have antiques or collectibles. Mondays are the best day for old stuff there, but what-the-hey…it’s Wednesday; we are off of work and the sun is out! Ready to go, empty basket in hand. You never know what we are going to find…
Because it is Wednesday, not so many sellers have old stuff with them. There are lots of clothes and tools here this particular Wednesday, but one random guy had a few interesting bits and pieces at his table. HINT: If someone is selling tools or clothes, check out the side table, maybe even at the back of the tent, where they are getting rid of what they DON’T know about…yep, you got it right. The treasures he/she doesn’t know about just might be good. Check it out:
So, WHAT is that? You tell me…
It’s a globe that has a piano hinge and opens up. Hmm…it’s about 14″ tall and roughly 9″ in diameter. It appears to be made of wood with some sort of painted plaster on the outside. The image is a woman, Mother Nature (?) embracing the globe and holding the hand of a putti (cherub) in one of her’s and a garland in the other.
The process of deduction begins. Something would be hidden inside. Something with a top that is larger on top than on the bottom. A head? Maybe a head with a wig on it? There’s no base either, just an opening. Oh! Wait! There are some markings on the base:
It reads: “COPYRIGHT LC MAYER” on the left side. And there’s something really light on the other.
It took a while and I especially needed the right light. It reads “JAN 1915”. So what have we figured out?
Next step, Google “mother earth lc mayer” https://www.google.com/search?q=mother+earth+lc+mayer&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 Unfortunately, that wasn’t much help. How else could I describe it? I tried:
But, absolutely NO LUCK! Normally I can figure out what something is by using words to describe what it looks like, but I wasn’t having any luck or even finding any clues to lead me down the path of discovery. It was time to pull out the expert resource: www.antiquers.com This website is a wonderful gathering place of antiques collectors and experts. My feeling is that there is just too much to know for anyone to know everything; but maybe someone on the board could help. So, I posted pictures and asked the “what-the-heck-is-it?” question.
With esteemed kudos to Terry5732, here was his answer:
“It should sell for a small fortune I would think
It is a cover for a candlestick phone
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/5494-phone-globe”
WHO would have thought?!? Apparently, telephones were considered ugly and utilitarian early on, so this globe was intended to hide the telephone so that nobody could see just how ugly it was. This lady and putti are beautiful. That’s for sure. 
And a little bit of telephone history: Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone is 1876. By 1892 the “candlestick phone” came into popularity and was used up until 1926.
On the left is the candlestick phone. On the right a parlor or sitting room (about 1910). You can see how this unsightly utilitarian piece just wouldn’t fit in with the beautiful items in the room. (smiley face). Also, how many people had a telephone in the early 20th century? Not many, I’d say. A telephone was probably only used by the elite, wealthy set. Not may phones to hide at that time. The globe been referred to as the Euphonia Hide-a-Phone. It was only made for a few years so they are rare and difficult to find. No wonder nobody knew what it was!
And the term, Euphonia? Well, other than referring to the tropical bird species, euphonia can be defined as referring to a pleasing mixture of sounds. Just like the telephone. And the love story? That would be us. In love with the hunt and in this case the find. Of this treasure. We LOVE it!
Do you love it too? We are selling it now. On eBay. Here. Buy it! You know you love it!
It’s right here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/L-C-MAYER-Antique-1915-CANDLESTICK-TELEPHONE-COVER-Figural-HIDE-A-PHONE-Euphonia-/371244185921?ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT
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Tags: antiquers.com, antiques forum, candlestick phone, candlestick telephone, euphonia, hide-a-phone, LC Mayer, mother earth, mystery, phone cover, phone globe, putti