Old United States Import Law – 1860-1920′s? Also wanting info on Minerva dolls.?
I remember reading something about back in the late 1800′s to early 1900′s that said that back then the United States passed a law requiring imported products to be stamped with the country of origin. I was wondering when this law was passed, because I have some antique dolls (they have metal heads and are made by a company called Minerva) and I’m trying to approximately date them (hopefully within 10 years). I’ve tried Google and other search engines and I can’t find any info. I heard that Minerva dolls that were made after a certain time period all had “Germany” stamped on them, and these were made after the law I was talking about was passed. So I’m thinking mine are probably the really old kind that were made before said import law was passed… if anyone happens to know about such things please respond. Best answer gets 10 points! Thanks.
If the name of the country where the piece was made is printed on the bottom, it was probably made after 1890.
The reason for this is that in 1890, the U.S. government passed a law requiring that the name of the country of origin appear in writing on each piece of pottery or porcelain imported into the country.
If the name of the country is accompanied by the words “made in,” then it was made after 1914. If no country name appears, then look for other markings.
The word “trademark” was used on English pieces after 1855 though most items made after 1880 were marked “Ltd.”
Here’s a link to a Minerva doll that talks about its marking of Germany:
http://www.tias.com/13/InventoryPage/991485/1.html
Here’s another link to other Minerva dolls….
http://search.rubylane.com/ni/search?ss=minerva&sb=Search&previd=25&sb=1
