Question:
Hello I have the friar tuck thou shall not steel cookie jar (blue) i have seen a few of these for sale and on the bottom the markings show the red wind markings and the words hand painted and somewher else on the bottom. My question is mine has all that plus it has a patten number and then the inpressed stamp that reads red wing and USA ,I have not seen any with the patten number is there any added significance or aging connected to the patten number. Also mine is in mint condition ,not a chip to be found. Thank You very much for your help Ronald

Answer: Several different markings were used over the years on the bottom of these cookie jars. The Friar Tuck, Pierre the Chef and Katrina cookie jars were introduced in 1941. The earliest jars included the patent numbers applied with an ink stamp. Collectors seem to value jars with the patent numbers a bit more than those without. I do not know how long the patent numbers were added but since most jars do not have them it was probably a rather brief period. A blue Friar Tuck jar in mint condition (no chips, cracks, hairlines, flakes or stains) is worth $75 to $100 today; the patent numbers would add around 25% to the value in my opinion. Any damage will reduce these values significantly.

Larry