Question:
I recently aquired a red wing water cooler. It ha a 3 on it so I asume that it’s 3 gallons. It has metal handles on the ide. The blue lettering is stamped on….not hand painted. It also has stripes around the top and bottom along with the red wing stamp on the front. The spigot is metal. The piece is in excellent shape. No chips, cracks or hairlines. It came from a rural township building in northern Pa.It doesn’t have a lid and almost looks as though it there may have never been one on it. Can you determine from my description if it should have had a lid and if so, how I might come across one that would fit it.It would also be nice to know the era it was made and a value. Sorry, I have no means of attaching a picture. Thanks, Deb Mancine

Answer: Deb, if you could tell me the size of the red wing on your water cooler, I could better date your Red Wing cooler. Also, there should be an oval under the red wing. Please read me the oval (exactly). This can also help me date your cooler. The wing size would be either a 4 1/2 inch wing or a 2 7/8 inch wing. The larger the wing the greater the value. The most common is the smaller wing. If this is the case and your cooler is in mint condition, figure a value of $300 for the cooler. If the wing is larger, then I need to know where the number 3 is located. On the front of the cooler or inside bottom. Yes, this cooler would have come with a Red Wing 3 gallon water cooler lid. The water cooler lids are usually more expensive than the coolers. In mint condition, a bar handled water cooler lid will run around $350. If the number is on the inside bottom of your cooler than the correct lid would be a Red Wing water cooler lid with a button. Price on a good Red Wing button water cooler lid (if you can find one) in mint condition is $800. Lots of information here, so you can fill in the blanks that I have mentioned and I can better pin down a manufacturing date and value. Red Wing bar handle water cooler lids are out there to buy, I do have one for sale, but you may also want to look in the Red Wing ads here on the Red Wing site to see if anyone else has one for sale. If your are interested in seeing my water cooler lid, contact Stacy director@redwingcollectors.org or 800-977-7927 and she can get me your email address. I could then send you a photo of what it at least looks like. Al Kohlman