Have you noticed the "glut" of Black Memorabilia on eBay?  All of a sudden there are Black Mammy McCoy cookie jars coming out of the woodwork.  When this happens, get suspicious.  If you go to the Helen and Philip Rosso Wholesale Glass and Pottery website, you will find pages of these items for sale to anyone.  The Rosso's make no claim that they are old or vintage.  They clearly indicate that these cookie jars are imported.  They deal strictly in new or reproduced glassware, pottery and cast iron items.  It is unscrupulous eBaydealers who are perpetrating the fraud and calling them genuine McCoy.

The new cookie jars are not made by McCoy, which has been out of business for years.  They are reproductions - made to look like McCoy, right down to the signature on the bottom.  If the cookie jars were made from original molds - they would be called reissues of old McCoy.  Most of the McCoy experts that I have been studying say that these new jars were made by forming a new mold over the old cookie jar. This would make it a reproduction.  Because the new molds are made over the old cookie jar, the reproductions are smaller in size.   This is one of the major keys to telling the new from the genuine.

  To insure that you are buying the "real McCoy," go to the library and study the identification guides, or purchase a good book on McCoy pottery (or whatever pottery you are interested in).  Also, there are many excellent eBay guides on this subject, one of which is by an author who has written books about McCoy pottery. 

Here are some of the reproductions being fraudulently sold as old or genuine on eBay.  Most of these were produced within the last 2 years.  The first two cookie jars come in whole variety of colors, many of which McCoy never made.  It is my understanding that the genuine mammy cookie jar is fairly rare. 

                           The Little Red Riding Hood cookie jar comes in both a white face and black face version.  Since McCoy never made a Little Red Riding Hood cookie jar, then this is a fake. A fake has features that strongly resemble the original company, but the original company never made that item.  Another good example of a fake is the new, imported jadeite jadite tilt ball juice pitchers flooding eBay.  Fraudulent dealers are calling them Fire King, when Anchor Hocking never made a jadite pitcher in that size.

                                              Another version of the mammy cookie jar.

Many of the new pieces have plastic rings in the top to make a snug, air tight fit.  The dealers pull these rings out since plastic wasn't even around at the time the old jars were made.  The new tops don't fit well as a result.

Don't be misled by the crazing in the finish.  The sneakier dealers have perfected the art of crazing the new pieces.

                                             Sugar shaker.                      Salt and pepper shakers.

There is a whole line of shakers and pie birds to go with the cookie jars.  There is a also a new head vase that is marked McCoy. 

***Also available from the wholesale website for these items, is a whole line of brand new cast iron black americana items.***

Ebay only allows ten pictures in any one guide, so this is all I can show at this time.  By searching under new McCoy cookie jar,  new black mammy, or  new black americana, you can locate the dealers that honestly identify these items as new.  Once you've established that a piece is new, you can identify the dealers that are trying to defraud bidders and avoid dealing with them.

Another great resource is an online repro news website that lists all kinds of reproduction items including Black Memorabilia and new McCoy reproductions.  Just key in the words REPRODUCTION NEWS into your web browser.

  There is nothing wrong with selling or buying reissued, reproduced or fake items as long as the dealer is not misleading in their description.  It is downright fraud when dealer's say it is "genuine McCoy," "old," "vintage," "in our family for many years," "depression era," and our personal favorite "from an estate sale in the south."  Phil and I like to say, "from an estate sale in the Blue Ridge Mountains of south-east Asia!"  

Unfortunately, eBay does nothing to stop this fraud even when given all the information they need to understand the problem.  There are sanctions for selling fraudulent coins and stamps, but nothing is done about it in the glassware and pottery category.

 To protect yourself, ask the dealer directly if this is a new item.  I recently found a new piece of jadite jadeite glass in the McKee category with no reference to McKee in the subject or description.  When I asked her if it was genuinely McKee, she emphatically said NO!!!  Now, why did that upset her so much????

We hope this helps you with navigating the confusing world of reproductions on eBay and gives you a useful site to visit to see the latest imports that will soon appear on eBay.  See my other guide for many suggestions on how to avoid fraudulent dealers on eBay.

Good Luck!

If you found this guide helpful, please vote by clicking on the button below.  This helps us keep spreading the word!

Barbara and Philip Hopper

ANCHOR HOCKING GLASS MUSEUM