While it is not unusual to see a Little Red Riding Hood cookie jar or salt and pepper shakers at an auction, it isn’t often bidders are privy to entire collections of such pieces. Such was the case at a recent Topeka, Ind. Strawser auction, where in addition to cookie jars and salt and pepper shakers buyers eagerly bid on grease jars and sugar and coffee canisters.

Buying prices soared to $650 on Little Red Riding Hood sugar and coffee canisters, each in excellent condition. A sugar and creamer set, described as having pantaloons, sold for $500; with two other sugar and creamer sets, ones without the pantaloons, saw winning bids of $160 and $65. A wall pocket earned $120; a milk pitcher saw $110; a batter pitcher crossed the block for $100; and a Little Red Riding Hood covered butter dish sold for $200.

Two Little Red Riding Hood cookie jars were presented with one selling for $160, and the second for $130.

A mustard pot with a spoon sold for $220; a grease jar saw $130; and a Little Red Riding Hood teapot crossed the block for $140. Several other Little Red Riding Hood pieces, including salt and pepper sets and smaller pitchers were also sought by collectors.

Spacious grounds provided a great setting for the Leo Schrock estate auction held by Strawser. There were two rings running throughout the auction.

Aunt Jemima and Old McDonald items also crossed the block. An Aunt Jemima spice set with the rack sold for $210, and $110 was the winning bid for a sugar and creamer set and a covered butter dish. An Old McDonald spice set sold for $75.

Larger pieces of furniture were left in the home for viewing; bidders had the opportunity to purchase corner cupboards, all of which were in very good condition. In the kitchen, a spoon-carved mixed-wood corner cupboard sold for $675; a walnut corner cupboard downstairs earned $575; and the oak two-piece corner cupboard in the living room found a final bid of $750.

In what was referred to as the “landing” on the main living area of this home there was an icebox and two jelly cupboards. The McCray oak triple-door icebox which had been manufactured in Kendallville, Ind., sold for $425. The pine two-door jelly cupboard found here sold for $160, and the two-door jelly cupboard in red paint was declared sold at $350.

In the kitchen there was a wonderful oak dining table with twist legs and four leaves. The whole family could sit around this piece which sold for $400. A set of six oak pub chairs, probably used with the table, sold for $90; and a large quarter-sawn Mission oak-style library table crossed the block for $250.

In the dining room , a square oak dining table, also with four leaves, sold for $175. The set of six oak spindle-back dining chairs, all with hip rests, earned $240; the oak sideboard/buffet with a carved front earned $140; and an oak Globe Werneke five-section stacking bookcase saw a final bid of $550.

An oak commode with a towel bar sold for $160; and a marble-top commode saw $130. There were two oak dressers, each with a serpentine front, claw feet and a beveled mirror that saw winning bids of $250 and $500; and a third dresser this one made of ash and walnut and sporting teardrop pulls sold for $190.

An oak four-drawer file company made by the Wabash Cabinet Co. in Wabash, Ind., sold for $475; and a single-door cupboard with a beveled mirror crossed the block for $75. A walnut poster bed sold for $160 and a queen-size bed earned $140. It looked like a small cabinet but it contained a New Home treadle sewing machine. This piece earned $250.

In one of the bedrooms there was a very nice humpback trunk with a very good interior that sold for $325. Found outside under the tent there was an early Amish blanket chest, dated 1865, in old red paint that sold for $285.

Two oak bookcases sold for $120 and $150 for one with four shelves; an occasional table with glass ball feet earned $160; a square gate-leg table that could convert to a triangular table sold for $170; a lamp stand saw $240; and a large table with claw and ball feet (to be refinished) crossed the block for $200.

Cash registers now can do just about everything, such as figuring tax, automatically. An old brass National cash register along with its cabinet/stand sold for $200.

Examples of the many glassware pieces to cross the block included a cranberry castor set and a ruby cut-to-clear castor set, each of which sold for $80. A pair of red luster with prisms saw a final bid of $100.

Ever-popular Fenton items included two cranberry opalescent vases which sold for $90 and $160; a cranberry opalescent cruet which earned $90; and a red satin Gone With the Wind lamp crossed the block for $200.

There was an assortment of cast iron at this auction as well, a Griswold no. 5 Dutch oven sold for $190; a no. 8 Dutch oven saw $65; and a no. 6 Griswold Dutch oven with an inserts earned $180. The no. 13 Griswold Dutch oven sold for $775; the no. 11 with the insert earned $300; and the Griswold no. 10 Dutch oven, also with the inserts, took $100.

A Griswold no. 5 skillet with a self-basting skillet cover sold for $190; and a no. 8 skillet with an inserts earned $65.

Among the clocks presented a walnut kitchen clock sold for $65; a mantel clock with a horse figural earned $120; a porcelain kitchen clock crossed the block for $110; and a German cuckoo clock found a $150 final bid.

A Murray Sand and Gravel No. 742 Jet Flow dump truck pedal car sold for $375. An interesting early bicycle/scooter with hard rubber tires and a lift-off seat to convert it to a scooter saw a final bid of $400. A croquet set, made to be played on a table top, drew interest and a final bid of $160; and a Greyhound coaster wagon earned $75.

Examples of the many other items in this auction included a no. 2 four-gallon bentwood churn that sold for $400; a three-gallon crock with blue marking earned $100; and a Red Wing six-gallon crock saw $55.

A set of four Fire King jadeite mixing bowls sold for $65; a set of three mixing bowls with a tulip motif, also by Fire King earned $100; and a graduated set of five mixing bowls crossed the block for $150.

A set of sleigh bells that would do Santa proud sold for $175; a wood ice cream freezer saw $200; a dough box on a stand earned $110; and a hatbox stand crossed the block for $130.

The reported items represent only a small portion of the many items presented at this great estate auction.

For additional information on this auction and upcoming auctions provided by Michael Strawser, contact his office at (260) 854-2859, or by email at info@strawserauctions.com. You can also log on to www.strawserauctions.com. Also, watch for his ads in the Auction Exchange and Collectors News.