KNOW YOUR ANTIQUES : A TOAST TO OLD JOKE CUPS.

Byline: Ralph and Terry Kovel

April Fool's Day is not the only time to fool somebody. Potters in the 18th and 19th centuries made many types of jokes for drinkers. Mugs either dribbled liquid on the unsuspecting drinker or had a lifelike frog at the bottom of the cup.

Puzzle jugs were popular in pubs. To be able to drink the liquor, you had to learn the jug's secret. The solution usually involved holding one's fingers over some of the decorative holes and using the hollow handle as a straw.

One of the most famous trick cups was known as a ``stirrup cup.'' It was handed to riders on horseback waiting to begin a hunt. The cups were shaped so there was no level base. The joke was that it had to be emptied before it could be put down.

Most stirrup cups were shaped like the head of a fox, hound or other animal. The first were made in the 1770s. By 1820, at least 30 English potteries were making stirrup cups.

Q: I saved my Britains Polish Infantry set of tin soldiers in its original box. I got it around 1940. What's it worth?

A: Toy soldiers in their original box are worth much more. The Britains set No. 1856 that you describe would sell for $500 to $600 in mint condition.

Q: A business friend just gave me a bronze figure about 17 inches high. It's an Indian on a horse. It's signed ``Earle Heikka.''

A: Earle Erik Heikka was born in Montana in 1910 and died in 1941. He modeled figures in wood, leather, cloth, plaster and metal. His subjects included trains and stagecoaches as well as mounted cowboys and Indians.

Q: My mother-in-law always gives my sons Avon after-shave in specially shaped decanters. Should I save them?

A: There are collectors for everything. Many people collect Avon bottles and decanters.

You probably won't get rich by saving your contemporary decanters, but they are good-looking. Decanters from the 1990s are selling at their original selling price. Those from the 1970s are valued at about twice their original price.

Q: While cleaning my granny's attic, I found a hanging lamp that was marked ``Muller Freres.'' It's pink glass decorated with pheasants. Have you ever heard of anything like it?

A: The Muller brothers made cameo glass and other types of colored glass from the early 1900s through the 1930s. Their factory was first located in Luneville, France, then in Croismaire.

Q: I have six dinner plates with pictures of movie stars in the center. The plates were made by the Edwin M. Knowles China Co. The stars are Lillian Walker, Anita Stewart, Mary Fuller, Beverly Boyer, Alice Brady and Isabel Townsend. Do you have any information on them?

A: Your plates probably were theater giveaways designed to lure customers to the movies.

The original Edwin M. Knowles China Co. worked between 1900 and 1963 in West Virginia. The company name is being used again on modern plates. The actresses on your plate were on the silver screen about 1917.

Q: My Skeezix doll is made of oilcloth. It's been in the family since the 1930s. It's 9 inches tall and 4 inches wide. It's marked ``King Skeezix.'' My mother said it's because in the comic strip, Gasoline Alley, Skeezix was a deposed infant king before he was adopted. Is this a one-of-a-kind doll?

A: Your oilcloth Skeezix doll is just one of the dolls created by Frank O. King, the creator of the Gasoline Alley comic strip. His name is on the doll.

The dolls were made for several years starting in 1922.

Other Skeezix dolls were made of bisque. They were made by Live Long Toys. In the comic strip, Baby Skeezix was found in a basket on Walt's doorstep on Valentine's Day, 1921.

Q: My husband brought home four fiberglass chairs with metal legs. They have no maker's marks. The seat and arms are molded in one piece. They remind me of the chairs that were used in airports. Do they have any value?

A: Molded fiberglass chairs were popular in the 1950s. The original design was by Charles Eames for Herman Miller. Many copies were made.

If the fiberglass isn't cracked or chipped, the chairs sell for about $100 each. Original Eames chairs would sell for more.

Tip: Never wash lacquered wood, because water could seep into the base wood and cause damage. Just wipe it clean with a damp cloth.

Current prices: Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.

Sheet music, ``It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day,'' 1939: $18.

Dodge Gold Mining Co. stock certificate, pictures miners, stream, gold pan, 1908: $25.

Board game, Going to Jerusalem, Parker Bros., 1955: $75.

Barbed wire, loop lock, A.W. Stevens, June 1884, 18 inches: $255.

North Dakota School of Mines bowl, geometric Indians, red, orange ground, 1931, 5 by 7 inches: $370.

Lladro figurine, Kitty Bunny Girl, No. 5164, 1982, 9 inches: $475.

Tiffany paperweight, sitting bulldog, bronze, dark patina, No. 933, 3 inches: $530.

Beatles jacket, 1964 tour, Great Britain: $1,325.

Dining set, wrought iron, white glass-top table, two armchairs 1930s: $1,450.

Teddy Bear, Bing, cinnamon, black button eyes, hump, swivel head, circa 1910, 15 inches: $1,850.

MEMO: The Kovels' antiques column appears on Saturdays.

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Photo: This stirrup cup, shaped like a hound's head, was ma de in England in the late 19th century. It sold at auction recently for $1,380.