The YZ Blog

What's It Worth?

£100?  £150?  £200? More?  For a wood, nut and plastic trinket?  Are the prices currently being achieved for YZ novelties really realistic?  Given that the worth of any article is the price people are willing to pay for it, I guess that, by definition, they must be.  OK, realistic then, but can those prices really be justified?  In my view, yes.  And no.

Yes, because each one is unique.  Each YZ item was based on an original design drawing but, partly due to the different forms and markings of the natural materials used, in part because each YZ craftsman had his own idea of how best to project the humour of the design concept, each is a unique work of art in its own right.

 Yes(ish), because most are now over 80 years old.  Any item that fragile, and particularly those condemned to the potentially damaging environment of lighted matches and smouldering cigarettes, should surely command a price premium on survival grounds alone.

Definitely yes because the craftsmanship of most of the YZ range is astounding.  The love, the care and the quality shine through.  Can a value be placed on the feeling of sheer joy which comes from holding something so perfectly crafted?  Or on an 80 year old object constructed with such humour that it still has the ability to make you laugh out loud?  (Well, me anyway – and I doubt I’m the only one.)

So why the ‘and no’?  It’s a qualified ‘no’ and it relates not to the value of YZ but to the way that many of the non-YZ products seem to be so undervalued by comparison.  Take the Noveltic range as an example, though ‘range’ is a rather charitable description – there seems to be only one design, the only variation being the very occasional use of bamboo rather than an oak bar for the match holder and striker.  Variety apart though, Noveltic birds show a good degree of craftsmanship (note the way the beak feathers - no pun intended - gently into the head rather than being merely a stuck on accessory) and they have a humour and a personality all their own (wonderfully doleful eyes that seem to plead with you to take them home).

So what are they worth?  I would argue, considerably more than they currently sell for.  At the time of writing, on eBay, there are three on offer.  At £9.99 (no bids), £19.99 (no bids) and at £29.99 (Buy It Now – apparently no interest).  Leaving aside the surprising fact that there are people in the country who think that there may still be somebody out there gullible enough to fall for the 99p ploy, those prices are a joke.  A quality piece of Britain’s frivolous 1920s/1930s history for under thirty quid?  Come on!

 I collect YZ novelties.  I’ve been collecting them for 30 years – initially when nobody, including me, knew anything about YZ or even of the existence of Henry Howell & Co.  I bought them because they amused me, I began to research their history because I wanted to get closer to the men who had put so much of their own personalities into their work.  And I bought non-YZ items (not only Noveltic) for the same reason – though every research avenue I’ve tried in an attempt to discover some history has dead-ended.

 yzbirds.com is a site devoted primarily to YZ but I’ll be happy to set up a comprehensive non-YZ section as a sub-site if there’s enough interest out there.  Let me know.  And if anybody has any information relating to the origins of that non-YZ population, please get in touch.