Advertising Thermometer: Silhouette Child at Tea Time, Costa Mesa Lumber, Antique 1920s

A child in oversized shoes pours tea for a doll while the dog watches, in reverse-painted silhouette on this Costa Mesa Lumber advertising thermometer. Someone kept it for a hundred years.

• Advertiser: Costa Mesa Lumber Co.
• Maker: Newton Manufacturing Co.
• Materials: Metal frame, glass, paper, mercury thermometer
• Dimensions: 4.5" diameter
• Origin: Newton, Iowa, USA
• Era: Antique, 1920s
• Condition: Antique, used — Very Good; cardboard backing yellowed and stained; small mark inside glass near company name. Please review photos closely before purchasing, as all sales are final.

The reverse-painted silhouette on glass shows a little girl playing dress-up at a tea party, her doll across the table, the family dog an attentive guest. Orange metal frame, hook on back, mercury thermometer intact. A true original — not a reproduction.

A remarkable find for the advertising thermometer collector, silhouette enthusiast, or California history lover. An heirloom-quality gift that tells a story all on its own.

There was a time when a lumber yard in Costa Mesa, California gave its customers a gift — a small, useful, beautiful thing meant to stay on the wall. This is one of them. Costa Mesa Lumber Co. is no longer in business, and the town itself only took the name Costa Mesa in 1920 (it began as Harper), so this piece dates from the community's earliest years under its new name. We dated it to the 1920s based on the two-digit phone number "48" in the advertisement.

Made by Newton Manufacturing Co. of Newton, Iowa, a promotional products company that traces its start to 1909, in a town that grew into a center of the advertising specialty trade — a maker well versed in turning everyday objects into small, hardworking billboards for businesses like this one. Children in this format are exceptionally rare — nearly all Newton thermometers featured adults.

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