Radio taxi Cab Cookie Jar Sogned By Glenn Appleman

Sid’s RADIO TAXI Cab Cookie Jar Signed by Glenn Appleman 1978 This is the larger sized Taxi Cab signed by Glenn Appleman in 1978. Measures approximately 16" long x 10" wide x 9" tall. No visible chips or damage that I could see Front fenders of taxi each have a round marking: Reads "NIGHT OWL SERVICE". Underside of the cookie jar body is signed "Appleman @ 1978". Interesting article by Ken Gross on History: Nov/Dec 2020 edition Issue #13, AutoMobilia Resource Magazine Ken Gross Appleman Ceramic Cookie Jars: The Cars were the Stars... Glenn Appleman’s whimsical, car-shaped ceramic cookie jars were produced by his company, Appleman Autoworks, in Union City, NJ, from 1977 to 1987. Appleman made a few animals in 1970 and then he crafted individual busts of Alfred Hitchcock, Mao-Tse-Tung and Teddy Roosevelt. His first cookie jar was produced in 1977. Pudgy and cute, bigger than your typical cookie jar, each one was hand-made. Painted in bright kiln-fired enamel colors, they average about 17.5" long and 8" high. Each Appleman cookie jar has a snug-fitting lid which serves as the “greenhouse” on closed cars and the passenger compartment with a windshield on open models. They were initially offered at $75, and sold in gift shops, and that price was soon raised to $100. I don’t remember the first time I saw one, but I think it must have been at Jacques Vaucher’s l’art et l’automobile gallery in New York City, in the late 1970s. From memory, it was priced at about $200, which is the equivalent of approximately $750 today, so they were expensive. Most of the Appleman cookie jars that I’ve ever seen, including four of the five examples I own, are signed and dated in Sharpie-type ink with the signature, “Appleman,” on the unpainted bottom. Examples of these artsy jars were owned by notables like Andy Warhol, Sofia Loren, Sylvester Stallone, Dustin Hoffman, Reggie Jackson, Dolly Parton and Bill Cosby. They were spotted in photographs when celebrity photographers performed shoots of their famous subjects’ homes for magazines. The most popular Appleman cookie jar was the “Humperbump,” also known as “Sid’s Radio Taxi,” which is bright yellow, and was offered with several different taxi company labels. It was also offered as a coupe in police car colors. The black Appleman 1952 Buick coupe was also available in white, red, and robin’s-egg blue. Other Appleman jars came in the exaggerated shapes of a red or a white Corvette, a Rolls-Royce (in several colors), a Mercedes-Benz convertible (in red, blue or white), and – one of the rarest types – a red Buick convertible with ten small ceramic cats playing on its hood and interior. I own a pink and gray DeSoto convertible, as well. For years, I wanted to know more about these cute ceramic novelties, so after I read the AutoMobilia Resource article on Sadler OKT42 teapots in issue #12, I told Editor Marshall Buck I’d like to research the Appleman items for an article. I only knew what you’ve just read. But I wanted to know much more. Publisher Sharon Spurlin suggested we run an ad in their classifieds, along with a photo of “Sid’s Radio Taxi,” to see if a reader could help us with more information. We struck gold on the first day when I received a call from Stephen Ring, who’d ordered a limited-production Jaguar cookie jar from Glenn Appleman (more about this in part II, issue 14 of AutoMobilia Resource). Stephen said he thought Glenn lived in Brooklyn, and he believed he hadn’t been making the cookie jars for decades. He didn’t have Glenn’s phone number, but through the magic of the Internet, I was soon speaking with the elusive Mr. Appleman. Friendly, enthusiastic and blessed with a great memory, Glenn Appleman was only too happy to tell me all about his short-lived career as a cookie jar magnate. Appleman Cookie Jar Brochure Here are four of the most popular – the red Buick convertible (2 versions). The Buick with ten cats was made because the red glaze reportedly was difficult to apply without producing black spots. Appleman’s solution was to craft tiny cats to cover the spots, making for an even more impressive item. “10 Cats on a Buick” is one of the most expensive cookie jars today. “Sid’s Taxi” was the most popular cookie jar. “Phantazoon,” the DeSoto convertible, was also offered in black. “I was born in the Bronx in 1949,” he said. “I studied fine art at City University of New York. I always wanted to be an electrical engineer like my uncle Harold. But I was never good at calculus, so I decided I wouldn’t be an engineer. I was in the ceramic room at City College and the