Need Info on Egg Cup Collecting?
If you are a collector these items you are known as a “POCILLOVIST” (pronounced PO-SIL-O-VIST). Pocillovy is the name given to the hobby which comes from the Latin, pocillum ovi, meaning a small cup for an egg.
I live in Gravenhurst, Muskoka, Ontario, Canada in the summer and in Niceville Florida in the winter. Both homes are crammed full of different varieties of eggcups, over 2500 of them. That is a lot, but I feel better knowing I don't hold the record.
I wrote a book/price guide in 1993 on this interesting hobby (picture above). Since then I have put together eight booklets, each with one hundred eggcups not in the book. I have also written many articles for antique and collectible magazines.
The history of the egg cup goes back as long as there has been the ability to boil eggs. The 19th century farmer or traveler would carry a portable eggcup with them made of wood or silver. Along with bread and cheese, this would make a fine roadside snack. As part of a dinner set, once the egg was placed in the cup, it was “beheaded” by a special set of scissors called an egg decapitator.
There are some basic shapes for eggcups. Here are some of them.
| bucket | single |
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| double | figural |
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There are many different varieties of egg cups. Below, is a picture of a category I call “Faces”. When faces of people appear on an egg cup, they were usually made to look pleasant or comical. There are some that can be rather grotesque. Nursery rhymes and cartoon characters were popular with children, but adults had their own sense of humor. Some cups depicted men and women according to status and interest.
”Faces”
”Cowboy” and “Boy”
Click the picture for more "Faces"!
Another category in my book is "Flowers". Below is a daffodil eggcup. This is from the Goebel series and dated 1982.
”Flowers”
"Daffodil"
This category is called "Advertising". During the first part of the 20th Century eggcups were a popular christening gift. This unmarked silver eggcup shows an engraving of a stork carrying a baby. The word "congratulations" is below the stork. The baby's name and birthdate is engraved on the back of the cup.
”Advertising”
"Christening"
I started a newsletter, "Eggcuppers in Canada" in April of 2003. If this is of interest to you, please e-mail me for details.
Here is information for another club. Contact:
Egg Cup Collectors’ Corner, c/o Joan George
67 Stevens Av.
Old Bridge, NJ, USA
08857
The reputation of the egg cup as a collectors’ item is one whose time is about to come! They are still quite affordable. Remember what happened to the lowly lunch pail and cookie jar. COLLECT NOW! Avoid the rush and the price increase. For more information about eggcups, please e-mail me below.
HAPPY HUNTING! and GET CRACKING!
Check Out These Other Links
Curioscape.com
The DeOlds Home Page. They will help you find what you are looking for!!
Ebay Going, going, GONE!
