Out of the Attic: Shirley Temple Pitcher
by Barbara Coakley
Helen Struck Coakley loved colored glass. She had shelves in the window above the kitchen sink that were filled with her collection. The sun shining through the window lit up the room with all the colors of the glass vases, pitchers, and bottles. One piece that always caught my eye was a blue depression glass pitcher with Shirley Temple on the front.
The 4½” pitcher was introduced in 1936 by the Hazel Atlas Glass Company. It has a picture of Shirley Temple in a costume from her movie, Captain January, and a honeycomb pattern on the back.1
The pitcher was offered by General Mills as an inducement to try Wheaties. The ad read “By accepting this remarkable offer of a free Shirley Temple Wheaties Pitcher now, you not only provide a powerful inducement to your children to use lots and lots of milk – but, you introduce into your home an amazing cereal creation called Wheaties!” 2 The pitcher was free with the purchase of two boxes which sold for 23¢ in April 1936 3.
Helen and her husband, John Leonard Coakley, and their three sons, lived on their homestead near Tule Lake, Siskiyou County, California.4 The home that John built in 1927 burned to the ground in 1934.5 During the Depression, Helen probably took advantage of the promotion to acquire the pitcher.
I have the pitcher on a shelf in my living room. It brings back fond memories of Helen in her kitchen at the house in Kansas City where they lived when I was a little girl.
1 “Shirley Temple Milk Pitcher,” Collectors Weekly (https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/60414-shirley-temple-milk-pitcher : accessed 21 June 2023).
2 “Shirley Temple Wheaties Pitcher,” (New York, New York) The Daily News, 13 April 1936, p. 27; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/415231430/ : accessed 24 October 2023).
3 “13th & J – Sacramento Public Market,” (Sacramento, California) The Sacramento Bee, 17 April 1936, p. 13; digital image; Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/617277839/ : accessed 24 October 2023).
4 John L Coakley (Siskiyou Co., CA) homestead entry file, certificate number 017373, Sacramento Land Office, Land Entry Papers; Record Group 49; Records of the Bureau of Land Management; National Archives, Washington DC.
5 “Midland,” (Klamath Falls, Oregon) The Evening Herald, 28 April 1934, digital image Newspapers.com, (https://www.newspapers.com/image/97170254/?terms=coakley: accessed 13 May 2019) page 9, column 2.
