Question:
I was at an antique shop in southern Minnesota and discovered that this crock had a hairline crack all the way down the side of it. The owner of the shop felt so bad that he was asking $100 for it that he just gave it to me! He also told me that it could be fixed by heating the crock up in an oven and apply glue to the back side of the crack. The glue would seep into the crack. Would you advise doing this? What is the mark called? What would the value of it be before and after if i were to fix it? Oh, by the way, the bottom is marked "Minnesota Stoneware Co. Red Wing". Thanks.

Answer: Your photo of your crock did not appear with your question, therefore, I have no idea of it’s decoration or size. Now for the crack repair. I have never heard of someone heating a crock up in an oven and applying glue to the back side of the crack so it could seep into the crack. So I would not advise doing this. I ussually apply liquid Super Glue to the crack and apply a tourniquet to the crock for 24 hours. After the glue as dried (do not wipe Super Glue when wet or you will get a white film on your piece that is very hard to remove) I use a razor blade to remove any excess. Now for the value. A crack is a crack. You want to secure the crack in order for it not to extent. But that is it. The value does not increase once the crack is secure. The mark on the bottom "Minnesota Stoneware Company" is called *Bottom Signed*. Hope this information was helpful. Al Kohlman