Treasure in the Basement?

While going through boxes of stuff that I have no reason to keep, I found this dish that caught my eye.  I have seen it many many times, but never really studied it.  So this time when I was serious about getting rid of stuff, I looked at this with a more discerning eye.

This bowl has markings on the bottom indicating Buttercup, then in the triangle Avalon, BALT, which I assume to mean Baltimore since that's where our families have lived for more than 60 years (my family has been here since the late 1890's or early 1900's, my wife's family came here later from Virginia).  The last marking is somewhat indecipherable.  It looks like F_ _ ENCE, the two letters in the middle being impossible to read.  Then there are two red letter markings on it, but I have no idea what that means.  Anyone out there in the blog world have any idea?  Is this bowl worth anything?  You can click on the pictures to see a larger view of them.

There is a small chip near the raised red floral design.

Trash Or Treasure?

As I have been off of work since mid-December, I decided to thin out our household inventory.  My theory is that you should rid yourself of items as quick as you acquire them.  And since we just acquired a couple of container trucks full of new items at Christmas, we need to get rid of as much.

While going through some boxes that we haven't opened since the Clinton administration, I found this neat little treasure.  I gave this to my grandfather when I was about 14 years old.  His favorite animal was the penguin.  I had previously given him a stuffed penguin, though I don't know where that is.  When my grandfather died in 1990, my grandmother wanted me to have this.  Though she also wanted me to have his boxer shorts.  I promptly stuck it in a box and somehow it ended up in my house when I moved here.

I stuck a new D battery (can you believe this thing requires a D battery???) and it works!  It's missing a green flag, but otherwise is in good condition.  So now my dilemma - do I keep this because of the fond memories of my grandfather, or do I do my best not to become a hoarder and donate it to Goodwill?  I did look it up on eBay and there are like items selling from 99 cents to $45.

In other news, I did take 2 car loads of items to Goodwill.  Mostly clothes, but some baby toys.  Don't think we'll need anymore baby toys.  Or 2 year old boy corduroy overalls.