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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;lizjewel, post: 1903732, member: 13874&quot;]It is very popular among vintage costume jewelry collectors to want to ascribe every signature to a &quot;designer&quot; and/or manufacturer. In c.j. both do exist but not necessarily as interpreted from a back stamp. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Kramer</b> was a <i>wholesale house</i> in New York back in the day as other researchers here have determined. Its buyers selected pieces from a variety of designs submitted by design houses and individual free-lance designers, often just drawings. They had samples made in manufacturing plants. </p><p><br /></p><p>Wholesale houses then sought out their retail customers, stores, presented them with a &quot;sample line&quot; intended for the coming season, be it Spring, Fall, Holiday or Cruise. The buyers at the retail stores/chains selected the pieces they deemed would sell the best in their stores. The samples that &quot;did not sell&quot; were not discarded but placed in &quot;job lots&quot; with other leftovers that the wholesale house had not &quot;moved&quot; that season, sold at deep discount to &quot;fill in&quot; end of season counter sales in the stores. The wholesalers were usually referred to as &quot;jobbers&quot; in the trade.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Kramer </b>and <b>Kramer of New York</b>, same company, was a wholesaler. The length of the stamp depended on the room available on the back of the item. Also on the size and type stamp, or plaque, a particular manufacturing plant had available. There was no special significance attached to the length, just &quot;Kramer&quot; or &quot;..of New York.&quot; One was not more valuable than another.</p><p><br /></p><p>Faithfully submitted by me who was c.j. buyer for two major East Coast ladies specialty store chains back in the Dark Ages, i.e. the 1970s.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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