Noel Barrett and Pook Toy Sale

December 3rd, 2016

Pook & Pook and Noel Barrett, Downingtown, Pennsylvania

Photos courtesy Pook & Pook

Noel Barrett’s first toy sale in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, since he hooked up with Pook & Pook last summer was a mixed Santa’s sack that took two sessions to unpack on December 2 and 3, 2016, the first weekend in December. On Friday night, Schoenhut wooden toys made in Philadelphia during the last quarter of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century were sold, followed by some dolls, teddy bears, and holiday items. Saturday began with German tin toys and ended with trains, and in between there was a huge variety, from tiny penny toys to big heavy trucks by Kingsbury and Buddy “L,” a team of carousel horses, some movie theater fixtures, and advertising. Mickey and Minnie Mouse dolls were dressed in their Sunday best, and there were boats and cars of all sizes and materials, and plenty of firefighting equipment.

German lithographed tin clockwork motorcycle, 7½" long, sold for $3690 (est. $300/400). Motorcycles are strong even with condition problems.

The results were a mixed bag, with some strong prices, some surprises, and plenty of bargains for those who remember prices of a few years ago. Schoenhut toys and trains had more low points than high points, but a rare Schoenhut half rolly dolly sheep with glass eyes sold with buyer’s premium for $4080 (est. $1500/1800). A Märklin Central Bahnhof train station, no. 2651, hand painted, with a candlelit interior, etched stained glass, a ticket window, and an outdoor café, sold for $18,000 (est. $15,000/18,000). At a Noel Barrett sale in May 2011, it had sold for $23,000 (est. $10,000/15,000). Then it was discovered in Australia and was sold in Pennsylvania. “In toys you never know where good things are going to turn up,” said Barrett. A Lionel standard-gauge Blue Comet passenger train set with engine and tender, two coaches, and an observation car, all with the original boxes, sold for $6000 (est. $6000/9000), and a Lionel standard-gauge special green State train set with an electric engine, a California car, a Colorado car, an Illinois car, and a New York observation car, with appropriate numbered individual boxes, sold for $8400 (est. $7000/10,000). They would have brought more a few years ago.

This Märklin Central Bahnhof train station, no. 2651, hand painted, with a candlelit interior fitted with a table, chairs, and benches, etched stained-glass windows, ticket window, and outdoor seating under arched canopy, 17" high x 11½" long x 12" deep, had sold for $23,000 at Barrett’s auction on May 21, 2011. Here it sold for $18,000 (est. $15,000/18,000). Did the strong dollar deter German bidding?

Rarities in good condition still bring serious money. An elaborate English butcher shop made of painted wood and embossed paperboard sold for $33,600 (est. $4000/6000). The buyer got 75 cuts of meat, two butchers, and a delivery boy. A small toy butcher shop deli counter with a faux leather and vinyl-covered case with a Plexiglas front, the inside containing a selection of meat, cheeses, and butter, 7" high x 17¾" wide, sold for $1920 (est. $400/600). Meat shops were in demand, but grocery stores brought much less. A French Epicerie painted cupboard with 20 spice and food drawers and boxes of French groceries sold for $600 (est. $400/600).

This elaborate English butcher shop diorama, mid-19th century, primarily of painted wood and embossed paper-board, with 75 cuts of meat and carcasses tended by two butchers and a delivery boy, the façade with glazed windows, potted plants, and a lion and unicorn crest over the door, 13" high x 23" wide x 6" deep, sold for $33,600 (est. $4000/6000).

A Steiff mohair teddy bear, 19" long, sold for a surprising $3690 (est. $600/800). A metal deep sea diver figure, 7½" high, probably Bing, with his original ax and glass dome light sold for $2460 (est. $400/600). A one-of-a-kind painted tin soldier cap-shooting push toy with a roll of caps inside the chest cavity sold for $2880 (est. $1000/1500). At the Toy Museum of Atlanta sale in March 1987, it had sold for $2000. Barrett thinks it may be a prototype and never went into production.

Steiff mohair teddy bear, early 20th century, with shoe-button eyes and a button in the ear with the “F” drawn back to the “E,” 19" high, $3690 (est. $600/800). Pook photo. Noel Barrett and Pook & Pook, Downingtown, Pennsylvania, December 2-3, 2016.

French C.B.G. Mignot diorama of Admiral Peary’s 1909 North Pole expedition in its original box with three tiers of scenes of Arctic life, 21" wide, sold for $4800 (est. $500/800). Not shown, a French painted tin and white metal firefighting set made by FV, in its original compartmentalized box, with a burning building, horse-drawn pumper, people-drawn pumpers, a hose wagon, a fire house, and 26 firemen, 33¾" long, brought the same price, $4800 (est. $1000/1500).

 The French C.B.G. Mignot diorama of Admiral Peary’s 1909 North Pole expedition in its original box with three tiers of Arctic scenes, 21" wide, sold for a surprising $4800 (est. $500/800). A French boxed painted tin firefighting set by FV with a burning building and a lot of equipment brought the same price, $4800 (est. $1000/1500).

Firefighting toys sold well. The cover lot, a craftsman-made model of a circa 1900 horse-drawn fire pumper, live steam powered, with an eagle on top of the steam dome, the boiler inscribed “F.W. Balcom 1955,”30" long, sold for $18,000 (est. $12,000/18,000). A Bliss lithographed paper “Rough & Ready” no. 2 horse-drawn fire ladder truck with two drivers and two ladders, 30" long, went for $3600 (est. $1500/2000). A lithographed paper over wood horse-drawn fire pumper, probably Bliss, 15" long, sold for $2040 (est. $400/600). A Bishop Auckland live steam fire pumper model, finely detailed in wood with brass and copper fittings and a brass placard inscribed “Nelson”on the front, 24" long, once in the Toy Museum of Atlanta, sold for $5904 (est. $1000/2000). In 1986 at the Toy Museum of Atlanta sale, it had sold for $4500. A Martin hand-painted tin clockwork climbing fireman with a folding ladder, 19¼" high overall, sold for $1320 (est. $600/800).

The cover lot was this craftsman-made model of a circa 1900 horse-drawn fire pumper, live steam powered, with an eagle on top of the steam dome, two supply hoses, two steam gauges on the boiler, front and rear steel-rimmed wood wheels, and a maker’s plate on the boiler inscribed “F.W. Balcom 1955,” 30" long. It sold for $18,000 (est. $12,000/18,000).

Bishop Auckland live steam fire pumper model, finely detailed in wood, with brass and copper fittings and brass placard inscribed “Nelson”on the front, 24" long, once in the Toy Museum of Atlanta, sold for $5904 (est. $1000/2000). In October 1986, it had sold for $4500.

Some prices are down from the good old days, and some are up. A painted tin and wood carousel wind-driven toy with painted wood animals and iron figures, all mounted on a bicycle rim and on a carved wooden base, 51" high x 24" diameter, sold for $5412 (est. $2000/4000). At the sale of the Barney Barenholtz collection at Sotheby’s in January 1990 had it sold for $6600 (est. $3500/4500). A few lots earlier a carved and painted wood horse that had sold for $1540 at the Barenholtz sale in 1990 sold for $3120 (est. $400/600). None of these price changes take inflation into consideration.

The prices of advertising signs were hurt by the fact that some were bought recently when prices were higher. For example, a “Wm E. Shumaker Steam & Electrical Engineer” painted trade sign dated 1906 and depicting a graphic image of an engine drive wheel powering a generator, 24" x 39", sold for $3690 (est. $3000/4000). At the landmark Bill Powell sale at Noel Barrett Auctions in November 2011, it had sold for around $4500 with a similar estimate ($3000/6000). An “Electric Lustre Starch”painted pine advertising sign, circa 1890, inscribed “The Greatest Invention of All Time / Saves Time, Labor & Trouble,” depicting a lady seeing her own reflection in a starched shirt, 71" x 49", sold for $2040 (est. $3000/4000). At the Bill Powell sale in 2011, it had sold for $5000.

The sale had its ups and downs in every category. For example, the largest velvet and felt Mickey in a collection of Mickey Mouse dolls in all sizes failed to sell, and another, not as clearly marked with Walt Disney’s name, but like the first one with the name of the distributor George Borgfeldt & Co., sold for $1968 (est. $3000/5000). Then a 12" high Mickey in his Sunday best Easter outfit sold for $7800 (est. $3000/4000), and Mickey dressed as a drum major brought $6150 (est. $2000/2500).

Mickey Mouse drum major cloth doll, Knickerbocker Toy Co., circa 1935, with original outfit, composition shoes, felt suit, a hat, wooden baton, and original string tag, 12" high, sold for $6150 (est. $2000/2500).

Of the 824 lots offered, 805 sold; that is just shy of 98% sold. The sale brought in a tidy $755,779 (with the buyers’ premiums), right in the middle of a presale estimate of $495,000/728,000 (without buyers’ premiums). Barrett said the next sale of two awesome private collections is scheduled for April 1 at Pook & Pook in Downingtown.

The pictures and captions tell more. For more information, contact Pook & Pook at (610) 269-4040 or Noel Barrett at (215) 297-5109 or go online to (www.pookandpook.com) or (www.noelbarrett.com).

This Schoenhut half rolly dolly sheep with glass eyes, 8½" high, sold for $4080 (est. $1500/1800). Rolly dollies are desirable and very rare. Not shown, a rare Schoenhut composition and wood Moritz rolly dolly with a two-part head, 9½" high, sold for $1560 (est. $1000/1200).

Painted metal deep sea diver figure, with his original ax, a glass dome light, and a rubber-coated wire, 7½" high, probably Bing, sold for $2460 (est. $400/600).

Bliss lithographed paper “Rough & Ready” no. 2 horse-drawn fire ladder truck with two drivers and two ladders, 30" long, sold for $3600 (est. $1500/2000). Not shown, a lithographed paper over wood horse-drawn fire pumper, probably Bliss, 15" long, sold for $2040 (est. $400/600).

Bliss lithographed paper over wood Monitor warship, 25" long, sold for a surprising $4080 (est. $600/800).

Gustav Dentzel carved and painted outside row standard carousel horse, circa 1905, with its original painted surface and with an eagle-backed saddle and a sweet-faced horse, 57" high x 57" wide, sold for $20,400 (est. $8000/12,000) to a couple in the salesroom who were thrilled to get a classic Dentzel.

Originally published in the March 2017 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2017 Maine Antique Digest