Spanning Generations

October 15th, 2016

AntiqueAdvertising.com

Photos courtesy AntiqueAdvertising.com

Wm Morford Auctions has launched an online business that’s part auction, part retail shop, and part price guide. Branded as AntiqueAdvertising.com, the platform offers timed Internet auctions, a first for company founder William Morford, who has specialized in absentee sales for 25 years. The site also features occasional fixed-price listings as well as a free price guide of thousands of items sold by Wm Morford Auctions and AntiqueAdvertising.com.

Focusing on small advertising items, the new venture is being run by William’s son, John Morford. Although relatively new to the auction business, John brings with him international experience in the corporate world, as well as the eye and technical savvy of a younger generation.

Crystal Spring Brewing Co. beer tray, Syracuse, New York, porcelain-over-steel center, brass rim and back, 12" diameter, minor wear to the border, $2489.80.

Wooden shipping crate for Edison Mazda Co. light bulbs, lettered “Edison Lamp Box” and with six unused pointed-top light bulbs in their protective cardboard wrappers, all original, 7" x 8 5/8" x 10¾", $1097.40.

The debut auction at AntiqueAdvertising.com was October 15 and featured nearly 400 lots. Leading the sale at $2489.80 (includes buyer’s premium) was a Crystal Spring Brewing Co. beer tray, Syracuse, New York, depicting two females filling an urn with water and having a porcelain-over-steel center in blue and white as well as a brass rim and back. Also drawing strong competition was a pre-Prohibition beer tray promoting National Brewing Co., Syracuse, New York, that sold for $2466.20. In lithographed tin, the oval tray pictures a monk filling bottles.

Both trays were in great condition, an issue that’s increasingly paramount to advertising buyers. “The condition is most important,” said John.

That goes hand in hand with a change in the mindset of many collectors. “It used to be they wanted one of every single item or one of every single category that was made. Now they seem to focus on having the great ones. They would rather have a couple of killer pieces than have one of every tin out there.”

Pre-Prohibition beer tray promoting Crystal Spring Brewing Co., Syracuse, New York, lithographed tin, 12" diameter, some light edge wear, $1545.80.

Celluloid pocket mirror lettered “Dixie Brigade No. 23 / Bethlehem, Pa.,” depicting a black boy eating watermelon in front of a bale of cotton, 2¾" x 1¾", excellent condition, $1545.80.

Some things haven’t changed. Among them is the steady interest in gas- and oil-related advertising. An unopened quart can of Tower Penn motor oil, a lithographed tin from the Tower Oil Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio, sold for $1144.60. Scarcity and condition played a role in the bidding. A hand-soldered can of “High Grade Automobile Oil” by Independent Oil Co., Mansfield, Ohio, depicting an early car on the front and back and having some condition problems on one side, sold for $790.60.

“Oil and gas seem to be driving the market these days,” said John. “What the trend lately has been is the hot stuff, the really great stuff, has never been better. The middle of the market has kind of hollowed out a bit.”

It’s not just the top pieces of petroliana that are doing so well. “The best of the best has never been better, whether that’s general advertising, oil and gas, tobacco; the great stuff is bringing top dollar,” John added.

That includes spice tins. Among the smallest of advertising tins, the right examples can easily bring big money. Prime examples included a Red Turkey ginger tin, J.B. Maltby, Corning, New York, lithographed tin, featuring a turkey design that sold for $873.20 and a Dove pumpkin pie spice tin, Frank Tea & Spice Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, a lithographed tin picturing pumpkins and a plate with a slice of pie, at $601.80.

Pre-Prohibition beer tray promoting National Brewing Co., Syracuse, New York, lithographed tin, featuring a monk filling bottles, 16¾" x 13 5/8", scattered lightly oxidized wear spots, $2466.20.

Planters Peanut Butter jar, scarce Canadian variation packaged by Planters Nut and Chocolate Co., Suffolk, Virginia, paper label, 1930s, ten ounces, 4 5/8" high, the label with minor soiling and toning, $1427.80.

“The spice tin market has been getting stronger lately,” John noted.

As a whole, however, the auction offered a good mix, which is part of the allure of Morford auctions. Items ranged from a 1930s Canadian Planters Peanut Butter jar, packaged by Planters Nut and Chocolate Co., Suffolk, Virginia, glass with a paper label, that sold for $1427.80 to a celluloid pocket mirror lettered “Dixie Brigade No. 23 / Bethlehem, Pa.,” depicting a black boy eating watermelon in front of a bale of cotton, at $1545.80.

All items offered in the AntiqueAdvertising.com auctions have a $20 opening bid. “We’re trying to appeal to collectors on all budgets,” said John.

As sister sales, Wm Morford Auctions and AntiqueAdvertising.com have their differences. While both have print catalogs, Wm Morford remains an absentee format with no online bidding. It features larger items, such as signs, while also offering smalls. AntiqueAdvertising caters to online buyers, while still allowing absentee bids by mail, fax, or e-mail.

<p">The Yellow Kid magazine, May 8, 1897 (volume 1, no. 4), 48 pages, 10 3/8" x 7", some tattering to covers, light creases to the first few pages, $1404.20.

Tower Penn Motor Oil, the Tower Oil Co., Cincinnati, lithographed tin, quart, 5½" high, unopened, scattered scuffing and wear, $1144.60.

“There’s a lot of cross-pollination,” said William Morford. He readily admits that John brings something fresh to the family business. “That generation looks at things differently,” said William.

One of the biggest differences pertains to the use of technology. Forty percent of his Wm Morford Auctions clients have neither an e-mail address nor any interest in the Internet.

“At the same time, John says his generation would never think to pick up the phone and call to bid on something,” William added.

For more information, phone John Morford at (315) 662-7625 or visit (www.AntiqueAdvertising.com). For Wm Morford Auctions, visit (www.morfauction.com).

Originally published in the January 2017 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2016 Maine Antique Digest