Antique Back Roads Volume 5

in this issue Marbles & Collecting

Pepsi & Pete Sweets for the Sweet

Volume 5

Sweets for the sweet

February is Valentine month and candy and flowers are a favorite among lovers. The Schimpff family of Jeffersonville, Indiana knows all about the history of candy and live with it every day. A family owned business, Schimpff’s Confectionery manufactures confectionery candy every day and has done so since 1891.

Mr. & Mrs. Schimpff work daily to produce candy that will make your mouth water. The history of the candy company goes back to 1858. At that time confectionery Gustav A Schimpff Sr. opened a small business on Preston Street in Louisville, Kentucky.

In 1881 he and his son, Gustav Jr. moved the business across the Ohio River to Jeffersonville, Indiana. On April 12, 1892, they opened the doors at 347 Spring Street in Jeffersonville.

Still in that Spring Street location,

Indy Ad Show Fast Approaching

Over 100 advertising and toy dealers from 28 states will be converging on the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis to transform a 65,000 square foot building into a collector’s dream. If you are looking for the unique, the rare, or those special mint condition items, you need to attend the Indy Antique Advertising Show, March 15 & 16.

Simply stated, the dealers bring the best they have to offer for both the beginning and advanced collector.

The Indy Antique Advertising Show is the nation’s premier show to find true vintage and antique advertising.

This includes a broad range of items in breweriana, soda fountain, drug & country store, toys, Americana, gas & oil, coin operated machines, ephemera and veterinarian.

You just simply never know what is going to be for sale at the show. Dealers are very dedicated to making this show one of the best for vintage and antique advertising and often save items just for the Indy show. To get a glimpse of what dealers are bringing, visit the website at www.indyadshow.com.

Our dealers enjoy talking to customers about what they have brought to sell and are always glad to share their wealth of knowledge with new and advanced collecArden Farms’ dairy history reaches back to 1904 in El Monte, California. Founder Edward Robbins raised dairy cows and started state-of-the-art facilities for bottling milk and was the first certified milk dairy in California.

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Indy Ad Show Fast Approaching

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tors. Helping collectors select the perfect piece for their collection is always important to the dealers.

Besides the dealers who have items for sale, you will find auction companies, antique website companies and authors such as Rich Penn.

Rich Penn, author of Mom and Pop Stores and Mom and Pop Saloons, will be glad to answer questions on a country store or saloon item.

Rich has become the “go to” for reference books for both the collector and dealer. Rich, an avid collector of just about everything advertising, has been doing our show for over ten years.

Doors open at 9 AM on Saturday so get there early.

The Indiana State Fairgrounds is located on 1202 E. 38th Street in Indianapolis. When entering into the Fairgrounds, look for the Champions Pavilion. Watch for the

marquee of the Indy Ad Show. Admission is $8.00 per person and the show is open until 4 PM. Some of our customers find that they cannot attend the show on Saturday or need more time to shop so they attend our “Preview” on Friday the 15th. To thank customers for their support of the Indy Antique Advertising Show, preview tickets for the March, 2013 show are being offered at special savings. Until March 1st, preview tickets can be purchased for only $25 each, regularly $50.

The preview hours on Friday, March 15 are 1-6 pm. Saturday admission is also included with the preview ticket.

To purchase preview tickets at this savings, visit the website at www.indyadshow.com or call 217.821.1294.

If you are a dealer who has thought about adding a show to your schedule and want to display at the show, contact us. While we are selective on the merchandise that is displayed, we do encourage dealers to contact us with questions or to visit the website for dealer information. We are dedicated to maintaining the quality of the show and holding true to the vision of the Indy Ad Show.

If you can only attend one show, this is the show that you don’t want to miss! We hope to see you on March 1516, 2013 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds and again on September 27-28, 2013.

Bruce & Donna Weir

Is It Just An Old Paint Can? What do you do with old paint cans? Most would say just throw them away…especially if they contained oil based paint. If everyone had thrown them away during the 1900’s we would have lost a lot of history.

While paint is over 30,000 years old it was not until the 1700’s that the first paint mill was built in America by Thomas Child in Boston, Massachusetts. The next big step was taken in the mid 1800’s when the first paint factories started arriving on the scene. D.R. Averiall of Ohio was given the first patent on “Ready Mixed” paints, however, it was not well received by his partners and the partnership was dissolved.

Henry Alden Sherwin, one of the partners of Sherwin, Dunham and Griswold wanted to let homeowners choose their own premixed colors. He also believed that factory paint should be of higher quality and better consistency. Unfortunately, his ideas were not well received by his partners and the partnership dissolved. Mr. Sherwin’s ideas must have sounded interesting to Mr. Edward Williams, and they formed a new company by the name of Sherwin-Williams.

The Industrial Revolution was creating a new market for paint. From homes to wagons, everyone needed this new paint. The demand continued to grow and many small to medium manufacturers sprang up to serve the local buying area, thus the reason for so many companies. As with other in-

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dustries, small and medium sized companies either were purchased by larger companies or just went out of business.

For over 20 years I have collected old paint cans and always get strange looks when someone asks me what I collect. Paint cans have some of the most wonderful graphic art that you will ever find.

Automobiles, furniture, interior design and style can be seen on labels of early paint cans. In addition to the larger name brand companies, there were many smaller local companies throughout the country, so the search for different brand paints and labels can be endless. Paint cans had unique shapes and graphic labels which were designed to attract buyers.

Large gallon cans are hard to find. Paint would spill down the front and were stored in damp buildings so they were normally tossed. The large gallon cans, will have the most detailed graphics and the most colors. Cans featured what the paint could be used on…including trains, barns, floors, screens, furniture, cars, schools and homes.

Large gallon cans are hard to find, as they were thrown away, due to paint running down the front and being stored in damp buildings. Look for unusual shapes with colorful and complex graphics.

Enjoy history…in old paint cans.

Irene Davis, Author Collecting Paint Advertising & Memorabilia

Sweets for the Sweet the sturdy building is the home of four generations of the Schmipff Family.

Most visitors to the candy shop and 50’s soda fountain stop in for some of their famous handmade candy. Favorites such as Fish Candy, Horehound Drops and original Cinnamon Red Hots are local favorites. In fact the Red Hots are Schimpff’s oldest continuously made candy. All of the candy is made with the original turn-of-the century machines.

The candy shop is decorated with early candy molds.

The Schimpff’s traditional favorites are the hand-dipped Modjeska, a caramel-covered marshmallow treat named for the famous Madame Helena Modjeska. Walking into the store will bring back childhood memories as you smell the old fashioned candy, such as root beer barrels.

In 2001, the Schimpffs expanded their building on the right and added a candy demonstration area and a candy museum. Collectors from all over visit the museum and are in awe of the collection of candy memorabilia that the Schimpffs have collected and have on display. Old candy cases are full of old candy tins, salesman sample kits, candy containers, candy signs, store displays, candy boxes and the list goes on and on.

The history of candy lives here in the Schimpff’s building.

If you are anywhere close to Jeffersonville, it is worth the visit to see

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their collection and get a traditional sundae and soda from their soda fountain. They even have cherry and chocolate Coke. Then stroll through the walkway and marvel at the way candy was made and things that have been lost in history. Their museum is just to the back of the store and you will be amazed at the boxes, tins, signs and cases which are on display. Allow enough time to circle the room at least 5 times and you will still miss something. Schimpff’s Confectionery is located on 347 Spring Street, Jeffersonville, Indiana. Their hours are Monday – Friday 10 to 5 and Saturday 10 to 3. Visit them also on line at www.schimpffs.com.

History of

MARBLES & COLLECTING Sold $7,500 Sold $9,775 Sold $8,050

Sold $28,800

Sold $5,750 Sold $14,950 Sold $10,350

M

arbles have been around since ancient time. Roman glass marbles were discovered and archeologists have excavated stone marbles in ecological digs in Egypt. Marbles started becoming popular in the 1850s to 1950s. Children were using marbles to play games in the schoolyards during this era. A lot of games were played for keep, which brought out competitive behaviors among avid players and collectors. Some of these players played with their favorite marble which in turn is why a lot of the marbles found today are chipped.

WHAT MAKES A MARBLE VALUABLE?

WHAT IS A MACHINE MADE MARBLE?

There are many factors that make a marble valuable: age, color, and size, type, handmade or machine made and the condition of the marble is the most important factor.

Machine made marbles started in the early 1900s by MF Christensen & Sons in Akron, OH. Mr. Christensen invented the ball bearing machine and sold the patent for $200,000. After he sold the patent, he used the same machine to make glass marbles. Machine made marble glass is heated in a furnace kiln and color striping was added to the crucibles. The glass would come out of the kiln in a stream and was cut by automatic shears and then the marbles were rounded in marble rollers.

Article & Photos Courtesy of Morphy Auctions .........

MorphyAuctions.com

Glass Cane 4

Marble Pontil

HOW WERE MARBLES MADE?

MARKET TRENDS

Earlier period marbles from 1850s to Pre-World War I were mostly handmade. The glass blower would make a rod of glass by using different colors which determined what type of marble it was.

The rod was heated up and the glass was formed into a cup which was snipped by marble scissors, therefore the marble would have pontil marks on each end. Colors of a handmade marbles typically run from pontil to pontil. The cane of glass started out being 2 - 1/2” round and 30” long and could be heated and stretched to make marbles down to pee-wee size which would be ½”.

Marble collecting is still a strong market today.

Handmade marbles were the most sought after marbles in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. But then machine made marbles started getting attention in the early 1980s and began to climb in value.

Collectors wanted to have different factory marbles and began giving them names that were not already attributed to the marble by the factory.

Handmade prices then began to fall at the height of the machine made collecting era. In the past 10 years handmade marble prices have started to rise due to the interest in history and the rarity, which means marbles are still a strong market today.

A record price has been set for a handmade marble selling at auction this year for $28,000.

The highest price paid for a machine made was just under $7,000. If you are looking for an interesting collectible, marbles is the category for you!

Pepsi & Pepsi Pete

In the summer of 1898 in New Bern, North Carolina, a young pharmacist named Caleb Bradham began experimenting with combinations of spices, juices and syrups, trying to create a refreshing new drink to serve to his customers. He succeeded beyond all expectations, inventing the beverage now known around the world as Pepsi-Cola.

When Walter Mack became president of the Pepsi-Cola company in October of 1938, he was looking for new ways to reach customers. One way to do this was through the comic section in the newspaper which was widely read at that time. At first Mack wanted to use Popeye and replace his spinach with Pepsi, but the cost of using Popeye’s image was too expensive at the time. PepsiCola’s ad agency of Newell-Emmet was given the task of coming up with a character that would be popular with readers. Several characters were rejected until the agency came up with the whimsical keystone cop looking characters. The keystone cops were named Pepsi and Pete

by Mack and first appeared in several newspapers in the New York area in September 1939.

By 1940 Pepsi and Pete cartoon ads were running in almost 200 newspapers across the

country. The characters were so popular the comic strip ran for 12 years.

Several different artists drew Pepsi and Pete over the years which would explain while sometimes their names would be switched. One of the more famous artists to draw Pepsi and Pete was Rube Goldberg.

Pepsi and Pete were so popular in the newspaper that the company started a full ad program showcasing the characters and even actors where hired to portray Pepsi and Pete for street parades. Today, Pepsi and Pete remain highly collectible among Pepsi collectors.

Promotional items produced include cardboard signs, tin signs, glasses, matchbooks, etc. As with most popular collectibles, items are being reproduced so you will want to thoroughly check out the items before purchasing.

If you would like to learn more about Pepsi-Cola collectibles, the company history and network with other collectors, join the Pepsi-Cola Collectors Club at www. pepsicolacollectorsclub.com. The club publishes a quarterly newsletter and has an annual Pepsi Fest Convention usually held in conjunction with the March Indy Ad Show plus several other smaller functions during the year. Pepsi Fest is a three day event where collectors are given the opportunity to buy and trade from each other, attend seminars on Pepsi memorabilia and get to know each other at social functions. For more information on Pepsi Fest in Indianapolis, IN on March 14-16, contact Diane Gabriel at 724-658-6310 or e-mail at secretary@pepsicolacollectorsclub.com Scott Kinzie

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Fresh New Look For a fast growing web site

New Arrivals All Items Advertising Antiques Architectural Automobile Automobilia Banks Barber Shop Black Americana Candy Gum and Nuts Character Collectibles Clothing and Accessories Coin Op and Vending Coins and US Currency Collectible 70’s Comics Country Store Dolls Fire Memorabilia Gambling Holiday Household Collectibles Jewelry Medical and Rx Metal Work Military Collectibles Movie TV Memorabilia Music and Radio Nautical Other Collectibles Paper Ephemera Pinbacks Badges Smalls Political Campaigns Primitives Reference Books Salesman Samples Sewing Smoking Collectibles Souvinir Collectibles Sports and Hobbies Stamps Textiles Toys Trading Cards Transportation

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Western Collectibles

Started in 2007, icollect247. com was and is the only website to offer “Only Vintage” items for sale.

As more and more collectors found the site, they quickly preferred shopping icollect247 rather than spending hours sorting through numerous reproductions, fantasy or limited edition items.

The site is dedicated to keeping icollect247 pure vintage by reviewing every dealer’s listing before it goes “live”.

This insures it meets the icollect247 high standard of vintage.

Within 6 months of its entrance to the web, the site had over a million hits per month proving that demand for “vintage only” venue was needed. By the end of 2011 the site was receiving over 4 million hits a month. Each month brings more collectors and dealers to the site. While other sites took out the personal contact between dealers and collectors by using screen names, Icollect247 takes the “personal” approach. You buy, talk to and

ask questions of “real” people, who have “real” names and are collectors just like you.

You interact directly with the quality dealers.

It was a perfect time for a facelift, said Irene and Carter Davis, owners of the site and what better time to do it than on our 5th anniversary. The site has been completely redesigned with many new features for the buyers. Irene explained, that you can still shop without registering and now when you do register, you can ask questions, make offers, and have a record of your orders for 30 days.

Also several new categories and subcategories have been added. A new dealer directory now lets you read about the Quality Dealers who are selling on line.

Dealers add vintage listings on a daily basis with a wide variety of items from advertising to vintage categories. You never know what you may find. There are over 18,000 vintage listings for you to choose from!

Carter and Irene’s passion of collecting has brought that passion to icollect247. Collecting is not just a hobby, it is a life style, so shop icollect247 today and join our collecting family.

Collector Tips

By Collectors One good old tin coffee sign approx. 6” x 18 to 28”. Harold Waltz PH: 207-723-6694 Kids Play 1950 Tip Top Bread Cardbrd Bang Gun. Red Blue stars 2 sides. B. Galbraith, 421 Vanderbilt Rd., Connellsville, PA 15425 Peanut Butter Pails, good graphics & Moses Cough Drops 5 lb tin in cond. 8+. Send photos to Steve Music at FREDDA1111@MSN.Com Early paint cans with printed labels in exc or better condition – Irene Davis 757-894-1218.

Ad to be two lines or a maximum of 128 characters in length (includes spaces and punctuation). Ad should contain what you are looking for. Be specific as to item, date, condition.

Include your email address or phone number. Include your name, if you wish.

Not for Commercial Use – collectors only please.

Cost: $35 per issue, send ad and check to payable to: Donna Weir, 8366 Timber Ridge Rd., Effingham, IL 62401.

Antique Back Roads is not responsible for any of the content of the ads or in any way responsible for the sale or purchase of the items. Antique Back Roads is not responsible and has no obligation to resolve disputes between the buyers and sellers. Any disputes or conflicts should be resolved directly between the parties involved.

Clocks: • While WD-40 is wonderful for loosening all types of stuck/rusted bolts, NEVER use it to free the gears on a clock or to oil the clock. When WD-40 is applied to the brass works, it becomes more like a varnish and gums up. Ends up costing you more money to get the clock fixed.

• Old electric clock pam style clocks… if when you plug them in they run backwards, just unplug and turn the plug over.

Framing Tips - Framing important documents and prints: Use a framer who will use acid free mat board and acid free materials. Use ultraviolet or UV blocking glass to protect again harmful rays. Do not put any artwork in direct sunlight even with UV glass.

Striping Paint from Metal - Drop the piece in boiling water then dip into cold water. The paint should peel off.

All tips should be tried on a small back area before starting. Please be aware that every period or printing production used different dyes, paints and inks.

Submit your tips to admin@antiquebackroads.com.

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Find These Items at the Indie Ad Show

Stoner 1 Cent Gum Machine Coca Cola Sales Sample Cooler Ward’s Orange Syrup Dispenser

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www.indyAdShow.com

Ever Ready Safety Razor 8 Day Clock