2 minute read

Advertising Excels At Rich Penn Three-Day Sale

from Antiques & Auction News - July 14, 2023

from Antiques & Auction News - July 14, 2023, page 7

SEEKERS/SELLERS

By Karl Pass

In the antiquing world, people still use the word fresh to describe something that has both not been on the open market in a long time and is desirable. That’s the buzz word. In the auction business, it is important. Fresh-to-market has the ability to draw bidders in.

This occured at the May 12, 13, and 14 Rich Penn Auction when several thousand bidders from over a dozen countries bid on three considered fresh-to-market collections. With over 1,500 lots to choose from, including over 5,000 items from coins to cars and an array of antique advertising, almost 3,000 bids were placed before the live action began. Online bidders won 26 and in-house won 24 of the top 50 lots.

over the three days was a 1971 Ford

Advertising took some of the top honors right along with the cars. Breweriana advertising lithos were strong throughout. An exceptionally colorful and early one for Crescent Brewing Co., ca. 1885, featuring Aurora Lager Beer, sold at $17,100. The stunning litho was produced by Wm. Burford, an Indianapolis Lithographer, founded in 1875. It went to a buyer in New England.

Some strong prices were paid for neon. A 10-foot-long hotel double-sided animated sign for “Rooms $5.00 and FREE TV” flashed up a winning price of $8,100. An automotive skeletal three-color neon dealer piece for three lines under the Buick banner, Le Sabre, Invicta and Electra, sold for $6,000.

Spark plugs were an important automotive industry in the 1920s and ’30s and a competitiveone, including the dominant Champion Spark Plug Co.

By Carol Leach

Whether the word beach conjures up memories of sunning, surfing, or sand castle building, most of us have fond memories of lazy summer days spent at the ocean shore or bay.

That’s why the Haddon Heights Antiques Center is tapping into beach nostalgia for its July special sales display.

Shop goers will find generic vintage beach collectibles such as metal sand pails, sunglasses, seagull figurines, and miniature lighthouse replicas for sale. There will New Jersey shore resort specific items such as postcards, salt water taffy boxes, souvenir plates, beach tags, and vintage photographs. All in all, it promises to be a colorful, fun sales display.

The Haddon Heights Antiques Center is noted for its monthly

Mustang Boss 351. With just under 49,000 miles, it sold to a buyer on the East Coast for $47,600. Prices reported include buyer’s premium. The runner-up for top spot was another Ford product from the same consignor. This 1964 black-on-black Ford Galaxie 500 XL, with with just over 70,000 miles, sold to an inhouse buyer for $19,800. But it wasn’t a typical in-house buyer. A young auctioneer just out of auction school, named Sonny Jensen, stepped up and had the top bid on the phone. Jensen works for Rich Penn Auctions and fell in love with the Galaxie. “I’m really glad Sonny ended up with that car. He told me that he always wanted a ’64 Galaxie, and now he has one, and it’s a good one. It’s like it stayed in the auction family,” said Rich Penn.

A smaller competitor, the Splitdorf Ignition company, made their famous Green Jacket spark plugs in the 1920s. They made an impressive display for their products. Their counter display had superb lithography by American Artworks on the front and sides. The Green Jacket is no longer produced, but the display survived and sparked a winning bid of $3,900. Another display piece that did well came from Ford. A dimensional cast metal and wood Ford 1953 Jubilee sign was produced for dealers and celebrated the newhalf ton pickup. The same emblem showed up on the truck badges. The hanging sign realized $4,270. License plates also saw strong interest. A three-digit 1906

The Frick Collection’s trio of paintings by famed 17th-century Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer has returned from Amsterdam to New York. Through the remainder of the institution’s temporary residency at Frick Madison (March 3, 2024) visitors can once again encounter