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Maine Antique Digest, April 2015 9-C
- AUCTION -
☞
N
ot much has changed in the
22 years William Morford
has been selling quality
advertising and country store items
at auction. The absentee sales still
revolve around a color catalog,
although the listings can also be
found on his Internet site. Bidding
is by mail, fax, and phone.
What’s more, it still works.
Based in Cazenovia, New York,
Morford handpicks
material from 70
to 100 consignors
per sale, with three
to five auctions per
year. Auction #84,
the latest offering,
featured 402 lots and
closed on December
5, 2014.
The top lot was a
Dr. A.C. Daniels veterinary cabinet
for dog and cat remedies. In litho-
graphed tin and depicting a woman
in a pink dress, with a cat sitting in
her lap and a dog by her side, the
cabinet sold for $7015. More than
just a rarity, the piece was in great
condition, albeit with some resto-
ration. “By far the nicest example
of this rare cabinet I’ve ever seen,”
Morford wrote in the catalog.
“It’s not as early as some of the
other cabinets,” he said after the
auction. Then again, older isn’t
always better. Buyers at the Decem-
ber auction continued to show a
preference for strong graphics and
great condition. The Dr. Daniels
cabinet had both.
For advertising, the market
continues to be largely about eye
appeal. Rarity aside, no one really
wants to look at a rusty sign or a
dinged-up tobacco tin.
“The more stuff has really thinned
out, even with new collectors,
they’re coming in for more of the
top, more of the better stuff. We’re
noticing that for the average stuff,
nobody cares, even for the slightly
better than average,” said Morford.
“It used to be rarity, but now condi-
tion is more than rarity.”
Not every collecting group is
equal when it comes to scrutiniz-
ing condition. “Oil and car guys
are more forgiving,” said Morford.
“There’s nobody more anal and
condition-conscious than celluloid
guys.”
There were some key items for
both those groups in the auction. The
best of the petroliana, a segment of
the market that continues to thrive
unabated, was a Beacon Oil sign,
double-sided porcelain over steel,
30" in diameter, in great overall con-
dition with a few scattered chips on
the back side, that sold for $6440.
“Oil and gas, that’s the biggest
part of the market right now,” said
Morford.
Sure, collectors want rarity. Yes,
they pay attention to condition. But
size also matters. With so many
oversize signs for gas stations and
automobile dealerships, some big
enough to practically be seen from
the moon, buyers are often willing
to pay a premium for something
that comfortably fits in the den.
At 30", the Beacon Oil sign was
large enough to make a statement
but not so huge that it dominated a
room. “That’s the size they really
like in those porcelain signs,” said
Morford.
Of the celluloid, the clear stand-
out was an oval pocket mirror for
Pe-Ru-Na, a cure for catarrh—a
product in line with modern-day
expectorants such as Mucinex.
Selling for $4715, the 2¾" x 1¾"
mirror depicted a woman in a low-
cut dress, standing next to a cork-
top bottle her height. The catalog
noted that the piece is considered
to be “among the rarest and most
desirable of all the known pocket
mirrors.”
Beyond what he called “great
graphics, great condition,” Morford
was impressed with
the mirror because of
its rarity. “It’s the only
one I’ve ever seen,”
he said. “Pocket mir-
rors have been really
strong the last few
auctions,” Morford
added.
What’s
offered,
regardless of the cat-
egory of advertising, continues to
be largely a matter of what con-
signors are willing to turn over. For
this auction, door pushes were in
abundance. There has also been an
increase in toys lately.
“There are a lot of toys hitting
the market right now. We’ve had
more toys coming in than we’ve
ever had,” Morford noted. During
auction #84, the best was a Kel-
lerman tin windup having airplanes
circling above racecars and motor-
cycles. With its original box, the
German-made plaything sold for
$3795.
Not every lot brings four-figure
(or sometimes five-figure) prices.
Morford’s auctions continue to
offer affordable items, such as a box
for Interwoven War-Service Socks.
The World War II theme shows an
American GI armed with a rifle, the
bayonet mere inches from a fleeing
Japanese soldier, stereotyped with
buck teeth and holes in his socks,
and gripping a spiked club. The box
brought $80.50.
In addition to the merchandise
itself, buyers are attracted by Mor-
ford’s low opening bids. For the
socks box, bidding started at $20.
For the Pe-Ru-Na pocket mirror, the
minimum bid was $100. Only three
items were passed during the auc-
tion, for a sell-through rate of 99%.
Morford plans to stick with his
current absentee format, which
does not include Internet bidding.
Many serious buyers simply aren’t
computer-savvy, he suggested. “So
many of these guys aren’t on the
Internet. They might have a com-
puter or never use it.”
For more information, phone
Morford at (315) 662-7625 or visit
(www.morfauction.com).
Wm Morford, Cazenovia, New York
Absentee Advertising Auction
by Don Johnson
Photos courtesy Wm Morford
For
advertising,
the market
continues to
be largely
about eye
appeal.
Buster Brown
box camera by
Ansco, in its original card-
board box with strong graphics,
clean and bright, minor wear and tape
reinforcement on panel flaps on one side,
with two instruction books, $517.50.
Dr. A.C. Daniels
veterinary cabinet for dog and cat rem-
edies, lithographed tin, 20" x 13 1/8" x
5 3/8", well-done restoration to side panels
and back, $7015.
Mayo’s Plug tobacco sign, framed
linen, 30¾" x 18¼", like new, $1782.50.
Wrigley’s countertop dis-
play stand for gum, scarce
variation, heavy metal,
the character with a
celluloid face, some
oxidation, pitting
and wear, $1495.
The Brown Shoe Company’s Star-Five-
Star Shoes match holder, lithographed
tin, 9" x 4 7/8", some crimping and
wear, $1552.50.
B.C.A. (Boston Co-operative Association)
Keystone 5¢ Cigar door push, porcelain
in red and white, 6" x 4¼", minor wear,
$1322.50.
Beacon
Oil sign,
double-sided
porcelain, 30"
diameter, scattered
chips on the back, $6440.
Pe-Ru-Na catarrh cure pocket mirror,
celluloid, depicting a woman in a low-
cut dress, 2¾" x 1¾", $4715.