Maine Antique Digest, December 2016

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Maine Antique Digest, December 2016 25-E
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each category, this book includes 40,000 prices for pieces sold in the
previous 12 months. More books on a variety of topics followed, and
in 2011, the Kovels published their 100th book.
But wait. There’s more!
The Kovels had a television show in 1969. The first series of ten
half-hour shows were done for the Cleveland public television station
WVIZ and shot on film using one camera. In 1972 the couple did 26
more shows that were televised nationally.
TheKovels started a subscription-only newsletter, Kovels onAntiques
and Collectibles, in 1974 and started writing “Ask the Experts” for
House Beautiful (1979-2000) and “Kovels on Collecting” for Forbes.
The Kovels’ columns continue to be published in numerous magazines
and antiques trade publications.
Their website, , was up and running by 1998 and
continues today. It includes everything from access to the newsletter
to more than a million prices for collectibles, a database of marks, and
current auction prices realized lists.
Ralph died in 2008 from complications of a broken hip, and, although
Terry and her very competent staff, including her daughter, Kim, have
kept everything chugging along at the Kovels’ Shaker Heights, Ohio,
offices—three garages built onto the couple’s home (a fourth garage
is for the car)—it was time to deal with all the pair had accumulated
since the 1950s.
And did I mention the general store in the Kovels’ basement? “When
we bought the house, the basement was empty, so Ralph took the space
next to the furnace and built a room,” Terry explained. That room soon
became a complete general store with a front porch “outside” and a
huge counter and multiple shelves within. They even did portions of
their PBS show in the store.
Honestly, it’s not that far of a stretch to see why the Kovels needed
their own general store. To say Ralph had an interest in advertising
would be an understatement. “He would attend food trade shows
and come home with gobs of stuff,” Terry remembers. “Key chains,
calendars, displays…whatever he could get his hands on. When Ralph
set up displays at grocery stores, the extras came home with him as
well. And these things just started piling up.”
This led the couple to buying vintage general-store items. Their
collection of cans with vintage paper labels is extensive. Signs, counter
displays, bins, cabinets, tins: you name it, it’s here.
Still, when it came time to put together this first auction, Terry did
not want to part with any food-related material just yet. “I told Rachel
[Davis] she could go through the house and take whatever she felt
would sell but to skip things that dealt with food,” Terry explained.
Davis was able to gather together hundreds of items. Some sold
strong, such as an August Flower Boschee’s German Syrup reverse-
painted glass and lighted advertisement sign that had some peeling
paint. At 19¾" x 14¾", it brought $544.50 (est. $200/400). Prices
include the buyer’s premium. Other items, such as lots of matchbooks,
realized about $24.
And that was OK by Terry. “None of this was really great stuff, and
most of it cost us nothing, but please be sure to let people know Ralph
and I did collect other things besides advertising and general-store
items,” she said. “The things I live with every day on the first and
second floor of our home are a bit more sophisticated,” she stated with
a smile. The couple’s Egyptian Revival and Bierdermeier pieces are
just a few examples.
It is also important to Terry that the public knows that the couple
were never dealers. “We bought lots and lots of things,” Terry said.
“But we didn’t sell antiques and collectibles. We sold information.”
For more information, go to ).
“This sign, I swear, was in everyone’s barn at one time,” Kovel said of the Green
River Whiskey tin sign that made $574.75 (est. $400/600). Having a copyright
of 1899 and by J.W. McCulloch, Owensboro, Kentucky, the sign reads, “She was
bred in old Kentucky, Chas. W. Shonk Co. Litho-Chicago.” It has some dents and
scratches and is 24" x 34". “These types of signs show us what the past looked
like, what was accepted as being correct then,” Kovel stated. When this sign was
manufactured, the image and wording would not have been considered offensive.
Today such a sign would be considered inappropriate, but it was acceptable when
the sign was produced, a true “sign of the times.”
These two Dr. A. C. Daniels cardboard signs, 12" x 24",
“Cow Invigorator” and “Horse Colic Cure,” labeled for
a seller in Harrison Valley, Pennsylvania, made $484 (est.
$50/100).
Another item from the Rocky
River consignor, this 5' high Mills
“Your Exact Weight” Art Deco
penny scale by the Mills Novelty
Co., in a green porcelain enamel
construction, was marked #13004
and sold for $574.75 (est. $200/400).
Having two handles and several dents, this W.
B. Berry & Co., Boston, Massachusetts, 11½"
x 20½" x 10" copper peanut roaster sold for
$453.75 (est. $200/400).
This Moxie cardboard advertisement sign,
proclaiming “Over 50 Years of Popularity,” has
water stains along the bottom and rough edges.
At 40" high, it sold for $453.75 (est. $80/150).
This Union Pacific System brass train bell set in a cast-
iron mount sold for $665.50 (est. $400/600). “We did talk
to Union Pacific about this bell, but they did not have any
interest because the specific train it came from could not
be determined,” auctioneer Rachel Davis stated. The bell
without the stand is 17" high; with the stand, it is 21½"
high.
This “‘Our Own’ / Black Cough
Drops” tin by E. J. Hoadley, Hartford,
Connecticut, was a favorite of Terry
Kovel. “I feel this tin is not the most
beautiful, having dreary colors of
black and yellow, but it is historically
interesting. It sat on my counter.” At
8½" high, this large tin sold for $363
(est. $100/200).
“This sign has been in the store forever,”
Kovel stated. “How funny, a baby
pushing tobacco.” This Mail Pouch tin
cutout flange display, with tray, 16½" x
22", the tray 12" in diameter, sold for
$968 (est. $800/1200).