Collectors
Were Rolling in Antiques (especially oats) Edit by Ralph Finch
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mpressive! On February 9, after forty years of searching, assembling and upgrading, Dan and Linda Castleman, due to health issues, sold the entirety of their collections. And it was, as I said, impressive. The Finches have been collecting for forty-plus years, and what we have acquired isn’t a hint of what the Castlemans have achieved.
Lot 501: Success Manure Spreader Advertising Tip Tray. Tin lithograph tip tray for Kemp & Burpee M’f ’g Co. “Success” Manure Spreader, Syracuse, NY. Measures 3.5 by 4.75 inches. Good condition, noting some wear around the edges and a small dent in a corner. $75-$100. Sold for $160. (Prices do not include the 13 percent buyer’s premium.)
Most of us who collect know that the first item is easy. Maybe so are the first dozen examples. But 800 lots?
Man, I wanted to bid on this! If I were starting my life over, and being a newsman/writer for 45 years, I think I would have specialized in manure spreaders. It seems a natural.
The sale was held by Dick Soulis in Lone Jack, Missouri, and included cardboard, tin and porcelain advertising signs and posters, especially collections of cardboard oatmeal containers, tin coffee canisters and tin litho tobacco tins, cigar boxes, countertop showcases, syrup tins, cigar, spice, and the list went on. I was impressed that the Castlemans weren’t just into quality, but quantity. For example, the pair liked cardboard containers of “rolled oats.” They had dozens of different examples! You’d need to have Wheaties for breakfast every day to have approached that number. A couple of notes: The Soulis photos are impressive, but the Castlemans’ collection is even more so. Here is an edited look at what the two-day sale included:
Lot 233: Circa 1940, a die-cut easel back counter sign, design of a Polar Bear holding a pack of cigarettes, reads Polar Mentholated Cigarettes, Cool And Soothing, by P. Lorillard Tobacco Co. Measures 17 by 13.25 inches. Estimated $100-$200, and sold for $350. A neat item that can remind you of a product that could give you lung cancer AND frostbite! Lot 382: Cast Brass and Cast Iron Advertising Match Safes. Two similar turtle figural advertising novelties, the hinged top of each with embossed letter advertising. One iron example for J.H. Lesher & Co. Tailors Trimmings, Chicago and a brass example with striker in the cover for Grand Rapids Brass Co. Souve-
nir, and with additional advertising cast in debossed letters on the under side. Largest turtle measures 1.25 by 5.25 by 2.75 inches. Very good condition throughout. $75-$150. Sold for $325. Grrrr. I meant to bid but, appropriately, I was toooo slow. Lot 318: Coca-Cola Advertising Vienna Art Plate. A Vienna Art Plate circa 1905 for Coca-Cola Bottling, displayed in an ornate frame of the period. A 10 inch diameter plate, and the frame measures 14.5 by 14.5 inches. Good condition, minor toning, with some light crazing. $100-$200. Sold for $400. Lot 542: Sedalia Street Fair Celluloid Advtg Pinback 1899. Color celluloid image of a buxom woman with long flowing blonde hair astride a mule with “Hello Bill! Tell ‘Em That You Saw Me At The Sedalia Street Fair,” Sept. 4-9, 1899; nice Missouri piece, 1.75 inches in diameter. Shows some age toning, crazing and insect holes in the Whitehead & Hoag signed reverse paper lining. $50-$75. Sold for $100. Lot 21: A Pre-Prohibition Advtg Tray for Ruhstallers Lager. The beautifully composed image of a woman portrayed in the manner of a Gibson Girl dressed in classical robes casting poppies and posed on the grounds of the Panama-California May 2020
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