Collectors embrace the power of advertising at Showtime's October sale

 

The lifetime country store, advertising and toy collection of Mike and Colleen Empey will headline a major auction slated for the weekend of September 30 to October 2 by Showtime Auctions.

 


An authentic 1880s Cigar Store Indian
attributed to Thomas Brooks

Live online bidding for the second and third days of the auction will be available, with the sale itself held at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds. Hundreds of additional, fresh-to-the-market items from other consignors will also be sold.

In addition to country store and advertising, the sale will also include barber shop, coin-op, gambling, folk art, toys, banks, Coca-Cola and other soda, gum, candy, firearms and gunpowder, tobacciana, coffee, salesmen's samples, whiskey, breweriana, petroliana, automobilia, match safes and pedal cars.

The auction will also feature Western and Native American Indian, traditional cowboy, Hollywood cowboy, pottery, music, black Americana, furniture, displays and showcases.

The anticipated top lot of the auction is an authentic 1880s Cigar Store Indian attributed to Thomas Brooks, in excellent condition and with most of the original paint intact. It is expected to bring $35,000-$65,000.

Another star lot should be the Mills 25-cent "One Armed Bandit" Frank Polk figure slot machine, in excellent condition, made circa 1950s (estimated at $15,000-$25,000).

A 1926 Model T turtleback roadster, fully restored and in excellent running condition, should bring $10,000-$20,000.

A handmade miniature train locomotive and tender manufactured in the 1930s by a longtime employee of the Rock Island Railroad and a faithful representation of the real thing carries a $5,000-$10,000 estimate.

Vintage signs will abound in this sale. Examples will include a reverse glass sign for Rye Whiskey, in remarkable condition (estimate at  $10,000-$25,000); a desirable DeLaval Cream Separator tin sign, also in great shape (estimated at $2,000-$4,000),

Also for sale is a pair of 1920s tin litho die-cut store display signs for kids' "Koveralls," possibly the only ones in existence (estimated at $4,000-$8,000).


 

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