NEW HAMBURG, Ontario, Canada – Two Supertest Service Station double-sided porcelain hanging signs sold for a combined $41,300, and a Bennett 541 Supertest gas pump from the 1940s brought $20,060 in an online Petroliana & Advertising auction held May 15 by Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. The auction achieved an overall total of $341,905. Every lot sold, 66% of the lots met or exceeded their estimates, and 31 percent of the lots surpassed their high estimates. All prices quoted are in Canadian dollars, and are inclusive of the buyer’s premium.
The Supertest Service Station double-sided porcelain hanging signs both carried estimates of $6,000-$8,000. One, from the 1930s, went for $20,060. The other, from the 1940s and larger in size, realized $21,240.
Vintage gas pumps remain hugely popular. A 1940s Bennett 541 Supertest pump, repainted to Supertest branding, sailed past its estimate of $4,000-$6,000 to bring $20,060. The 92-inch-tall steel gas pump featured new decals, hose, and globe, and had its original ad glass and register dials. The pump was tagged, “Service Station Equipment Co., Ltd., Toronto SSE Bennett ECO”.
Additional highlights include a Depression-era Goodrich Tires Mountie porcelain sign–arguably Canada’s most recognizable automotive advertising sign–featuring a full-figure Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer in uniform, garnered $16,520, while a 1930s porcelain Canadian Tire Products sign with the early “CTC” maple leaf logo blew past its $2,000-$3,000 pre-sale estimate to finish at $5,015.
Two 1940s Canadian automotive dealer signs, one Ford and one GM, beat their $3,000-$4,000 estimates. The Ford double-sided painted sign, emblazoned with the legend “Ford Genuine Parts,” went for $11,210, and the General Motors Products two-sided porcelain dealer sign hit $12,980.
A Canadian Red Indian single-sided porcelain service station sign from the 1940s sold for $10,620. Also, a Canadian Orange Crush steel and wood store soda cooler from the 1920s realized $7,670. A Good Year Tires double-sided porcelain wall-mounting flange sign from the 1930 changed hands for $6,490, while a monumental Good Year Tires porcelain sign, also from the 1930s and also scarce, achieved $4,425. Both were made for the Canadian market.
An AC Spark Plugs Chevrolet store counter displays made for the American market in the 1920s sold for $4,130. Also, a 1940s General Motors Trucks double-sided porcelain dealer hanging sign manufactured for the Canadian market made $5,310.
A Canadian 1930s Johnson Sea-Horse Outboard Motors single-sided tin litho sign from the Shields General Store in Coboconk, Ontario earned $5,605, and a 1930s-era Fundy milk gas pump globe with a reverse painted glass lens, sold for $3,835.
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The current rate of exchange between the Canadian dollar and the U.S. dollar is 1 = 80 cents.
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