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Fresh antique advertising, new venue for Showtime, April 20-22

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
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Hires Root Beer porcelain soda fountain dispenser made in Germany by Villeroy & Boch. It is one of 20 rare soda fountain syrup dispensers in the auction. Estimate: $20,000-$30,000. Showtime Auction Services image

BELLEVILLE, Mich. – Showtime Auction Services will hold its first big auction event of 2018 at a new venue and with new show dates. The auction will be held the weekend of April 20, 21 and 22, about three weeks later than usual, at the Wayne County Fairgrounds, located at 10871 Quirk Road. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.

Belleville is located east of Ann Arbor (the site of Showtime Auction Services’ previous auctions), right off Interstate 94 and about 5 minutes from Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW).

The auction will be headlined by the lifetime collections of Thomas and Gloria Terry, who amassed a diverse mix of merchandise over the course of many years. More than 50 antique categories will be in the sale.

“Typically, we feature one or two major collections in an auction, with the main emphasis on one area of collecting, but that’s not the case with this sale,” said Mike Eckles of Showtime Auction Services, based in Woodhaven, Mich. “I kind of like that our very first sale in our new location will feature items that will appeal to a wide range of collectors in many collecting categories.”

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Coca-Cola Fountain Service porcelain sign, two-sided outdoor sign, 64 x 58 in. Estimate: $3,500-$7,500. Showtime Auction Services image

Eckles said the auction will contain “one of the finest, if not the finest, apothecary show jar and globe collection ever offered at auction – 40 pieces in all.”

Also featured will be over 100 rifles (“a new category for us,” Eckles said) plus over 125 firearms and gunpowder posters and calendars – “quite possibly the largest amount ever offered, from four different collections.”

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Rare Colt’s Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Co. paper poster. Image by artist Frank Schoonover, 1925. Framed under glass 19½ x 33 in. Estimate: $2,500-$5,000. Showtime Auction Services image

Also up for bid will be about 20 rare soda fountain syrup dispensers, over 150 spectacular soda fountain items, rare gum machines, over 50 cash registers, many rare breweriana signs, more than 100 country store merchandisers, over 80 candy jars (all different), many rare Coca-Cola items, and an actual 1918 Ford Model T automobile, a delivery truck for Buffalo Brand Peanuts.

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Many rare chewing gum machines will be in the auction, including this rare 1-cent vendor, ‘See Diavalo Loop the Loop,’ 12 x 20 x 6½ in. Estimate: $20,000-$25,000. Showtime Auction Services image

The collecting categories will include advertising, signs, reverse glass signs, tins, trays, country store, general store, farm, hardware, soap, sports, medical, optical, dental, scales, sewing, millinery, shoes, spool cabinets, grocery, coffee, Coca-Cola, miscellaneous soda, soda fountain, ice cream, barber shop, rare petroliana and automobilia signs, motorcycle, bicycle clocks, ink, gum machines, candy, peanuts, music, salesman’s samples, toys, banks and rare showcases.

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Sinclair Aircraft porcelain sign, two-sided with its original cast-iron frame, 46 in. diameter. Estimate: $5,000-$10,000. Showtime Auction Services image

The list continues with fine art, Western, slot machines, coin-op, gambling, whiskey, breweriana, saloon, cigar, tobacco, cigarettes, match holders and match safes, motorcycle, bicycle, farm, hardware, paint and store showcases.

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Franklin Beer convex reverse glass sign, Columbus, Ohio, the only one Mike Eckles has ever seen, 17 in. diameter. Estimate: $5,000-$10,000. Showtime Auction Services image

For details contact Michael Eckles at Showtime Auction Services at 951-453-2415 or mike@showtimeauctions.com.

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