ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The antique advertising collection of Gus and Trisha Brown, more than 80 antique cash registers from the Eric Hamby collection and Part I of the Tiny Moyer salesmen’s sample and children’s stove collection will co-star at Showtime Auction Services’ three-day fall sale Oct. 7-9.
Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.com on all three days.
“Gus Brown was well known and well liked within the advertising collecting community,” said Mike Eckles of Showtime Auction Services. “His death this past winter left a void that will be difficult to fill. His surviving wife, Trisha, loved and cherished the collection as much as Gus did, but she feels now is the time to let others acquire these treasures for their own collections.”
On Friday morning, Oct. 7, starting at 9 a.m. Eastern time, about 350 lots will come up for bid before a live audience only. At noon, the auction will open up to Internet, phone and absentee bidding.
In all, over 2,000 lots will cross the auction block. Collecting categories will include advertising, country store, grocery, dye and spool cabinets, Coca-Cola, soda, gum, candy, peanuts, salesmen’s samples, cash registers, firearms and gun powder posters, coin-op, toys, banks, black Americana, veterinary and more.
The many advertising signs in the auction will include a rare Ferris Waists tin sign (above), possibly the only example extant, and a lovely paper sign advertising the 1901 Lithographers’ Ball (below).
Coca-Cola collectibles will feature eight festoons and many rare signs in excellent condition.
Over 70 rare firearms and gunpowder pieces, from the Curt Bowman collection, will also come up for bid, as will an early Mr. Peanut light-up figure and a hard-to-find Swift’s Pride Soap string holder in excellent condition (below).
The more than 80 cash registers from the Eric Hamby collection will include a set of four consecutively serial numbered National Candy Store cash registers, the only known instance of four serial numbers in numerical order ever offered at auction.
Part I of the Tiny Moyer salesmen’s sample and children’s stove collection has over 80 examples of stoves, ranging from the most rare with original carrying cases to the very small toy models. Highlights include a sample ABC ringer/washer in excellent working condition and a Home Comfort sample stove (below), with the original carrying case.
The Gus and Trisha Brown collection of advertising collectibles (along with a few country store items) promises to be the big draw of the weekend for bidders eager to add quality pieces to their collections. “These are some of the finest advertising collectibles ever offered at auction,” Eckles said. “People who knew Gus will forever miss his big smile and magnetic personality.”
For details contact Eckles of Showtime Auction Services at 951-453-2415 or email him at mike@showtimeauctions.com.