American National ‘Moxie’ pedal car from the 1920s, the only all-original one known. Image courtesy Showtime Auction Services.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding on Saturday and Sunday.
The first day of the auction, Friday, March 30, will be for a live audience only (no phone or Internet bidding). The hours will be noon to 6 p.m. Eastern, with a preview from 8 a.m.-noon. The next two days, March 31-April 1, will have online bidding. Hours will be 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Eastern.
Over 2,000 lots of investment-grade antiques and collectibles from over 100 consignors will change hands. In addition to pedal cars and toys, the auction will feature banks, pottery, Wave Crest, trade signs, advertising signs, folk art, soda fountain, Coca-Cola, western, American Indian, country store, paintings, farm signs, match safes, tip trays, whiskey and breweriana.
Also sold will be drug store items, barber shop, general store, saloon, coin-op, gambling, Part 3 of a great cigar and tobacco tins collection and more.
The Ramsey collection of pedal cars and toys is expected to generate a high level bidder of interest. Included are about 50 rare pedal cars—most of them original and unrestored—and some of the best pressed steel toys ever offered at auction.
Pressed steel toys will include highly collectible Buddy L examples, such as a rare Buddy L tanker (BL12), green, with pumping mechanism, open cab and spotlight, 25 inches long. Also sold will be a tan Stutz pull toy car by Gendron, circa 1926, 28 1/2 inches long, the best Stutz known to exist.
Pressed steel cars by American National will include a tan and gold Packard in excellent condition (but missing the hood ornament), 28 1/2 inches long; and a Fire Chief pull toy car, all complete, convertible red with yellow trim, 28 1/2 inches long. The auction will also feature a full-size antique car: a 1954 Corvette, all original including the paint, with 9,800 original miles.
Additional pressed steel vehicles will include a Toledo Buick, green with orange trim, complete and all original, 28 1/2 inches long; a rare Keystone Mfg. Co. (Boston, Mass.) No. 84 Ride ’Em Greyhound coast-to-coast bus, the only one known and with the original box, in mint condition; and a Sturdi-Toy coal truck, orange, all original and with compartments in the bed.
Pressed steel toy airplanes will also come up for bid. Examples include a Keystone Air Mail Ride ’Em airplane, grey and red, all original and in good condition, with a slide door that opens, 25 inches long with a wingspan of 24 inches; and a Steelcraft Tri-Motor U.S. Mail plane, orange and black, all original and in fine condition, 23 inches long and with a 23-inch wingspan.
More than 25 unrestored pedal cars will cross the block. Examples by American National will include a circa-1920s Mogul pedal car with wood frame, in excellent condition, 48 inches long; a circa-1920s Moxie pedal car, the only all-original one known; and an “electric” 1926 Packard pedal car, the only all-original one known, with complete motor.
Gendron is another manufacturer that will be chanted frequently. Examples will include a Paige pedal car, circa 1915, with wood spoke wheels and frame, 48 inches long; a Pioneer Flyer locomotive pedal car, circa 1920s, with wood frame and disc wheels, excellent and all original; and a Packard pedal car with metal frame, two spare tires and running board-mounted spotlights.
Airplane pedal cars will feature a Curtis Moth tri-motor biplane pedal car, 52 inches in length and with a wingspan of 31 inches; and a circa-1920s Louis Meyers airplane pedal car, possibly the only one in existence, in good condition, 43 inches long with a 24-inch wingspan.
Moving into nontoy categories, one lot in particular will difficult to miss, or ignore. It’s a rare and beautiful Brunswick serpentine saloon front and back bar, with fancy appliqués, granite toe-kick and wraparound brass railing. The back bar features massive oak columns adorned with cherubs and ornate carvings. A stained and leaded glass canopy is a perfect match. The back bar is 18 feet 8 inches by 10 feet 21 inches, while the front bar is 18 feet plus the rails.
Tobacciana items can start with a circa-1880s Samuel Robb cigar store Indian with most of the original paint intact. Other pieces will include a White’s Knight 5-cent cigar tip cutter and lighter made by the Morris D. Neumann & Co. (Philadelphia, Brunhoff Mfg.), in great shape; and a “Tall Chief” stogies cigar tin, one of only three known, with incredible graphics and color.
Other examples of tobacciana will include a Jump Spark “The Wireless” cigar lighter and cutter, made in 1902 by the Eldred Mfg. Co., one of two known; a Tom Moore Cigars serving tray, made by Standard Advertising Co., Coshocton, Ohio, 13 inches in diameter; and a large cigar store Indian indoor trade sign with a ruby red glass light-up cylinder on porcelain brackets.
Gas station collectibles will feature a Frontier Gasoline sign in excellent condition; a Lionel Gasoline sign, also in excellent shape; and a Union Gasoline Service Station porcelain and wood bench, one of only two known, in fine condition (48 inches by 32 inches by 29 inches). Also sselling will be a Santa Fe Trail Bus Depot porcelain sign in excellent condition.
Advertising signs will include a rare Hood & Sons porcelain ice-cream sign in very good condition, 30 inches in diameter; a Buffalo Peanuts wood sand finish two-sided sign, possibly the only one in existence and in super condition, 10 1/2 feet long by 25 inches tall; and a Peters Diamond Brand Shoes two-sided tin flange sign, fully restored, 19 inches by 14 inches.
Paper signs will also be offered. Examples include a Huber Manufacturing Co., Marion, Ohio, steam engine paper sign, with original metal bands top and bottom, 24 inches by 34 inches; a Cunard Cruise Ship Lines paper sign displaying Pier 40 at New York Harbor, near mint; and a Cascarets Candy cathartic paper sign in great shape and with incredible graphics.
Store bins will feature a John T. Hancock & Sons, Dubuque, Iowa, tin store spice bin in superb condition, 38 inches by 13 inches by 12 inches; and a Five Brothers Smoking Tobacco tin store bin, the better one of only two known, 10 inches by 12 inches by 9 1/2 inches. Also sold will be a “The Butcher Boy Block” salesman’s sample butcher block with a Sept. 1908 patent date.
Certain to get paddles waving is a Horse Race Wheel of Fortune with rare reverse-glass layout and table, complete with odds maker. The wheel has reverse glass painted panels and the table comes with a rarely seen glass layout. Also sold will be a Mills Dewey upright 25-cent slot machine, with keys. It was made circa 1900 and is in good working order.
The sale will feature a Jolly Tar Pastime Baird advertising clock with some discoloration on the clock face but otherwise in excellent condition, plus a pendulum but no key; and a Gem Damaske cardboard clockwork store display, partly restored, with automaton action, original instructions and a factory label on back.
A Watling “Guess Your Weight” nickel scale made in 1902 by Watling Mfg. Co. is the best one Showtime has ever offered. The fully restored scale is oak with nickel trim and features a reverse glass face and front sign and ornate cast-iron side door with original locks. Also sold will be a rare National Cash Register Model 6 barbershop-style cash register with fine oak base.
Bidders looking to recreate an early 1900s-style sweet shop will this soda fountain draught station featuring a marble base with leaded glass contemporary lamp shade and three onyx spigots. It stands 40 inches tall. Another great piece is a rare and colorful Rock-Ola Commando model 1420 jukebox, totally restored.
Gum vendors and trade stimulators will also be sold to the highest bidder. Examples will include a Pulver red porcelain and iron gum vendor with “Foxy Grandpa,” circa 1910, in very good working condition and complete with keys; and a Caille Brothers 5-reel “Good Luck” trade stimulator housed in a quartersawn oak case, patent 1902, in excellent original working order.
The host hotel for this auction is Weber’s Hotel, located at 3050 Jackson Ave. in Ann Arbor. For reservations, call 734-769-2500. Room trading will go on each evening after the auction. Showtime Auction Services is based in Woodhaven, Mich. The firm is always accepting quality items for future sales. To consign an item, an estate or a collection, call Michael Eckles at 951-453-2415 or email him at either MikEckles@aol.com or mike@showtimeauctions.com To learn more about Showtime Auction Services and the upcoming auction, log on to www.ShowtimeAuctions.com.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
Rare calendar for Adam Scheidt Brewing Co., Norristown, Pa., in excellent condition. Image courtesy Showtime Auction Services.
