Mohawk Gas fuels petroliana collectors’ interest

A double-sided Mohawk sign depicting the Native American figure with a drooping feather in his hair brought $70,000 plus the buyer’s premium in October 2016 at Mecum Auctions. Image courtesy of Mecum Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

NEW YORK — Back when cars were fairly new, gas stations were few and far between. To attract customers, gas stations touted themselves with bright, colorful signage to serve as a beacon — sometimes literally — to drivers day and night. Vintage gas station memorabilia is highly collectible, and the brands that collectors like most are early examples with striking graphics deployed in the service of now-defunct brands. Mohawk Gasoline certainly fits the bill.

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Morphy’s mid-May auction series featuring American amusements hits $5.4M

Great Northern Railway porcelain sign with mountain goat graphic. Sold above estimate for $6,600

DENVER, Pa. – Morphy Auctions’ gallery was a hive of activity prior to the company’s May 11-15 marathon auction series that grossed $5.4 million. The attraction was a 3,400-lot array of rare antique and vintage items that ran the gamut of American amusements, from 19th-century railroad memorabilia and coin-op machines to mid-20th-century petroliana and automotive signs.

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