Americana Advertising Adds Charm to Keystone Auction
Company mascots and memorable slogans highlight advertising memorabilia lots during Keystone’s Country Store Antiques, Advertising, and Americana Auction.
The spirit of hard work and ingenuity was prominent in Keystone Auctions’ June 7 Country Store Antiques, Advertising, and Americana Auction. Antique cameras, vintage holiday decorations, unusual furniture, tramp art, comic books, cast-iron toys, and stoneware were among the many different types of collectibles that crossed the auction block. The advertising section included signs made from various materials and promotional merchandise such as bottles, banks, trays, and calendars.
Promotional merchandise is where advertising meets functional items. Companies sell or give away products bearing their brand name, logo, or slogan that consumers can use, thereby providing the company with free advertising. Promotional merchandise offers limitless opportunities, from signs and fancy swag bags to pens and piggy banks. The concept of promotional advertising products dates back to commemorative buttons given out when George Washington was elected president of the United States in 1789. Since then, individual business owners and major companies alike have sold or given away goodies to promote their products.
Keystone offered an abundance of promotional advertising lots that intersected with classic aspects of Americana. The Wise Potato Chips advertising display sign that flew to $180 was one such example. The cardboard sign features a horned owl with rich brown and tan feathers and glowing yellow eyes perched on a wooden table between a bag of chips and a bowl overflowing with salty golden treats. Wise potato chips date back to 1921 when young grocer Earl Wise, Sr., was reluctant to waste extra potatoes, so he started making chips. Wise chose to use an owl as its company mascot because the birds are considered, well, wise.
and Lovella Coffee, 12.25” L × 26” W, $90.
The animal spokespeople continued with the Finck’s Overalls cast iron pig coin bank. An early advertising figural bank from 1885, it is painted in a realistic light pink. “Finck’s Overalls” and “Wear Like a Pig’s Nose” text is written on the side of the bank, which cashed in at $140 in bids. The earliest known pig-shaped money holders date back to the 12th century, but they weren’t used to advertise businesses until the 1800s, making this one of the oldest examples.
Artwork, photography, and advertising for Lovella Butter and Lovella Coffee appeared on four American Stores Co. vintage calendars. Dated 1924, 1935, 1936, and 1937, the calendars depict charming scenes of children with animals, landscapes, and cozy cottages. The colorful paper calendars realized $90.
A Hagies Adapted Hybrids license plate topper hammered for $60, adding a quirky touch to the auction. Hagie Hybrids was founded by Ray W. Hagie in 1934, when he developed a hybrid seed corn variety on his father’s farm. His experiments with seed corn proved beneficial during the drought of 1936, when farmers needed a new option. Made of porcelain-coated metal, the circa 1950s advertising license plate topper is in an eye-catching shade of blue. It shows a donkey in the midst of a kick between text that reads “More kick in the spring / bigger ears in the fall.”
A group lot contained two Coca-Cola advertising yo-yos still in their plastic bags and a vintage Mr. Peanut ceramic with a peanut-shaped keepsake dish for coins, keys, and other small sundries. The lot also included a pack of Visual Aircraft Recognition graphic training cards with the original box and cellophane, and a tin litho Clucking Hen noisemaker crank toy. The group of promotional toys and knick-knacks went for $50.
from a group lot that sold for $50.
An early 20th-century Rolling Rock beer tin litho advertising tray served up a $50 winning bid. The circa 1947 piece has a regal-looking horse portrait in the center of the blue tray with “Rolling Rock the Premium Beer” text on the inside and outside rims.
These highlights represent only a portion of the advertising memorabilia offered throughout the auction, where signs, promotional merchandise, and country store antiques found enthusiastic buyers from start to finish.
For more results, visit auctionsbykeystone.com or LiveAuctioneers/Keystone Auctions.
Images courtesy Keystone Auctions.
Advertising Worth a Second Look:
