Potter & Potter’s Americana Auction Delivers Patriotic Treasures
Important historical items and memorabilia embodying the American spirit were offered.
12” x 5.5” x 2.25”, $550.
The Americana, Ephemera & Historical Memorabilia Auction at Potter & Potter Auctions revisited significant moments in American history. Civil War items, militaria, railroadiana, African Americana, antique photography, advertising material, documents, posters, and autographs filled the early spring auction.
A complete set of Norman Rockwell’s The Four Freedoms posters sold for $250. The four posters titled “Freedom of Speech,” “Freedom of Worship,” “Freedom from Want,” and “Freedom from Fear” originally appeared in The Saturday Evening Post in 1943. They were so popular that the War Department used the series for fundraising during a touring exhibit sponsored by The Saturday Evening Post and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The name of the series came from President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address, in which he proclaimed that each person had a right to those freedoms.
Rockwell is among the most famous and celebrated American painters whose work first gained attention in the 1910s. He had long associations with Boy’s Life (the Boy Scouts of America magazine) and The Saturday Evening Post, for which he produced 323 covers over a 47-year period. Employing a narrative realism style, Rockwell’s paintings captured an idealized view of American life through wholesome humor, optimism, and sentimental connections.
An Americana auction wouldn’t be complete without an appearance by Uncle Sam. Potter & Potter offered a painted cast-iron Uncle Sam doorstop wearing his classic patriotic outfit: a blue jacket and hat covered in white stars, red-and-white-striped pants, a white shirt, and a red tie. He stands in a jaunty pose with his hands on his hips and knees slightly bent as if he’s preparing to sing “Yankee Doodle.” The doorstop was estimated at $50 to $150, but ended up at $550.
Uncle Sam has long been a character who personifies the American government and symbolizes its people. First appearing during the War of 1812, the prevailing (though disputed) origin story is that he was based on businessman Samuel “Uncle Sam” Wilson, who supplied beef to the army. The barrels they arrived in were stamped “U.S.,” and Uncle Sam became synonymous with the government.
NASA landed in the auction with a flag and patch presentation frame from the Space Shuttle Discovery, the first satellite recovery mission. The flag and patch were onboard during the shuttle mission on November 8-16, 1984, and are displayed with a photo of the shuttle, one of the recovered satellites, and one of the five-person crew. It rocketed past the $200 to $300 estimate, selling for $425.
The Civil Rights movement was well represented, including a March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom pinback button that sold for $225. The button depicts a handshake between a black and a white hand, with the date August 28, 1963. The pin was worn at the event where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his eloquent and impassioned “I Have a Dream” speech. The prominent figure in the Civil Rights movement spoke to 250,000 supporters, calling for civil and economic equality and the end of legalized racism, and delivering a message of hope for the future.
The rare “A Bit of American History—The Flag of Our Own Time” complete set of six color lithograph calendar sheets from 1903 was a page-turner for bidders. Each sheet (featuring two months per sheet) has an illustration of a woman holding a different contemporary or historical American flag on the front and a description of the flag and advertising material on the back. Issued by the Equitable Life Assurance Company, the calendar sheets sold for $250, at the high end of the lot’s estimate.
A collection of 10 Philadelphia 1876 Centennial Exhibition souvenirs sold for $375. The group included a Bronze Centennial Commemorative Medal, Visitors Guide to the Centennial Exhibition and Philadelphia books, a Centennial Autograph Album, and a silk handkerchief, among others. A Martin Luther King Jr. “No man is free until all men are free” portrait poster from the series issued by Equitable Life Assurance Society in 1970–1971 rose to $100.
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Images courtesy of LiveAuctioneers/Potter & Potter Auctions.
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