Auction Details

General Store

Morphy Auctions’ October Premier General Store Sale to Offer a Full Range of Antique Signage, Packaging, and Merchandise Featuring Turn of Last Century Brands.

This can’t miss auction from a single owner collection includes remarkable firearm, food and beverage, farming related, and tobacco advertising, as well as period retail fixtures, displays, and ephemera. 

Morphy Auctions is excited to announce this outstanding, mid-fall antique general store sale event to be held on October 29th, 2016.  Almost 800 “time capsule” quality lots will be on offer.  All selections from this sale are on display in Morphy’s auction gallery and available for preview now.

It’s “bottoms up” to this sale’s great selection of early and rare soft drink syrup bottles and dispensers.  Lot #36, an early Coca Cola syrup bottle with a fired-on enamel label, is unquestionably the real thing.  It is estimated at $4,000-8,000. Lot #70, a Malto-Hopo Herb Phosphate health beverage syrup bottle should get enthusiasts’ hearts pumping. It is estimated at $2,000-3,500.  It is easy to fall head over heels over lot #58, a Dixie Flip ceramic syrup dispenser.  This near mint example, one of only a handful in existence, features fantastic green graphics and gold trim and is estimated at $15,000-30,000.  And things are twice as nice with lot #56, a Jim Dandy Orange Ade syrup dispenser, estimated at $25,000-35,000, and lot #60, a Jim Dandy Root Beer syrup dispenser, estimated at $20,000-30,000.  Both feature an old ball pump, measure 15” tall, and are in near mint condition.

Advertising posters are well represented in this auction, with those featuring firearms being of the highest caliber.  Two framed examples from Winchester really hit the mark.  The first, lot #561, a Winchester Big Game Rifles poster, shows a hunter standing tall with his foot on a freshly killed ram.  This poster is in very good plus condition and is estimated at $3,000-6,000.  The second, lot #535, an early Winchester Arms poster, features two hunters aiming at an attacking bear.  It is in near mint condition and is estimated at $2,500-5,000.  And collectors will certainly take aim at lot #573, a framed Peters Big Game Ammunition poster, estimated at $2,000-4,000. This example, with strong colors, features a proud elk drawn by noted wildlife artist Philip R. Goodwin.

This sale also includes a wall-to-wall selection of the finest antique advertising signs.  Examples promoting food, beverages, household goods, professional services, pharmaceuticals, tobacco items, and many other categories are on offer.  Sure to generate worldwide interest is lot #38, an early Coca Cola leaded glass globe, estimated at $40,000-60,000.  This c. 1907-1915 rarity in excellent plus condition is 12” tall and features the company’s classic script logo in white on a red-brown background with a green border.  Lot #15, an early Iroquois Brewing Co. advertising sign, illustrated with a Native American wearing an Iroquois head band and headdress, is shadow box framed and has incredible details on the relief.  Believed to have originated from the President of the Iroquois Brewing Company, this museum quality sign is estimated at $25,000-50,000.  Lot #167, a handmade, early tin Ice Cream & Fancy Cake advertising trade sign, is one sweet treat. This gold-lettered temptation measures 60″ x 30 – 1/4″, has a smaltz surface and wood backing, and is estimated at $20,000-40,000.  Another smoking hot lot is #750, a Davy Crockett Cigar embossed tin sign.  This example, in excellent condition, pops with a great image of Davy Crockett smoking a cigar while holding a rifle.  Estimated at $20,000-40,000, this is the first time ever that Morphy’s has offered this rarity.

Now is the perfect time to hold everything and check out this sale’s great selections of packaging and tins.  Lot #672, an extremely rare Red Indian Stogies 3 for 5¢ cigar tin in excellent condition, retains its great graphics on both sides and is estimated at $5,000-10,000.  And it’s off to the races with lot #680, an Alcazar cigar tin.  This round tin in excellent plus condition pictures the world famous race horse and may be the best example known.  It is estimated at $6,000-8,000.

This sale rounds out with an impressive selection of antique salesman’s samples; barbershop goods; displays, racks, and stands; and calendars, among other general store categories.  Collectors will certainly want to make a date with lot #576, a Union Metallic Cartridge Co. 1900 calendar featuring an impressive bison, and lot #581, a Harrington & Richardson 1905 calendar illustrated with a woman hunter and her dog.  They are estimated at $10,000-15,000 and $3,000-6,000 respectively.

According to Dan Morphy, President of Morphy Auctions, “This single owner collection of antique general store merchandise is quite remarkable.  We are thrilled to be able to offer it to our collectors worldwide.  Our display gallery looks like a real turn of last century market with all of these retail themed items on display. The range of items available makes it hard to choose personal favorites. But if I had to pick one, the early Iroquois Brewing Company sign truly is in a class by itself!  It’s a real treat to see these amazing lots in person and we welcome your visit to our Denver, PA gallery.”