Miller & Miller's Online-only Back-to-back Auctions, September 16 & 17, Are Packed With Collectibles

By Author: Ethan Miller
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Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. took most of the summer off, but will be back in early fall with back-to-back auctions, both online-only. A Petroliana, Advertising & Music Machines auction will be held on Saturday, September 16th, while a General Store, Advertising & Breweriana auction is slated for the next day, September 17th.

Internet bidding will be provided by MillerandMillerAuctions.com and LiveAuctioneers.com. The catalogs for both days are up and online now. Start times both days are 9 am Eastern time.

“We’re excited to kick off our fall season with this two-day sale event,” said Ethan Miller of Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. “The weekend includes a robust, fresh-to-the-market offering of petroliana, advertising, automated music machines, coin-op vending machines, general store advertising, soda advertisings and breweriana from the 1890s to the 1970s. Don’t miss this one.”

Petroliana pieces hitting the block on the 16th include a rare one-piece Fundy gas globe, a Red Indian ‘Homoil’ oiler tin, a lineup of hard-to-find porcelain automotive dealer signs and more. The ...
... day’s expected top lot is an all-original 1955 Ford Crown Victoria ‘survivor’ car, with the original tropical rose/snowshoe white paint and just 17,331 actual miles (est. $35,000-$40,000).

All estimates quoted in this report are in Canadian dollars.

Also coming to market on the 16th is an assortment of fascinating automated music machines from the Bill and Marion McCleary collection, featuring a World War I-era Wurlitzer band organ, a coin-operated Mills Novelty Company ‘Violano Virtuoso’ (est. $30,000-$35,000); and a World War I Decap Mechanical Treasures band organ made in Belgium (est. $12,000-$15,000).

Petroliana signs will include a 1930s American Greyhound Coach Lines double-sided porcelain ticket office sign, marked “Baltimore Enamel 200 Fifth Ave. N.Y.”, 30 inches by 25 inches (est. $9,000-$12,000); and a 1940s American Packard Approved Service double-sided porcelain sign, 60 inches diameter, marked “Burdick, Chi”, with minor scuffs and chips (est. $8,000-$10,000).

The Day 1 offerings will be diverse, with items ranging from a Canadian 1890s McCloskey gentleman’s bicycle with a bent hardwood frame and Dunlop Ranger tires, original and intact (est. $5,000-$8,000); and a Canadian 1950s Coca-Cola Vendo 44 coin-op vending machine with the original paint, with the popular slim size and high 44-bottle capacity (est. $4,000-$6,000).

Also up for bid September 16th will be a White Rose “Slate Boy” chalkboard sign (Canadian, 1920s), single-sided painted wood, impressive at 70 inches by 60 inches (est. $6,000-$9,000); porcelain automotive dealer signs from the 1930s and ‘40s, including examples from Buick, Cadillac, Studebaker, Ford and others; and rare RCA Victor advertising signs originally from A.J. Scott TV and Appliance in Ridgetown, Ontario, Canada, including a bullnose dealer sign.

The September 17th auction will be headlined by items from the Al Bensmiller collection, to include an early and possibly unique Remington Rifles & Cartridges ‘spinner’ tin lithograph flange sign found hidden in a wall in Armstrong, British Columbia. The American double-sided 1910s sign has an S-curved panel that spins within the sign in the wind (est. $12,000-$15,000).

Also sold that day will be a special lineup of Canadian Hudson’s Bay Tobacco advertising, to include three single-sided tin panels from the 1910s, joined at the edges to form a tri-fold tin lithograph counter display sign (est. $6,000-$8,000); and an Imperial Mixture Tobacco one-piece deep etched milk glass globe from the 1920s with original paint, very rare (est. $4,000-$6,000).

The day is loaded with noteworthy soda advertising from Coca-Cola, Orange Crush, Hires and more, including an American 1940 Coca-Cola double-sided porcelain Fountain Service sign, 25 ¼ inches by 26 ¼ inches (est. $3,000-$5,000). Breweriana will feature an Anheuser-Busch panoramic brewery scene sign, an Anheuser-Busch Brewery 1901 beer tray, and a Canadian Kuntz Brewery (Waterloo, Ont.) ‘St. Bernard’ beer tray, 13 inches diameter (est. $5,500-$7,500).

Other Day 2 items will include push bars and door pushes, porcelain and tin signs and countertop displays, an American 1907 De Laval Cream Separators single-sided tin sign in a marked gilt plaster frame, 40 ¾ inches by 29 ½ inches, in very good unrestored condition (est. $3,000-$5,000); and a Canadian Dominion Ammunition “Bent D” advertising store display from the 1910s, made from painted chalkware and since professionally repainted (est. $3,500-$5,000).

While these are Internet-only auctions, bidders can tune in to the live webcast on September 16th and 17th, to watch the lots close in real time. Here’s a link to the September 16th auction: https://live.millerandmillerauctions.com/auctions/4-AIAHUQ/petroliana-advertising-music-machines. Here’s a link to the September 17th auction: https://live.millerandmillerauctions.com/auctions/4-9WE1MS/general-store-advertising-breweriana-featuring-part-of-the-al-bensmiller-collection.

To learn more about Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. and the Sept. 16th-17th auctions, please visit www.millerandmillerauctions.com.