Antique advertising is now considered decorative art on metal

Fifty to 100 years ago, they were the temporary occupants of a general store wall or tabletop, the equivalent of today’s billboards, TV spots and pop-up ads. They captured customers’ attention with alluring or outrageous images, and sold them on a brand of light bulb, soap or soda pop.

Today, those old advertising signs are windows into our commercial past and consumer taste. Often, their striking graphics are also works of art unto themselves, worthy of space in a gallery or on a living room wall. They may serve as complements to other collections, enhancements to the period architecture of older homes, or beautiful anachronisms among the high-tech trappings of 21st-century roosts.

Coming to auction this month is a selection of artful advertising signs of earlier times, including a piece that caused a thunderstorm of criticism when it was initially released.

The embossed tin Campbell’s Soup sign depicts an American Flag composed of rows of condensed soup cans, an ingenious incorporation of the distinctive red-and-white labels. “This sign predates the Warhol pop movement by 50 years,” said Andrew Truman, sales coordinator of the advertising and toy division at James D. Julia Auctions.

But when the Campbell’s flag sign was produced in the 1920s, there was an outcry against the perceived desecration of the national symbol, Truman explained. “The company recalled and destroyed many of them. It was just a different mindset back then.”

A few of the tin flag signs survived, however. “The ones that do come up are highly sought after. And people are finding them in the strangest of places,” Truman continued. The consignor of the example in the Nov. 13 Julia auction found the sign in the electrical room of an old building. Another example was found in the patchwork of an elevator shaft.

Their condition determines their value, of course, but the rarity of the Campbell’s sign always draws competitive bids. The presale estimate of the sign to be sold this month is $10,000 to $20,000, “because this one has some condition issues,” Truman said. A better example of the flag sign sold in 2000 at Julia’s for about $28,000. An even finer example sold for $90,000 in the 1990s. “Advertising was also hotter in the ’90s than now. That was the heyday. But it is still a very collectible field.”

Among the hottest categories in recent years are “taboo” subjects like tobacco, brewery and whiskey signs, Truman said. “Today’s outlook is different than what it was when they were produced,” and that may account for the contemporary appeal of ads that cater to our vices.

“Cute kids and beautiful women seem to do very well, too,” Truman added, regardless of decade and selling point. Flower-laden Art Nouveau ladies in long dresses are popular subjects today, as are 1950s Coca-Cola pin-ups in bathing suits.

“The more graphic and bizarre designs” are desired, too, especially faces with exaggerated features, like a bulbous-nosed Odin cigar smoker.

There is a certain hierarchy of signs, Truman said, determined by the quality of material used in their production. Porcelain signs, which required careful craftsmanship, and embossed tin tend to bring higher prices than cardboard and paper.

“But there are paper posters that can bring more than tin signs,” he said. There was a Lucky Strike baseball die cut cardboard display that was sold by Julia’s last year, with two MVPs from the 1920s, Jim Bottomley and Mickey Cochrane, flanking a pack of cigarettes. “The sign had been found behind a staircase in an abandoned building, after a church had bought the building.” The winning bid was $35,000.
“Baseball signs are very hot as well,” Truman said.

How antique signs are displayed depends on the collector, he explained. “I’ve seen both - some houses are completely decked out in advertising, while others are more conservative in their placement.

“There are pieces that certainly could be considered art. The Campbell’s sign could be displayed like a piece of art – it’s graphic, eye-catching, and a rarity, much like paintings people put up,” Truman said.

But auctioneer Rich Penn said sign collectors tend to lean toward dense displays. “I’ve been in houses where every square inch had something on the wall. I met one guy who hung his collection everywhere, including the ceiling.

“Advertising lovers often follow the law of nature that says, nature abhors a vacuum. Something gets sucked into the empty space.”

Penn’s Nov. 2 to 4 Country Store Advertising Auction Event will offer a great range of advertising art, from signs for cake frosting to cleaners to under garments to bullets, and lots and lots of Coke signs.

“These pieces come from two interesting collections. One was a drug store in southern Iowa that had been in business for about 100 years. That’s mainly apothecary-related merchandise and advertising. The second is a collection from the Country Relics Museum in Stanhope, Iowa,” Penn said, making for a diverse auction of signs, including one piece that was literally a buried treasure.

The excavation of the century-old drug store revealed a screen door interred in the basement, which had a dirt floor. Only a portion of the door protruded from the dirt, Penn explained, but on the other side of it was an original, metal and porcelain Coca-Cola fountain service sign from the 1930s that, miraculously, is in mint condition.

The drug store also contained boxes of 1950s and ‘60s paper Coke signs that had never been unwrapped or displayed, until now.

Those kinds of finds are the most desirable in antique advertising, Penn said. “The strongest prices now are for pieces in excellent condition, in every category across the board. Whether they are cigar, medicine or whisky ads, condition is more important than it has ever been. People have realized they can spend money on a sign and take it home, or spend 50 percent more and make money on it five years from now.”

Many collectors have focused their sights on specific themes or kinds of signs. “There is a strong group who like die cut cardboard; there are others who buy only porcelain – or just automotive porcelain. People are getting more finite about their collecting categories,” Penn has observed.

“But from an investment point of view, diversification is better in the long haul,” he said. Tastes and interests change, and so do values. “For a long time no one liked cardboard signs,” for example, “and now they bring huge amounts of money.”
To ensure that signs retain their value, both Truman and Penn advise that collectors keep their pieces out of direct light, from the sun or otherwise.

Paper should be kept under glass, preferably a type that stops ultraviolet rays, and in acid-free conditions. Tin signs should be kept away from moisture, Penn said, and from rapidly changing temperature and humidity. Porcelain and tin can be protected with waxes that aren’t abrasive. “Use common sense,” he said.

Restoration is up to the beholder, Truman said. “To turn around and sell an item, it should be professionally restored. If you’re just looking to hold on to it, it’s up to you. Some people like it to look fresh off the showroom floor. Others don’t like any restoration at all.”

To learn more about James D. Julia’s Nov. 13 auction, visit www.jamesdjulia.net. For details on Rich Penn Auctions’ Country Store Advertising Event, go to www.richpennauctions.com.