Advertising art has historic significance

#MiddleburyCT #Antiques #AdvertisingArt #Lunchbox #BusinessCard

Advertising and store collectibles have historical significance and brand recognition as well as artistic value. A combination of all three brought this lamp a price of $2,700 at Morford’s Antique Advertising Auctions.

This bell-shaped blue lamp was made by Fenton Art Glass Company for Bell Telephone. It was probably used in a hotel lobby. (Kovels.com)

The lamp was made by Fenton, a well-known art glass company. Its bell-shaped blue shade for Bell Telephone Co. is eye-catching. The inscription “Local and Long Distance Telephone” marks it as a relic of the past.

There is little need for public telephones today when most people carry a phone with them and can get service wherever they go. But even before the age of cellphones, people liked having access to a telephone anywhere they went. This lamp probably hung in a hotel lobby to let visitors know there was a telephone available.

Q: Plastic and metal lunchboxes from the 1960s and 1970s really interest me. I have a Holly Hobbie lunchbox with thermos that I carried in grade school. Are lunchboxes hot collectibles?

A: Collectible lunchboxes bring back childhood memories of favorite television shows, movies, cartoons, sports teams and musical groups. Holly Hobbie (1944) is an American writer and illustrator whose artwork sometimes appears on lunchboxes. She is the author of the popular “Toot and Puddle” children’s books and creator of the character bearing her name. In the early 1970s, Hobbie sold artwork of a cat-loving, rag-dress-wearing little girl in a giant bonnet to American Greetings. This series of illustrations became immensely popular, and her originally nameless character became known as “Holly Hobbie.” Your lunchbox, if authentic, is worth about $40.

TIP: Learn the dates of business cards and other advertising from telephone numbers. Numbers were first used in 1878. The seven-digit number was in use by the 1940s; fewer than seven digits date the card from 1878 to the 1940s. From the 1920s to the 1950s, most urban areas had a two-letter “exchange” followed by numbers.

Current Prices
Advertising chalkboard, Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer, Quality Since 1844, frothy glass, ribbon logo, tin, blue ground, inset chalkboard, cardboard back, 1960s, 26 x 17 inches, $125.
Porcelain jar, covered, oxblood glaze, bulbous, rounded shoulder, folded in rim, knob finial, Chinese, 13 inches, $810.
Clothing, graduation cap and gown, Harvard, doctoral, black silk worsted, black velvet bars, crimson silk hood, cap with black tassel, gown by Cottrell & Leonard of Albany, cap by E.R. Moore of Chicago, 1920s, $995.

For more collecting news, tips and resources, visit www.Kovels.com

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