As the auction nears, excitement is building. Next week is preview week, which is when you can come to the museum here in Elizabethtown and look over all 700 auction items. If you're a Coke® collector, there's a good chance you know Gary Metz. If not, here's an introduction. Suffice it say Gary is one of the nation's foremost authorities on Coca-Cola® memorabilia and he's been working with us to asses all items in our March 24-25 auction. Here's a message from Gary on some things that have caught his eye.
These are not the top 10 valued items in the next auction that is nearing, but simply some interesting things you want to be sure and notice for various reasons.
Lot 5... 1930s tin triangle sign and original bracket. Such a classic item and wow....what condition!
Lot 31... Drink Coca-Cola Highballs (The Morning After). From farther out you get the idea the company is promoting Coke as a mixer and perhaps they were in this early twenties sign, but the smaller print at the bottom of the piece is suggesting headache relief without making any health claim. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 prohibited that practice by soda pop and other manufacturers. Creative thinking by the ad guys well after enactment of the law is displayed in this scarce item!
Lot 79...1954 roadside billboard. What an opportunity for an impressive wall display at a price that will likely be very cheap on a per square foot basis.
Lot 114...Rare 1894 Coca-Cola hand fan. When I discovered this fan in the upper storage file bins it was face down. I anticipated a mundane reverse but was pleasantly shocked at the fabulous color graphics!
Lot 124...1927-31 Golden Bottle Award...literally! 14K. This is exemplary among so many fantastic smalls to be sold.
Lot 151...1901 beautiful change tray. Just one of many high-condition trays that are to be sold on the 24th and 25th. Examples of this early age and high condition from the museum collection will be in short supply after this auction. Plan accordingly!
Lot 176..Christmas can be enjoyed every day when you own such an exquisite example of early Coca-Cola holiday themed advertising as this piece surely is. With its cutout design, heavy embossing, glossy enameled finish and overall appeal, it offers everything you could hope for in such an item.
Lot 260...1911 was not too early for Coca-Cola to decide to market two brands and flavors at once, as evidenced by this gorgeous and large calendar (it might be too small to see in this photo, but just click on it and you will see).
Lot 267...Rick Opfer was helping sift through the archives late one afternoon, when high on a top shelf he saw the edge of something to explore underneath a protective foam cover. Our jaws dropped when we saw this offering and yours might, as well. I cannot remember ever seeing it displayed publicly in the past museum settings and I have never viewed another like it that I can recall. Early, classic, and a piece that transports my imagination to visions of what the early days must have been like involving the excitement in building such an iconic American brand-name product.
Lot 289...The smallest of one of four lots of early canvas banners in this auction.
