Lectures by three leading experts in the Arts and Crafts movement and Stickley’s work

Oct 16th, 2010  10:00 am – 2:30 pm

Highlights include: Painting by Luigi Loir (French, 1845 – 1916), Chinese, Japanese and Asian fine art, textiles and decorative art, 18th, 19th & 20th century furniture and decorative art, fine estate jewelry & watches, and a dog collection including metal dog figures and doorstops, mostly Hubley, plus inkwells, tobacciana, ashtrays, lamps, clocks, bootscrapes, etc.

Aution Oct 16th, 2010  10:00 am

One of my pet peeves about this business is how dealers will keep merchandise for the longest period of time, waiting to sell for the ultimate dollar.

You buy something, and perhaps you get it for a song, and all you want is to get full retail for it.  Depending on the item, perhaps you can.  But if it’s a common item, chances are – you won’t.  And even if it’s not a common item, after taking it to a few shows and it doesn’t sell means it’s time to cut bait.

There is nothing worse than seeing the same tired merchandise show after show.  Buyers stop coming into your shop or show booth and dealers who are often your customers take their business elsewhere.

I know it is getting harder to find merchandise, and when you do find great stuff, it usually goes fast.  The key to being a successful seller is to constantly have new merchandise.   So if that means selling something for what you paid for it once you’ve carried it around a while, then that’s what you need to do. You are tying up your money that could potentially be invested in another item that will sell faster and perhaps for a greater profit, and you are certainly losing the interest of your regular buyers.

With the holidays upon us, shoppers will be out in full force looking for that special something.  Take a few moments to consider the following:

1)      Offer a little holiday theme to your booth.   If you are selling fine china and stemware, bring in a dining room table and dress it up to show people how great your items could look in their home.

2)      If you have a variety of vintage Christmas bulbs and ornaments, perhaps bring in a vintage Christmas tree and decorate it.

3)      Merchandise that you’ve had for a while place on one side of your booth with a sign offering a pre-holiday shopping special with a nice discount %  = that always motivates people to buy and it will generate additional cash for you to buy more items for the holiday shoppers.

Another suggestion you might consider during the holidays is to go into your booth once a week and move things around.  It gives the appearance of having new merchandise and people that shop your store often might see something they didn’t see the time before.

I’d love to hear your marketing tips on how to move merchandise.  Drop me a line!

Happy Hunting!

Reyne

Rare posters, circus sideshow banners, animation cels add color and fun

to Mosby & Co.’s absentee auction closing Nov. 17

Circa-1900 DeKreko Bros. black-face minstrels vaudeville show one-sheet poster. Mosby & Co. image.

FREDERICK, Md. – Mosby & Co.’s  phone, Internet and absentee auction, which will be open for bidding from Nov. 2-17, is brimming with posters whose vivid colors and exciting images recall the era of traveling circuses under the big top.

“Days, even weeks in advance, the posters would start to appear around town, posted on store windows and walls, on light and telephone poles, or on the sides of buildings,” said Mosby & Co. owner Keith Spurgeon. “Everyone wanted to know when the circus was coming to town.”

Some posters depicted impossible feats, performed by acts from exotic lands. Others promised a real live parade of clowns, performers and wild animals right down the main street of small town USA. “But nowadays, most people under the age of 50 would not have a personal recollection of old-time circuses. It’s a bygone era, and that’s what makes period circus posters so collectible.”

In their fall sale, Mosby’s will present more than 200 circus, minstrel, vaudeville, Wild West and early theatrical posters, with a dateline ranging from the 19th century to 1998. The unquestioned king of this grouping is a circa-1900 original Buffalo Bill “Rough Riders of the World” poster featuring the U.S. Cavalry. This linen-mounted 28-sheet billboard shows an incredibly detailed and colorful glimpse into this iconic and completely American spectacle.

Rare circa-1900 Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders 28-sheet billboard poster on linen. Mosby & Co. image.

There are posters from the famous and also the obscure, like Col. Tim McCoy’s Wild West show, which lasted for less than one month during the Great Depression. Many of these posters came from two long-defunct Coney Island venues: ride inventor and manufacturer William F. Mangels’ Museum of American Entertainment and the old Henderson Music Hall and Tavern on Surf Avenue. These particular posters are display-mounted on Masonite, as was typical from the 1920s through the 1950s. Most of the remainder of this group came from the archives of other museums.

Circa-1950 Popeye sideshow banner by Snap Wyatt, from a group of more than 40 sideshow banners in Mosby & Co.’s sale. Mosby & Co. image.

Once again, Mosby & Co. will offer original sideshow banners from artists such as Snap Wyatt, Fred G. Johnson, Johnny Meah, Mark Frierson, J. Sigler and others. A great Snap Wyatt Popeye banner and a Fred Johnson “Missing Link” lead this portion of the sale.

“They came from different museums and were held in collections for a long time. These banners have not been seen in the auction marketplace before,” Spurgeon said. “These items are true Americana. Some of the rarest items are the Buffalo Bill and early Barnum & Bailey posters by Strobridge (Cincinnati).”

Reflecting one of its specialties, Mosby & Co. will auction a fine selection of pre-World War II Japanese celluloid toys, along with a variety of American and European toys. There will be a wide array of boxed toys by Buddy ‘L,’ Marx and Nylint, including a sealed-box Nylint Missile Launcher and Street Sweeper.

A Toschi Ferrari with the motor still in its original box is part of the vehicle section of the sale. A recently discovered and fresh to the market find is a factory-sealed Marx Ben-Hur series 2000 playset.

1950s Toschi Ferrari, original windup motor, retains original box. Mosby & Co. image.

Comic character toys are well represented with several Disney pieces and a nice Popeye grouping. The Disney toys include an extremely rare and possibly unique 1936 Drumming Elmer the Timid Elephant toy. “To our knowledge, it is the only known example,” said Spurgeon.

In addition to toys, the sale features three carved-wood 19th-century American Eagles as highlights of the Americana section. A fine Mills War Eagle nickel slot machine, several gumball vending machines, a 1908 Budweiser Girl cardboard in the original wood frame with gesso details, and a very nice Yellow Kid brand cigar box are all premier lots in the auction’s advertising category.

Original Warner Bros. Michigan J. Frog 2-cel setup, signed by Chuck Jones, one of more than 40 cels in the sale. Mosby & Co. image.

In addition there are some great animation-related pieces including over 40 original production cels. Most are from Warner Bros. and originated from a former employee at the Warner Bros. Stores’ corporate headquarters, which is no longer in existence. Some are signed by legendary animator Chuck Jones, and a few are multi-cel setups. There are four original Warner Bros. animation maquettes of the main Tiny Toons characters. “These were never offered to the public, and only a few sets were made for in-house use,” said Spurgeon. “The ones we are auctioning were the property of the original sculptor Kent Melton and have his signed paper labels affixed to the bases.”

Also from the desk of Kent Melton, Mosby & Co. will offer a pair of extremely rare Batman and Joker figures. Originally 50 signed and numbered sets were produced with the intention of being sold to guests at the Hollywood premiere of the 1989 Batman film, but they were gone before the ink was dry on the catalogs given out at the event. This particular pair is one of only a handful of artist’s proofs made, and again they have Kent’s signed paper labels on the bases.

Diminutive circa-1925 German tin motorcycle made by CKO, one of more than 50 penny toys in the sale. Mosby & Co. image.

A very desirable late addition to the sale is a single-owner collection of more than 50 penny toys, mostly German and mostly automotive. Among the highlights are: boy in rocking chair, a Kellerman motorcycle, a Wright Bros.-style bi-plane, and a Meier touring car with chauffeur and female passenger.

The sale begins Nov. 2, 2010 and closes at 11 p.m. on Nov. 17, 2010. Full color catalogs are available for $22 postpaid to U.S. addresses or $29 internationally.

For additional information on any lot in the sale, call Keith Spurgeon at 781-771-3998 or 301-304-0352, or e-mail keith@mosbyauctions.com. Mailing address: Mosby & Co. Auctions, 905 W. 7th St., #228, Frederick, MD 21701.

Fine Art Show on Oct 9th 2010

Auction: Nov 5th – 14th 2010  10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Fall Rug Sale in conjunction with Oscar Isberian Rugs.  Over 500 rugs available!

Auction: Oct 20th 2010  6:00 pm

Complete Catalogue Available Online

Live online bidding now through Live Auctioneers

Auction: Oct 26th 2010 in New York

Auction: Oct 15th 2010  6:30 pm

Auction: Oct 16th 2010  11:00 am

Auction: Oct 17th 2010  12:00 pm (Noon)

Auction: Oct 9th 2010

Find excellent vintage clothing including rare 1900’s to 1970’s jeans, jackets, boots, accessories and more!  Also see vintage advertising for brands like LEVIS, LEE and WRANGLER.