Checkerboard

February, 2019

In This Issue

In a word, PLENTY! In this article, we will run down the multitude of events as they will take place. If you have never attended a AAAA Convention or it has been some time, this will let you know exactly what to expect. We apologize in advance for the length of this article but that says something about all that will be going on!

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

The Convention will open at 7:00 PM with a warm welcome followed by the first seminar. It will be a fascinating panel discussion composed of AAAA and Ice Screamer experts to talk about various topics and questions posed by the audience.

At 8:00 pm, the first segment of the highly-anticipated "room hopping" will begin. About 50 rooms will be open for business with thousands of vintage items for sale or trade. You will find almost every genre of antique advertising represented. The informal setting will encourage people to go beyond the sales and make new acquaintances. Room hopping will continue until 10:00 pm or beyond.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Thursday will begin with a delicious and hearty hot breakfast buffet for our group in one of the ballrooms. Announcements will be made and tickets will be sold for the big raffles that will take place later that day, Friday and Saturday. Breakfast will be followed by a Business Meeting at 9:00 am. All AAAA members are encouraged to attend the Business Meeting and participate in the governance of the association. Immediately after the Business Meeting, more Room Hopping will take place from 10:00-12:00 Noon.

Lunch is on your own until 1:30 pm. There are numerous restaurants in the immediate area in addition to the one located in the hotel.

At 1:30 pm, a seminar entitled "The Cat Made Me Buy It" will be presented by Margaret Carpenter and Alice Muncaster. Margaret has been an impassioned collector of of cat-related advertising for many years and Alice is the author of several books on antique advertising including "The Cat Made Me Buy It", "The Black Cat Made Me Buy It", and others. You will be in for a real treat!

From 2:30-5:30 pm, you will have another opportunity to hit the dozens of rooms that will have vintage items for sale. Since not all rooms may be open at the same time, it is important to have these additional times to conduct your treasure hunting.

At 5:30 pm , a sumptuous full-course plated dinner will be served in one of the ballrooms. We have been hearing rave reviews about the new Head Chef at the hotel! For entertainment, Lenny Kirby will once again reprise his role as Master of Ceremonies and will lead the group through exciting raffle drawings and games with wonderful and generous prizes.

Our popular Favorite Advertising Exhibit will take place from 7:00-8:00 pm with Gary Cicci and Denise Preble  once again in charge. Attendees will bring their most spectacular, rare, & beloved examples of antique advertising for others to enjoy. Attendees will admire the entries & cast their votes to select "Best-In-Show" winners in several categories.

And if that wasn't enough for one day, at 8:00 pm, AAAA members will be invited to attend the Ice Screamers' Ice Cream Tasting Event! You will be treated to sumptuous hand-made ice cream made by the recognized national virtuosos in the world of ice cream--the Berley Brothers of Philadelphia. You won't want to miss this experience!

Friday, July 26, 2019

Friday will commence with another delicious hot breakfast buffet. It will be followed by an entertaining and informative seminar entitled "VITAMANIA: Vitamins, Past & Present!". The speaker will be David (Vita-Man) Meinz. David is not only the premiere collector of vitamin-related advertising in the US, he is also a national expert on the topic. He has a Master’s degree in human nutrition and is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. He is the author of five books and appears regularly on television and radio and speaks internationally to businesses and associations. 

At 10:00 am, AAAA members are invited to attend the Ice Screamers' big Exhibit, Show & Sale. This event will be held in one of the large ballrooms at the hotel. Vintage advertising and memorabilia related to soda fountains and ice cream will be for sale and display. Other types of antique advertising will also probably be represented.

The Ice Screamers' show and AAAA Room Hopping will keep attendees busy until noon. At that time, lunch will once again be on your own.

At 1:30 pm one of the Convention highlights will take place: the Silent Auction. Bob & Bev Hunt will once again oversee this exciting event. The ballroom will be filled with antique advertising that will go to the highest bidders. Two rounds will be conducted. The Ice Screamers, Graniteware collectors, and the public will all be invited to participate as bidders so there could be as many as 250-300 people in attendance. This will be an awesome experience and some great items will change hands.

The Silent Auction will end around 3:30 pm and Room Hopping will resume until 6:00 pm. This session of Room Hopping will include the public.

Our Friday dinner feast will commence at 6:00 pm, a bit later than in past years (in response to previous attendee feedback). Once again, a sumptuous multi-course, hot, plated meal will be served. Adding to the fun will be another round of raffle drawings and games, led again by Lenny Kirby.

When dinner festivities end at 7:15 pm, Room Hopping will resume with the public also invited to be in attendance. Members of the buying public are generally seen roaming our halls on "Public Night" until around 10:00 pm.

Saturday, July 27, 2019

The final day of our 2019 Convention will begin with another hearty, hot breakfast buffet at 8:00 am. We will have a group discussion about the Convention to learn what went well and to solicit recommendations for the future. Final raffles will be held and the Favorite Advertising Exhibit winners will be announced and honored. Then we will fondly bid attendees adieu and turn them loose to the dozens of antique malls and stores that will beckon us within a few miles of the hotel.

Hopefully, the Convention will conclude with many fond memories, lots of laughs, a belly full of good food, and some great antique advertising treasures to add to the collection or re-sell.

Sound good? If so, then register to attend right now! Sellers who register early will get the best room assignments.

The Facts:

 

Click here to complete your on-line registration for the 2019 AAAA Convention. If you experience any problems or have any questions, call Paul Lefkovitz at 317-501-3832.

 

Click here for the paper-and-pencil registration form.

Click here for the detailed Convention schedule.

 

Click here for the Convention flyer. Please share it with your friends!

 

We hope to see you at the 2019 Convention! If you have any questions, click here to contact Paul Lefkovitz, Convention Coordinator. 

Vintage trade journals are a veritable treasure trove of information about antique advertising. On Google, you can find copies of many old trade journals available at no cost. Digitized volumes of trade journals exist in the areas of tobacco, food products, clothing, drug store, oil and gas, general store supplies and equipment and more.

In the February, 2015 issue of the Checkerboard, we brought a number of these publications to your attention. Another Trade Journal is now available on the internet that will be of interest to collectors: "Candy and Ice Cream: A Trade Journal for Confectioners". This publication focuses on candy but also has good coverage of topics related to soda fountain and ice cream. It is mostly in black and white but vibrant color appears on the cover pages as well as ads here and there. Of particular value will be the many informative articles on the production, marketing, sales, and trends in the domains of ice cream and candy.

To download a PDF of this trade journal click here. This particular volume includes 471 pages and covers the 12 monthly issues from February, 1915 to January, 2016. One of the cover pages appears above and other selections from this volume appear below.

If you happen to be on Interstate 70 in east-central Indiana, perhaps headed to the Indy Ad Show, you may want to make a rest stop in Cambridge City, about 20 miles west of the Indiana-Ohio state line. In the business district of this little hamlet, located on US 40 (the old "National Road"), you will find a confluence of thirteen antique stores or malls in a four block stretch of road. With an abundance of historic, stately brick buildings, the town oozes with charm and has some good antiquing to offer as well.

One antique mall, in particular, appears to offer promise to collectors of vintage advertising. The Antique Lodge, located at 11 West main Street, is located in a beautifully maintained 1880's building that once housed the Order of the Redmen Lodge. Bruce Adkins, Manager, will amiably greet you and answer any questions you might have. The mall has several dealers that carry antique advertising, tins, signs, general store, displays, bottles, and the like. Some images of available inventory appear immediately below.

Cambridge City's peaceful vibe belies its rich historical past. The city was founded in 1836. The National Road was a driving force in its vibrant early economic development. The Whitewater Canal, which was extended to that point in 1846, added to the momentum. In those formative years, the town aspired to become a major force in Indiana. Today, however, Cambridge City only has a population of about 1,800 residents.

Yet the town celebrates its early history and culture by maintaining its many historic, beautiful buildings, conducting a well-attended annual "Canal Days Festival" in the fall, and, of course, serving as the home to a number of delightful antique venues.

For an enjoyable afternoon (and a delicious meal at the No.9 Grill), pay a little visit to Cambridge City, Indiana. Some views of the town appear in the column to the right and below.

Editor's Note: "Antique towns", which contain a confluence of antique venues in a delimited area, are becoming increasingly scarce. Do you know of one that you'd like to let others know about? If so, please click here to provide some information and photos, if you have them. Your tip will remain anonymous unless you request otherwise.

Michael A. Pollack, founder of Michael A. Pollack Real Estate Investments, is the premiere collector of Baranger advertising displays. He has been collecting Baranger displays and three-dimensional advertising for over 50 years. His advertising museum, housed in his corporate offices in Arizona, is home to over 141 Baranger displays and more than 7,000 other three-dimensional advertising pieces sprawling over 6,000 square feet.

Michael has established a web site so that everybody can enjoy the huge collection he has amassed. To visit the web site, click here. (It appears work is currently underway on the web site gallery but you can still see a number of images of the museum and learn about its history.) A few of the images from the web site appear below.

A fascinating sub-category in the field of tobacciana is the collection of advertising cigar box openers. These handy little devices were used to cut through the various labels that were placed on cigar boxes. Often, they also functioned to pry up the nails that sealed boxes and nail them back in. They were primarily used by cigar retailers all over the country to make the job of opening and closing boxes for display a bit easier.

The first cigar box opener was patented in 1868, the same year Federal Law mandated the application of tax stamps and other labeling on cigar boxes. Innumerable types of advertising cigar box openers were manufactured in the late 19th and early 20th century. In a 1979 self-published reference, Mike Schwimmer cataloged over 160 different shapes, divided into 15 different types. A myriad of cigar manufacturers, brands and distributors appear on these little tools resulting in thousands of possible types to discover and collect.

Values on eBay tend to fall into the $10 to $40 range. However, special examples can run much higher than that.

Tony Hyman, the consummate authority on all things related to cigar boxes, wrote an excellent article on cigar box openers as part of his web-based National Cigar History Museum web site. It served as the primary resource for this article and provides a great deal of additional detail, as well as numerous photos. Interested readers should refer to this definitive resource by clicking here.

The gallery below showcases just a very small sample of the many types of available advertising cigar box openers.

Rare Takrays cigar box openers. These advertising tokens with a well-defined hole have a sharp cutting edge and were nailed to the top of the cigar box. Quite scarce, they have sold on eBay for $40 to over $200, although a bargain may be had when their true purpose goes unrecognized.

Page from Early 20th Century Brunhoff Mfg Co Catalog

In this column are those sought-after items of desire that seem to be elusive. If you know where any of these items can be acquired or if you have one available, please click the link to reply directly to the seeker. To place a listing in this column, click here . There is no fee for AAAA members. Up to three listings per member are permitted.

Wanted Top Condition: Sunset Trail oval cigar tin (white version), Continental Cubes tobacco tin (medium size kidney shaped slide lid) 6” tall, Continental Cubes tobacco tin (larger flip lid pocket tin) 5” tall, Convention Hall Coffee tin (Kansas City tin) one pound GREEN and/or YELLOW version, Bob White tobacco tin small box (Ginna) size 3” by 4” by 2.5”. To reply, click here.

Stock food, poultry food, veterinary advertising wanted.  Posters, medicine packages, give-aways. Email [email protected] or call (256) 520-5211.

White Plastic 7" Tall "Pole Sign" Thermometers advertising local/regional gasoline/oil/service station brands such as: SPEEDWAY 79; SUPER 98; TOPCO; ROCKET; HANCOCK; BELL; OKLAHOMA. NOT the major national brands like Texaco. Peter Capell. To reply, click here.

Singer Sewhandy Model 20-Green-regular paint, not hammertone. To reply, click here.

National Biscuit Company, Nabisco, Uneeda Biscuit, Uneeda Bakers, Muth Bakery, NBC Bread toys, signage, tins, containers, displays, historical items. Please Email [email protected] or call (937) 205-2232.

Early Cigarette Rolling Papers: Pre-1940’s - American, Zig Zag, Braunstein Freres, Bambino, and Ottoman papers wanted. To reply, click here.

Antique/Collectible Banking and Financial System "Give-a way" and advertising items. Specifically from Pennsylvania. Alarm devices and such. To reply, click here .

Unusual one pound peanut butter tins . Tin litho or paper label. To reply, click here .

Marshmallow Tins, Smaller than 5 Pound Size. To reply, click here .

American Cookie, Biscuit and Cracker Tins and Boxes . To reply , click here .

Columbian Stove sign made by the Keeley Stove Co. in Columbia PA To reply, click here or call 717-572-3108.

 

VITAMINS advertising, displays, signs, bottles, and anything related: Hadacol is an example. Most would come from the 1930’s thru the 1970’s. Also anything related to cod-liver oil and WEIGHT-LOSS, REDUCING, ANTI-FAT, and OBESITY ITEMS. To reply, click here .

 

Early tin signs lithographed by Tuchfarber, Wells and Hope, Worcester Sign Company, Sentenne and Green, etc. I can pay more for good condition, but would be interested in any condition. Don Lurito  [email protected] also in the directory. To reply, click here .

 

Dwinell-Wright Co. Royal Ground Spice Cardboard Spice Boxes. One side displays horizontally. Approximately 3.75" by 2.25". Any type of spice is OK. To reply, click here .

 

ENSIGN Perfect and ENSIGN Perfection vertical pocket tobacco tins to enhance my collection. Feel free to contact me at 614-888-4619 or [email protected] to see if you can help fill the voids.

 

Ice Cream Advertising.  Mr. Ice Cream desires better ice cream advertising including: postcards, trade cards, letterheads, billheads, booklets, poster stamps, blotters, magic lantern slides, pinbacks, watchfobs and pocket mirrors. Allen Mellis, 1115 West Montana St. Chicago, Illinois 60614-2220.  [email protected] . To reply, click here .

 

Tall 1 lb. Mallard Coffee Can - Shows duck taking off. To reply, click here .

 

Chewing gum packs, sticks, wrappers, full boxes, lifesavers, candy bar wrappers, displays, and boxes.  Anything candy related. To reply, click here . 

 

Pre-1900 advertising items related to: barbed wire, farm fence gates, tools for erecting or mending wire fences, and farm fences. Only primary material please--no ads from newspapers, etc. Larry W. Love. To reply, click here .

 

Armour Foods Signs, Cardboards, Store Displays, Die-Cuts Wanted. To reply, click here .

 

Cigar advertising tip trays, pinbacks, or any unusual cigar advertising items. Harry Cohn: To reply, click here .

     

Edmands Coffee Company, Edmands Tea Company, 1776 Coffee, American Beauty Tea, Japan Tea, Devonshire Tea, (imported by Edmands, Boston/Chicago):  Any items such as tins, signs, paper, or anything else related to the Edmands family of companies in Boston is desired. To reply, click here .

The AAAA Checkerboard is a monthly e-newsletter that is made available to all AAAA members at no cost. The mission of the Checkerboard is to increase knowledge about antique and collectible advertising among AAAA members. The Checkerboard also provides news and updates about AAAA. It is produced each month with the exception of the four months per year when the award-winning PastTimes print newsletter is published. Paul Lefkovitz ( [email protected] ) serves as Editor of the AAAA Checkerboard. Copyright, 2018, Antique Advertising Association of America