Historical artifacts, photos from Byrd's Antarctic expedition at Old Town Auctions, Nov. 19-21 Old Town Auctions' Nov. 19-21 sale features an extraordinary cache of historical relics from Admiral Byrd's Antarctic expeditions, plus photographica, antique cameras and important images.
historical ephemera and artifacts dealing with Antarctic exploration from the 18th century through modern day. In addition to the aforementioned Conger collection, the assemblage includes fascinating and historically important relics and photographic documentation from the hut of Sir Ernest Shackleton and Capt. Robert Falcon Scott, all relating to their 1901-1904 Antarctic Discovery Expedition.
A virtual library of books about Antarctic exploration has been cataloged for day one. “There are some very good first-edition books written by Shackleton, Amundsen and other explorers, as well as many research books on the subject of Antarctica,” said Protos.
Saturday’s 800-lot offering runs the gamut of antique and collectible toys, and is anchored by automotive types. “There’s a wonderful selection of tether and gas-powered racers, quite a few of which are larger scale and from the early period of production, around the 1930s,” Protos said. Top brands include Dooling and Syncro.
A selection of approximately 50 highly detailed ship and boat models is described by Protos as “museum quality, ranging from turn of the century designs to contemporary productions, and from countertop size to 8 feet long.” Most are from a single-owner collection and include masted vessels, steamships, riverboats and other marine craft.
An extensive aviation collection features a fleet of travel agency model airplanes of all sizes, movie prop planes, and a mixed bag of other desirable aviation-related collectibles. An unusual entry is a propeller Protos said he believes is probably from a 1916-1918 British single-seater fighter biplane known as the “Sopwith Pup.”
The Saturday roster features 100 to 150 lots of antique advertising and country store items, led by soft drink advertising signs and other coveted pieces including Coca-Cola salesmen’s samples, a superb Moxie cardboard die-cut, and a child’s booster chair with “Coca-Cola” emblazoned on its back. “I’ve never seen another one,” Protos noted.
Within Saturday’s lineup, collectors will find Marx toys, battery ops, several boxed Lehmanns, a fabulous boxed example of the largest Britains Coronation die-cast set ever made, and black-theme toys; plus rare car mascots and auto-related ephemera; and a choice grouping of figural cigar lighters and match holders.
Day three is devoted to the legion of collectors who prefer their toys to ride the rails, and features the contents of two major collections plus select additions. More than 650 lots of trains will be auctioned, representing such brands as Lionel, Ives, Marx, American Flyer and more. There will be live-steam trains, many train accessories, train stations in standard, O and S gauge; and some German trains by Marklin and Bing.
As an added enticement, Old Town will auction (to gallery bidders only) 75 to 150 uncataloged lots prior to each of the three auction sessions.
Old Town Auctions’ Nov. 19-21 sale will be held at the Grand Venice Hotel, 431 Dual Highway, Hagerstown, Maryland. The sale will start at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 19; 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 20; and 12 noon on Sunday, Nov. 21. A two-hour preview will precede each session.
