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Green Valley Auctions, Mount Crawford, Virginia

Loetz and License Plates Coexist in Virginia

by Walter C. Newman

On January 27 and 28, Green Valley Auctions held not one, but two separate auctions at its facility in Mount Crawford, Virginia. On its face, the decision to conduct simultaneous catalog sales literally within feet of each other defies conventional (and some might say rational) thinking.

In its main sale area, Gallery One, was Green Valley's fifth annual two-day winter cataloged sale of glass and lighting-no surprise there. The second half of this auction odd couple, however, was a stand-alone single-day sale of country store, advertising, gas station memorabilia, and automobilia. This sale was just through a doorway in Gallery Three.

On the one hand, there were items with such familiar names as Loetz, Quezal, and Gallé. On the other hand, there were examples from not so familiar marques: Red Coon (chewing tobacco), Glick (candy), and Eisemann's Klondike Head Rub (scalp tonic). But somehow things seemed to run very smoothly.

As usual, Green Valley owner and lead auctioneer Jeffrey Evans presided over the 1577-lot glass sale from the podium in Gallery One. Jeff's brother, Gregory, moved along the aisles among the display tables selling the country store and associated items in Gallery Three. A total of 480 registered bidders combined for the two sales, coming from 35 states, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

As is customary at Green Valley's glass-related sales, absentee bidding was strong. There were more than 1350 absentee bids and more than 100 phone bids, only a handful of which were on the country store sale side.

High lot of the day came from the glass auction: a rare and previously undocumented coin spot ribbon-tie mold water pitcher, probably made by the Dugan Glass Company. The rare piece brought $9350 (includes buyer's premium).

Several such bright spots notwithstanding, the glass sale was a bit predictable. Jeff Evans puts it best himself. "Glass; it is what it is. Our glass collectors are very knowledgeable and really study their material. They read the catalog, they do their research, and they bid. There are not many surprises."

On the other hand, the country store sale offered several surprises, along with much more bidder subjectivity and a healthy dose of nostalgia. Walking the aisles among the 509 cataloged lots and the hundreds of uncataloged items was a trip down memory lane that everyone in attendance seemed happy to take.

Most of the items were from the late 19th and early 20th century, and most of the attendees registered some personal familiarity with the material. Strangers chatted over their recollections of such-and-such ice cream brand or recalled where this-or-that sign had hung at their local market or filling station. The sale consisted of a predominance of signs and advertising items, but there were also some unusual pieces that went home for what seemed to be very reasonable prices.

Hundreds of license plates were driven away to complete individual collections for only a dollar or two each. One lot containing a group of automotive sales brochures from the 1930's contained a booklet requiring the prospective car buyer to use a pair of red and green lens 3-D glasses in order to see the illustrations. Wearing the glasses, cut-away renderings of the cars and engine parts popped off the page for the potential buyer. That lot itself popped off the sales floor for only $27.50.

A pair of early 20th-century salesman's sample folios were sold as separate lots. One was a set of 84 examples of different artwork variations for playing card backs, and the other offered various styles of retail store advertising calendar formats. Both items quickly found buyers, selling for $88 and $55 respectively.

One of the most interesting lots of the day was glass, but it came from the country store sale. A complete set of mirrors that once adorned the wall behind a Howard Johnson's soda counter gathered interest and nostalgic comments from everyone who passed by. Each of the seven individual mirrors measured 29" high x 30" wide. The set exhibited painted and cut white lettering and included one panel depicting the firm's famous Simple Simon and the Pie Man logo. The set served up a flavorful $440 (est. $100/150).

It probably goes without saying that there is very little crossover among glass collectors and those interested in the country store merchandise. But as mutually exclusive as these two categories may seem, there were several individuals who did move back and forth from Gallery One to Gallery Three.

One of these transient bidders had parked himself at a table by the doorway between the two sales floors. When asked how he kept up with both of the Evans brothers' rapid-fire sales, he answered with a single word, "Concentration." Then he quickly excused himself and went back to his two yellow-highlighted sales catalogs and his tennis match-like viewing style.

For additional information, contact Green Valley Auctions at (540) 434-4260 or visit (www.greenvalleyauctions.com).