Press Release

New Hamburg, ON, Canada, September 13, 2024 -- A rare Canadian Red Indian Motor Oil single-sided tin sign from the 1920s soared to $64,900 and an American Campbell’s Tomato Soup convex porcelain single-sided sign, also from the 1920s, finished at $24,780 in two online-only auctions hosted by Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. The two auctions combined for a robust $1,132,368.

All prices quoted are in Canadian dollars and include an 18 percent buyer’s premium.

The scarce Red Indian Motor Oil single sided tin sign was the top lot in a Petroliana & Advertising auction held on September 7th. The sign featured the earlier and more detailed “Indian Head” logo and the slogan – “Best Motor Insurance” – is seen only in very early Red Indian advertising. The sign, 23 ¼ inches by 17 ¼ inches, easily beat its $12,000 high estimate.

The die-cut Campbell’s Tomato Soup single-sided convex porcelain sign, embossed, was the top achiever in a September 8th Soda & General Store Advertising auction held on September 8th. The iconic American sign, marked Campbell Soup Company (Camden. N.J.), was 22 ½ inches by 12 ¾ inches and boasted excellent color and gloss. It sailed past its high estimate of $9,000.

The September 7th Petroliana & Advertising auction featured 309 lots of petroliana (gas station collectibles) and advertising and ended the day grossing $683,308. The September 8th Soda & General Store Advertising auction contains 404 lots of advertising signs, soda advertising, tobacciana and general store items and grossed $449,080. Both sales were hugely successful.

“Fifty years of selective collecting paid off in spades from Ken McGee,” said Ethan Miller of Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd., in reference to the petroliana and advertising collection of Ken and Sylvia McGee of Goderich, Ontario. “Ken’s decades-old purchases of pump plates and signs on the fields at Hershey brought him exponential returns.”

Mr. Miller said that in both sessions, condition and rarity dictated price. “Rare items in top condition soared to oblivion,” he said. “This sale is proof that the collector market for choice advertising and petroliana is alive and well, but the mad money that was being spent on lower grade content during COVID is history.”

Following are additional highlights from the two auctions, in which a total of 913 online bidders placed a combined total of 18,499 bids. Internet bidding was facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.com and the Miller & Miller Auctions website. Of the 713 total lots up for bid, nearly all were sold, and more than half the top lots on both days exceeded estimates.

Staying with Day 1, a sleek, silver 1964 Airstream Overlander Land Yacht 26-foot trailer that included the original serial-matched owner’s manual and guarantee certificate indicating delivery to its first owner, in Southfield, Michigan, found a new home for $29,500. The torpedo-shaped Airstream, an iconic American trailer that’s been turning heads since 1936, was built in Ohio.

Two Canadian White Rose Gasoline signs combined to bring $56,640. A 1940s double-sided porcelain sign, 24 inches in diameter, with bracket, in untouched and original condition, sold for $29,500; while a 1940s three-piece single-sided porcelain center sign and banners climbed to $27,140. White Rose Gasoline signs are some of Canada’s most recognizable petroliana signs.

To learn more about Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. and the firm’s upcoming auctions, visit www.millerandmillerauctions.com.

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