Auction Details

General & Ephemera

Auction starts at 9:00 AM.

Our June 29, 2014 General Auction is a treasure trove of buying opportunities, especially for those who like ephemera. By definition, “ephemera” are items that were expected to have only a brief shelf life – things made specifically for the consumer to use, enjoy, then discard. The term incorporate posters, calendars, handbills, pulp magazines, postcards, and anything else made of paper and deemed disposable after its purpose had been fulfilled.

Because paper goods weren’t meant to last, those items that have survived the test of time in fine condition are no longer regarded as throwaways. Far from it. They’re today’s collectibles and form a popular category in Morphy’s sales.

The June 29 General Auction contains 700+ lots of quality ephemera, plus a bonus section of more than 200 lots of stamps. The list of buying opportunities is long and diversified. The offering includes:

• Over 100 advertising pieces
  
• Over 50 pinup calendars and calendar tops by such artists as Alberto Vargas, Gil Elvgren and Earl MacPherson
  
• Over 100 great die-cuts
  
• Trade cards
  
• 19th-century atlases from Midwestern states
  
• Posters for St. Louis Air Races
  
• A massive selection of more than 50,000 Silver, Copper and Modern Age comic books
  
• 200+ “Tijuana bibles”
  
• Many early catalogs
  
• Over 300 1930s to 1950s science fiction pulp magazines, with titles including Weird Tales, Astounding Stories, Startling Stories, etc.
  

Featured items in the sale include Lot 65, a great-looking trade card that advertises the Trick Dog mechanical bank. Imprinted below a colorful image of the bank – whose design replicates a clown holding a hoop for his little dog to jump through – is the name of retailer “Rector & Wilhelmy Co., Omaha, Neb.” Cards of this type appeal not only to ephemera and antique advertising collectors, but also mechanical bank enthusiasts. In very good condition, it is expected to sell for $100-$200.
A fine grouping of Silver Age Marvel comic books entered as Lot 25 includes many desirable titles, including Daredevil, X-Men and Captain America. In overall very good condition, the group is estimated at $100-$200. Lot 405 consists of three excellent-condition examples of Amazing Spider-Man No. 300, also estimated at $100-$200.
Within the selection of atlases is Lot 149, “Colton’s Map of the United States and The Canadas.” A hand-colored, folding sectional map of North America, it includes railroads, canals and stagecoach roads. A very nice, early map, it is estimated at $300-$500.
Lot 733 is comprised of a large selection of American hunting, fishing, quail and duck stamps from the 1960s, 70s and 80s. They have a total face value of $785 and will be offered as a single lot with a $800-$1,200 estimate.