| Chupp auctions in Shipshewana, Ind. |
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| Larry and Rob Pennel were the proud owners of the items which crossed the block in Shipshewana at a two-day auction conducted by Chupp Auctions and Real Estate. On a regular basis, the Pennel brothers travel through the United States searching out undiscovered items which will appeal to collectors. Their main focus is primarily on items related to early advertising and primitives. After amassing these treasures, they transport them to Shipshewana and have Lyle and Dale Chupp, their auctioneers of choice, preside on the auction block.
This auction contained many special buys for collectors as most of the items were new, old stock items which had come from a hardware/farm equipment dealership, closed in 1988. This business had been established in 1905 and the owners had preserved many early advertising examples.
One of the items that bidders found particularly interesting was a chicken house burglar alarm. Larry explained how this item was used; stating that a piece like this was in demand during the Great Depression when people were desperate for food and would break into henhouses to steal eggs and chickens.
It was rigged so that when a wire was tripped it would discharge a shotgun shell followed by the tripping of a second wire and the discharge of a second shotgun shell. The final selling price for this unique item was $850.
Along the lines of personal safety and theft deterrent, a Peters ammunition display case was also offered on the block. When a box of the product was removed from the case a bell would ring alerting the store proprietor to the removal. The final bid for this item was $1,200.
A New Idea display consisting of a cardboard display stand and scale models of a picker (with the box), a spreader (also with a box) and a mower drew spirited bidding including the participation of a phone bidder who was an out-of-state auctioneer and in the midst of conducting his own auction. This display was in mint condition and the following prices were realized: cardboard display stand, $3,000; the picker, $600; the spreader $450; and the mower, $300.
De Laval items, which are sought as collectibles, were also on the block at this auction. In particular, a mint-in-box (MIB) five-foot cardboard standup figure of a woman advertising the De Laval separator which sold for $2,600. Featured right next to this item was a display from 1939 for a De Laval contest. This was also MIB and earned $500.
Other De Laval items included a cream separator cabinet with many separator parts which crossed the block for $1,000. A porcelain De Laval flange sign which was in near-mint condition sold for $800 and a De Laval cutaway cream separator, which had probably been made for farm shows or showroom displays, sold for $475.
Many farmers proudly displayed a sign which read We Use De Laval Separators or We Use De Laval Equipment. Many were presented and most sold for $60 to $110.
Other examples of De Laval collectible items included a calendar from 1929 which sold for $300; a calendar from 1932, $170; a tin brown Swiss cow and calf, $110; and a sales catalog which saw $50.
An Oliver pedal bulldozer which was presented was in seemingly mint condition. This item was number 50 out of 100 made. Spirited bidding ended with the final bid of $3,000.
A new old stock child’s red wheelbarrow sold for $350 and a 4-Wheel Turn coaster, which had rear wheels that turned as well as the front ones, saw a final bid of $1,100.
A Clipper salesman’s sample grain sorter and bean cleaner with its original paperwork saw a final bid of $1,550. A Cyclone seed corn treater, demonstrated by Larry Pennel, sold for $2,000.
As might be expected at an auction of this type there were many, many signs from times past. There were all types - small, large, rectangular, square, round, diamond shape, etc.
Most of these appeared to be in good to excellent condition with some of them being near mint or possibly mint and nearly all were related to farm equipment or supplies in some way.
Some of the examples include: a Sanitary Melotte cream separator sign, $300; a Hudson’s Feeds sign, $350; and a Durocs double-sided sign Grow Faster on Less Feed, $600.
An embossed Cattle Crossing sign from Red Rose Farm Feeds sold for $500; a Ful-O-Pep sign for eggs was $550 and a DeKalb Profit Pullets sign sold for $600.
A round Ames -In-Cross chicken sign and a round Golden Sun Feeds sign each sold for $700; an Embossed Cooper-Tox Extra sign saw $750; and a round Babcock Chicks sign sold for $1,200. A sign advertising Red Comb Duck Feeds sign was sold when the gavel fell at $2,600 and a Blackhawk Co-Operative sign from the Hybrid Seed Corn Association sold for $1,500.
A Pilot Oyster Shell sign saw a final bid of $600; a Foxbilt Feeds sign, $350; and an early flange sign proclaiming We Sell Buckeye Cultivators sold for $410.
A porcelain New Idea Farm Equipment sign elicited spirited bidding and sold for $2,300; a Planet Jr. Flange sign sold for $800 and a framed poster for New Idea haying equipment sold for $700.
Other signs included: a Parker’s Hoosier Hybrids dealer sign selling for $170; a Feed Foxbilt Seeds sign, $250; a porcelain Master Mix feeds sign, $200; a Royster Fertilizer sign, $100; and an embossed Glidden Feeds sign, $400.
A MoorMan’s Mineral sign saw $200; a Jamesway Power Charing Equipment sign, $250; and a diamond-shaped Steckley Genetic Giant sign, $100. One hundred and twenty dollars was the winning bid for a Napiana (a Nappanee company) Quality Feeds sign, $120; and a Viking cream separator sign, $135.
A sign declaring Perfection Milkers Used Here sold for $125; DeKalb signs with pole for sticking into the ground sold for $100 and $155; and a Pfister Hybrids sign, also one on a pole, sold for $135.
A sign for Spring Valley Dairy saw the gavel fall at $250; a sign, Milk Bank Boost With Pex, saw $750 and one for the Surge milker sold for $235.
An embossed sign, Burn-O-Matic Bunk Feeder sold for $100; a Purina sign for $300; one for Jacques feeds was $120; and a Supersweet Feeds sign was $150.
A McCormick Deering sign from Wakarusa, Ind., sold for $450; a double sign for an Oliver Grain-Master saw $400; and an interesting sign for Mule Hide Roofs declaring Not A Kick in a Million Feet sold for $330.
A neon New Idea Farm Equipment sign which was new in the box but needed a transformer sold for $400; a dealer’s sign for Fordson Tractor & Oliver Tractor Implements from Gladston, New Jersey sold for $375; and a dealer’s sign for Evinrude motors sold for $270. This sign was never displayed because the name of the town had been spelled wrong - Preque Isle instead of the correct Presque Isle, Wisconsin.
Similar to the stand-up cardboard sign of a woman advertising the De Laval separators were two stand-up cardboard signs advertising Perfection ranges. One was of a young lady and the other of an older one; these sold for $340 and $320, respectively.
Other items of interest included a John Deere General Catalog put out by the John Deere Plow Company and covered the years from 1837-1937 sold for $750; and a similar book, The Book on Oliver sold for $375.
A newer small John Deere wagon sold for $200; a large newer homemade farm wagon sold for $190; a wicker buggy was $375; and a New Idea display board which had been taken new from its shipping carton sold for $235.
Watch for the January 12-13 auction to be held by Chupp Auctions which will have many more items of this type. Chupp Auctions is a family-run company with Lyle and Dale Chupp presiding as the auctioneers and other family members providing clerking, ringing, and cashiering duties.
For additional information on this and upcoming auctions, contact Chupp Auctions at (574) 536-8005. |
| 1/8/2007 |
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