Category: Advertising

ITEM HIGHLIGHT: 1920’s Trident Water Meter by the Neptune Water Meter Company

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Advertising, Item highlight, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

While I was shopping one day, I happened to see this item.  At first, I didn’t even know what it was—it was so cool that I had to check it out. 

I started looking at it and my mind was blown—and then I saw what the lid had to say.  I saw that the lid states it is the Trident Water Meter by the Neptune Meter Company!

The meter has the original folding cover or lid that covers a white gauge with black lettering, and the gauge reads 10 GALLONS at the bottom.

 The meter is made of either cast iron or brass (the meter has been painted a light blue at some point).  It dates to about the 1920’s and it has very little wear.  An interesting point about this is that the meter is pretty tall at 6 ½ inches—I think that it was being used somewhere like a basement of a house at some point.

Not only is it an interesting conversation piece, but it would also be a fun addition to any mancave or desk.

You can see this terrific item in my Etsy shop here, head on over and check it out!

Paper advertising comes in all forms

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Advertising, Beginning to collectLeave a comment

Advertisers have always relied on colorful product labels, magazine and broadside advertising, and even giveaways to promote their products.  Periodical ads contain colorful product illustrations so that buyers can readily recognize a particular brand and model.

Collecting paper ads is an excellent way to document changing tastes.  Our social and technical history can be traced through the products offered in the ads of the time.

Pries vary with posters and signs being the most expensive.  Bookmarks, trading cards, and magazine ads are often affordable for the beginning collector.

The ads can even be used to decorate around the house.  You could even be creative about it as well; you can display ads for kitchen items in the kitchen and even ads for kid’s toys in a child’s room.

What ads have you run across that you could not do without?

Wow, what an interesting beer can!

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Advertising, Beginning to collect, Item highlightLeave a comment

The aluminum beer can made it’s debut in the late 1950’s and was introduced by the Hawaii Brewing Company.  Since then, pretty much every brewing company has caught on and started to use them.  Coors, Pabst Blue Ribbon and even Budweiser are some of the products that have been packed into this type of can.

Did you know that there have been errors along the way?  Upside down labels and the lid missing the pop top are common errors, and I bet that I can produce an error that you have never seen—the label on the inside of the can!

As you can kind of see in the picture is that this is a Pabst Blue Ribbon can.  When this can was made, there was a production error that caused the label to be on the inside of the can.

You can also see that there is no damage anywhere to the can, and it can still hold liquid.  The crazy thing about this can is that it is the same size and holds the normal 12 ounces.

You can see this can in my Etsy shop here, head on over and check it out.

I have personally never seen an error like this.  Have you ever run across one similar?

Wow, what a great advertising calendar top!

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn AdvertisingLeave a comment

Calendars have been used for many years to advertise anything from cars to musical instruments.  There are quite a few items that are featured on calendars, and there are just as many calendar designs as well.

One design of calendars that you will run across is a calendar top with a pad attached to it with a small sheet of paper that tells you what month and year it is.  The calendar pad will be replaced over the years while you keep the top.  Part of this type of design can be seen on this terrific calendar top advertising the Greisedieck Brothers Beer Company.

When the Griesedieck Brothers Beer Company produced this calendar, they used a print by Rolf Armstrong on it.  The print was titled, “Dreamy Eyes” and was originally produced in the 1920’s.  Rolf Armstrong’s work was featured on many things from magazine covers to even mugs, and they are very collectible in themselves.

The other great thing that this calendar has going for it is the size of it.  It’s 15 inches wide by 19 ¾ inches long, so not only does it not take up a lot of room it also can fit into a standard size frame.

This is one of the many types of calendar designs and motifs that you can run across.  What kinds of advertising calendars have you run across?

Wow, what a massive cologne bottle store display!

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Advertising, Item highlightLeave a comment

I can see it now—as you are walking through a store in a local mall, you pass by the perfume counter and you see this sitting on the counter.  It really makes you stop and takes notice.

What is it?  It’s an advertising piece for ESCADA SENTIMENT men’s cologne.  This store display is in the shape of a massive cologne bottle.

This bottle is made of glass and it has a plastic lid and atomizer. Both the lid and atomizer are removable, and the store display has the same artistic / triangular shape as the normal bottle.

Just how big is this?  The store display measures 14 ¾ inches tall including the lid and 5 inches at the base.

You can see this terrific find in my Etsy store here.

Wow, what a great store display!  Have you seen anything like this before?

What a great store display!

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Advertising, Glassware, Item highlightLeave a comment

Occasionally, you will find something for sale that makes you stop for a second in amazement.  It could be just about anything—something like this ESCADA SENTIMENT store display.

ESCADA SENTIMENT By Escada is a men’s cologne that was first sold in 2002, and it was more commonly sold in department stores.

This store display bottle was found on the countertop of the fragrance department in department stores that sold the fragrance.  The bottle is a large glass bottle with a cranberry color, and it has a plastic lid and atomizer. Both the lid and atomizer are removable, and the store display has the same artistic / triangular shape as the normal bottle.

The store display is huge—it measures 14 ¾ inches tall including the lid and 5 inches at the base.

Since this was a store display, it was more than likely sat with similar display pieces to show off what the store was selling.

I love the shape of the bottle—it looks like it came out of the Art Deco era with the front having a triangular shape and the geometric shapes of the back.

This is one type of store display that you can find—what other types of displays have you run across?

The green flag is about to drop on the Indianapolis 500. . . from 1972?!?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Advertising, Glassware, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

The Indianapolis 500 race (also known as the Indy 500) is a race that’s held every year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and it’s been held there since 1911.

The photo-finishes, drinking the milk in victory lane and even the fabled yard of bricks at the start-finish line are just some of the things that you think of when it comes to this race.

One of the years that is memorable for this race is 1972.  Several important things happened during 1972, and this is the first year that Jim Nabors was invited to sing the pre-race song “Back Home Again In Indiana.”  It was the start of a 36-year tradition for Jim Nabors performed nearly every year from 1972 to 2014.

The second thing that happened in 1972 is that this is the first year that the cars were allowed to use bolt on wings.  This helped the speeds climb drastically—Bobby Unser won the pole with a remarkable 195 mph, and the average race speed was 162 mph (that speed would stand until 1984).

The 1972 race was also the first year where the Electro-PACER light system was used during the caution laps at Indy.  The officials at the speedway also did not use the pace car during the cautions, and this enforcement tool was used at Indy for 7 years (there were some controversies with the system in the years to come).

There are also many collectibles for the race, and one of them is this souvenir tumbler by Libbey Glass.

The Libbey Glass Company made this terrific souvenir glass celebrating the 1972 race. The glass features a blue race car scene on the front with a yellow 1972 at the top, and the back even has all of the race winners from 1911 to 1971 in blue.

You can see this great tumbler in my Etsy shop here, head on over and check it out!

What a great gift for a fan of the race!

There is such a thing as a Malt Nutrine serving tray?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Advertising, Beginning to collect, Functional items, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

Advertising is a fun area to collect—you never know what kinds of pieces you will run across.  You might find a piggy bank advertising a local bank, a ruler advertising a grocery store or even a baseball program advertising Spalding baseballs.

Another area that advertising collectors buy are serving trays.  There are quite a few advertisements that you will find on a tray—they range anywhere from Coca Cola to Budweiser.

Did you know that Anheuser Bush made a serving tray for a product they made that was called Malt Nutrine?

image 0

Malt Nutrine was made by Anheuser Bush in 1905, and it was a non-alcoholic beverage.  Not only that, it was thought that Malt Nutrine could help cure insomnia.

This would be a killer piece to display with fountain drink collectibles.  You can see this terrific serving tray in my Etsy shop here.  Head on over and check it out!

Make sure you tip your waitress!

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Advertising, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

Tip trays have been around for many years now, and they can be found with a wide variety of advertising on them.  It could be an advertisement for beer, a company or even a soda pop company like Coca Cola.

1

In 1914, Coca Cola made the tip tray pictured above.  As you can see, it has a picture of a Victorian Era Woman in a bonnet or hat.

2

This advertising tip tray was made out of tin. Tip trays like this one are a rarity to come by with the original paint, since the coins they meet every day tend to wear most of it off.  To top it off, the paint on the edges of the tray get worn off pretty fast as well from being handled every day.

You can see this terrific tip tray in my Etsy store here.  Head on over and check it out!

READER’S HELP: that’s a friendly wall-crawling superhero…made from plaster?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Advertising, Beginning to collect, Functional items, Reader's help!, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

When you start to dive into the world of antiques and collectibles, you quickly find out that you will find really cool things in unexpected places.

Not too long ago, this happened to me when I came upon a local garage sale.  And do you know what was there?  Just a bust of Spiderman himself!

Spiderman bank (1)

As you can see in the photo, the bust is made of plaster and it is also doubles as a bank (the coin slot is on the back of Spiderman’s head).  Not only that, it is extremely detailed—you can see and feel the ribbing in Spiderman’s mask, and it also feels like the head actually has cloth on it.

Spiderman bank (2)

Here’s the problem that I have with the bank—I know what it is, but I have no idea who made it.  I was told that it was made in Mexico, but there is no maker’s mark or even a country of origin mark on it.

Does anyone know who could have made this great bank?  Could it be a homemade piece that a fan of the character made?

Any information is greatly appreciated!