The top lot of the day was this double sided Texaco sign that went off at $4,510.
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring; Photos Courtesy Tom Broughton Auctions
BRIDPORT, VT. — A sale of about 450 lots from the collection of the late New Haven, Vt., carpenter Ralph Farnsworth brought Tom Broughton out of retirement on Sunday, September 17.
“Ralph went all over finding things. He had a barnful of his collection, which was all museum quality and what he had was very unusual. He took so much time and effort putting things up in his barn. I know he used to close the door and putter in there all day long. Sometimes he’d give tours and was once interviewed on television. His father started the collection and he just continued on.”
“He collected Petroliana, Coca-Cola collections, oil cans, milk bottles, early TVs, floor and hanging scales, and so much more…you name it! His place wasn’t conducive to an onsite sale so we brought it all over to our Auction Barn. One dealer who came to the sale said ‘Man, you just don’t find this stuff anymore!’ We gave out 160 (bidder) numbers, so we had at least 200 people at our Auction Barn. It was just a great day.”
“I retired a year and a half ago after 54 years. We had a great retirement sale. Ralph Farnsworth was local, and he died in February of 2022. His son asked around and was told ‘Tom Broughton should come out of retirement for this sale.’ I said I’d do it for Ralph’s sake.”
One of at least a few Gulf signs in the sale, this circular example rounded out at $1,320.
Signs were the top sellers of the day with top-lot honors of $4,510 going for a double-sided arched top Texaco sign with black lettering and red trim. Another Texaco sign, also double-sided but round, finished at $2,750. Two signs for Gulf Gasoline sold for $1,320 and $1,430. A few other signs that Broughton characterized as “excellent” were selling in the $880 to $990 range. A rectangular Coca-Cola sign made $770, and a Sunkist windup clock timed out at $880.
Bidders pumped an old gas pump without labels to $2,530 and a pedestal air pump to $2,090.
Old phonographs were in plentiful supply and Broughton was getting about $550 apiece for the larger examples. Though he only had two Civil War tintypes, sold together in a lot, they achieved $440. A Farmall 806 pedal tractor rode to $660.
“We thought we’d sold it all but we just went back and found even more stuff!” After the sale, Broughton told Antiques and The Arts Weekly that there would be another sale on Sunday, October 8. He gave us a taste of what was to come: “More signs, more gas related things, more oil cans. I found pedestal air pumps we didn’t know we had, a large sign for Sears that has individual metal letters, more pedal cars and tractors and electric trains!”
Several pedal tractors were on offer but the one Tom Broughton recalled the most was this Farmall 806 model, which drove to a new home for $660.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. Broughton conducts his sales via AuctionZip; his next one will be a continuation of the Farnsworth collection on October 8. For more information, 802-758-2494 or https://www.auctionzip.com/listings/3838054.html.
