One of only two known examples and never before seen at auction, this 103-inch-high Lion Lung Tester was the king of the auction at $184,500 ($150/300,000).
By Z.G. Burnett
LAS VEGAS — From April 30 through May 3, Morphy Auctions conducted a four-day Coin-Op & Antique Advertising auction, offering nearly 2,000 lots of arcade, music, and gambling machines alongside antique business and sales signs. Each showed exceptional quality and condition, which was reflected in the sale’s total of more than $3.5 million. “It was a packed house with strong bidding, both in person and through all remote methods, including online through MorphyLive. It was exciting to see such enthusiastic competition,” commented founder and president Dan Morphy. Though the firm is based in Denver, Penn., they have hosted this particular auction in Las Vegas for years, adding atmosphere and easier viewing accessibility to the bidders. “At every sale we see new faces right alongside those who’ve been attending our Las Vegas Coin-Op sales since the beginning. That growth, combined with collectors’ willingness to bid confidently on high-end pieces, is a sign that the hobby is thriving and that buyers are happy with the selections we offer at our auctions. We always place an emphasis on fresh-to-market antiques from long-held, well-provenanced collections,” Morphy continued.
The auction’s top lot came from such a collection with five decades’ worth of provenance. The Lion Lung Tester was made circa 1904 by the Mills Novelty Company and is “perhaps the best-known and most iconic penny arcade machine ever made.” Its innovative design included light-up eyes when a coin was inserted and a roar that sounded as the player blew into the machine; their time was kept by a perpetual running clock. The Lion was the first known machine that featured an animated “attract mode” to catch potential players’ attention. Fully operational, this machine showed an expert, vintage restoration and retained its appropriately aged appearance. The winning player, or bidder, took the Lion home for $184,500.
This quarter-oak, bow front cabinet was a rare Violano Virtuoso that placed second in the overall auction for $79,950, with its original motor and six music rolls included ($60/130,000).
The second-highest price was fetched by another machine from Mills: a circa 1900 Bow Front Violano Virtuoso that sold for $79,950. The apparatus was a work of Art Deco innovation and one of only 20 examples known today. Contained within the tiger-striped oak cabinet was a motor and various apparatus to play perforated rolls of music with violin and piano tones. Showing an older full restoration, the machine’s working motor had been replaced, but the original was included in the lot along with six rolls of music. It showed only light signs of handling and was in glorious condition.
The next high-shooting machine was a scarce Mutoscope Shootomatic prize game from the early 1930s. Before first-person shooter arcade video games targeted zombies, space invaders and other assailants, this variation on an arcade digger rewarded winning players with physical prizes. Hitting the bullseye on the outer rim of a spinning wheel would release the toy or candy above into the machine’s hopper, though how often that occurred is unknown. The restored machine was fully operational, earning $28,290 and all of the prizes inside.
Many top lots were in the advertising category, showcasing the detail and condition of these antique art objects. Third in the overall auction was a reverse-painted mirror sign in wonderful condition advertising “C.P. Kimball & Co. / Carriage Builders / Michigan Avenue, Chicago” with no damage to report in over a century. The mirror showed the maker’s mark of “The F. Tuchfarber Co,” whose artisans’ handiwork remained crisp and bright. Encased in a custom frame, only light wear could be spotted under close examination around the glass edges. The sign multiplied its $10,000 high estimate to achieve $54,120.
Next in price was one of the world’s most recognizable advertisements, a single-sided, porcelain Campell’s Soup Can sign with a round, working thermometer in its center. Its face reads, “On so many days / Soup is just the thing!” The AGS-certified sign was in “outstanding” condition, and its bright colors and glossy finish were as appealing as its $45,510 selling price.
Fans of Yuengling’s Beer, Ale & Porter will no doubt recognize the bald eagle on this circa 1900 single-sided tin sign that achieved $15,990 ($7/14,000).
Advertising from another brand still in operation today was present in the auction’s top lots, a self-framed and single-sided tin sign from Yuengling’s Beer, Ale & Porter of Pottsville, Penn. The brand’s trademarked bald eagle graphic was front and center, where there was also some gloss loss and in-painting and outer fields. The sign was still in good enough condition to sell for $15,990 against a $7/14,000 estimate.
Native American trade figures remain some of the most collectable advertising pieces and Morphy’s offered its bidders a 78-inch example attributed to one of the leading American wood carvers Thomas V. Brooks (1828-1895). Hallmarks of Brooks’ figures include fine details and V-shaped feather headdresses, as seen on this lot. It showed restoration, new paint over age-related cracks in the wood, and was missing a few fingers on the left hand but still sold for $25,600.
Signs advertising goods and companies of times past also found favor with bidders. One risqué example was a framed, single-sided tin sign from Kabo Corsets, featuring a young lady with big hair and an even bigger hat demonstrating how to wear the advertised undergarment. It showed good color and shine, with some dark blemishes to her skin and losses in the paint. This did not deter its highest bidder, who secured it for $13,530. Another advertisement of an obsolete piece of complex machinery was for the “Success” Manure Spreader from the Kemp & Burpee Manufacturing Company in Syracuse, N.Y., shown in action. Made in 1910, the single-sided sign showed some paint chipping and oxidation, yet still almost tripled its high estimate to $11,070.
Prices quoted with buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. On May 29, Morphy Auctions will host The Toy Collection of Tom Sage, Jr. For information, 877-968-8880 or www.morphyauctions.com.
