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eBay
WHAT’S SELLING ON eBay
WHAT’S SELLING ON

by Philip Hawkins and Mike McLeod

$12,700 (16 bids, 3 bidders): Early 1900s Standard Reproducing Co. $929 (46 bids, 9 bidders): Antique Pointer Empty Box Cardboard
Antique 5-Cent Coin-Op Player Jukebox. Very beautiful solid wood, Shot Shells, 10 ga., Advertising, Meriden Sears. This came out of an old
I believe, mahogany cabinet. All of the mechanism seems to be here, but estate. I’m just selling the empty box, which was still sealed. (Photos cour-
I am not an expert on this machine. It does function when 5 cents are tesy of eBay seller eldoradotradersinc.)
slid into it. I believe it needs adjustments to play records. Speaker does
power on, and I can confirm it does produce sound. The needle may have
condition issues, and the arm needs some kind of adjustment. When a coin
is fed into the machine, it turns the lights on and the record mechanism
turns and will deliver the record, but because it needs adjustments, the
needle won’t touch the record and play it and replace it in the carriage,
unless you touch and activate the switch. Then, the carriage will go back
and end the sequence and turn the lights off. Having said this, this is a very
cool piece and very restorable. It’s a very beautiful piece of coin-operated
history! (Photos courtesy of eBay seller casindav-sannim.)

PH: Product containers and boxes fall into the collecting category of
ephemera. Items of ephemera were not usually expected to last beyond
their intended use, such as this Pointer brand shotshell box. In this case,
the box would be plain, allowing for affixing a pre-printed label for differ-
PH: I was not able to locate any historical information on the Standard ent products the company made.
Reproducing Company of Chicago. That said, the forerunners to the more The artwork is often the driving force behind the desirability of the
familiar jukeboxes of the mid-20th century came in a variety of styles— item. In this case, we have attractive printed artwork featuring the head of
some with paper piano rolls. The most interesting I could locate was a a hunting dog holding a quail in its mouth, a couple of shells, nice graph-
machine that offered selections of cylinder records on a wheel that could ics, and colors. I was able to locate several Pointer brand shell boxes that
be rotated by the Multiphone Operating Co.; one of their examples had sold at auction; the most recent reported being in a lot of six of varying
realized $95,000 at auction in 2018. brands that sold in February 2020, the lot bringing $400 at Dan Morphy
These early machines are likely quite rare, with low production Auctions in Denver, CO.
numbers and technology upgrades so that the venues, mostly saloons, Some earlier reported sales show that the printed labels for the Pointer
would have the latest attraction with which to lure their customers. brand varied. Sounds like the seller got a great price for this example on eBay.

$618 (43 bids, 33 bidders): Huge Antique 17th/18th PH: It’s hard to judge the age of a forged or wrought-iron
C. Hand-wrought Iron Castle Medieval Chest/Door article from photographs. The size of this key certainly
Lock Key. This auction is for a huge 9-inch long by would make it an unlikely candidate to have been carried
1-inch thick by 3 3/4-inch wide key. Sadly, we do not and more likely to have been left in the lock itself. I was
have the massive lock this originally went to, or it may able to locate several iron keys in the same genre, such as:
have gone to a huge door. It is hand-forged and dates Antique Giant Key. Could have been a trade sign, a castle
from the early 18th century key or for a large safe. The key measures 14 3/4 inches long x
4 7/8 inches high; it is very heavy at over 2 3/4 pounds. It
realized $75 at Jasper52 Auctions (4/2017).
Another in a
different auction
made $200.
or possibly the 17th century. I found several
This antique wrought iron key keys offered that
still retains its original iron were left with no
patina, and there are no problems bidders.
or any restorations.

8 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles