Page 10 - joa-nov-21

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

by Philip Hawkins and Mike McLeod

$2,025 (56 bids, 21 bidders): Antique PH: There are collectors for almost
1940s Trophy Official League Ball, everything, and almost everyone should
Baseball Globe Tube Radio. This 7-inch have something to collect. The plugs fall
diameter round radio is made from paper- into the collectible category of automobilia.
covered cardboard, so I would assume that Besides the plugs themselves, advertising
not many of them survived. When we material relating to plugs seems to be a
opened the case of this baseball radio, we hotter commodity. Collections or group-
found that everything inside appeared to be ings of spark plugs appear at auction
original, including the tubes; however, sporadically. Sales of collections this year
we did not attempt to test it. The Bakelite include: a group of 95 that sold for $100
tuning knobs are also original as are at Worldwide Auctioneers in April; a group
the three mesh speaker screens. The front of 35 that sold for $65 at Richard Edwards
bottom screen is slightly disconnected along Auctions, also in April; and a collection
the bottom edge, and there is some toning of 68 (including some that are considered
and discoloration to the paper-covered case, rare) displayed in a vintage wooden spark
primarily near the tuning knobs. There is plug crate that went for $1,900 at Milestone
also some paper loss along the center seam Auctions in January. Obviously, there is a
and some expected wear around the knobs. wide range in prices for such collections.
Including the 7-inch Bakelite, stepped base,
this radio stands just over 10 inches tall.
(photos courtesy of eBay seller wwolst12)

PH: Novelty radios come in many shapes,
forms, and sizes. They are often used as
advertising for food, tobacco, movies,
candy, automobiles, and many more things.
This particular example is a cross-category
collectible for radio buffs and baseball buffs.
These baseball radios, issued in 1941,
may be a product of the D.A. Pachter Co. $4,800 (47 bids, 4 bidders): Antique Vintage Chr. Schenk Grindelwald
of Chicago. I found only one reference Ice Axe, Original Patina. Offered from a
for this; information on the company is private collection is a somewhat rare Swiss
limited, and it seems to have been out of ice pickaxe made by Chr. Schenk,
business by the mid-1950s. Grindelwald, Switzerland. There is an
This radio was made into a trophy for the engraved name on the pick side, “M
1941 Negro National League Champions, Pridham,” which I am assuming was
the Homestead Grays, with the player roster the original owner. It is in overall excellent
engraved on the copper band of the base. condition and considering its age, I think
The radio reportedly sold originally it’s amazing! It measures about 36 inches
for $13.95. It turns up in various states of long by about 12 1/2 inches from pick
condition at auctions and on eBay. I was point to axe. This piece actually comes
able to locate the following auction sales for from an estate in Scottsdale, Arizona, my
radios in similar condition (parts are often missing): on 5/23/21 at Kraft cousin’s. I don’t know where or when he
Auction Service, $550; and on 8/24/19 at Keystone Auction, $1,300; and acquired it, but evidently, he has had it for
on 5/1/16; Rich Penn Auctions, $850. The seller should be happy with his many, many years. (Photos courtesy of
auction result. eBay seller kapiguy.)

PH: According to the American Alpine
$978.88 (23 bids, 9 bidders): Club website, “The modern ice axe is
Antique Spark Plug Collection. the end product of a long history of tools
This is a collection of 13 antique being adapted, redesigned, and specialized.
spark plugs mounted on a board. Its first incarnation was actually as two
This is part of an estate clean-out different tools: the hand axe and the
and these were collected many alpenstock. Over the years, these two
years ago by a farmer living in rural implements were melded to create the ice
Missouri. I know nothing about axe of the late 19th and early to mid-20th
these, but I’d guess some are hard centuries. The two tools were merged by
to find. (photos courtesy of eBay affixing a pick (the sharp part) and adze
seller steviebaby) (the flat piece) on one end of a wooden
shaft and a spike on the other.”
8 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles