Rare antique N.S. pharmacy signs auctioned off for $32,500

A go under of time of origin signs displaying mathematical product lines for a pharmaceutics in Yarmouth, N.S., sold for $32,500 at an auctioneer in Ontario over the weekend.

The well-preserved six pack of plank-style signs were produced by the Ithaca Sign Company in the U.S. In the late 1920s or early '30s and printed on painted metal.

The signs attracted collectors from across North America who pre-bid for three weeks ahead of the sale. When the auction went live on Sunday, it took only five minutes to close the deal from the starting bid of $16,000.

"The excitement for these Ithaca signs is off the charts," said Ethan Miller, CEO of Miller and Miller Auctions based in New Hamburg, Ont.

He said the bidding was "feverish," and the hammer price plus commission fees pushed the value to nearly $40,000.

Miller said it was the rare tin lithography — a specialized type of printing process — used for the signs that made them highly collectible. The colourful graphics and exciting images also showcased a high level for its day, he said.

"We're talking the late [19]20s here."

The signs were designed to be planted one mile apart on the main road starting six miles from the pharmacy to attract drivers' attention.

Miller called that a smart "psychological thing" because the staggered signs can remind customers about the business' offerings.

A part-time vintage goods dealer in Alberta bought the signs in a town near Edmonton while checking out a used motorcycle, Miller said.

The dealer was flooded with overwhelming offers from collectors after he posted pictures of the signs on social media. He then decided to use the auction house to find out their real value.

Miller said he believes the seller had purchased them for less than $1,000.

Lindsay Cann Gardner, who ordered the signs from Ithaca for his pharmacy, was a respected chemist and politician in Nova Scotia, according to Yarmouth County Museum and Archives.

Nadine Gates, the museum director, said it's unfortunate that she was not aware of the signs or the auction because the museum would have bid on them.

"Artifacts like those signs are priceless pieces of Yarmouth's business history, of one company and the man who started it all."

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Gates said the museum still displays some of Gardner's items, including a certificate of registration, the scales that were used in his pharmacy, trade signs, and some glass medicine bottles. 

Miller said the "cross appeal" of history adds to the value of antique signs.

His auction house just sold a pair of signs advertising Wrigley's Spearmint gum for about $40,000 and an early Ford sign discovered on Vancouver Island for $120,000.

He said Canadian market is "bubbling with enthusiasm" for old signs.

"They are hot commodity and a lot of it is driven by the history that they represent," he said. "They certainly are symbols of so much history."

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Reporter/Editor

Yuan Wang is a reporter based in Halifax. Get in touch with her by emailing yuan.wang@cbc.ca.

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