Christmas Antique Toy Auction with Noel Barrett At Pook & Pook Inc.
Action-Packed Sale Slated For Dec. 4
Bidders who attended Pook and Barretts previous Antique Toy Auctions will remember the exceptionally diverse offerings, a tradition that continues with this sale. The holiday-specific offerings in the sale present a wide variety of Christmas décor. Numerous German composition Belsnickel candy containers, German Father Christmas toys, and ornaments abound. There is no elf on a shelf, but how about an elf on a reindeer? A special Dresden Santa with a sack of toys and a feather tree is estimated at $600-$900 and is one of numerous Dresden lots on offer. Spun cotton figural ornaments include a hiker, a Geisha girl, and the Three Musketeers. A top Yuletide piece is a figural milk glass Santa Claus miniature oil lamp from the late 19th century (est. $1,200-$1,600). For those not wanting the trouble of decorating their own tree, pick one of the seven fully ornamented feather trees in the sale, ranging from a charming 11-inch blue tree to a 6-foot tree decorated with well over 60 early glass ornaments. A 3.5-foot tree has over 50 Santas on tree limbs, while the nearly 6-foot tree sports over 50 painted angels.
A perfect toy for under a fairly large tree is a Schoenhut Humpty Dumpty circus with a full contingent of performers and animals under the tent. Two much earlier animated clockwork figures rounding out the circus lots on offer are a striding leopard measuring a fearsome 26 inches long and a slightly more friendly looking tiger atop a wooden ball advertising Hagenback circus, both key-wind with nodding head action.
Also bringing the whimsy of Christmases past is a Noahs ark with countless critters on board, two by two. Toys for well-behaved little boys and girls include a fully outfitted school room with a teacher and seven book covered desks. For the very well-behaved chef is an astoundingly detailed German-made stove in heavy steel furnished with more than a dozen brightly polished copper accessories.
No toy sale is complete without a grouping of trains, and this sale includes a Lionel Blue Comet, a Carpenter cast-iron floor toy, and a scarce Beggs style loco and tender, style #2 by Garlick, who worked for Beggs.
Pressed steel is also a must in a well-rounded toy auction. The group of more than 20 of these large-scale toys in the sale includes toy items by all the great makers--Buddy L, Kelmet, Sturditoy, etc. One of the highlights is a Keystone ambulance in the original box.
The highlight of the aeronautical toy collection of the late Harry Nowak is a lettered Kenton Flying Boat with wings and nickel-plated wing-tip pontoons. Kentons unlettered version of this toy is scarce enough, as no collectors weve talked to have ever seen this style. Could it be a new find? Along with Nowaks cast-iron fleet is lithographed tin airplane, a Tippco-1029 bomber complete with under-wing mounted bombs, from the Bill and Stevie Weart collection. The cast-iron automotive toys keep coming down the chimney, including a number of excellent examples, also from the Weart Collection, including a group of colorful taxicabs and a nice example of a Hubley armored motorcycle. Additional iron automotive pieces include a group of 10 colorful and finely crafted car models by Tom Selhoff. Even more iron in the sale comes from a small group of mechanical banks highlighted by a Darktown Battery in the original box.
Always popular when they turn up at an auction are Baranger motions, colorful and cleverly electric animated window displays that were rented to small-town jewelry stores from the 1940s to 60s. There are five of them in this auction. The highlight is an incredible lovebird carnival display featuring a central Ferris wheel, a carousel, and a burger stand, all with lovebird couples and a placard that reads, You can be her Love Bird - Buy that Diamond Now.
Catalogs are available for purchase for $20 at www.pookandpook.com. Questions regarding condition or requests for additional photographs should be emailed to conditions@pookandpook.com. Pook & Pook and Noel Barretts next Antique Toy Auction is slated for spring 2021.
More information about this and other sales can be found online at www.pookandpook.com. Pook & Pook is located at 463 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, Pa.