An unusual Black Cat Shoe Dressing clock, known to collectors as The Black Cat Clock, sold for $11,210, and an early 20th-century Peabodys Overalls single-sided porcelain sign realized $8,850 in Miller & Miller Auctions Ltd.s online-only Advertising and Breweriana sale held June 19. All prices quoted are in Canadian dollars. Antique and vintage advertising continues to flex its muscles, said Ben Lennox of Miller & Miller Auctions Ltd. A whopping 68 percent of the top 50 grossing lots from the 650-lot sale smashed past the high estimate. The desire for high-end advertising continues to climb at a feverish pace with both new and seasoned collectors looking to add rarities to their collections. The iconic Nonsuch Black Cat Shoe Polish clock settled in as the top lot, just as one did almost 40 years ago, in 1982, at the famed Bill and Pauline Hogan collection auction, a sale that helped solidify country store antiques and collectibles in Canada. While the clock hammered down $5,400 back then, in the recent sale it more than doubled that when adding the buyers premium. Well represented throughout the sale were signs and advertising pieces covering tobacciana, breweriana, gas station memorabilia (petroliana), soda pop collectibles and work wear. In speaking with collectors post-auction, Lennox said, the consensus is that the rare and unusual will always attract eager buyers, and this has led to many signs hitting new price benchmarks. He added, There is really no sign of a letup. Country store, service station, general store, whatever term you choose to put around it, the trajectory for advertising antiques continues on an upward trend with no signs of slowing down. The auction grossed $389,164 and was headlined by the Peter Rea breweriana collection, a superb assemblage of top-quality pieces. The auction had 467 registered bidders, who participated through LiveAuctioneers.com and the Miller & Miller Auctions Ltd. website, www.millerandmillerauctions.com. Just under half of lots sold met or exceeded estimates, and 20 percent of lots blew past the high estimate. All prices reported include an 18-percent buyers premium. The Black Cat Shoe Dressing clock is considered one of the most significant pieces of Canadian advertising ever produced. It depicted a black cat, its jaws and whiskers erect, engaging with the product in pursuit of something beyond. It boasted, Leads all others / Challenge the world to produce its superior, and was clearly marked lower left, MacDonald Mfg. Co. Ltd., Toronto. The Peabodys Overalls single-sided porcelain sign, 15.25-by-48 inches, is one of Canadas great general store porcelain signs. The Peabodys Overalls script spanned the sign, but the humor and salesmanship filled in the blanks: Wears like a pigs nose, Guaranteed Honorable, and Railroad King. Four lots finished with identical selling prices of $5,015: a Teddy Chocolate Soda single-sided embossed lithographed tin sign (Canadian, 1920s), marked St. Thomas Metal Signs, St. Thomas, Ontario; a Wards Lime Crush porcelain syrup dispenser (American, 1920s), the rarest of the three Wards figural syrup dispensers with a ball style pump; a Forest & Stream Tobacco lithographed heavy cardboard die-cut sign (Canadian, 1930s); and a Firestone Tires double-sided porcelain wall mounting porcelain flange sign (1940s), marked Made in USA, with no restoration. A ca. 1938 Orange Crush porcelain sign, although not marked, was certainly a product of St. Thomas Metal Signs Ltd. (Canada). The store side sign was made from self-framed heavy-gauge pressed steel with heavy-shelved porcelain and went for $4,720. Also, a Stubby Soda vertical tin lithographed sign (Canadian, 1940s), changed hands for $4,425. The single-sided embossed sign was marked CCC WS166 in lower right and left edge. The Kuntz Brewery beer tray is among Canadas most sought-after beer trays. Its called The Bologna Girl because the subject, a young woman, is shown serving a bologna sandwich alongside a bottle of Kuntz Export Lager. The tray in the auction, 13.75 inches in diameter, was marked, Kaufmann & Strauss Co. N.Y. It finished under estimate, at $3,540. A Brading Brewery Company early Canadian paper-under-glass lithograph from the 1910s, featuring the Bradings Stag trademark icon flanked by the product, realized $4,720. Also, a Kuntz Park Brewery lithographed paper, extremely rare, featuring a vignette of the Waterloo (Canada) brewery, followed by photos depicting the various equipment involved at each stage of the brewing process, framed, commanded $4,130. A Regal Brewery (Hamilton, Ontario, 1920s) lithographed tin beaver tray, among Canadas most sought after beer trays, featuring an outdoor scene with two beavers constructing a dam by a riverside, sold for $4,425. Also, a Pay Roll Tobacco single-sided tin lithographed sign (Canadian, 1920s), marked bottom right, The Thos. Davidson Mfg. Co. Ltd. Montreal, brought $3,540. To contact Miller & Miller Auctions, based in Ontario, Canada, call 519-573-3710 or email info@millerandmillerauctions.com.