The team at Hake’s Americana & Collectibles had plenty to celebrate as the first auction of the company’s golden anniversary year concluded. The two-day event held March 14 and March 16, 2017 with a gap day in between, swept past expectations and ended on a high note, reaching $1,061,373. All prices quoted in this report include an 18% buyer’s premium.
As predicted, the star of the show was Norman Mingo’s (American, 1896-1980) original cover art for the September 1968 issue of MAD Magazine, which sold for $57,242. A spoof of the flower power era, the cover featured a beaming Alfred E. Neuman dressed as a spiritual guru, held aloft by the Beatles in their Sgt. Pepper’s uniforms along with actress Mia Farrow and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
“Original MAD Magazine cover art by Norman Mingo – who is considered the dean of MAD cover artists – is always in demand but very seldom available,” said Alex Winter, president of Hake’s Americana & Collectibles. “The selling price for the artwork in our sale didn’t surprise me. Collectors called the shots, and they knew it was an extremely rare buying opportunity. It’s an iconic piece, not only as a MAD Magazine cover, but also as a classic representation of the 1960s peace-and-love era.”
An 1884 photo of the integrated baseball team the Bellaire Globes was a sensation in its own right, but it became all the more desirable because one of the inclusion of Negro League pioneer Sol White. The photo is the earliest known visual depiction of White, who was not only a pro baseball infielder, but also a manager and influential executive in the Negro Leagues. Additionally, he authored the important Sol White’s Official Base Ball Guide, a seminal manuscript chronicling the formative years of black baseball. With multiple bidders in pursuit, the Bellaire Globes photo reached the midpoint of its estimate at $15,446.
Once again, concert posters from the 1950s through 1970s were a big hit. “Posters promoting rock, blues, pop and jazz concerts continue to climb in value as more and more collectors gravitate toward these scarce printed works of art. They’re very hard to find because they were not originally intended to last for more than a few days or weeks,” said Winter.
Topping the auction’s music “charts” were the only known example of a 1958 Rock ’N Roll Jamboree poster with an electrifying image of Jerry Lee Lewis standing at and playing a piano, $7,204; and a 1961 poster promoting a show in Buffalo, NY, that paired Ahmad Jamal and Aretha Franklin, who, at the time, was only 19 years old. An important artifact from Franklin’s early days as a performer, the poster sold for $6,490.
Political memorabilia, the category on which the Hake’s brand was founded, put in another strong performance. Many highlights emerged from among the 500 political lots offered, like the 1916 Hughes/Fairbanks portrait-style jugate described as only the second one known to Hake’s, which rose to $6,198. It was followed, pricewise, by an 1868 Grant and Colfax 36-star campaign parade flag, $5,711; and a sleeper – a simple, non-pictorial 1952 Eisenhower/Nixon coattail button from Mayor Louis Bay Day in Asbury Park, NJ – which more than quadrupled its high estimate at $3,028.
Comic books – especially the over 600 issues that were CGC and CBCS certified – were hot commodities, knocking down one impressive price after another. One of the auction’s big winners was Top-Notch Comics #2, from January 1940. It featured a wartime theme on its lavishly illustrated, brightly hued cover with an image of a Nazi bomber plane going down in flames. The only known copy in 9.6 NM+ condition, with no others known in a higher condition, it smoked past its high estimate to settle at $10,923.
Neck and neck with the top selling comic, an example of All Star Comics #7, from October/November 1942, features Green Lantern backed by The Justice Society of America on its cover. The CGC 9.2 book soared beyond its estimate to reach $10,620.
Superheroes made a big impression, both as a group and individually. A vibrantly colorful store box containing 120 1-cent packs of Fleer Justice League of America Tattoo gum left its mark at $6,140; while a factory sealed Hasbro Wonder Woman game, copyright 1967, commanded $2,153. Superman grabbed his share of the spotlight, too. A rare 1963 syndication promotional kit for the Adventures of Superman TV show, containing nine 8 x 10 glossy publicity shots and plot synopses for various episodes, earned $4,283 against a $400-$700 estimate. A factory sealed Aurora Superman boxed model kit, copyright 1963, was claimed for $1,752.
“Superhero items were very strong in this sale,” Winter observed. “As comic books continue to climb in value, it appears that collectors are paying more attention to related material. I see no signs of a slowdown to this trend. If anything, it’s the wave of the future. We’re excited about it because we know the category front to back from having handled it for so many years.”
Other notable auction lots included a boxed circa 1932 16-piece Rosenthal Mickey Mouse porcelain tea set, $4,187; and a boxed 1952 Gilbert Nuclear Physics No. U-238 Atomic Energy Lab. Designed to inspire budding Einsteins, the lab set was offered complete with all original contents and packing materials. It blew up its $2,000-$5,000 auction estimate, selling for $8,697.
To view the entire auction catalog, complete with prices realized, visit www.hakes.com. To discuss consigning to a future Hake’s auction, call toll free (866) 404-9800 or (717) 434-1600 or email hakes@hakes.com.
