Antiques & Collecting: Advertising premiums

Toys have been used as advertising premiums for more than 100 years, from the cloth dolls that first appeared in the 19th century and baseball cards initially issued by tobacco companies to Cracker Jack prizes and more recent toys in cereal boxes or kids’ fast-food meals.

This “Log Cabin Express” toy, which sold for $150 at an online auction on AntiqueAdvertising.com, is an unusual case: the tin can of Log Cabin syrup didn’t come with a toy — it became the toy.

The rolling platform was the premium. It attaches to the empty tin to turn it into a pull toy. The tin was already eye-catching with its cabin shape and colorful lithographs. One side is marked as “Table Size,” suggesting consumers “Serve From The Can.”

Long before today’s environmental concerns and zero-waste movements, this company encouraged reusing its packaging. After all, why make a brightly colored figural tin if it’s only going to be thrown away?

I have too many antiques and vintage objects from the early 1900s and middle 1800s that have been left to me from family. My children — all married with children — have no desire for any of my antiques or vintage collection, which includes dishes, silverware, toys, books, blanket boxes and multiple objects that are collectors’ dreams. How do I find buyers who will want them?

Many people face this dilemma. Our biggest piece of advice is, first and foremost, don’t just donate everything or have a big garage sale. You could be letting valuable items — and money — slip through your fingers.

Going through your collection will take time and effort, as well as help from some experts in furniture, toys and other collectibles.

Your first step is looking over the Kovels guide to downsizing, located in the “How to Buy or Sell” section of Kovels.com. Good luck!

Tip: Silver jewelry should be kept in an anti-tarnish bag, often the bag it came in, when you are not wearing it.

Current Prices

Jewelry, pin, Christmas tree, gold tone openwork, tiny gilt balls, blue, red, clear and green glass stones, marked, Eisenberg, 2 inches, $25.

Pair of Christmas ornaments, kugels, cluster of grapes, one gold glass, one blue glass, Germany, late 1800s, 4 1/4 inches, $285.

Toy, tractor, John Deere No. 4520, gunmetal gray metal, 1/16 scale, Columbus Ohio Collector Edition, original box, $345.

Christmas tree, aluminum, Pom Pom, “The Sparkler,” 124 branch, Star Band Co., Virginia, original box, 84 inches, $935.

Enamel, plaque, modernist abstract bird form, multicolor, yellow, turquoise, white, black, gold foil accents, on steel, signed Edward Winter, mid-century oak frame, 35 x 17 inches, $1,080.