The lifetime single-owner collection of Carl Gillespie – mostly vintage toys and guns, but to include petroliana items and antique farm equipment – will be sold Saturday, June 12, by Stevens Auction Company. The auction will be held in the Stevens gallery facility, located at 609 North Meridian Street in Aberdeen, beginning promptly at 9 a.m. (CST).
“Mr. Gillespie is a lifelong resident of Mississippi who has collected a wide assortment of antique guns, firearms collectibles, vintage toys, knives, antique gas pumps, gas and oil signs and old farm equipment for the last 25 years,” said Dwight Stevens. “His collection is a snapshot of the greater Southeast, from Natchez to Nashville, his preferred shopping area over the years.”
Mr. Gillespie began picking cotton on his grandfather’s 400-acre cotton farm at age 7 and eventually inherited the property. He has also worked as a scrap metal dealer. He bought his first collectible – a toy – after serving in the Vietnam War and he simply never stopped. He built a house in Aberdeen to showcase his extensive collections, which easily top 3,000 different items. “No doubt about it, it’s going to be a long, long day,” Mr. Stevens predicted. “We’ll open our doors for a same-day preview at 7:30 in the morning, then the first item will cross the block at 9. After that, it will be sell, sell, sell until there’s nothing left to sell. That will probably be 7 or 8 o’clock at night.” He added a preview would also be held on Friday, June 11, from 10-6 (CST).
Some prized lots from Mr. Gillespie’s antique gun collection include a rare Confederate carbine rifle made by Morse of Greenville, N.C.; several Winchester ’73 lever-action repeater rifles, to include a model 1876 .45-.60 caliber example, dated 1883; several .51 caliber carbine Civil War rifles; Civil War and cowboy-era Colt revolvers; and many swords and Bowie knives.
The hundreds of toys to be sold include antique steam engines, trucks and cars by various makers, vintage lunch boxes, figurines, Disney merchandise, porcelain pieces, highly decorated spinning tops, and Coca-Cola signage and merchandise. Some run on batteries, some on friction, but all are in good shape, with the original finish and color. A few still have their original boxes.
Just a few toy examples include Buddy L vintage toy trucks (like the yard train steam pile driver and the yard train crane); a Marx Brothers Lightning Express rider train; a pair of Structo tin toy trucks, orange in color; and a Turner tin dump truck made in the 1930s. Also sold will be a Mills Novelty Co. Specialty Award ‘777? $10 slot machine and a Mills one-cent lollipop scale.
Additional lots of note include a Wool’s Cherry Cheer soda fountain syrup dispenser in a rare pumpkin color, in fine condition and possibly one of a kind; a monumental walnut Art Nouveau back bar with leaded stained glass and lighted all-original dome top; an Amoco gas pump with replaced globe; and a vintage Lion gas pump, 8 feet tall, with original light-up globe.
Terms of the sale will be cash, all major credit cards and pre-approved check. A 12 percent buyer’s premium will be applied to all sales (with a 2 percent discount for cash). There will be no Internet bidding component, but phone and absentee bids will be accepted. Aberdeen is located about 35 miles west of Tupelo, Miss., on U.S. Rte. 45. Refreshments will be available.
Stevens Auction Company is always accepting quality consignments for future sales. To consign a single item, an estate or collection, you may call them directly, at (662) 369-2200; or, you can e-mail them at [email protected]. To learn more about Stevens Auction Company and the firm’s calendar of upcoming auctions, log on to www.stevensauction.com