• by Larissa Faw , January 13, 2015

Many feel that they just don't make advertisements like they used to. Now there's a chance to own some original ad art dating from what many believe is the Golden Age of Advertising.

Swann Auction Galleries is offering a wide variety of vintage advertising art — largely from the 1950s —in its upcoming Illustration Art Auction on January 22.

While Swann regularly auctions vintage advertising posters and has included advertising art in its previous Illustration and American Art auctions, this is the first sale which presents a large number of original works of art by celebrated ad agency illustrators, including James Neil Boyle, Phil Hays and Bob Peak.

The auction will also spotlight original art for well-known stores, such as Marshall Field and Henri Bendel, brands like Maxwell House and Coca Cola, as well as a recently discovered group of Royal Crown Cola mock-ups, which are expected to fetch between $300 and $3,000.

A signed canvas from noted illustrator Frederick Sands Brunner has been valued between $4,000 and $6,000.

There are also advertisements by Dr. Seuss for Holly Sugar and Flit Insecticide, as well as ads for medicines, booze, printing presses, perfume and fashion by famous illustrators like E. McKnight Kauffer, William Russell Flint, Gerda Wegener, and George Barbier.

"Many of these pieces were once owned by those who had strong ties to the industry," says Christine von der Linn, senior specialist and Director of Art, Architecture, Press and Illustrated Books at Swann Auction Galleries. "The Royal Crown ads at auction, for example, at one time belonged to Victor Burns, the art director who commissioned them for the famous Columbus, GA beverage company. Illustrations by James Neil Boyle, Phil Hays and David Stone Martin were once owned by Lester Rossin, who commissioned them for his agency, Lester Rossin Associates."

While the design and artist help to make each piece valuable, back stories also are likely to help make them attractive to collectors. "The two newly discovered canvases for Royal Crown and Par-T-Pak drinks will garner a lot of attention and we expect bidding to be lively," says von der Linn. "Lot 6, the McClelland Barclay ad mock-up canvas of a beautiful redhead in a swimsuit, holding a ginger ale, was among the artist's last works. He was Lt. Commander in the U.S. Navy and was reported missing when the [ship] he was aboard was torpedoed on July 18, 1943. Lot 7, the Frederick Sands Brunner canvas of another pretty redhead (likely modeled after Rita Hayworth) serving colas to servicemen was a theme used in several of the company's wartime advertisements."