Letting go of the past
Why this collector is selling his prized possessions
Ben Lennox holds the New Dundee, Ontario "Garage" Wood Trade Sign from his collection. It is offered as lot 396 in the March 20th sale of Music Machines, Clocks & Canadiana at Miller and Miller Auctions.
If you ask Ben Lennox for his personal job description, he’ll tell you that he wears many hats. He’ll say he’s a collector, a picker, an entrepreneur (co-owner of the Bowmanville Antique and Folk Art Show) a strategist with Miller & Miller Auctions, and more. But ask Ethan Miller, of Miller & Miller Auctions, and he’ll say Ben Lennox is “an opinion leader that people listen to… the go-to guy for trade signs.”
In fact, Ethan insists that Lennox has “single handedly” created the current market for unique, wooden trade signs. And there are now some spectacular examples of these signs in Miller & Miller’s March 20th Music Machines, Clocks & Canadiana auction, most of them from Ben’s personal collection.
Ben’s set-up at the Christie Antique Show with his dad
Ben picking an old farm house in his work clothes
Naturally, that means Ben won’t be participating in the live auction this time around. He has worked with Ethan and Justin Miller almost since the beginning of the business, but with 25 or so of his trade signs and several dozen other items from his collection included in the auction, Ben won’t be at his usual post managing phone bids. While stepping aside is an ethical decision for Ben, it’s also a Miller & Miller policy that consignors are at ‘arm’s length’ from prospective buyers. “Ben is 100 percent ethics first,” says Ethan. Those ethics and Ben’s uncanny ability to source unique, authentic trade signs are a guarantee that anything coming from his collection is the real deal.
Ben’s box exhibit at the 2018 Bowmanville Antique & Folk Art Show
Ben admits that collecting trade signs, weather vanes, and a few other categories of Canadiana, is both a passion and an obsession. So why has he consigned roughly 90 items to the sale? The decision was sparked by a move. Ben and his wife and two kids are moving from Waterloo Region to Port Dover and he realized that ever since he started collecting in the early 2000s, he has only added to but never culled his collection. The move convinced him it was time.
He confesses that for a day or two there were some second thoughts, about 24 hours of angst. But that quickly shifted into a sense of excitement. He was thrilled by the idea of other collectors being able to enjoy some of these unique pieces. He was also enamoured with the idea of having room to add to his collection. “This is an opportunity for me to refocus, to get back out there,” he says.
Ben on the road buying unique items to add to his collection.
Ben in his element, picking a turn-of-the-century garage.
Ben admits his wife “tolerates” his obsession. Before choosing the items for the March 20th auction, their home was decorated with roughly 70 trade signs. There are still several dozen on their walls and Ben speculates there’ll likely be more in the new home. In the meantime, Ben’s cull of fabulous trade signs heads to the March 20th Miller & Miller auction.
A glimpse into Ben’s home, featuring a number of key pieces offered for sale in the upcoming March 20th auction.
Ethan isn’t surprised at the level of interest in trade signs. Because they’re wooden artifacts, hand-made and unique to the business or location where they were displayed, they are “packed with meaning” and historical significance, he says. And where there is meaning there is value.
Asked about his favourite pieces in the auction, Ben points to Lot 401, an 1880s sign from Niagara Falls, which reads “Railway Suspension Bridge. 10 Cents. Over & Return Same Day.” This, he says, “is a real relic”. And he reflects on the story behind the sign – that Niagara Falls was such an attraction people were willing to spend 10 cents each, an astronomical sum in the 1880s.
He also points to a more local find: Lot 396, a 1920s sign that simply reads “Garage”, from the New Dundee Tire Hospital. Lot 396 includes a photograph of the original building with the sign in place. Ben’s favourite memory of the sign relates to the on-site auction where it was sold when he stood side by side with Ethan and Justin’s dad, the late Jim Miller, who bought another historic sign from the same business.
This New Dundee, Ontario "Garage" Wood Trade Sign is offered as lot 396 in the upcoming sale of Music Machines, Clocks & Canadiana.
Ben says every sign he has consigned to this auction is a “one of a kind”. He sees it as an opportunity for buyers to add to existing collections, or to launch a new collection in a category that has boomed in the past decade.
“Wooden signs are becoming part of major collections,” he says. He should know.
By Paul Knowles
Paul Knowles is the author of 18 books, including histories of New Hamburg, Castle Kilbride, and the Mennonite Relief Sale and Quilt Auction. His most recent books are The Magic Garden (2020), a whimsical and humourous look at gardening, and The Dun Also Rises, his second murder mystery (to be published next month). Paul is also editor and publisher of the annual magazine, Our Heritage/Our Home.
Auction Title: Music Machines, Clocks & Canadiana
Auction Date: March 20, 2021
Online Bidding Opens: March 1, 2021
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