Guy Zani Jr has found a “safe harbor” at Morphy Auctions, where his remarkable collection of more than 80 rare antique safes will be auctioned on Saturday, March 30, 2013. Zani’s 25-year quest to amass the finest and most elusive models resulted in a premier collection that includes such coveted examples as salesman’s samples, mini cannonballs, Hobnails, money chests, safes in wood cabinets, small personal safes, and coveted brothel/boudoir and pedestal parlor safes. Several of the safes have never before been seen in public or offered at public auction.

Now retired from the business and financial sector, Zani’s fascination with safes began during childhood, when his mother gave him a toy safe in which to save his pennies.

“The combination dial intrigued me, and I kept the bank for quite a while,” Zani recalled. “As I got older, I started to collect toy cast-iron safe banks. Then I graduated to full-size cast-iron antique safes. It’s definitely true what they say, that as men grow older, the only difference between men and boys is the size of their toys. I had a collection of Corvettes that was featured in the New York Times, but I bought my last Corvette six or seven years ago and decided to devote all of my time to the safes.”

Many of Zani’s leads came through a website he maintains which draws 7,000 visitors per month. Zani said he is often sent images of safes and asked if he wants to purchase them. In other cases, his widely acknowledged expertise prompts requests to evaluate safes.
“The enquiries come from collectors all over the world,” said Zani. “There’s an active safe collectors club in England, and I understand they’re chipping in to buy a copy of the March 30th auction catalog, which documents my collection.”

Zani’s collection includes two extraordinarily rare Hobnail safes – one full size; the other a salesman’s sample. The Hobnail’s production era in the United States was from 1824 until about 1840. The Zani collection includes an example of the 1830 Rogers Hobnail Safe, predecessor to the first combination-lock safe ever made; and the oldest known salesman’s sample safe in existence – an 1826 hobnail safe attributed to Jesse Delano & Sons, New York.

“Even the John M. Mossman Lock Museum, which has locks, keys and tools dating as far back as 4,000 BC, didn’t know there was a surviving example of the Rogers Hobnail safe. Their collection includes a Rogers Hobnail lock, but not an actual safe,” Zani said.

“In the 1830s the US Patent Office in Washington burned to the ground, and a large section of all existing patents was destroyed,” Zani continued. “If you had a patent that was filed prior to the fire, like the patent for the Rogers Hobnail safe, it could cause a real problem.”

Zani explained that, in an effort to re-establish the patents, the US Government appealed to England’s patent office, with which the United States had a reciprocity agreement. As a standard practice, each office provided the other with a copy of each approved patent, so many of the destroyed patents eventually were retrieved – but not the patent for the Rogers Hobnail safe.

“And that’s what makes the safe in my collection especially desirable. When Rogers produced the safe, they embossed the words ‘Rogers Patent’ inside it. That’s the best provenance of all,” Zani said.

Unraveling the mystery behind the mechanisms inside old safes is not unlike pursuing the secrets behind famous magicians’ illusions. “Recently I bought a safe from a person in Italy. He included a note that said, ‘When you get the safe, please e-mail me and I will tell you a special procedure to open the safe.’ I already had an Italian safe with trick locks, so I figured out how to open it. It was a challenge,” Zani said.

Eight or nine of the safes in Zani’s collection are difficult to value because there are few auction comparables against which to draw comparison. In particular, Zani expects keen interest to be shown in his 1905 Victor salesman’s sample cannonball safe, so named because it is round rather than square. His Victor has a screw-lock door with a working time lock and is the only known example.

Cannonball salesman’s samples are considered the ultimate acquisition to antique safe collectors. In 2011 a Mosler salesman’s sample cannonball safe in a box was put up for public auction. Zani said the Mosler company made 11 cannonball samples, which were designed to expose the internal locking mechanisms in a cross-section view. Constructed on two wheels, the safe was manufactured in a box with a drop front. Only eight of the original 11 samples are known to exist today.

“I have owned five of the eight Mosler cannonball samples at one time or another, and I know where all eight are. The eighth one appeared at auction in 2011 and created quite a buzz. It sold for $35,000 and set a world record for a salesman’s sample safe.” Zani believes that because his Victor salesman’s sample is “one of one” and not a cutaway, but rather a complete freestanding safe with four wheels, it should break the current record.

Four Marvin mini cannonball safes are entered in the sale. Marvin made these safes in three sizes, 650 lbs, 1,300 lbs and 2,000 lbs. All sizes are represented in the auction, with the 2,000-lb size representing the only known example. All are fully restored with attractive original graphics and paperwork from the manufacturer. Additionally, there is an example of the 1899 York mini cannonball safe, the smallest of all cannonball types, excluding replicas and salesman’s samples. It is only 16 inches tall, weighs 450 lbs and is considered quite special because it is the only cannonball safe to feature a dual-key lock mechanism.

A bona-fide work of art, Zani’s 750-lb Herring parlor safe came from the atrium of a fine house in St. Louis. Painted in an elegant floral and foliage design on all surfaces plus its cabriole pedestal, the safe is attractive from all angles. “Not only is it beautiful, it’s also extremely rare,” said Zani. “No one has seen one like this at auction before, so I have no idea what it will bring, price wise.”
Among the many other highlights included in the March 30, 2013 auction of Guy Zani Jr’s collection are:

1801 Italian Secretaire Habitante with internal hidden safe, three keys

“The Twins” – 1870 Herring Safe Co. ladies’ jewelry safes

1834 Milnor and Shaw Cathedral safe; door has stained-glass motif

1858 Sharts and Bedell safe with white porcelain knob; only known example

1868 Derby salesman’s sample with one of a kind Johnson & Thompson Permutation Stem combination lock

1890s Rouse & Co. Diamond Trade Show display model

Information courtesy of Morphy Auctions, March 2013.

Dr. John Stith Pemberton (1831 to 1888), an Atlanta pharmacist, invented Coca-Cola in 1886. A year earlier, he had introduced an alcoholic beverage called “Pemberton’s French wine coca”, but the temperance movement was then gathering momentum in the United States, prompting him to develop an alcohol-free product. Pemberton mixed a combination of lime, cinnamon, coca leaves, and kola nuts to make the famous beverage. When Coca-Cola was first introduced, the syrup was mixed with ice water. One day Pemberton’s assistant, Venable, accidentally mixed the syrup with carbonated water instead. The combination was so refreshing that they decided to sell it that way as a fountain drink.

A nineteenth-century soda fountain was a chemical reactor that generated its own carbonated water right in the drugstore. Carbon dioxide gas was formed inside a lead-lined chamber by the reaction between marble chips and sulfuric acid. The gas then dissolved in water inside the fountain. When a spigot was opened, carbonated water spurted out, propelled by gas pressure. Proprietors learned to operate the spigot with a dramatic flair, leading to the expression “soda jerker.’ Earlier in the nineteenth century, carbonated water used to contain some sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). By 1880 it no longer did, but the term “soda” has persisted into the 21st century as a synonym for soft drinks.

Another pharmacist, Asa Griggs Candler (1851 to 1929) bought Pemberton’s secret recipe in 1887. Candler, a marketing genius, devoted an unprecedented $50,000 a year to advertising the beverage.

An early Coca-Cola advertising clock, part of Asa Candler’s marketing campaign to promote the drink.. (p4A item # D9757411)

Coca-Cola was sold in bottles for the first time on March 12, 1894. Previously, the drink had been sold only by the glass. Bottling was an important part of Candler’s promotional strategy, since a sealed container would allow customers to enjoy ‘Coke’ at home instead of only consuming it at the neighborhood pharmacy.

An early Coca-Cola bottle.. (p4A item # D9866869)

The first Coca-Cola bottle was designed by Joseph Biedenham and was manufactured in Vicksburg, Mississippi. It was a straight-sided cylindrical container with raised molded-in lettering. The classic fluted green bottle, known as the “contour bottle,’ was designed in 1915 by a Swedish artist named Alexander Samuelson. Legend states that Samuelson wanted to pattern his bottle after one of Coke’s ingredients, but the contour bottle looks nothing like either a kola nut or a coca leaf. Its shape does somewhat resemble a cacao pod, although there is no cocoa in Coca-Cola.

Industrial designer Raymond Loewy (1893 to 1986), whose claims to fame include the Lucky Strike cigarette package, a Sears Coldspot refrigerator, the blue / white paint scheme on Air Force One, and several locomotives for the Pennsylvania Railroad, is often credited with designing the Coke bottle. Loewy was not the original designer, but he did re-design the contour bottle in 1955. He made it sleeker, he created new package sizes, and he eliminated the raised “Coca-Cola” lettering that used to be molded into the glass. Thereafter, the logo was painted onto each bottle.

Soft drink bottles were substantially constructed of thick, heavy glass. They were designed to be washed and re-used thousands of times. Customers paid a deposit at the grocery store and returned the empties later for a refund. The deposit for a single-serving bottle was 2 cents, then 5 cents, and ultimately 10 cents when returnable bottles were finally discontinued in the early 1980s. Aluminum cans and polyester bottles weigh far less than the glass containers they replaced, an important consideration during times of soaring energy costs.

Beginning in the 1930s, Coca-Cola’s winter advertising campaigns featured a fat bearded man in a red suit trimmed with white fur. Coca-Cola was not the first to depict Santa Claus that way, but it certainly helped to popularize that image of him. (Previously, Father Christmas had often worn brown clothing.) Santa liked to pause for a Coke break during his rounds, and of course he would play with the toys that he’d just delivered. Some of the most enduringly popular promotional images have featured Santa beside a Christmas tree, Coke bottle in hand, operating an electric train. More often than not, the train was lettered for the Santa Fe Railway. Coca-Cola has marketed a dizzying plethora of branded merchandise including picnic coolers, beach balls, clothing, beach towels, toy vehicles, and much more.

Further Recommended Reading

Warman’s Coca Cola Collectibles: Identification & Price Guide by Allan Petretti

Petretti’s Coca-Cola Collectibles Price Guide: The Encyclopedia of Coca-Cola Collectibles

B.J. Summers’ Guide to Coca-Cola: Identifications, Current Values, Circa Dates

Reference note by p4A.com Contributing Editor Joseph H. Lechner, Ph.D.

While traveling in 1875, Charles E. Hires, a Philadelphia pharmacist, first tasted root beer. Root beer, traditionally made with sassafras, was a popular “small beer” or low-alcoholic drink in the colonial era, and was becoming popular in an alcohol-free format. While root beer has a long history, it has a wide range of recipes that call for everything from birch bark to vanilla, molasses to juniper berries, so Hires set out to create his own version, which he initially sold as packets of powder. Soda fountain owners or housewives would buy the packets for a quarter, and by adding water, yeast and sugar, they would have five gallons of root beer or root tea, as it was occasionally called.

With the encouragement of a friend, Hires took his product to the Centennial Exposition, held in Philadelphia in the summer of 1876. He gave away free glasses of root beer, which were surely appreciated during the hot Philadelphia summer, and he also made the smart marketing move of advertising it as a “temperance drink” while the temperance movement was picking up steam.

Hires marketed his root beer with slogans like “The Temperance Drink” or “The Greatest Health-Giving Beverage in the World,” but he did draw fire with the word “beer.” On the one hand, it was believed that calling the mixture root beer would give the product a boost from the popularity of beer at the time, but on the other, Hires had to work to convince the temperance folks that his drink was alcohol-free.

In the years following the Exposition, Hires continued to market his drink to the temperance crowd, and he also developed a liquid extract or syrup for use in soda shops. He began to ship root beer in kegs, and he even patented a dispenser called the “Hires Automatic Munimaker” that he sold to the soda fountains that were popping up everywhere. By 1890, Hires had formed a corporation, and the company began bottling root beer.

One of the Hires Automatic Munimakers. (p4A item # D9798307)

Today Hires Root Beer advertising material is very popular with collectors, from tin trays to dispensers to mugs. Especially popular are items from the 1910s depicting what collectors refer to as “the googly-eyed man.” This young man was an actual person, Josh Slinger, and a soda jerk!

A Hires advertising tray featuring Josh Slinger, the Googly-Eyed Man. (p4A item # C244349)

Landers, Frary & Clark of New Britain, Connecticut was a prolific producer of household goods. Incorporated in 1865, the company was successful and prosperous for nearly 100 years. Coffee grinder production began in the mid-1870′s. Key patents by Rudolphus Webb in 1875 and 1878 helped to get that business off to a fast start. Later patents kept new and highly popular coffee mill models coming for several more decades. LF&C made mills of all kinds: box, side, wall canisters, two-wheelers and electric.

Landers, Frary & Clark manufactured their first tin canister wall mill in the late 1890′s. Several popular models followed during the next twenty years or so. The company also kept producing tin box mills in large numbers. Around the turn of the century came a series of cast iron coffee mills patterned after those made by Enterprise Mfg. Co. They featured a unique six-spoke design on the double-wheel models.

Morton Judd established the Judd Manufacturing Company of Wallingford, Connecticut in 1830. In 1855, his three sons joined him in business and the company’s name was changed to M. Judd & Sons. It was during this time that the company became well known for their still and mechanical bank production. Judd banks were usually finished in a brown or maroon lacquer and were washed in a green coloring. In 1887, the company was bought by one of the Judd brothers, H. L. Judd of Brooklyn, New York, who continued to concentrate the company’s operations in Wallingford, Connecticut.

The Enterprise Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was primarily a hardware manufacturer known for its coffee mills and domestic devices such as cherry pitters and apple peelers. Taking advantage of the 100-year milestone in America’s history, and the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876, the company produced a number of souvenir banks that depicted patriotic landmarks, such as Independence Hall. The company continued to manufacture banks after the exposition until the late 1800′s.

Tom Gray of Old Salem, North Carolina is an heir of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company family fortune. A graduate of the Winterthur program in Early American Culture, Tom curated the corporate collection of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. He partnered with his mother, Anne Pepper Gray, to found the Old Salem Toy Museum. Gray has a long association with the Old Salem Inc. historic restoration, including vice president for fund-raising, member of the board of trustees and chairman of trustees from 1994 to 1997. He reconstructed the 1787 Traugott Bagge house in Old Salem as his personal residence and showcase for his collection of Americana and early Southern decorative art.

Biographical note by p4A editorial staff 2010.

The following courtesy of Brunk Auctions-

Winston-Salem native Tom Gray (b. 1948) is the consummate collector. With elegant wit and a memory that any scholar would envy, he can recount not only the circumstances of his acquiring an object, but also stories about the objects themselves. He has been honing those skills since the age of eight when he acquired his first piece. Over the years, his wide-ranging collecting interests have included American furniture, British and Continental ceramics, hooked and shirred rugs, pewter and brass, children’s toys, and R. J. Reynolds Tobacco memorabilia.

Born into a family whose service and appreciation of museum and historic preservation was not just encouraged but expected, Tom has also dedicated his adult life to non-profit causes. This path began with his undergraduate degree in art history from Duke University in 1970 and completion of a master’s degree in 1974 from the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture, University of Delaware. He, along with his mother, Anne P. Gray (1921-2003), was also inspired to enter the museum field by his cousins Theo Taliaferro and Frank L. Horton, founder of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA). He subsequently was employed by Old Salem Inc., in Winston-Salem, where he served as vice president of development and later, director of MESDA. He was a member of the board of trustees of Old Salem Inc., for almost two decades and chairman, 1994-1997.

Outside of the Old Salem Museum complex, Tom has served as president, Historic Preservation Society of North Carolina; president and founder of the Historic Preservation Fund of North Carolina; trustee, North Carolina Art Society; trustee and chairman of the Works of Art Committee, North Carolina Museum of Art; and board member, The American Decorative Arts Trust. In 1983, he was awarded the Ruth Coltrane Cannon Award, the state’s highest award in historic preservation. His collecting endeavors were honored in 2008 by induction into the prestigious Walpole Society.

In November 2002, Tom co-founded with his mother the Old Salem Toy Museum. This survey toy collection spans 1700 years, A.D. 225 to 1925 and complements the impressive group of Old Salem’s imported German and locally-made toys owned by early Moravians. Open in MESDA’s Frank L. Horton Museum Center, the Old Salem Toy Museum is regarded as one of the most important collections of its type in the world, with acclaimed holdings of Romano-British artifacts, children’s tea and dinner ceramics from the eighteenth century, doll houses, as well as circus, zoological, parlor, and early transportation toys. In 2002, following the gift of the Old Salem Toy Museum, the Governor of North Carolina awarded Tom with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. In 2005, Tom established a publication series on the collection, beginning with his own introductory book, entitled The Old Salem Toy Museum.

Tom has shared his collecting passions with hosts of students, collectors, and museum professionals at his home in Old Salem’s historic district. Any visit is bound to be an anecdotal-filled adventure. As he describes it, “entertaining ‘visiting firemen’ from other museums has been a constant joy,” because he himself has been “so beautifully entertained by so many of his guests at one time or another.” Those who have been to Tom’s house will recognize in the pages that follow the flow of objects from one room to another. For the rest of us, images of Tom’s room settings help set the ambience of Tom’s warm southern hospitality.