Auctioneer Interview: Bill Morford

Bill Morford of William Morford Auction was in town a few weeks ago picking up consignments for his next advertising auction, so we asked him to stop by and say hello. Bill filled us in on what’s going on in his “world.”

“Everybody wants condition now,” he said. “They want the best example of whatever it is they’re looking for. And an original box, even a bad box, can push the price of a piece way up.” He said he was surprised when a gas-pump globe offered at one of his recent auctions went for triple its estimate because the seller had the original box.

Best-sellers at his auctions, Bill said, are pieces that fall in what some collectors call the “guy category”: tobacco, oil and gas, cars, sports, gambling, coin-ops, fishing, hunting—and condom tins. Condom tins with great graphics, he said, get more bids than anything else.

“Buy what you like,” Bill advised, “but be as broad as you can. The more categories an old ad falls into, the more people will like it.” For example, a peanut butter tin picturing a baseball player appeals to sports collectors and food-tin collectors.

We asked Bill what he thinks about restoring items he gets from consigners. He won’t touch tin, he said, because “restoration takes away a lot.” He does, however, sometimes send paper items to a professional restorer—but only for cleaning.

Bill told us he started in the business when he was a teenager by helping his auctioneer grandfather. He set up booths at flea markets near his upstate New York hometown and as far away as Brimfield, Mass.

A lot of things have changed in the 40 years since Bill’s family went into the auction business, starting with the fact that many auctions, including Morford’s, are held online. But Bill attributed one change to the Kovels. “Prices were once closely guarded secrets,” he said, “but the Kovels’ price guides changed things.” Now most auctions publish realized prices soon after an auction closes.

Visit Bill Morford’s auctions at MorfAuction.com and contact him at Morf2bid@aol.com.