Newspaper Rack with Advertising

[talesofthesevenseas]

A friend gave me this cool old newspaper rack. It was once in an old grocery store in downtown San Jose California. I brushed off the cobwebs and made little wooden shelves for it, so that I could use it to display some of my antique cookbook collection in the kitchen. By making shelves to rest on the hooks, I was able to repurpose it without altering it in any way.

So what are these worth? It looks like something they would love on American Pickers but I can't find another to know what the value might be. Any ideas?

[fancypants]

Cool little deal , tales of .

Stranger than fiction , I worked in downtown San Jose in the early 1970's & regularly bought a newspaper in the grocery store , from a rack just like yours .
Go figure .

Not a clue what they bring in $-wise , though ... extra cool that its' got the masthead of the S.F. Examiner on it !

[talesofthesevenseas]

No kidding Fancy! What a small world! I used to work at my father's law firm in downtown San Jose in the late 1970s. They were in the Wells Fargo building, right next to the B of A building on W. Santa Clara Street that has the tallest tower and the green light on the spire. Our building was the slightly shorter high-rise next to it. There were a lot of neat remnants of old San jose in those days. There were some great little coffee 1930s coffee shops still alive in those days! The grocery this came from was owned by Fortunato Chiappe and was located at 150 W. Santa Clara St.

[Ipcress]

I love that !!! And have to say, love the look of the whole house from what i can see !


Has to be worth $300 or $400, doesn't it ?

[rockandrollrods]

I would guess around $400 as well. That thing is cool! I was in San Jose a couple of years ago, and I couldn't believe how much it had changed in the last ten years.

[talesofthesevenseas]

$400-ish is great! Thanks guys!

Yes, San Jose has gone through unbelievable changes in my lifetime. It was covered with orchards when I was a kid, and used to be known as "The Valley of Heart's Delight". Now it is known as "Silicon Valley" and is the hub of the tech industry. I live up in the mountains though, and its still nice there in the redwood forest.

Thanks for the house compliment Ipcress! 

[Ipcress]

Yeah, very nice. Old world / country eclectic

[KC]

Been awhile since I have seen one for sale.  They are getting more and more scarce.

Since yours is so adaptable without hurting the integrity of the piece...makes yours all that more desireable.


See where two have sold but with no info available (Unless you are on Worthpoint).
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/antique-detroit-times-advertising-20874285
http://www.icollector.com/Journal-Newspaper-Honor-System-News-Rack_i12110047

With the original name/good condition and versatility of the piece...I would say $350 - $500 easy.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Cool! Thanks!

[Ipcress]

The bottom one made $100 last year but it's nowhere near as good as yours


This made $200. I think yours is more attracive / functional.

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/2535269

[KC]

Note the small pic of the rack mid way down!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_San_Francisco_Examiner

[talesofthesevenseas]

Looks just like mine KC, I sure wish they had photographed the whole thing!