Our Qualifications: The Oldest, Largest And Most Experienced

Our world class research department, headed by world renowned, award winning artist, H.J. Nick, has an unmatched level of hands on experience in the vintage collectibles and antique restorations marketplace. We have developed an expert research department that digs deep to tell the story of every item we sell, that item’s history, and how that product or company contributed to making the United States into an industrial giant, and made possible the “Happy Days” and “The American Dream”. 

As the top authority in this space, our extensive level of research allows us to offer information that is grounded in fact, not just guesswork, or copying from others. With so much made up, or misinformation out there today, our goal is to offer only the facts, in a way that is both straightforward and easy to understand, and to empower the collector community with the tool of knowledge. This knowledge will allow you to enjoy collecting and be part of that dream at the top level, because we believe collecting should be fun, not risky.

H.J. Nick: A Lifetime Of Hands On Experience

I was born with a get it done sprit; and I was a picker, junker, and historian long before it was popular, due to my family’s circumstances. That is why I believe in delivering real value, and in genuinely helping you to become more educated about the marketplace. Together, we all achieve both our collection and investment goals without deceiving anyone in the name of greed and profit.

I was always well read, and spent a lot of my youth finding things to sell, to help my impoverished family. I started doing this when my mother found a 28 inch bike thrown in the city dump, along with a big stack of new comic books, with the covers torn off. I may have been all of 10-years-old, at the time. She brought the comic books home in an orange crate, along with some wheels she also found. I started by taking this old rusty bike apart with an old pair pliers, and a screw driver. I took all the plates out of the drive wheel hub, sanded and oiled them, and put them back. Next, I straitened the chain guard, and fixed the broken link in the chain. Finally, I sanded all the rest of the parts, and painted it with some old black oil based, lead paint (to give an idea of how long ago this was), with a brush my Dad had in the old coal shed out back. I guess you could say that this was my very first restoration project.

My interest in junking only grew from here, as I then began to pick up pop bottles, copper, and iron to sell to old Boney Whites junk yard to get some new tubes and tires. Soon, I walked down to the town square to the Western Auto store, and purchased the tires and tubes as well as the Camel tube glue and a patches kit (planning ahead). With the single nickel I had left, I went next door to the Rexall Drug Store, and ordered fountain Cherry Coke for the long 3 mile walk home.

In mean time, I had been saving metal angle iron so I could make the orange crate in to a trailer that I could pull behind my new, semi-restored 28 inch bike. I also cut some blocks of wood with a hand saw, so I could reach the pedals. Usually getting on this bike, far too big for me as a 4th grader, involved using a porch step to get on, and my full body weight to take off, and I was on my way to school. After school, you would find me riding through alleys and back streets, picking up junk, either to sell to the local junk yard by the pound, or to bring home to fix, repair, or restore it to help my family’s many needs. My entrepreneur life began with the attitude that anything is possible in America if you work hard at it. I saw these broken items, not as junk or trash to be thrown out, but as an opportunity to get a hands on education along using  common sense any thing was possible to me.

My Dad Set The Tone Early

My dad set the tone early on, starting his family with my mom, and us three boys, after his two volunteered tours in World War 2. His values included being a proud American, and he was hard working, loyal, and devoted to his family. These values, along with that a man is only as good as his word, was instilled in us boys from day one by example.

My Dad was a orphan at birth, born in 1906, and left with a note in basket on a church step. By 1926, he was a child labor coal miner, a victim of the government’s foster home program of his time. Through all of that, and the fact he was never able to get a formal education, and could not read or write, helping others was always taught very strongly, by example, in my family. When I was boy, I heard others say "Homer (Hubert) would give the shirt off his back to help others”. He was trained hands-on, in the Army Air Force as a medic, and was very proud of this ability. He was also an army cook, and was frustrated he could not be sent over to see action due to his inability not to be able to read.

My mother, on-the-other-hand, was business minded, and experienced, running my grandfather’s store, and growing the produce business, until she was 30. At that point she thought that if she was not married soon, she would end a spinster, in her day. Well educated, strong willed, and determined that love was all you need, she gave up the family inheritance to marry my dad for love, even though he was from Belgium in heritage, and not Italian. At that time, in their world, this was not acceptable, and considered a mixed marriage. Her father excommunicated her from the family will. Determine to live on love, she chose to go with my dad to Peabody, “coal mining country”, and be her own woman.

This choice lead to the downward spiral that ended with us all on welfare due to a cave in, in the mine, that crippled my dad for the rest of his life. This life changing decision to disown his daughter, determined our fate early on. And, my fate as well. A mixed blessing as I see it today. In other words, I never would have learned the things I had, if I hadn’t had to face these challenges early on in my life.

My Hands On Education And Expertise

I thought sharing this information was necessary to explain my expertise, along with the proper experience and credentials to be a certified appraiser of the American Industrial Revolution, road art, and its authenticity.  My expert qualifications come from a variety of business experiences as an independent dealer with some of the world’s largest corporations.

My experience includes Ford Motor Company, Ford Tractors And Equipment, owned and operated two Ford T&E Dealerships, along with the Hann Corp, garden equipment, Ford Farm Tractors And Equipment, and Homelite Chain Saws. I received training by Ford Motor Co. in proper signage, advertising, marketing, floor plans, and restorations. 

Now, with over 55-years of experience, and thousands of satisfied customers. I have furthered my educated in every facet of these dealerships, including acquiring land, location assessment, and erecting buildings; to dealership specifications and requirements, for the sales, and the parts and service departments. I have also furthered my higher education in acquiring real estate.

In conjunction with the truck, tractor, and equipment business, I became an independent appliance dealer, trained by Whirlpool Corporation on washers, dryers, and refrigerators. Also, as a dealer with Roper Gas Ranges, Kenmore, RCA Victor Corporation products (RCA TVs , Stereos/Radios along with a full line products), and Litton Corp (early microwaves). At the same time, I also trained in trade-ins, in all areas, including used cars, trucks, tractors, and equipment, and developed several full service and restoration departments. This training, by these expert, world class corporations, is well established, and goes into our operations today. This allowed me first hand information on many neon, porcelain, and tin litho signs. I was dealing hands on with many of the free to the dealership signs, and replacements first hand, which allowed me to obtain information that the general public would not have been exposed to. When we appraise, we really know what we are looking at, and how it was intended to be displayed. This gives us expertise that is hands and feet above most in this business space. This is mostly because we are not guessing, and often have been exposed to a given sign many times before.

I have spent many hours training our classically trained work force in all facets of these old signs and how to preserve the aging and patina without doctoring the paint, or slight of hand techniques. We use the same processes of preserving, and repairing historic antiques, such as priceless furniture, that are used for the many museums and insurance companies that we have worked for, over the years. In other words, restored to World Class Fine Art, Museum and Investment Quality Standards.

Our Master Crew

Today, we have a hand picked, loyal, friendly, and helpful management crew, composed of persons with many years of hands on experience, many that have been at their benches for over 35 years. This includes master carvers, blacksmiths, millwrights, furniture makers, and door makers; building in the same hand and materials as our ancestors from the centuries gone by. Building heirlooms that are built to last forever. This also translates to our 101-point, World Class Fine Art, Museum Standard restorations. There is no offering, as large as ours, at this high standard, and at prices that are better than many other venues. Not to mention the guarantees that we offer, backed by this company, and over 100 years of family reputation. We don’t put our customers in high risk, buyer beware contracts. We also do not use competition fever (auction fever) to force our customers in purchases that they later regret and have no recourse.