A Look Behind the Scenes of the Ken Fee Auction

When we have an auction, we like to share the experience for those that might be curious what we are doing behind the scenes. So, I am doing that within the bottle community, basically the people who’ve requested to receive a catalog or email. This particular auction, number 67 and known as the Ken Fee Collection, was an interesting one from the get-go.
As I’ve already mentioned on our webpage and in an email blast, we anticipated some pretty major interest on a number of the items we had in this sale. It was after all a collection that had been kept out of sight for over 50 years and much of it was unknown to almost everyone including us. When we went to the house, we were in awe of some of the pieces Ken had collected so many years before. When he was buying them in the 1960’s and 70’s, I’m sure he was aware that he had put together some rare and desirable bottles. Since he didn’t correspond a lot with other collectors from his Salt Lake City hideaway he probably just had his father Earl, known as Curley, and his kids to talk up the wonderful collection he was assembling. It was a bit ironic that although Ken’s father had given Ken the “collecting bug,” Ken had taken it to a new level. Whereas his father collected or better explained, “amassed,” a diversity of bottles, Ken had gotten more specific in a very special way.
Most collectors start out collecting bottles by going to bottle shows and checking out what is out there. There are around ten different and specific categories of bottles and you never know what will strike someone’s fancy. In the case of Ken Fee, western made bitters caught his attention and not just any old western bitters. From everything we can discern, he was a quick study and soon began buying from the likes of Richard Siri and other top collectors of the day, studying the new Western Bitters book written by Bill and Betty Wilson. He did go to some bottle shows, from people I talked to not a lot, he was in Utah and the shows were mostly in California. But he did things like meet Dennis Fox at the Monterey Airport to buy a pair of green Lacour’s which we have the honor of selling. So, where his father left off Ken had just begun and by the time he moved on from bottles he had amassed a collection of some spectacular bitters and one worthy of the finest bottle shelves anywhere in the world. After that he moved on to stamp collecting and we’re told he collected them up until his death, just over a year ago. That bottle collection included one special gem, one that would sell for more than any other western bitters sold, that would be the Cassin’s Grape Brandy Bitters. In an off color, it would be the focal point of his collection and a very special bottle for collectors everywhere.
The story has been told before, we posted many pictures on our website, during and after securing the collection and bringing it back to our Sacramento offices. It was a lot of fun and not too unlike picking up the Bryan Grapentine and Vince Madruga collections. This was different in that this collection was largely unknown aside from all the rumors about the Cassin’s. It was different in a way that we didn’t know what was there. With almost every collection we’ve sold, we’ve known pretty much the extent of the collection or had a good guess. We didn’t know about the crazy green Lyon’s that Vince had or the amazing number of western bitters that Bryan would have but we had an idea, with Ken it was all one big surprise.
As we began preparing everything, we realized we needed two auctions, we had some pieces that needed cleaning and frankly some of the pieces were so rare we thought we might be overloading the market. Being an auctioneer carries an obligation of not presenting too much or even too little at one time. Some bottles sell for too much or not enough, it can give a false indication of the market. With this auction we felt it was something special in that it was a surprise, like finding the lost treasure of Salt Lake, it had to be promoted in a different way. My main goal was to do something that Ken Fee never did and that was introduce him to the bottle hobby. Granted it was a little late but that’s how he would have wanted it. If you bought a bottle from the Fee collection that’s all you have to say. It’s like today I hear people say they have a bottle from the Grapentine sale, it carries good provenance since everyone knows where it came from.
To be honest this isn’t a large collection by any means. Around 250 bottles tops and a lot of those are not exactly top of the line. It was more the quality of around 100 bottles and the rest window dressing. The one thing I know is that when he collected bottles, he knew his stuff. By referring to the Wilson book he used that as a guideline in finding what he liked. If you look at that book, it’s uncanny how many bottles are very similar or even the same bottle. Even to the ending of the book where they show a number of labeled bitters, some in his collection. He sought out both common bottles and rare ones. It’s unlikely he even knew that what he was procuring were going to be treasures of future, because monetarily they weren’t treasures of the his present, bottle collecting was just beginning. Renz’s and Henley’s weren’t that hard to find even in bizarre colors. His quest to collect wasn’t about money or obtaining the best it was just a hobby he saw as a neat way to pass the time. Stamps back then garnered his interest and he eventually went all in on stamps. Again, he saw a category and became more than interested and amassed as many as he could. It wasn’t about getting the best and boasting about them, he didn’t really have anyone to boast to. He was a silent collector, leaving his hoard to his family so many years later.
When we first got the bottles in the shop, we went through them as we had looked at many in Salt Lake but there were many we hadn’t seen as they still stood silent in their cardboard boxes. I first put them out on the shelves to get an idea of what we had. Three Catawba Wine Bitters! Thirteen Henley IXL’s, almost ten Renz Bitters! Both colors of the Wonser’s, a couple Boerhaave’s, the fun was just beginning. They were covered with 50 years of dust which considering they’d been in closed boxes is amazing. How dust gets in everything, even closed boxes is astonishing but that’s a subject for another day. Dust I could handle, what painful chips or cracks were we going to find on these beautiful gems? Did he have a lot of bottles with resin repairs? After the first cleaning under room temperature water we were pretty surprised at the lack of problems although there were a few bummers. The amber IXL that I thought was cracked and repaired just has an in-making crack in the side of the top. The yellow Boerhaave’s has a blown-out shoulder and some exterior stain but still displays nicely. The IXL’s to no surprise had an evenly distributed number of flakes off the mouths. Some are about perfect. An Alex Van Humboldt had a chip as did a few other rare early S.F. bitters. But all in all, there were some spectacular bottles that proved at auction that this hobby, at least for western bitters bottles, is doing quite well thank you.
There has been some question as to announcing to the world that we sold a bottle for $155,000 which is what the Cassin’s sold for. While that number seems relatively high compared to other categories of collecting, and it is, it is not to say that antique bottles are going to suddenly soar in value. You have to remember that the Cassin’s is a one in a million type of find, even among other Cassin’s Bitters it’s the rarest of the rare in both condition and color. The other bottles that went beyond expectations, the Boerhaave’s has a small but devout following and at a $28,000 hammer price it’s a lot of money but compared to a rare stamp or Rolex watch it’s a mere bag of shells. At $21,000 the Henley’s OK Bitters wasn’t really a surprise, there are only a couple known for gosh sakes. The Dr. Wonser’s in aqua brought in $23,000 and was one of the finest examples we’ve ever seen and that is also a bottle that rarely comes up for sale. Both the Lacour’s sold in the $13,000 neighborhood (all these prices don’t include the 10% buyers fee) and that was solid especially the amber example. Unknown to a lot of bidders the amber variant 1 is very rare in perfect condition with good crudity and they don’t come around often. The Catawba Wine Bitters sold for $4,600 and $6,500 respectively and considering we sold one fairly close to the $6,500 example for an astounding $16,000 in a beautiful turquoise color with a super sloppy top didn’t make the newly sold example much of a price surprise. Still, this sale was a fairly accurate depiction of the market for super rare and high condition western bitters. The rest of the group went pretty much as expected, with labeled bitters bringing anywhere from $100-600 depending on condition and appeal. A large size Hostetter’s Bitters did an unexpected $1,800 although I’m told they are a rare commodity and this one had a lot of whittle and appeal. The Henley IXL’s and the Renz’s all sold as expected and condition played a large part in that. Condition continues to play a huge determining factor in collector’s minds as so much as a flake off the lip could dramatically bring down the price. A rare and early Renz’s Bitters with an early top struggled to get $800 as it had a hairline in-making check in the shoulder. For those collectors looking for bargains, they need only look for a bottle with a minor flaw and they will be rewarded for their ability to overlook. I still think a utilitarian bottle thrown in a toilet 150 years ago has a remarkable story to tell if it remains in mint condition. The fact that any bottles survived in perfect condition is a miracle. These are bottles made to be thrown away. The people that bought and used them didn’t think about using an ice pick to pry out the cork.
So, to the Cassin’s, I had been asked a hundred times what I thought it would sell for and I thought between $100,000 and $200,000. There were people who told me they were going to buy it and never bid and those that I had no idea they were going to bid. Auctions are funny things; you never know what goes on in the heart of a collector. Bottle collectors are a little different than other collecting categories because they are smarter than other collectors since they collect the best thing one could ever collect. I know that’s a little bias but come on, you can display bottles in your window or on a shelf, they are handmade, no two are alike. They have history and luster and color and beauty; they are special whether you collect Warner’s Cures or historical flasks. So, in my mind it’s not that some sell for a lot of money, it’s only a matter of time, before more people become aware of them and they become more popular. For ten years now, I’ve been hearing how the bottle hobby is in trouble. Well I’m here to tell you that the news of the bottle hobby’s demise has been greatly exaggerated. As I look at the bids coming in, I am astonished at the number of names I don’t recognize. We’ve signed up thousands of bidders and have had hundreds of consignors. The number of intelligent and educated bottle collectors has exploded nationally, look at the websites and articles and all the hoopla on eBay and in national publications, it’s hardly getting less popular. I’m not going to wave the banner celebrating the hobby and its popularity, I’ve already said a lot on the subject. All I can say is I see it every day. The calls we get, the emails people send us, the hobby is strong and it’s not a secret! It shouldn’t be a secret. If you have bottles be glad, if you don’t have some, start learning about them and start collecting them.
I have just had some negative feedback on the auction results, that it will hurt diggers out there and I need to keep it on the downlow cause people have to eat and kids need shoes. I am trying to run this auction the best way I know how and if that ruffles some feathers I don’t know what to say. I’m not planning on being on the evening news or having a worldwide debate on how I should hand out the good news because it is good news. People read everyday about things selling for millions of dollars, a Rolex watch, a coin or stamp for $13 million, a baseball card or Babe Ruth jersey for $4 million and a bottle sells for $155,000 and suddenly the world is about to end for bottle diggers? There has been a lot more paid for a bottle and there will be a lot more paid in the future and if you think you can censor the results you are wrong. Remember, it’s the finest of the very finest, it’s a one in a million bottle, that’s the story. The story isn’t about the money it’s about the bottle. That’s a lot of money but it’s nothing compared to a $17.8 million dollar watch that Paul Newman gave to his son in law. People don’t think about things too long because they just don’t have the time. We sit down at our computers or read a trade publication and read about a hundred different things and maybe one or two stick with you but generally it’s old news a minute after they read it. Go read the auction results pages of Maine Antique Digest and a valuable bottle story gets lost in all the other amazing things selling for new highs. The truth is the only people that care about a bottle selling for a lot of money is other bottle collectors. Trying to keep it a secret is silly, what if you looked at it the other way and said, as a land owner with bottles on it, I want someone to help me find the bottles, instead of never letting anyone ever dig in my yard and leaving them there forever. Maybe if people knew the possibilities they’d open up to the diggers of the world and ask for their help. It makes more sense than banning news of a successful auction. The last thing I want to do is butt heads with the soul of the hobby. These bottles came from somewhere and it was mostly bottle diggers who spent a lot of time and sweat pulling them out of the ground. For those archeologists out there, that think digging an outhouse is a crime, I would say grow up. There’s nothing in an outhouse that is historically significant enough NOT to dig it up. What is the point of something staying in the ground for eternity? Bottle diggers have a place in this hobby as they always have. I have dug many holes and found some neat stuff and I know how hard it is to find any bottle, let alone something as special as a teal blue Cassin’s Bitters.
Regarding the bidding on the Cassin’s, we must honor the request of customers to keep their information private. We can talk about some of the generalities but who purchased the bottle or any bottle in the sale is off limits. We really can’t even speak to what state it went to or anything about who they are. I really wish I could talk about everything in the auction but it’s not my call. Bottle collectors are a talkative group and I’m sure whoever bought what, is vocally distributed throughout the hobby. There are enough rumors going around to make it interesting for sure. I can say there were a lot of bidders on the Cassin’s. That included some serious bidders. Some were people hoping to get a bargain and there’s nothing wrong with that. As I mentioned before we had a lot of bidders who we’ve never heard of and they were there to spend money. With interest rates so low instead of people putting money in the bank they are buying things they enjoy. Some don’t care about their new bottle as an investment and some do. In a nutshell all I am saying here is that the market for western bitters bottles is at an all-time high. I know I read about other categories and how they are down but everything out there is still selling. It’s not like you have a problem selling a good bottle, if you’re asking too much it probably won’t sell but things are as strong as I’ve seen them in a while. I think some expectations are too high but it’s more about what someone collects. The great stuff will always have an audience. If this auction told us anything it’s that the cream rises. The total for 125 bottles was $335,000, that’s a record but of course the Cassin’s was a big part of that. Think of this, out of the total, seven bottles brought in almost $250,000 of that. There were some good deals if one was to look a little closer. I thought a colored Henley’s with just a minor flake on the lip or even in perfect condition were good deals in the $3,000 price range. When labeled bitters become all the rage people will look back and see these went pretty cheaply.
On the catalogs being received late, nobody was more upset about them arriving late than us. They cost thousands of dollars to print and mail not to mention design and they got to people late! They sat at the post office for two weeks! We are currently putting together the second part of the Ken Fee Collection and we will make sure you receive the catalog before things start. If it’s just a day or so after it starts, it’s one thing but after the auction? Absolutely unacceptable. I just received a notice from our software engineer and he’s going to be out of the country during our previous planned date of the second part so we will move it back a week or two. I’m also being told it might be a bit too soon, people need a little more time, so it’s just a couple weeks after the holidays and there are some other great things in store. We won’t be done sending everything out until the new year most likely anyway. We thank everyone for being part of the Ken Fee auction, and we look forward to the second part. See, you probably already forgot about it.
Jeff Wichmann