Americana
Do you want to own an item that transports you back in American history? View our upcoming Americana auctions or call us at Rockabilly Auction Company today at (770) 652-8075 to learn more.
When you think of classic American charm, you imagine hot apple pies fresh from the oven, baseball games and hot dogs, soda pop in glass bottles from the local country store, jukeboxes playing classic tunes, and children giggling on kiddie rides. Such images conjure strong nostalgic feelings of a simpler life that many desire to re-join. At Rockabilly Auction Company in Hartwell, Georgia, we want to help passionate collectors find the items of their dreams.
What Is Americana?
Americana is a blanket term coined by industry experts for any collectible artifacts, antiques, or vintage items related to United States history, cultural heritage, folklore, or geography. Many associate Americana with country, jazz, bluegrass, and folk tunes, though the concept goes far beyond music. Americana can be a genre of music like Johnny Cash, an art style like Andy Warhol, a movement in film like old Westerns, or simple artifacts like vintage jukeboxes and soda pop machines that remind you of stories your grandmother used to tell.
Americana offers distinct opportunities to join the “Good Old Days” of romanticized small farm towns with one ice cream parlor, bubble gum for a nickel, lonesome pioneers voyaging West, military families split apart from the civil and World Wars, iconic Levi’s, and much more. Americana, at its core, shows trial and error, problem-solving, and the way of life before technology.
Valuable Americana Collectibles
Many items fall under the Americana group of collectibles. What helps these items retain their value is their condition, historical association, and cultural significance. Americana can include the following:
- Movie props: Mickey Mouse, comic book characters, and other icons from the Disney universe before the 1940s do especially well, though any props from classic films fall into the category.
- Country store memorabilia: Country store items might include board games from the 1920s, tin toys, newspapers, historical posters, rare books, and much more.
- Coin-operated machines: Coin-operated vending machines displayed an enormous transition reflecting how life operated at the time, making them still valuable today.
- Soda pop artifacts: Many collectors seek soda-related items, especially with Coca-Cola branding before the 1950s.
- Railroad memorabilia: The railroad period was a transformative time in American history, making all related items like tools and equipment quite valuable.
- Military memorabilia: Military items may include uniforms, weapons, flags, documents, posters, and more.
- Jukeboxes: Jukeboxes changed how we enjoy music, and many still seek the early models today.
- Vintage advertising signs: Vintage signs from popular brands can sell for over $100,000.
- Kiddie rides: Coin-operated horses, spaceships, farm animals, and more paved the way for amusement park fun, showing their inherent historical value.
Buy and Sell Americana Today Through Rockabilly Auction Company
If you want to part with your items or add something new to your collection, we can help! View our upcoming Americana auctions, visit our gallery in Hartwell, Georgia, schedule a consignment appointment for sales, or call us at Rockabilly Auction Company today at (770) 652-8075 to learn more.