If you’re still trying to figure out what to do with that money Nana gave you for Christmas, you might want to check out this new auction. Apple’s first trade sign and a toolbox used by Steve Wozniak are both up for auction at Alexander Historical Auctions.
Apple Computer’s first trade sign has a starting bid of $50,000. The sign was the first used by Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak to promote Apple Computer Company.
Apple displayed it at the first trade shows it attended in 1976 and has used it for years outside its headquarters in California. It features the company’s iconic rainbow logo and has the original, weathered wood frame.
The trade sign is expected to go for $100,000 to $200,000.
The second item is Wozniak’s earliest Apple Computer toolbox, with a starting bid of $10,000. It bears his name on the top and was used around the time of the Apple I computer.
A bidding range of $20,000 to $30,000 is expected for the toolbox
Both items were previously in possession of M. Thomas Liggett, Jr. who was hired by Apple as a Facilities Engineer ‘B’ in 1978, Apple Computer employee #114.
Liggett says he saw Steve Wozniak’s toolbox laying around for some time “I asked him about it, and he said he had no interest in it. I asked him if I could have it, and he said ‘yes’…”
As for the trade sign, Ligget says, “In my rounds of the building, I had noted a fluorescent light box…that had both the Apple logo on it, along with the words ‘apple computer inc.’ written on it. I was told that said device was from the first industry trade show that Steve Jobs and [Steve] Wozniak had attended, when they were showing the Apple I [ca. late 1976]…I was directed to throw [it] away. I asked and received permission to take it home, where it stayed…”
(Via AppleInsider)
