The March 24, 2018 auction started not unlike most of our auctions. At an auction one day, a good auction customer of ours and I were talking. He started to tell me that he had a friend that was thinking about getting rid of some of his antiques. He said that his friend used to go to auctions all the time and buy similar items that he collects. He asked what he should do, and I told him to have his friend give my husband and Harry Lahr Auctions Auctioneer Matt Lahr a call and I handed him our business card. I knew if his friend collected similar things as him, it was going to be a great auction and I crossed my fingers that his friend would call.
A couple days later, the said friend gave Matt call. He explained that he was taking a different direction with his career and wanted to start getting rid of some stuff. He said that he had stuff at his house and in a couple of storage units. Since it was still the middle of winter he was unable to get into his storage units, but he was willing to bring some boxes down from his house and have an auction.
A couple of weeks later, he brought down a trailer load of boxes and told Matt that he wasn’t sure what was in most of the boxes and to have fun. I was super disappointed that I couldn’t be there to help Matt start unpacking. I love setting up for auctions, because it is like Christmas day as a kid all over again. As the day went on, Matt sent me some text messages with photos of what he was finding. With each text message I got even more jealous!!! As Matt was setting up and taking pictures I found a way to have to stop at the Auction Center, so I could check everything out in person.
There are two things when it comes to auctions you can’t control- the weather and if people will bid or not. As the auction drew closer the weather reports started talking about an early spring snow storm. The phone started ringing, the emails started to come in and auction customers started to ask, “If we get a snow storm, are you still going to have the auction?” As they say in show business the “show must go on” and in the auction business the auction must go on.
The day of the auction, I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and looked outside to see a small covering of sparkling white snow. My heart dropped. But I was hopeful that we wouldn’t get any more and it wouldn’t affect the auction. As the morning went on and time for the auction drew closer, the snow started to fall. Our phones started ringing and we put posts on social media to let people know that that auction would go on as scheduled. By 8:00 a.m. our phones were ringing off the hook with bidders wanting to set up absentee and phone bids.
As we were talking to customers, getting customers that had made the trip to Earlville checked in, our computers decided that they didn’t like the snow either and they didn’t want to talk to each other. It was one of those mornings, that if something could go wrong- it went wrong. We got the computers talking again and with customers still trickling in we started the auction. Even after we started, we continued to receive phone calls, text and private messages to bid on items.
During the auction, I had the opportunity to bid on several items for an absentee bidder that collects World War II memorabilia. It was fun to bid on things for him and I was able to deliver the items he purchased last week. They will become part of his collection, that I hope I will get to see one day.
At every auction, there are items that I have never seen before and may never see again. Here are a few of my favorite items from the March 24th Auction-
Lot #4- Bunte Chocolate Pumpkins Box
A couple days later, the said friend gave Matt call. He explained that he was taking a different direction with his career and wanted to start getting rid of some stuff. He said that he had stuff at his house and in a couple of storage units. Since it was still the middle of winter he was unable to get into his storage units, but he was willing to bring some boxes down from his house and have an auction.
A couple of weeks later, he brought down a trailer load of boxes and told Matt that he wasn’t sure what was in most of the boxes and to have fun. I was super disappointed that I couldn’t be there to help Matt start unpacking. I love setting up for auctions, because it is like Christmas day as a kid all over again. As the day went on, Matt sent me some text messages with photos of what he was finding. With each text message I got even more jealous!!! As Matt was setting up and taking pictures I found a way to have to stop at the Auction Center, so I could check everything out in person.
There are two things when it comes to auctions you can’t control- the weather and if people will bid or not. As the auction drew closer the weather reports started talking about an early spring snow storm. The phone started ringing, the emails started to come in and auction customers started to ask, “If we get a snow storm, are you still going to have the auction?” As they say in show business the “show must go on” and in the auction business the auction must go on.
The day of the auction, I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and looked outside to see a small covering of sparkling white snow. My heart dropped. But I was hopeful that we wouldn’t get any more and it wouldn’t affect the auction. As the morning went on and time for the auction drew closer, the snow started to fall. Our phones started ringing and we put posts on social media to let people know that that auction would go on as scheduled. By 8:00 a.m. our phones were ringing off the hook with bidders wanting to set up absentee and phone bids.
As we were talking to customers, getting customers that had made the trip to Earlville checked in, our computers decided that they didn’t like the snow either and they didn’t want to talk to each other. It was one of those mornings, that if something could go wrong- it went wrong. We got the computers talking again and with customers still trickling in we started the auction. Even after we started, we continued to receive phone calls, text and private messages to bid on items.
During the auction, I had the opportunity to bid on several items for an absentee bidder that collects World War II memorabilia. It was fun to bid on things for him and I was able to deliver the items he purchased last week. They will become part of his collection, that I hope I will get to see one day.
At every auction, there are items that I have never seen before and may never see again. Here are a few of my favorite items from the March 24th Auction-
Lot #4- Bunte Chocolate Pumpkins Box
Lot #17-Ornate 5 drawer spice cabinet w/ flip top
Lot #26-Cardboard Dr. Lynas' Hair Grower sign
Lot #46- Crispo Lily Soda Crackers tin
Lot #75-Flat of skeleton keys
Lot #87- Louis Marx tin wind-up circus toy
Lot #100- Blue/white stoneware butter pail
Lot #112- Flat of porcelain bathroom items including shower head (Just imagine the house that these came out of!!!!)
Lot #183- 3" Wooden bowl & masher (Miniature!!! How Cute!!!)
Lot #277- Black & White Family photo with frame
Lot #279- Black & White Photo of barn raising
Lot #293- Lindstrom Mammy tin wind-up toy
Lot #333- Rare wooden egg case by J.G. Cherry Co., Cedar Rapids, IA advertising Hermann Bros., General Merchant, Guttenberg, IA
Lot #335- 2 Gal. salt glazed beehive jug w/ turkey droppings
Click here to view a video of the jug!
Click here to view a video of the jug!
Lot #431- 1 Gal. stoneware jug adv. Churchill Drug Co., Burlington, IA
To all of the bidders that braved the weather from as far away as Idaho and South Dakota and as near as Petersburg, Manchester and Dyersville, and every where in between, thank you for coming. To the phone bidders from Illinois, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, we thank you for your bids and we hope that you love your items and enjoy them for many years to come. And finally, to the collector that trusted us to sell his items- you have a wonderful collection. It was wonderful to get to share them with others and it was great to get to know you and hear your incredible life story. If you get around to writing that book about your life, we can’t wait to read it. And that is the behind the auction scoop.
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