A couple months ago, Ellen and I headed off to Suffolk, VA, to check out Peanut City Auctions. They had advertised having a HUGE collection of country store collectibles, including advertising signs, electric clocks, vending machines, Coke memorabilia, and much, much more. We were drooling in anticipation the entire ride there.
Having never attended an auction at P. City, we gave ourselves plenty of time for the preview. By the number of items they were auctioning off, we expected a much bigger facility. But lawdy, we were not disappointed by what they had to offer. With eyes wide open (and sometimes mouths), we made our rounds, noting which items we intended to bid on. There were signs, signs and more signs. Indoor signs, outdoors signs, signs on screen doors, paper signs, metal signs. Yea gads, it was sign heaven.
We immediately honed in on a nondescript suitcase filled with business papers from the the ’30s and ’40s. The imprinting on some of those pieces was absolutely gorgeous. Put that one on the list. I saw an Elgin advertising electric wall clock with fabulous Deco numbers. (You know, the kind of clock with the domed glass front and a distinct electric whir.) Oh yeah, I’ll keep my eyeballs on that one.
Be Sociable. Have a Pepsi.
Then Ellen rounded a table and sucked in a gasp. There was the P E R F E C T sign for her kitchen. Boasting Minced Ham Sandwiches for .15 cents and Bologna & Egg Sandwiches for .25 cents, it commanded the reader to “Be Sociable. Have a Pepsi.” in Jadeite green and red with a little yellow… the colors of Ellen’s kitchen. Damn. It was awesome!
Our friends Kathy and Mike showed up to see what they could see and hang out with us for the afternoon’s activities. With our reserved seats awaiting, we took our places and hoped for some good deals.
There was a large contingency of Coke Club members in attendance and they swept up almost all the Coke signs, trays and memorabilia. I didn’t even get a chance to bid on any signs as they started wahaaay above what I could have afforded. But it was fun getting to see all of them in one place and a couple I’d never seen before.
Check out this cobbler's tray with all it's fabulous compartments. And it spins on its base.
The auctioneer was a treat to watch. With ease and personality, he coaxed bidders onward and upward with their bids… cajoling, poking, prodding and begging until the sale was made. Unfortunately, I didn’t get most of the items I had my eye on. There was a great cobbler’s tray that would have been a very useful tool on my workbench. It was snatched out of my hands for big bucks.
And I didn’t get the Elgin clock. The auctioneer was getting tired of people waiting for him to drop the bids down really low just to have them build back up. So when someone bid $50 for the clock, I waited with arm ready to thrust my number high in the air on the next dollar amount. To my horror, he closed the bid and sold the clock to the first bidder. Crap. Why did he have to instill that lesson on MY item? Why not the third box of Uncle Pat’s All Purpose Laxative that came up for bid?
Ellen didn’t take any chances with her sign. Lucky dog, she bid on it and had no competition. And let me tell you… it looks FABULOUS in her kitchen, with her Jadeite dinnerware on display behind glass-front cabinets. Anyone for a minced ham sandwich?
So the afternoon bled into the evening. We each got a couple things we either hadn’t seen or hadn’t realized we wanted until they came up for bid and for some reason, we HAD TO HAVE THEM. One of my unintentional treasures is a cherry syrup dispenser from a soda shop with a black enamel base topped with a chrome art deco pump. What the hell am I going to do with that? Mike suggested using it as a soap dispenser… which sounded like a good idea until I realized I’d have to put about a gallon of soap in it! I wonder if sangria would work instead?
As the metal advertising signs cleared off the floor and made their way out with their new owners, and the millions of little Coke collectibles found new admirers, and my Elgin clock ticked reproachfully off to the side… there came an item up for bid that I hadn’t even given a second glance…until now. Having been recently unburied, there, in the back corner, sat a really cool barber chair. “Who’ll give me $150?” cried the auctioneer? Uhm, no one. “Who’ll give me $75?” he asked with anticipation. Stone cold silence.
Now, I should back up a bit and explain the circumstances under which I entered this auction. Having already overextended my spending at a charity auction last year, I am still paying for that little bit of insanity (alcohol may have been involved). Ellen’s orders, coming into Peanut City, were to “keep my arms down unless it was something we both agreed would be either a good buy for Loverly or a nice addition to my home…within REASON.”
Koken Barber Chair - probably from the '30s
So, we sat, side-by-side, and when the barber chair came up, Ellen took a firm grasp of my arms after hearing my little gasp. (I have always wanted a barber chair!) From the podium came “Come on folks, surely someone wants this little beauty. Who’ll give me $50?” Let me just say that Ellen would not do well at a greased pig catching competition. I easily managed to wiggle an arm loose and shoot it straight up to the sky. It was all I could do to not squeal, “Ooh, ooh, pick me, pick me!”
SOLD.
I looked past Ellen (really, what good is she?) and stared straight into Kathy’s eyes and muttered “Oh, shit.” Where the hell was I going to put a barber chair? How was I going to get it home? Granted, I can fit a lot into my lovely little Prius (you would be amazed), but no way was I going to attempt to haul that monster.
About 6 different solutions passed through my brain at the same time and my best conclusion was to just leave it there and not claim it. Let them sell it again – I’ve lost more money on other “gotta haves” that turned into “what was I thinkings.” But a call into Pam at Plantiques the next day confirmed she’d find a place for it until we could find a buyer. And, lucky us, her son fell in love with it and it’s soon to be his. Getting it TO Plantiques is another story!
So, our evening ended with all of us getting some treasures, some “what the hells” and lots of memories. We can’t wait for another one!
