Auctions offer a little bit of everything

Larry Miller with Jones Auction Service held up a guitar for bids at an auction sale Sunday in Cape Girar~deau. FRED LYNCH flynch@semissourian.com [Click to enlarge]

Aficionados say the atmosphere at auctions has changed because everyone's in a hurry.

When Larry Hendricks arrived at the auction on Howell Street in Cape Girardeau on Sunday, there was one item he was prepared to bid on.

It was a shiny red Fender Stratocaster electric guitar that caught Hendricks' eye in the classified ads of the newspaper. The guitar was listed among other items that were auctioned off at the former residence of Maxine Crow, who passed away in February.

Bill Crow of Dallas decided to auction off most of his mother's estate, which he had inherited, to "get it out and get it done in one stop."

"Since I don't live here locally, I don't have the ability to market everything out piece by piece," he said. "Auctions are a very pleasant and easy way to dispose of a wide variety of property. Whatever it brings, it brings and it all goes away that day."

Among the items at Sunday's auction were a large assortment of glassware, vintage radios and quilts, antique mirrors and a couple of unusual items like nautical star navigation tools.

"Those were items that I acquired as an antique dealer," Crow said about the navigation tools. "I didn't know what to do with them. They were sitting around at my house, collecting dust and so I brought them here. If they sell, they sell."

Tom Jones, owner of Jones Auction Service in Jackson, has been an auctioneer for about 40 years.

"Nothing really surprises you anymore," he said about unusual items sold at auctions. "I've seen clocks go for $8,000, some old sideboards out of an old house sold for as much as $7,000. People collect a little bit of everything."

What has changed since Jones first began his career as an auctioneer at the age of 18, is the atmosphere at auctions.

"People used to come to an auction and were in no hurry. They would bring their own lunch and spend the entire day at an auction," he said. "Now we try to get them done as soon as we can because everyone seems to be in a big hurry."

Among the crowd of about 100 at Sunday's auction was Bill and Ann Nunn of Jackson. The couple was interested in purchasing a Victorian-era dresser for their granddaughter.

Bill Nunn also feels the atmosphere at auctions has changed. He can remember his father taking him to auctions when he was younger. "I can remember spending all day at them," he said.

Once a social gathering

Ann Nunn describes auctions as a "social gathering" more than 30 years ago.

"We still like to come to auctions when we have the time," Bill Nunn said. "I like to go to see some of the antiques -- not necessarily to buy them, but just to see them. There's some interesting stuff that dates back to our childhood at these things and you think, 'they still have this stuff around?'"

Kay Bramlett of Vanduser, Mo., and her husband drove about 30 minutes to the Cape Girardeau auction for one particular item -- a dryer. But they took one look at it and realized it wasn't what they were looking for.

"We'll stay though and I might see something that I like," said Bramlett, who first attended an auction about five years ago.

"Someone stole our son's tools and we started coming to auctions to pick up some tools here and there," she said. "We had such a good time that we kept going."

After 30 minutes had passed during Sunday's auction, Jones announced the electric guitar would be auctioned off.

"Who will give $100 for it, a hundred dollar bill now. How much, anybody? I got $30 bid, now $40. Now $50, $55 -- your turn. Now $60, will you give me $60? Now $60 bid, now $60 -- sold to number 93 for $60," Jones said.

The shiny red guitar went to the highest bidder -- Hendricks, of Cape Girardeau.

"I didn't think I would actually get it," he said. "It looks like it's never even been played."

Hendricks said he regularly attends auctions if there's something he wants to bid on -- like the guitar. He estimated the guitar would probably cost about $125 to $150 if he had bought it at a store.

"This is the best thing I've ever got at an auction -- especially at this price," Hendricks said. "You just never know what will happen at these things."

jfreeze@semissourian.com

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