The Bidding Starts!
The bidding starts, and things are going cheap!! Most lots go for between $2.50 and $10. Unfortunately, most lots aren't worth too much more than that. There ARE dealers at the auction, so anything nice goes for more. I really luck out on the 1960s Christmas ornaments--except for one lot with a great bobble-headed Santa that went to a dealer for $40, I get several of the lots I wanted for under $5 each! These aren't highly collectible ornaments (yet) but most of them are ornaments made in Japan (and a few in Germany) that I covet. I use the larger ornaments on an all-vintage Christmas tree in my workshop at Christmas, PLUS there are tiny vintage ornaments that I use on a small, doll-size tree that I keep up year-round in my shop. Its hot and dusty, but the ornaments have made the trip worth it!
Dust and Dogs
Bidding continues, and I have to sit on my hands NOT to bid on some of the small, decorative antiques that MIGHT work in my shop, but which are not my usual style. I mean, things are going cheap! I successfully don't add too many decorative things, except for some vintage 1960s doll-sized, Japan-made teacups. I also get some of the linens with the pretty trims, and one lot of baby clothes for $10, great for dolls.
Its getting very hot in the tin barn about mid-morning, and so the auctioneers set up giant fans. This makes it cooler, but it blows up an unbelievable amount of dust and agricultural-burning smoke. My allergies kick in. The lady in front of me puts a cold compress on her eyes (also allergic) but we persevere. The auction house starts to sell hot dogs for lunch (seeing how cheap the lots are going, I think this must be a lucrative side business--many of the bidders buy the dogs and the cold sodas).
Finally, The Dolls
Finally, the dolls are auctioned! I am somewhat surprised that more people don't show up for the dolls, but its possible that they previewed the auction the day before and decided it wasn't worth it. So, we end up with 4 doll bidders. Myself, an antique shop owner, a lady getting dolls for her mom, and an older collector. Four determined ladies, all sitting it out in the heat for 3 1/2 hours, to fight it out over what really amounted to 10 decent dolls and 40 semi-pathetic doll creatures needing homes.
The composition dolls go too high ($40 to $50). That might not sound high, but the dolls were not in original outfits and had flaws, and I'm buying for resale, so the collectors get those. Same for the china head and Minerva--too high for me given that I want them for retail and they are not original or deluxe dolls.
The ONE doll I really, really wanted was the 1960s Mary Poppins NRFB--this was one of my childhood dolls. I HAVE this doll NRFB, but this is a different box than the one that I already have. Well, the collectors evidently aren't into the 1960s stuff, because I get my Mary Poppins for $15! THAT was a bargain; the doll NRFB retails for between $60 to $120 generally.
Dolls and Stuff That I Don't Need
After that, I get a few more things. For $10, I get a NRFB 1970s Baby Grows Up, and I get a Turtle-mark Celluloid ($10) a Deluxe Reading Rosemary doll ($30) a cloth Italian doll ($10) and a Ginny look-alike in old clothes for $15. The auctioneers don't know that much about dolls--they try to start the bidding on the common Turtle-mark Celluloid for $100, which causes a "mass frown" among the bidders, causing the auctioneers to ask US where to start it!
I also end up with boxes and boxes of craft items for $2.50! At the end, the auctioneers just wanted to clear the stuff out. In the boxes, I find some darling tiny wicker baby carriages for dolls, doll hats and feathers. All in all, not a bad haul for a hot day in the dust in the country!
