The art of auctioneering

One of the things I enjoyed as a youngster, in the 40s and early 50s, was attending auctions, at a local home or farm sale, with Mom and Pop. Mostly, I was mesmerized by the actions of the auctioneer himself, Luther Welder. I was impressed by his style of counting and oftentimes didn’t even grasp what he said, due to such fast talking. I’d laugh at the funny things he’d say to the bidders about an item. In the end, when the bidding was over, I’d hear, “Going, going, gone!”

Luther was also a farmer and road supervisor for Maxatawny Township. On occasion he’d stop by our farm for a visit. What my siblings and I most loved about him was his awesome “spit,” from the chew tobacco, into the can we sat next to his chair.

After my husband read my article, he suggested contacting an auctioneer for an interview. Since I prefer knowing someone by word-of-mouth, I called my sister-in-law, Millie, who gave me the name Wagner Auction Services, located in Shoemakersville.

I immediately checked their website and found it to be exactly what I needed, a family operated business. Their 40 years of services range from real estate auctions, antiques, equipment liquidation, military memorabilia, coins and more. The auctions can be found in Berks, Schuylkill and Lehigh Counties.

It was William “Willy” who was the stimulus for the future Wagner Auction Service. Willy, in the 1970s, conducted White Elephant (selling a collection of items) and Consignment Sales, for a group or community as a fund-raiser.

Willy’s son, Dennis, caught his father’s passion, but in a bigger way. He attended the Pennsylvania School of Auctioneering, in Harrisburg. He received his PA State license in 1977. He held a full-time job, conducting auctions evenings and weekends. By 1980, his dreams came true when he became a full-time auctioneer.

Another member of the family, Dennis’s daughter, Tracy, also caught the passion at a young age. She began her two year apprenticeship, with her father, in 1991. She received her PA State license in 1993.

Here are some interesting, fun incidents that Tracy related to me that happen in auctioneering: “When we clean out a house and prepare for a sale, we, at times, come upon some odd places people stash money. A battery operated clock fell down with money inside.”

Tracy continued: “In the 90s, we auctioned off Adams Hotel and farm. While at the farm, my father found a Cas (wardrobe) in the chicken coop. It was covered in chicken poop and a door was off. No one in the family felt it was worth anything. It sold for $10,000.”

“One time a family came late with a punch bowl they felt wasn’t worth anything. It turned out to be white carnival glass and sold for $2,000.”

Tracy’s last story: “The people that do the bidding have different forms of bidding. One woman told us, if her hat is on, she’s still bidding; if it’s off, she’s not bidding. Or it could be a person’s hand in his pocket, means he’s in; if out, he’s done bidding. Even winks work.”

After chatting with Tracy, I can well understand the company motto: “It’s Fair, It’s Fast, It’s Fun!”

And now for some history. Auctions have existed for some 2,500 years and continue to be in demand, where customers gather at local auctions, or even online, to buy merchandise by bidding against each other until the higher bid is reached. The term “auction” comes from the Latin “auction,” which means “to increase.”

The earliest auctions recorded are from the Greek historian, Herodotus (C. 484-424 B.C.), who traveled extensively and wrote about his findings. In Babylon (now Iraq), in 500 B.C., Herodotus recorded that auctions were held annually for unmarried women to be purchased by men, by bidding, on the condition of marriage after the purchase. The auctioneer chose the most attractive women first on down to the least. Imagine how awful “the least” would have felt for being chosen last! It was illegal to sell a daughter other than at this yearly auction.

During the Roman Empire, auctions were held to pay off people’s estates called “atrium auctionarium.” This same procedure was used by soldiers after a military victory. The “spoils of war” to be auctioned were usually surrounded by a spear in the ground, called “sub hasia” (under the spear).

An unusual Roman Auction, in 193 A.D., was when the emperor’s Praetorian Guard, after killing the emperor and plundering the area, placed the entire Roman Empire on the auction block for the highest bidder.

There are different types of auctions, such as ascending or descending auction (bidder competes by bidding higher or starting the bid high and going lower), or live auction, and the closed bid auction.

Here are a few of the different ways auctions are held in different countries:

During the 17th and 18th century, in England, there were candle auctions, where a candle was lit. If your bid was the highest by the time the candle extinguished itself, you received the item.

In the Netherlands, dating back to 1887, fruit and vegetable growers allowed buyers to bid on their goods through auctions. In the same way, fishermen in North Holland and Germany used auctions to sell their fish, which gave them more freedom to actually fish. Still, the Japanese have a system of simultaneous bids for selling fish, using hand signals for the auctioneer.

In the mid-1700s, auctions were held in taverns and coffeehouses daily, with catalogs printed ahead of the items being sold. Some of the early and famous auctions houses are the oldest in Sweden, the Stockholm Auction House, in 1674, Sotheby’s, in 1744, and Christie’s, in 1766 - both in New York.

Auctions in America date back to the 1600s when the Pilgrims auctioned off beaver pelts, crops, imports, livestock and more.

Similar to the Roman soldiers auctioning their “spoils of war” were the American Civil War Colonels, who with their loud booming voices, were allowed to sell land and items they acquired in battle.

The Great Depression (1929-1939) slowed down the auctions, since no one had money to buy things. After World War II (19391945), the country bound back and auctions were again thriving. Auctions were a great way to sell items or property within a few hours, instead of traditional ways.

By the 20th century, auction schools began. The earliest on record is the Jones’ National School of Auctioneering and Oratory, in Davenport, Iowa, in 1906. There they not only learned the complexities of items and Real Estate, but also how to project their voices to huge crowds. Historians have found auctioneers using this kind of singing chant for centuries.

Today, through the development of technology - the internet, e-bay, computers and smart phones - we can participate from the comfort of our homes in Kutztown, Hamburg or across the ocean in England, and enjoy the wonderful world of bidding, for that one item we can’t resist.