On auction day, under perfect blue skies, the sun painted bright, crisp shadows on the faces of Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis. These Confederate legends are chiseled deep in the granite of Stone Mountain, Georgia. If auction goers looked closely, they might have been able to detect the faint glimmer of smiles on the enormous trio of faces. No doubt they were pleased with the interest shown and the many items that sold in the $10,000 plus range in the auction at the Bobby Protsman Auto and Treasure Museum. The museum had existed under the shadow of this mountain for 50 years, and thousands of visitors had passed through its doors.
Rich Penn Auctions billed this auction as their "Spring Spectacular" and it was all of that, and more. With the auction covered by many of the Georgia newspapers and several of the Atlanta radio stations, preview day on Friday, March 21, had a full house. Traffic was constant until the doors closed at 6 p.m. Session one began at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 21. The crowd, between 400 - 500, took every seat in the facility, leaving standing room only. According to Rich Penn, another 600 folks watched the auction's three-camera online streaming video for an average of an hour each, while another 1,000, from 20 different countries were registered to bid online. Penn added, "This time, to further broaden our on-line market, we used both ProxiBid and LiveAuctioneers online bidding platforms." The auction began with an hour of uncataloged lots of miscellaneous smalls from the museum. Bidders were having fun snapping up the box lot bargains of small treasures. But the true test of bidder endurance started at 10 a.m. with the first 600 lots cataloged for Saturday's session.
On Saturday, well over a hundred lots hit or exceeded the $1,000 mark. (All prices reflect hammer prices and don't include the buyer's premium.) Many of the 30 mannequins, in period dress, were sold on Saturday, with five selling at $1,000 or more. Lot #401, the rare Wizard Clock trade stimulator, with marquee, sold at an even $1,000. A nice quarter sawn oak china cabinet, with curved glass sides and door and standing on claw feet, brought a strong $1,300 as did an I.W. Harper Whiskey sign on Vitrolite. A Pepsi theater lobby "Yoda" promotional figure from Star Wars, greeted folks at the auction. But he was there to share "The Force" with a new owner.
One bidder must have felt an especially strong bond with Yoda and made the winning bid at $1,500. Lots that sold in the $2,000 to $3,000 range included the rare Walla-Walla chewing gum scale. The National Store Specialty Co. scale, in original condition, brought an even $2,000. The Ward's Orange Crush Syrup dispenser, in excellent original condition, pumped up a winning bid of $2,500. Moving up in interest, the very graphic Uncle Tom's Cabin 3-sheet lithographed show poster danced up to $2,750.
The first lot to break the $3,000 mark was the unusual cast-iron circa 1880's windup fly fan. In original paint, the fan slowly spun to a top bid of $3,100. At $3,500 was the coin-operated cast iron Mills Novelty Co. Elk Trade stimulator. The machine, in perfect working condition, included tokens that paid out on each winning symbol. The Sauer's advertising regulator clock, lot #346, from the New Haven Clock Co., easily ticked up a winning bid of $3,750.
The museum included over 80 bicycles. Many were among the rarest and most were professionally restored. Bicycles sold throughout the auction. Among the top bicycles sold on Saturday were the circa 1894 high wheeler with very unusual ratchet pedals, selling at $4,000. The first lot to test the $5,000 barrier, lot #271, cataloged as the only one known, was a restored child's 16" Indian bicycle. It was hammered down right on the $5,000 mark. Another $5,000 lot was the Berger American Beauty floor model fortune teller, lot #345. Sold to a Canadian buyer, the new owner planned to take the machine back to its original state as a trade stimulator.
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