A REVOLUTION IN MARKETING
By George Michael
 
    The depression years of the 1930 were not good for any reason. There was little money around and people could not indulge in buying items they wanted or needed. There were no yard sales or barn sales and even if one wanted to convert property into cash, there was no organized place to do it. The war came and exasperated the problem. Manufacturers were creating very little in the way of consumer goods, so made do with what was in the home. The antiques and auction business shut down in the cold weather.  When the auctions were revived in the Spring, they survived the OPA, the Office of Price Administration which laid down rules on how some items could be sold. During the war there was no production of refrigerators, washing machines or other large household items. When they hit the block at an auction, the OPA controls had to be preserved.  Names were thrown into a hat or box and one was drawn to select the lucky buyer at the OPA price. None of these items was auctioned.
   After the war, manufacturing was resumed for household appliances, furniture, tools and there was great demand in purchasing them. Wartime wages put money into pockets, which until then had been almost empty.  Yet, there was still a problem: what to do with the old items that people were throwing out. The young people, especially the returning veterans wanted the newest and latest of everything, but needed the sale of the older pieces to help make this happen.
   Your writer was working in radio and TV in upstate New York. To develop a good farm program, I went with a tape recorder (these came about in 1947) to livestock auctions and recorded the selling of cows, heifers, calves, bulls and the like, so listeners could hear the price received. At the Chatham Area Auction Cooperative, which held weekly sales at the fairgrounds, I witnessed the selling of merchandise in another ring. The farm people would bring in their animals along with boxes of dishes, glassware, silver, etc., to have them liquidated, as well.  This looked like a money tree to me. No money invested in the merchandise; one did not have to truck, store or insure it, yet they auctioneer claimed a percentage of what was sold for his services. All he had to do was provide a location with a consistent schedule of auctions and the consignors did the rest.
  My family returned to Rochester NH, where I was born and opened the Strafford County Auction Exchange to capitalize on this idea. Our first sale was November 30, 1950 beginning in a cattle barn at the Rochester Fairgrounds. In 1953, I built a newer barn with a large restaurant and continued in business there until 1967. It was time to move on. We had emptied just about every attic, barn and cellar for 30 miles around. This was the first auction establishment after the war, in New England, and auctioneers came from everywhere to ask and learn how to set up in their area. We sold Friday and Saturday nights, yet could not exhaust the supply of merchandise which came from all over New England States, plus New York and Pennsylvania.
   Saturday daytimes were devoted to on site auctions in the good weather; these included farms, homes, businesses, etc..  George A. Martin, the Yankee Auctioneer, worked with me 15 years to help take care of the sales.
  The Auction Barn, as it was called, became the meeting place for family and friends who traveled there from every direction. Most would bring something to sell. The barn was open all day to accept consignments. Much of it was farm goods - vegetables, country butter, eggs, fruits, dressed rabbits and chickens. For years, this was the "in" place to be, where all the action was. Antiques shops and auctions closed down for the Winter, yet those in business had a place to do business, year round. Other auctioneers opened their sales very successfully, all through New England. As I traveled more, I attended them in just about every State. The public finally had a place to liquidate their unneeded belongings and get paid cash, instantly.
  John Zyla used to rent grange halls, etc., for the selling of new tools, etc.  He rented my barn for two nights a week for 5 years before buying and enlarging his own place in Reeds Ferry, (Merrimack). Al Conkey sold in the North Country; Fred McPhail, who died recently, was located in Swanzey; Ken Martin opened the Concord Auction Hall, which is owned today by Jim Saturley. Merle Straw operated The Old Man of Seabrook in that town. Nellie Farmer sold near Bridgton, Maine. Ronnie Pelletier built the Brookline (NH) Auction Gallery, which still operates actively and Frank Beliveau sells out of his old church in Epping.  I do not recall all of them, but they are out there.
  To show you the effect of such places, I had asked my father, who owned a dry goods store, what was the best form of advertising he used. He stated, "Gossip. Get people talking kindly about you and you will be a success".
   Many wheeler dealers would stop by my place to sell large lots of items - this would rate a story by itself, but I like to relate what happened when one came by with a huge station wagon load of hickory hammer handles. There were 200 in each rag bag and I could have them for 5 cents apiece - they were seconds. Store price at the time was 35 cents. I took all of them. At the next auction, I told the crowd I appreciated their support and business and had lined up a good special for them. I held up 6 handles, which reached a dollar immediately. I told the crowd I really appreciated their support each week and proceeded to hand over 12 hammer handles for a dollar. There was mayhem in the auction barn. My helper was dumping bags of them on the floor and people came down out of the bleachers to fill their hands with them and drop their dollars (I hope) on the clerk's table.  I heard about these hammer handles for months. I held out several bags and sold them to people from the Maritimes, Quebec, Ontario and from all over the Eastern US.
  Nothing surprised me more in this business than what happened in an early auction. We had bleachers in Barn #3 at the Fairgrounds. At an early sale, two men came in at one end, carrying a man on a stretcher. He began bidding on an item I had on the block, from the stretcher. The crowd, noting this man’s physical condition, stopped bidding so as not to compete with him. As the entourage reached the end of the bleachers, he paid the runner for the items; jumped out of the stretcher and he and his fellow conspirators disappeared out the door at the end.  I head about this for months, but it is occurrences like this that always keep an auction barn full each week.
  I like going to Ken Barrett's sales from time to time in Tilton, NH. This is in a store front in the middle of town, so you see, they can be located anywhere. Most have learned that good food is important. One night at Ken's, I had a wonderful home cooked turkey dinner while waiting for the auction to start. Generally, auctioneers line up good caterers. Ken's is among the best.
Ed. Note: We’d like to hear from you… are weekly auctions a dying breed?  GAVEL96@WORLDPATH.NET
If so, where will dealers obtain their merchandise?