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York to host huge auction
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A mega sale is planned in York this weekend, but you won't find these deals at the town's new Wal-Mart Supercenter.
Rather, an auction of items owned by Raymond and Virginia Newman will happen today at the York County Fairgrounds and Sunday at the National Guard Armory in York.
And also next Saturday, July 23, at the York Country Club. And again July 30 at the York armory.
That's right: The auction of the contents of the Newman's modest home in York will last at least four days and take place at three different locations.
And all these auctions will feature only the most top-drawer stuff, gathered over a lifetime by a couple of collectors in hot pursuit of hardware, hardwood furniture, dishes and dolls.
Each day's auction has a theme: Tools today, furniture on Sunday, dolls and doll furniture on July 23 and collectibles on July 30.
A final auction on Aug. 13 will cover miscellaneous items, like the couple's toy collection and many wall hangings. General household items were sold earlier this month.
"What really distinguishes this is that there wasn't any junk," said Michelle Ronne of Norm Green Realty and Auction, the company conducting the sale.
"Everything they had was top-of-the-line collectible or really rare," she said. "It's really unique for one couple to have this much stuff, let alone this high-quality."
But you can chalk that up to a passion the Newmans shared since their wedding in 1977; a hobby that filled a house, a machine shed, a barn, three garages and a semi-trailer.
Raymond and Virginia Newman were equally matched in their affection for collections, said Raymond's son Steve Newman.
Raymond, a longtime York dairy farmer who died last November, was an unusually handy man who liked to have the right tool for every job. "And I think he had four of everything," his son said.
His hardware collection reads like a history of tools, ranging from an early farmers' potato planters to the latest high-powered sanders and saws. Raymond especially liked wooden planes and levels, Steve Newman said, and owned at least 42 hand corn planters.
Virginia, a retired York County associate judge who now lives in a nursing home, began collecting dolls and doll furniture as a child and never stopped.
Her 3,000-strong throng of dolls includes old German bisque babies with leatherette bodies and hinged limbs and three decades of Barbies and Kens. Her collection's many celebrity guests include Cher, Farrah, Napoleon, Judy Garland and at least eight John Waynes.
The couple also favored Fenton, Lefton, Laughlin and many other dish brands, and all kinds of well-made furniture, Steve Newman said.
"They just had fun. They never intended to get rid of any of it," he said. "Everything they had, they bought because they enjoyed having it around them."
And there was little space in the house for anything else. "When I say it was full, I mean full," Newman said. "People used to say they should buy another house so they would have a place to live."
Michelle Ronne said a team of four full-time employees spent three months emptying the house and sorting through its stuffing.
She hasn't seen an auction of this size since her father, Norm Green, presided over an 11-day auction in 1992 for Marilyn Batterton, whose family later opened opened a small museum in York.
"Usually, if we work on one sale for two weeks, it's a big deal," said Ross Ronne, Michelle's auctioneer husband. Ronne will be the man behind the mike each day, rattling on in the rural man's rap and moving about 100 items an hour. Each day's sale should wrap up before 5 p.m., he said.
But those who go to York over the next three weekends will have to contend with some unseen competition.
Using an online service called Proxibid, at
www.proxibid.com, people listening to the auction over the internet can place bids through representatives who are physically at the auction, or "ringmen."
Items available through the online auction are already posted and pictured on the internet. About 80 bidders have registered so far, said Ross Ronne, including some from Denmark and the Netherlands.
Local folks should still have a good shot at taking something home, though, because most of the items are quite large, he said.
Sunday's furniture sale will feature china hutches, Hoosier cupboards, tall-backed chairs, antique chests and bedroom sets that are far too heavy to ship. Even the baby grand piano must go, he said, no matter how low the bid.
"This is still an auction," he said. "Even with this much stuff — and you have to see it to even believe how much is there — we will sell everything on the sale bid that day.
"It's absolutely gotta go."
Reach Kendra Waltke at 473-7303 or kwaltke@journalstar.com.
If you go
An auction of items owned by Raymond and Virginia Newman of York will be held over the next three weekends. The lineup:
Saturday: 9:31 a.m. at the York County Fairgrounds, tools.
Sunday: 11:31 a.m. at the York National Guard Armory, furniture.
July 23: 9:31 a.m. at the York Country Club, dolls and doll furniture.
July 30: 9:31 at the National Guard Armory, collectibles and figurines.
People can also bid on many items online at www.proxibid.com, or by following the links at www.normgreenrealty.com.
Rather, an auction of items owned by Raymond and Virginia Newman will happen today at the York County Fairgrounds and Sunday at the National Guard Armory in York.
And also next Saturday, July 23, at the York Country Club. And again July 30 at the York armory.
That's right: The auction of the contents of the Newman's modest home in York will last at least four days and take place at three different locations.
And all these auctions will feature only the most top-drawer stuff, gathered over a lifetime by a couple of collectors in hot pursuit of hardware, hardwood furniture, dishes and dolls.
Each day's auction has a theme: Tools today, furniture on Sunday, dolls and doll furniture on July 23 and collectibles on July 30.
A final auction on Aug. 13 will cover miscellaneous items, like the couple's toy collection and many wall hangings. General household items were sold earlier this month.
"What really distinguishes this is that there wasn't any junk," said Michelle Ronne of Norm Green Realty and Auction, the company conducting the sale.
"Everything they had was top-of-the-line collectible or really rare," she said. "It's really unique for one couple to have this much stuff, let alone this high-quality."
But you can chalk that up to a passion the Newmans shared since their wedding in 1977; a hobby that filled a house, a machine shed, a barn, three garages and a semi-trailer.
Raymond and Virginia Newman were equally matched in their affection for collections, said Raymond's son Steve Newman.
Raymond, a longtime York dairy farmer who died last November, was an unusually handy man who liked to have the right tool for every job. "And I think he had four of everything," his son said.
His hardware collection reads like a history of tools, ranging from an early farmers' potato planters to the latest high-powered sanders and saws. Raymond especially liked wooden planes and levels, Steve Newman said, and owned at least 42 hand corn planters.
Virginia, a retired York County associate judge who now lives in a nursing home, began collecting dolls and doll furniture as a child and never stopped.
Her 3,000-strong throng of dolls includes old German bisque babies with leatherette bodies and hinged limbs and three decades of Barbies and Kens. Her collection's many celebrity guests include Cher, Farrah, Napoleon, Judy Garland and at least eight John Waynes.
The couple also favored Fenton, Lefton, Laughlin and many other dish brands, and all kinds of well-made furniture, Steve Newman said.
"They just had fun. They never intended to get rid of any of it," he said. "Everything they had, they bought because they enjoyed having it around them."
And there was little space in the house for anything else. "When I say it was full, I mean full," Newman said. "People used to say they should buy another house so they would have a place to live."
Michelle Ronne said a team of four full-time employees spent three months emptying the house and sorting through its stuffing.
She hasn't seen an auction of this size since her father, Norm Green, presided over an 11-day auction in 1992 for Marilyn Batterton, whose family later opened opened a small museum in York.
"Usually, if we work on one sale for two weeks, it's a big deal," said Ross Ronne, Michelle's auctioneer husband. Ronne will be the man behind the mike each day, rattling on in the rural man's rap and moving about 100 items an hour. Each day's sale should wrap up before 5 p.m., he said.
But those who go to York over the next three weekends will have to contend with some unseen competition.
Using an online service called Proxibid, at
Items available through the online auction are already posted and pictured on the internet. About 80 bidders have registered so far, said Ross Ronne, including some from Denmark and the Netherlands.
Local folks should still have a good shot at taking something home, though, because most of the items are quite large, he said.
Sunday's furniture sale will feature china hutches, Hoosier cupboards, tall-backed chairs, antique chests and bedroom sets that are far too heavy to ship. Even the baby grand piano must go, he said, no matter how low the bid.
"This is still an auction," he said. "Even with this much stuff — and you have to see it to even believe how much is there — we will sell everything on the sale bid that day.
"It's absolutely gotta go."
Reach Kendra Waltke at 473-7303 or kwaltke@journalstar.com.
If you go
An auction of items owned by Raymond and Virginia Newman of York will be held over the next three weekends. The lineup:
Saturday: 9:31 a.m. at the York County Fairgrounds, tools.
Sunday: 11:31 a.m. at the York National Guard Armory, furniture.
July 23: 9:31 a.m. at the York Country Club, dolls and doll furniture.
July 30: 9:31 at the National Guard Armory, collectibles and figurines.
People can also bid on many items online at www.proxibid.com, or by following the links at www.normgreenrealty.com.
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