Antiques Going, Going, Gone: Local Sales in the 1940s and 1950s

A large crowd dressed for the late November weather gather in front of the house on Parsonage Street in Newville for the auction.

Collectors and dealers of antiques have often talked about the old days when there were so many good pieces of furniture and “smalls” for sale at auctions. The following are examples of some of those sales.

CARLISLE 1942 “Hundreds of antique pieces, many of them from old Carlisle and county homes, were sold at the Penrose all-day auction” on Monday October 26, 1942, by auctioneer James G. Pennypacker. “Collectors, dealers and agents from Lebanon, York, Lancaster, and Philadelphia…were among the 200 and more persons who attended the sale” at Colonial Hall on North Hanover Street.

Miss Rachel Craighead’s twin Sheraton banquet tables sold for $402. An eight-day tall case clock from John Monro’s home sold for $111. A carved Schimmel eagle with a 35-inch wing span that had topped the Plainfield schoolhouse sold for $95. A set of four Chippendale chairs went for $420. “Two pieces from the old Holly Inn sold well. A web-foot table with Chippendale brasses, on which early patrons played poker, went for $55.” A seven piece sterling silver tea set that had graced a table in the home of an old and wealthy Philadelphia family was withdrawn from the sale when the bid was not high enough. A pair of Waterford candelabra from the Penrose home in Carlisle sold for $140, and among the many other lots were matching oils of George and Martha Washington in oval gold frames that were purchased for $17.50.¹

SHIPPENSBURG 1945 A two-day auction was held at George D. Porter’s show room on West King Street in Shippensburg in May 1945. A headline in the Shippensburg News-Chronicle on May 11, 1945, announced “Top Prices at Porter Sale. Buyers Compete for Chests and Cupboards of Classic Design. Spirited Bidding.” Several hundred buyers came from North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey as well as local collectors. Shippensburg Attorney, William McCrea was the top bidder for a rare and authentic Chippendale Dutch cupboard that originally came from Pine Grove Furnace and was thought to be 175 years old. “It was owned at one time by a Mr. Helm of Big Pond.” It was described “with unusual molding, with three keystones and fluted stiles, two six-pane glass doors, ogee feet; top and base have fluted quarter-round set in corners.” Another piece of furniture was “a rare and authentic walnut Hepplewhite inlaid high chest of three small, and five large drawers all fitted with the original cornucopia brasses, chamfered corners with four lines of inlay and the original French feet.” It brought $425. A mahogany banjo clock with a brass eagle finial by Aaron Willard went for $136. Among many other antiques was a blue Stiegel fluted sugar bowl and lid that brought $50.²

CARLISLE 1953 One of the biggest estate sales in Carlisle was held in May 1953 at the “Thornwald” Mansion built by the Sadler family. The sale was held over two days, and 3,000 to 4,000 people attended. “Cars lined Walnut Bottom Road and nearby streets, and collectors were present from at least five states.”

The public sale advertisement in the May 23, 1953 issue of the Evening Sentinel listed chairs, tables, serving tables, sideboards, sofas, card tables, chest of drawers, stands, night tables, and chests, in Chippendale, Hepplewhite and Sheraton styles and included “four fine Sheraton mahogany high poster beds with canopies, and a set of 16 mahogany ball and claw Chippendale chairs and banquet table.

Tables groaned with 1,000 pieces of Minton, Spode, Haviland, Neissen, French Soft Paste, Bohemian, Dresden, and Copeland china. Sterling and solid silver creamers, ladles, teapots, chafing dishes, urns, trays and a set of four early candlesticks by Cronch, 1810, glassware, cut glass pitchers, Waterford tumblers, 19 Mettlach steins and four-foot flower vases of Venetian glass. There were engravings, paintings and prints, and mounted animal heads.³

The highest price paid for a single item on the first day of the sale was $920 for a Sarouk rug with a rose field and large blue medallions. Eight Chippendale chairs went for $372, and six Chippendale chairs sold for $222. “A graceful ivory and gold decorated French Provincial living room suite with sofa, two arm chairs and three side chairs with needlepoint seats brought $265.”A bronze bust by the American sculptor John Gutzon Borglum was purchased for $195.⁴

“Spectators filled the side porch and much of the lawn in front of the auctioneer, spilling over into the shrubbery and onto the roads…The women of the Reformed Church, who operated a lunch stand, reported 16 hams used during the day, eight of them being consumed between 10 and 12 in the morning, About 80 pounds of hot dogs were sold and more than 20 pounds of coffee consumed.”⁵ The total sales were estimated to be $17,000. After the sale the mansion was converted to The Homewood Church Home for elderly people.

CARLISLE 1954 A spectacular auction of the property of antique dealers Misses Jennie and Nellie Penrose of 34 East High Street, Carlisle was held on Monday June 21, 1954. The auction lasted more than nine hours and was attended by more than 1,000 people according to Pierson K. Miller, real estate agent and local manager for auctioneer James G. Pennypacker of Reading.

Mrs. Oliver C. Conger of Pottstown paid $800 for a pair of Philadelphia Chippendale chairs, circa 1760, that belonged to the Boies Penrose family of Philadelphia. York antique dealer Joe Kindig, Jr. paid $400 for a Philadelphia Chippendale arm chair circa, 1750. A Chippendale Georgian mirror 60 inches tall, and also a Penrose family piece, went for $500. Two rare French vases were purchased by Mrs. William Blacksmith of Hogestown for $250. “A rare 1788 Carlisle grandfather clock with an eight day movement sold for $375.” Charles R. Stauffer bought a Tiffany English sterling hot water pot on a stand for $100. A Pembroke mahogany Martha Washington tea table brought $125. Phil Bradley, an antique dealer from the Philadelphia area paid $270 “for a walnut high chest with three small, two medium and four large, graded drawers.” The sale of the 415 items was expected to bring in between $10,000 and $15,000.⁶

NEWVILLE 1959 “One of the largest auction crowds gathered on Parsonage Street in Newville on Saturday, November 21, 1959, when the personal property of Robert M. Hays went under the hammer.” The sale brought lots of people from out of town and out of the state.⁷

Auctioneers Kurtz and Keeseman ran an advertisement for the sale on November 20, 1959, that listed the items to be sold. There were Victorian living room and bedroom suites, marble-top stands, and a marble-topped sideboard. Cane chairs and a rocker, and a Player Piano with rolls. A Chippendale walnut high chest of drawers with good brass handles, an Empire bureau with mirror, a Hepplewhite style Governor Winthrop inlaid walnut desk and bookcase with bracket feet and scroll-type solid doors were for sale. As well as smaller items such as picture frames, dishes, books, and linens, they sold a 9-foot walnut Chippendale grandfather’s clock with fluted columns, O. G. feet, raised panels, a rosette scroll with finial and signed on the face J. Herwick, Carlisle.⁸ The Valley-Times Star newspaper reported that a desk sold for more than $500, and a highboy brought more than $300. The player piano sold for $120. There was no mention of how much the Herwick clock was sold for.⁹