Country Auction, 1942
This scene may have been a sale to get rid of tools and equipment from a farm that had folded, and perhaps Harry Shokler wanted to show that this was what was really happening to many Vermont farm families at the bitter end when making a living as a farmer was no longer viable.
Lyman Orton comments:
Country auctioneers, by the very nature of their trade, are showmen. One of the best-known and successful auctioneers during the years when I first started buying paintings and furniture at outdoor estate auctions was the now legendary Richard Withington of Hillsborough, New Hampshire. He began running these sales around 1949. Inevitably, at some point during the day someone would sneeze very loudly, and Richard never failed to shout out, “Take care of yourself or we’ll be setting up the tent in your backyard next!”
Another attention grabber Richard employed was to casually pick up a valuable and fragile object. A large antique Chinese-export porcelain bowl was his favorite. He’d say a few words about it, then kick off the bidding by declaring an outrageous price, “We’ll start at five hundred dollars!” And then, without hesitation, he would toss the valuable and fragile item over to a helper on the other side of the stage to hold up for viewing. The entire audience would gasp in unison at the object, suspended in mid-air, followed by laughter and applause as soon as it was safely caught. But the helpers knew the routine and were always ready. I never saw them drop a single thing.