Alan Williams came close to appearing on Antiques Roadshow once. His packet of 1770s war letters postmarked “Fort Ticonderoga” had piqued the interest of the show’s appraisers, who spent a few hours talking history with Williams at his house.
“The letters said things like, ‘My honorable father, we are hot for news,’” Williams recalls. “Can you imagine? During the American Revolution: ‘We are hot for news.’”
Alas, the show had already reached its quota for that season, and Williams later sold the letters for a cool $7,500.
He now channels that passion for artifacts — the quirkier the better — into managing a silent auction as a volunteer for the Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity ReStore. The auction, Williams’s brainchild, has operated for 12 years.
Auction items aren’t necessarily more valuable than those on the sales floor, but they certainly stand out. Williams recalls a papier-mâché pig from the 1940s with Hitler’s face painted on the front and “Victory! Make him squeal!” on the back. “It was made at a factory in Ohio. They were very collectable.” It went for $110.
Another memorable lot sold under the heading “Whatchamacallit,” since no one at the store knew what it was. A bidder identified it as an African woman’s headrest, meant for keeping elaborate hairstyles from getting squashed during repose — and Williams later spotted an identical one on Antiques Roadshow valued at $2,500.
Williams and his team use the Internet to identify and date items, but not everything can be validated, so blind luck or a discerning eye is required for bidders looking to hit jackpot. “A couple of items have shown up in auction houses around here,” reports Williams.
Back in 2005, Williams noted antiques dealers coming into the store. “I thought, let’s see if there’s a little bit of competition here, and also open it up to everybody,” he says. The manager at the time wasn’t sold. “‘We can try it, Williams,’ he said,” Williams recalls with a slight chortle. It was an immediate success.
In the beginning, eager buyers would sometimes come close to blows, trying to up each other’s bids. “We’d be there for 30 minutes,” recalls Susan Haynes, assistant manager of the ReStore. “We would just have to say, ‘Stop,’ and then everyone would be mad.” Now, those present at the auction’s close have the option to bid the next increment on any item, or else it goes to the last written bid. If there are multiple in-person bidders, each writes an offer on a piece of paper, and the highest takes the prize.
“Then we don’t have dog-eat-dog,” says Williams, who admits that his favorite part is watching the back and forth at the end.
The ReStore’s army of employees and volunteers — from drivers to receivers — have gotten into the fun, setting aside what they think will grab the most interest in the auction (but there’s no dibs system; volunteers and employees have to bid to take home items just like everyone else). Beatles and Elvis paraphernalia, quilts, Mid Century Modern furniture, and Asian objets d’art are among the consistent top sellers. Most auctions bring in $2,500 to $3,500, though some special events — like an auction dedicated to Grove Park Inn furniture — have hit $10,000. With nearly 300 auctions to date, the grand total is just shy of $850,000.
Other Habitats across the country have taken note and instituted their own silent auctions after visiting the Asheville store, which is the second-highest grossing of the organization’s nearly 400 ReStores. “They’ve learned from us, which is good because we’ve been doing it a long time,” says Haynes.
Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity (33 Meadow Road) holds several events throughout the season, including a ReStore ReUse Contest (where people build everything from furniture to tiny houses using items from the store) running through August 31, and the annual Customer Appreciation Sale on Saturday, October 7. For more information, see ashevillehabitat.org.