After a while, the woman’s words became a chorus. “It’s overwhelming,” she kept saying as she walked among glass cases of Disney collectibles in the auction-house room. Every now and then, she’d stop to observe some items – most of which were figures of Walt Disney’s famous mouse.
Anyone who wandered into this room filled with one man’s fascination with all-things Disney was sure to feel the same way. The auction house had placed the items on trays atop tables and in boxes under tables, standing alone, and in the case of original animation cels (which were drawn by hand), lithographs, posters and other artwork – hung on racks against the walls.
Some items played music, and others allowed you to talk on the phone, tell time or wear them as adornments. Some were stuffed, carved or shaped into the likenesses of Walt Disney and his characters, and some were a smidgen in height, no taller than three inches.
Once, these were among thousands of Disney memorabilia that decorated the home of a Disney lover named Chic Lahr, who one auctioneer mentioned had been to Disney World in Florida more than 100 times, and had acquired his motherlode of products from the Disney store during those visits and at Disneyana conventions.
Lahr’s collectibles were housed in specially built cases in his home that had been turned into a Mickey museum, according to a 1992 newspaper article that was also part of the display at the auction.
On this day, many of those items were being sold in a special sale in Philadelphia. Some were sold in groups and others singly; none, I’m sure, matched the prices that Lahr had paid for them. But from what I learned about him, he wasn’t about collecting for profit but for fun.
The items sold in prices ranging from $5 to $1,700 for one-of-a-kinds. Such as the Ollie Johnston-signed Dopey ceramic tile tray that was made specifically for a convention auction and came with a certificate of authenticity, according to the auctioneer. The tile itself was produced in a limited edition of 100 signed by Johnston, who was one the original core animators for Walt Disney Studios – designated the “Nine Old Men.”
He contributed to many of its most famous animated features starting in 1935, including “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” which included Dopey.
Lahr, who owned a print shop that also held some of his Disney collectibles, lived in Wilkes Barre, PA, and seemed to have been pretty well known to the folks at Disney. He and his wife Ginny became enamored with the imaginary land of Mickey Mouse when Disney World opened in 1972, according to the newspaper article.
They made their first trip there that year, and returned at least five times each year. In 1992, Disney World celebrated their loyalty when they made their 100th visit. A black and white photo on one table at the auction showed him proudly holding a commemorative plaque that gave him the title of “Honorary Citizen” of Disney World in the late 1970s.
“There’s fun there all the time,” he said in another newspaper article. “It’s a little escape from reality.”
Lahr died in 2002 at age 65, and by then had been to the park 169 times. After a decline in the print business, his family closed the shop in 2005. The business was founded by Lahr’s father and namesake Charles in 1925, and he took it over in 1968 after having worked there for 10 years. Ginny Lahr died in April at age 78.
