The rattlesnake was showing its fang, but who could blame it. Someone had chopped off its head and made it into a keychain.
The rattlesnake’s angry countenance was one of two on a shelf in a glass case at the auction house. I hate snakes and can’t understand why anyone would want the head of one on a keychain.
Both rattlesnake heads appeared to be real. One online store that was selling similar keychains noted that they were freeze-dried. These still had their price tag and the online store where they were purchased.
The keychains were not the only odd and interesting items I came across at this auction house and others over the last week or so. They all attest to the fact that you can find and buy anything at auction, primarily because we buy any and everything in our everyday lives.
Here are some of the others:
Widemouth bass mailbox
I was making my way among the tables of stuff in the front room of the same auction house when I spotted a big fish with a big mouth. As I got closer I saw that it was a mailbox whose U.S. Mail pull-down door covered the mouth of the widemouth bass. It had a few nicks but someone had already left an absentee bid on it. Several sites selling bass mailboxes on the web measured it at 36″ long.
Cabin rentals on a lake
I was outside looking for unusual items at another auction house when I saw a sign for tourists’ cabins for rent anchored by a carved black bear. Using a grizzly to entice folks to rent your cabins didn’t seem like a good idea to me. This looked to be a vintage sign – it touted its “electric lights” and “running water.” There was no indication of where the cabins or lake were located.
High-heel shoes chair in leopard print
I had come across novelty chairs designed as high heels before. Wouldn’t you like to settle into these? It’d be better than walking in them.
Metal chairs with nice patina
One particular auction house always has nice furniture for sale, and these chairs, with the bluish-green patina of corroded metal, were no different.
Articulated hands
Articulated wooden human figures show up at auction from time to time, but not hands. These types of manikin hands are apparently used by artists, both professional and students. Hands are said to be the hardest to draw. Someone was drawn to these, because they have three green absentee bid sticker.
Organza fabric wedding arch
I wasn’t sure what this thing was when I noticed it propped against a wall at an auction house. It looks like an organza fabric arch from a wedding.
Broadside for 1946 farm and household sale
The 75 laying hens in bold letters seem to be the hit of this sale being conducted by an auctioneer (it was either an estate sale or auction). It seems that in the 1940s people were encouraged to raise chickens because they laid eggs. The Agriculture Department encouraged folks to keep their laying hens because the eggs would bring in cash for them when sold. It was the “patriotic and profitable” thing to do, the government said.
The other items for sale at the auction offered a glimpse into how people lived and what they lived with in 1946: iron bed, spool bed, wardrobe, washstand, crocks, plank bottom chairs, rockers, electric radio and lamps, roll top desk, 2-and 3-burner kerosene stoves.
