I heard the man’s voice and recognized it instantly. An auction regular, he was standing right next to me at the auction table, and out of the corner of my eye I could see the items that had sparked his outburst.
“Where are the guns?” he shouted, jokingly. “Where are the guns?”
He was standing in front of four trays of black and tan leather handgun holsters, which had also attracted me a few minutes before. I was drawn to them because there were so many of the heavy-looking holsters, a few of which had bullet loops.
My reaction, though, was not as pronounced as this man’s – a short guy with scraggly gray hair and moustache, and a piercing voice.
“To hell with the holsters,” he continued. “Where are the guns?”
The auction-goer’s reaction was all in fun. I’ve never seen him buy guns at auction. If there were ever any cache of guns, they were long gone.
The holsters were part of a cleanout at the home of Frank Rizzo, Philadelphia’s notorious police chief during the 1960s and early 1970s, and then mayor in the intervening years. I had overheard the auction-house owner tell an auctioneer that they came from the Rizzo estate.
Rizzo considered himself a law-and-order man, and was vilified and praised for his police actions, especially against African Americans. So finding holsters and guns in his repertoire was not surprising.
More of the stuff from his home was laid out on tables in another area of the room. Those were being sold in a special sale in the Decorative Arts Auction and were expected to pull in more dough than these holsters. This special group included more significant memorabilia from his police and political years.
I had seen some of the stuff at an estate sale at the home of the late police chief back in November. Some of his and his wife Carmella’s personal items were sold, along with furniture and other belongings. The house was also slated for sale. The estate sale drew people like me who just wanted to see how Rizzo lived, along with those who were there to buy his stuff. I saw plenty of people walking around with knickknacks.
I suspect that the fixed prices at the estate sale were too high for folks to pay even for Rizzo’s memorabilia. At this auction, the items would go to the highest bidder, no matter how low the bid.
I wasn’t around when the gun holsters sold. Here’s a sampling of prices for items in the special auction. Each lot came with a Rizzo business card:
