Going, Going, GONE!

Auctions are big around these parts. Most are held when someone passes away and the estate needs to be sold. The auction plays a complex role in Juniata society. The gathering is a large social event, where people can see and be seen, but in the context of a serious purpose.

There is almost always food, and always bustle, halloos and greetings. The auction forms a way for these thrifty people to obtain valuable tools, furnishings and necessary objects at tantalizingly low prices, and a way for survivors to disperse the hundreds and sometimes thousands of objects collected during a lifetime in a way that “does some good,” — and pick up a little money in the process.

An auction is an efficient way to recycle useful things into the community and to distribute them into the hands of those who either need them most or will value them. And, though no one would ever admit it, the auction provides a shamefully delightful snoop into various intimacies of the deceased person’s life, without giving offence.

Items sold at these auctions range from the pitiable ( a box of broken plastic toys, tattered Christmas decorations and assorted junk selling for a dollar) to the collectible (guns are big around here), to gigantic farm machines, to valuable family china -- and even the house itself.

Auctions are ideal people-watching opportunities. Since most people are either involved in what is being sold, or whom they are speaking with, it’s easier to stare at or photograph them.



The frugal and thrifty Amish are frequent auction goers, as are old farmers, young families, unattached girls, unmarried men, matronly ladies who often seem to be cooking or serving something, and the occasional antique dealer.

And us, of course who fit none of the normal categories of this surprisingly complex culture.