By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

FAIRFIELD, Ohio — High-back beds made of walnut, early 1900s dressers, porcelain wash basins and even spittoons can be found at the Treasure Grove Auction in Fairfield, Ohio, but last week collectibles reigned supreme. Pre-1970 baseball cards and toy action figures caused the most commotion.

“Dolls that are still in the box from which they came from and those which remain unopened can get you hundreds of dollars and baseball cards, though they may have reached their peak in popularity about 10 years ago, are still sought after,” said Irene Westfall of Portsmouth, Ohio, an avid collector of both items including original artwork and comic books.

A Marilyn Monroe doll and some mint-condition Topps baseball cards drew fierce bidding wars.

“If you check the price guides of these items you’ll see they’ve dropped drastically,” Westfall added. “It’s like buying stocks in today’s economy. You buy it cheap, hoping down the road you’ll quadruple your investment.”

While there were items such as pottery, comic books, sports cards and dolls, the top item on this day was a Wallace 63-piece sterling flatware set. This Rose Point item sold for $2,250.

Second in line was a 10-carat gold matching bracelet and necklace. Bidding on this item was fierce and finally sold for $770.
A man’s Hamilton Chronograph wrist watch sold for $700 while a 1940, three-door mahogany bookcase fetched $525.

While guns and coins remain high on the list of many who attend auctions, most on this particular day were seeking other items, including rare stamps, porcelain dolls and old paper weights.

“There’s no specific category that does well, it’s more of the things that are within that category,” said Auctioneer Rick Grove. “For instance, there is some furniture that doesn’t do a thing, but there’s a whole lot of furniture that does really well.”
Size has a lot to do with it. There is more competition with smaller pieces because they’re easier to deal with. With larger items one would need a truck or trailer to haul the item away and you’ll spend more on gas to take it away.”

According to Grove, young people in attendance to these auctions scratch their heads, questioning the fascination over antique items.

“Young people are not brought up to buy used items,” Grove said. “When we were younger we were hammered to buy everything new. Parents bought us items that they never could have. My own mother could not wait to get rid of all the hand-me-downs that she had to take when she first got married. People of that generation wanted something new and something to call their own.”
According to Grove, people can go into a store and buy a new dining room suit for $2,000 and pay on it for the next five years, whereas “if one goes to an auction like this you can buy one with real wood for a fraction of the cost. Then if they hang on to the suit for a few years, re-sell it and get all of their money back,” Grove said.

Other items found at this auction in Fairfield included Ohio art pottery (Rookwood, Roseville, Weller and Hull), several P. Buckley Moss prints, early children’s illustrated books, political pins, Hamilton Foundry items, parlor tables and numerous bookcases.
“I always avoid trying to predict what the hot items will be at each of my auctions,” Grove said. “It’s nearly impossible to predict what any item will go for.”