Do your bidding with area auctioneers

Carole Lambert of Camden once made a $5 purchase at a Midcoast auction and quickly turned it into more than $500.

A dealer at the Rockland Antiques Marketplace and a self-proclaimed auction fanatic, she understands well the bargains that can sometimes be found at auctions. She also touts them for their educational and entertainment value.

Lambert has been to auctions all over the world and believes that Maine auctions, particularly those in the coastal region between Newcastle and Belfast, are distinctive.

“Maine is truly America’s undiscovered attic,” she said. She said she knows it’s a cliche but repeats it anyway. “It’s true.”
“We’re a little off the beaten path. In many parts of America those attics have already been rifled through,” she said, “but here, every day these auctioneers turn up somebody’s uncle’s barn that is untouched. They uncover spectacular things.”

Lambert, whose antiques dealer status is two and a half years old, has had a long career as a writer and editor. Lambert just released the second edition of her coffee table book, “Sea Glass Chronicles.”

“I think I have the world’s largest collection of varied beach glass from all over the world,” she said. She has other collecting interests as well and has furthered her education simply by observing and listening at auctions.

Beyond the sometime bargains to be had at auctions and their educational value, there’s the sheer entertainment. Folks who have seen enough lighthouses and coastline and schooners and eaten enough lobster just might want to spend a few hours doing something different. Admission is free. No one has to bid. You can just sit and take it all in.

“Auctions are a lot of fun,” said auctioneer Larry Trueman of Waldoboro, who holds just a few auctions a year, most of them outside his Feyler’s Corner Road home under a tent. “We try to keep them light and friendly and fun,” he said. “We have them catered, so there is food and drink, and people get to sit out and enjoy the day and have a fun time.”

And Trueman holds squarely with Lambert in the assessment of the unique finds, especially those that are maritime-related, that are possible in the Midcoast.

“The area is full of great history. There are still so many things locked away. It’s like a safe that has to be unlocked,” he said.
He told of an estate he viewed not long ago. “The house was filled with modern and Victorian furniture,” he said, “and up in the attic was stuff from the 1860s.” Out in the barn, though, were the early primitive and country pieces that frequently bring more at auction than the cleaner and shinier merchandise. “It was a gold mine there,” he said.

Auctioneer Dan Andrews distinguishes his auctions at the refurbished Blue Goose Center on Route 1 in Northport with a few extras.
There is Irish fiddle music playing, which, he said, gives folks “a little bounce” as they preview the merchandise. “Some auctions can be very stuffy,” he said, but he thinks his “old-fashioned country auctions” really convey “the spirit of Maine.” More than that, he said folks from away like his Maine accent. Sometimes they tell him, “We just love to hear you talk.”

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