Pictures at an Auction

More pictures from Grappa and Gramma's auction last week :


I remember my brother and I driving this little car around the barn floor when we were little. It ran by peddle power, but it was easier to operate it Flintstone-style with feet on the ground. I remember being sad and disappointed the day I grew too big to sit and drive in it. Seth--a year younger--could still get into it with ease then.

This little blue sportster was bought by someone who is going to clean it up. Look for it at the Iola car show in future ...


My brother wanted to buy this anvil, but it actually went for a pretty good price ... My Dad knew the story of how Grappa acquired it. He was somewhere hunting or fishing. Someone at the hunting grounds had this anvil in the back of their car (back in the days before 4-wheel drive) to improve traction on snowy roads. The guy told Eddie he didn't want this old anvil anymore, didn't need it. Did Grappa want it? Well, Grappa wasn't going to let something like that pass him by. He took it ...


These snow shoes were a regular fixture on the walls at Grappa's house. He must have used them at some point in his long life ... It always made me want to try snow-shoeing--but they had to be these kind of traditional rawhide snow shoes, not the sleek modern ones. I did get a different pair about 15 years ago. They hang on my wall at home now. We even had enough snow last winter to actually USE them!



Grappa also had some great old radios. I remember the one that sat next to his chair at the kitchen table--the kind with tubes that had to heat up before it would work. The kind that people gathered around in the old days ... I remember it being a huge thing like the floor model, but then I was a little kid then. It was probably the one above and to the left -- I remember that dial would light up, and Grappa would tune in the polka shows. Some of those old songs were still sung in Bohemian! And Gramma taught me how to polka dance in their tiny kitchen. She says she wants to start dancing again ... That would be a good thing!


Can you believe these Girlie Glasses went for nearly $100? Look for them on eBay ...

Family History - Smitmajers

This is a brick on the chimney in Gramma Pickles' kitchen. They would record events (like first snow, first frogs) there. This one says, "Eddie says no fishing next year "73" if the bus isn't finished. Don't forget it neither. By me," written by Gramma 35 years ago.

Here's the bus she/he was talking about :



For years, Grappa drove a school bus for a living. He even picked up me and my siblings for many years on his school bus route. Eventually, he acquired one of his own. Grappa always wanted to turn this school bus into a camper to take on fishing and hunting trips to Canada (or wherever). He was always collecting things for the camper-bus -- Tupperware, recipes, foam trays, matresses ... He was a great collector.

The bus was parked next to his machine shed. In about 1983, a tornado came through and moved the roof of the machine shed on top of the bus--and there it stayed. The roof finally fell in--you can't see it behind the bus anymore ...

To my knowledge, the bus never did make a camping trip (at least not yet). Someone actually bought it at the auction last Saturday. I wonder what they'll do with it?

A few more pictures :



Here's one of those old wringer washers :