Auctions in small independent houses like this are where collectors, hoarders, kitsch-lovers, bargain-sniffers, and dealers mingle and compete in a betting game where the stakes aren’t too high. They seek out treasures, collectibles, oddities, cheap buys — and every week they’re back, searching, scanning, always on the lookout for their next great purchase.
The family-owned Trudel’s has been at this game for eight years, and it’s part of an annual quarter-trillion-dollar industry, according to the National Auctioneers Association. Despite the popularity of eBay and other online bidding sites, live auctions are held regularly all across the country, garnering interest through online listings, and attracting a menagerie of characters and merchandise.
“We see everything,’’ said Guy Trudel Jr., who serves as auctioneer and runs the business with his father, Guy Sr., and his mother, Trudy. “It’s a revolving door of merchandise.’’
The typical stuff: glassware, flatware, furniture sets, artwork, knickknacks, in all grades, from the refined to the tacky, the beat-up to the immaculate.
But then there are the one-of-a-kinds that occasionally come on the block: a painting by 19th-century African-American artist Edward Mitchell Bannister; an 18th-century chest from a South Carolina plantation; what was believed to be the oldest top hat in the country.
“Weird stuff comes through,’’ said the 60-year-old elder Trudel, who’s been involved in auctions and sales of antiques since he was 18. But also, “you have history coming through your hands.’’
Trudel’s hosts auctions twice a week, on Friday nights and Monday mornings, and they’re free to get in, although the consignment fees are anywhere from 15 to 50 percent. All items are “estate fresh,’’ as the younger Trudel, age 31 and a graduate of auctioneer school, puts it.
To get a continuous stream of items for bid, he and his father are on the road just about every day, traveling around New England, sometimes to New York, checking out estates. A call comes in, and they go.
“Every house is like a treasure hunt,’’ said Trudel Sr.
