Anglin eventually picked up the gavel himself. Now he and his father, John, front Anglin & Associates in Middletown. The two handled the cake and pie auction at the Butler County Fair on Tuesday, pulling in almost $5,000. The pair also is slated for the livestock sale today, July 31.
“I thought I was the world’s worst when I started,” John said, who began auctioneering 38 years ago. “You think everybody’s watching your mouth, but that’s in your mind. People are there to buy things you’ve got to sell, not to make fun of you.”
John Anglin collecting antiques in his teens and later opened his own shop. Eventually, his path led him to auctioneer’s school in Mason City, Iowa. He graduated in 1967. He began auctioneering in 1973 and was full-time in 1974.
“I’ll be 73 next month if I live long enough,” John deadpanned. “I’m the old guy on the block.”
Still, the father-son auctioneering team (which also includes a cousin of John’s) is in full stride. Randy, 48, describes their chemistry as natural and easy after so many years in business together. They acknowledge that it can be rough on their families because so much time is spent away.
One of John’s favorite stories centers around a vintage Bru doll. A woman said she didn’t want anything to do with the doll, she’d prefer to throw it away. John convinced her otherwise and auctioned it for $6,300. “She was going to throw it in Rumpke’s dump,” John marveled.
Although auctioneering is a family business, the craft didn’t quite catch on with all the Anglins.
“We’ve got a younger brother (Mick) who went to auctioneer’s school, too, but he won’t have anything to do with it,” Randy said. “He’d rather make fun of us.”
Auctioneers master the art of 'chanting’ with style, rhythm
Auctioneers don’t “talk fast.” They “chant.”
And chanting isn’t mastered in an hour. Like a singing voice or a golf swing, it is developed over time.
To master chanting is to master flow and rhythm. Some auctioneers throw in fill words, in hopes of snagging the attention of a crowd. Others stick to numbers, oftentimes because otherwise they might lose track of the bids.
“There are a number of tongue twisters that are helpful,” said Dave Lunsford, a contract auctioneer for 27 years. “The first and most important thing about bid calling is that people understand you.”
Growing up, Lunsford’s father ran auction houses and took him along to many auctions. Lunsford would listen to auctioneers, and as a young musician emulates an older act, Lunsford would take bits and pieces of other auctioneers’ style.
Fill words are the flashy expressions auctioneers use to fill in the gaps between bids.
“A lot of time we use 'I’ve got four, who’s got more?’ ” said Jim Easton of Easton Auction Company.
Easton Auction has started live online bidding, a style of bidding that requires the auctioneer to develop fresh skills.
“When we take bids on the online, there’s an intuitiveness needed to read someone over the Internet,” Easton said. “It’s a lot of psychology.”
And as steep as the learning curve may be, and as much as the job may be changing, Lunsford insists bid calling itself is a pushover compared to an auctioneer’s other duties.
“Bid calling is the easy part of the job,” he said. “You first have to meet with your client, make sure all the papers are in order, then the fun part starts. You have to get a listing of all the items up for auction.”
Lunsford recalls one auction that required three month’s preparation.
“People are not aware of the untold hours it takes to prepare to be an auctioneer.”
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