BY ANNIE BUTKIEWICZ
Sterling silver jewelry, 18 karat gold watches, artwork and antique colonial furniture — these will be some of the items available for auction at the 23rd annual New Year’s Day Auction organized by Traver’s Auctions in Dallas.
This is one of Traver’s most popular auctions, with people coming in from around the country to bid on the items that auctioneer Steve Traver collects all year.
“We bring in items from as far away as Basking Ridge, New Jersey, Harrisburg, and Watertown, New York,” Traver said. “We bring in things from anywhere. We’ll travel if it’s worth it.”
Needless to say, Traver’s Auctions has built a reputation with bidders from out of state, and also incredibly loyal local business owners.
David Koral, who owns the building housing many businesses at 900 Rutter Ave. in Forty Fort, has acquired many of the decorations throughout the building from Traver’s Auctions. Most notably is the crystal chandelier that once hung in the Sterling Hotel.
“If you go to Steve Traver’s often enough, even a blind squirrel gets a nut from time to time,” Koral said, “I go out there pretty much every time there’s an auction, you can get anything from a pool table to a piano.”
Koral goes to the auctions at Traver’s year-round, but the New Year’s Day auction draws a huge crowd, and part of the fun of going to this auction is the atmosphere and the people you see.
That’s a sentiment echoed by bidder and vendor Bud Reilly, who’s been going to Traver’s Auctions since the very beginning, finding anything from jewelry, to coins and exotic furniture (once he bought an antique tractor for his wife on their anniversary).
“New Year’s Day is the most exciting,” Reilly said. “I’m just looking forward to the good time that we have there. It’s a lot of fun, a lot of high energy. I always say that I’m not going to spend any money and then I walk out with $2,000 less than I came in with.”
If you go
- What: 23rd annual New Year’s antique auction at Traver’s Auctions
- When: Wednesday, Jan. 1; 9 a.m. inspection, 11 a.m. auction
- Where: Traver’s Auction barn, 56 Dorchester Drive, Dallas
