Matthew Farfan

The venerable Stanstead Historical Society and its Colby-Curtis Museum are celebrating their 75th anniversary this year. As part of the ongoing festivities, the historical society has decided to convert the large barn adjacent to the museum into an exhibition space for larger objects in its collection. To make room for the new space, and hopefully to raise some much needed cash for the museum at the same time, it was decided that over 100 "surplus" artifacts would be auctioned off to the highest bidder.


Accordingly, this Saturday, an old-style country auction was held under a big tent on the front lawn of the museum. On the block were a diverse assortment of objects received from numerous donors over the years: carriages, a sleigh, cabinets, church benches, early fire-fighting equipment, antique tools, spinning wheels, trunks, farm equipment, a kitchen sink, even Dolly Colby's cast iron bathtub.


A large crowd were on hand for the event, some bidding feverishly, others simply curious as to which artifacts would be sold, and for how much. By the end of the afternoon, most of the objects had been sold, reportedly raising a "tidy sum" for the historical society.


(Photo: Matthew Farfan)