I have always enjoyed on site estate auctions. An on site auction is when the entire contents of a house (the estate)is being sold at the site of the house. You never know what will be found in an estate.

It was a perfect day for an auction, the sun was out and there was a nice breeze. I parked my little truck, then went to the back yard, to see what kind of items were in this estate. When I got to the back yard, I stopped and stared, eyes wide, my mouth open in amused shock. The entire back yard was lined with rows of tables stacked high boxes of stereo view cards, post cards and post card albums!

I was amazed because it was so unexpected. The estate was a family estate, not an estate of an antiques dealer. All of these items were passed down through the generations of this family.

The entire basement and lower level of the house was filled with boxes of stereo views, stereo viewers, antique postcards, old magazines and so forth. The last member of the family also began collecting items that related to stereo views too, so, the upstairs of the house had more stereo views etc.

There was not much offered in the estate as far as household items. I has hesitant to go to an auction that day, I thought perhaps I should ride my bike instead, since it was such a beautiful day. But, lady luck was with me, because I was able to buy many thousands of stereo views, and a wonderful collection of stereo viewers too. Even albums of antique postcards.

I kept my husband busy as he carried box upon box back to my little truck, while I kept bidding, going from table to table.And so, it came to pass, that house, filled with items passed from a family's generations into many others' hands that day, many years ago.

I recently sold my stereo view collection, only keeping the ones I just can't bear to part with.

You never know what you will find at an auction, especially an on site estate auction.The stereo view is an amazing item to enjoy. Not only do you hold a piece of the past in your hands, but, you are able to look at it as it really was, through the lens of a camera. When you put the card in the stereo viewer,the image view is three dimensional.

Whenever I look at an image from the past, I wonder, who took that photo,where did he stand when he snapped that shot. Viewing images from the past still amaze me, and they always will.

Linda Caricofe
I have a shop on Ruby Lane, RC Antiques