I am definitely a visual person by nature. When I research history, I like to find photographs that will accompany the story. For that reason, I watch online auctions for old pictures that I know can help tell my stories. I like pictures of old brickyards and other brick related material. I have been doing this for about ten years. I can tell you from experience, people from Minnesota and Iowa love their brickyards! I think most people feel a strong bond to their local community as well as to their past.
If you have ever tried to sell something on one of these sites, you are generally lucky if you can find a bidder. The rarer an item is the better chance it has to sell. However, that is not always true. I have had things I have put up for auction that I think will sell and they do not. Most people may think old pictures of brickyards are boring, but they ALWAYS sell. And they do not sell cheaply. It is amazing what prices they often command in these auctions.
One thing I have been watching for is an old picture of workers posing in front of their brickyard. I am not looking for a postcard sized picture; I am looking for a big photo, like 8 inches tall by 2-3 feet wide. I have seen several of these posted on historical web sites, but I have never seen one put up for an online auction. That changed a few weeks back, when I saw one posted for the Rockford, Iowa, brickyard. Bidding was fast and furious. When it closed, it went for about $250!! This was beyond what I wanted to spend. I was shocked again how much people love these old photographs.
If you have old postcards, photos of brickyards, or any brick related material, don’t throw it away, thinking it is worthless old junk. You may have a gem worth hundreds of dollars. You just never know. It seems like there is a core group of people who love old bricks and brickyard material. You can count me as one of them!
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