By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES – When Jeanne Watson's mother, Patricia Bachman, passed away last September, she knew she would have a lot of work do to.
"Mom was a collector, just as my grandmother and great-grandmother were, so we knew we would have a lot of stuff to go through," Watson said.
What she didn't realize was how massive the amount of collected items was. Like the fact that they found 12,500 postcards and another 6,000 just last week.
"We had no idea she had some of the things she did," Watson said.
In a way, it was surprising to find so many antiques, personal items and newer items, but on the other hand, it wasn't. After all, Watson's mother was hanging onto four generations of anything and everything one could imagine.
"It took us months to go through everything. I picked out the things that I really liked and that had personal meaning and the rest I put aside to sell in the estate sale," Watson added.
"So many people showed up the first day. We had 15 people spend the night outside Sunday night. I could not believe it when a friend of mine called me to tell me that an Indiana Antique Dealer was already waiting to be the first in the door a full 24 hours prior to the sale. On Monday morning, 130 people were waiting in line just to get tickets," Watson said.
What makes this auction so special, Watson explained, is because whenever you have generations of items, people come for the heritage.
"They come for the rare items, the valuable items and most of the time they find what they are looking for," Watson said.
In this case, people also came for the antiques and paintings, as all four generations were antique buyers and sellers.
"My great-grandmother, Gertrude Smith, was the first antique dealer between Detroit and Chicago. Gertrude was the granddaughter of Jacob K. Brown, a well-known figure who helped make Niles what it is today," Watson explained.
Every piece of furniture, jewelry, clothing, tools, toys, books and other items were kept at a residence that Watson's family has owned for 115 years.
"That farmhouse has been in our family for quite some time and that's where my mother kept all this. A lot was damaged because it wasn't properly stored, but not all of it. Some things still look like they have never been used," Watson said.
She added the old Niles memorabilia was also very popular, as most of it sold within the first day.
"The old dairy bottles, paintings, postcards – they went fast," she said.
The auction, which began on Monday, will continue today until 7 p.m. Beginning Friday, items will 25 percent off and on Saturday items will be 50 percent off. The auction is at 424 N. Second St., next to Sav-A-Lot in Niles.
Watson said the items are marked much cheaper than their actual value, to make for an easy sale.
"We have items that are hundreds and thousands of dollars cheaper than what they are worth. But with the way the economy is, we didn't want to price the items very high," Watson said.
With the money raised from the sale, Watson plans to completely remodel her mother's farm house.
"It needs a lot of repairs. Our hope is to one day turn it into a bed and breakfast," she said.