Auctions have always been a staple of marketplaces and public forums, dating back to being utilized in ancient times. It allowed for a gathering of the community to purchase and bid on products, with the products at auctions ranging from priceless art to cars. It has a rich history that spans several cultures and eras of world history and continues to be a staple in American rural and farm communities.
While certainly existing before, the start of auctions as we know them today can be attributed to the Roman Empire, which adapted the process from the Greeks. Rome is noted as the start, however, as it was the first entity to officially license auctioneers. A famous story often told concerning auctions is possibly the biggest auction to have ever taken place, where, following the assassination of an Emperor, the Praetorian Guard auctioned off the entire Roman Empire to the highest bidder in 193AD, leading to wealthy and affluent senator Marcus Severus Julianus, who won it against the father-in-law of the last emperor, Titus Sulpicianus. You can read the full story here. From Rome and its vast influence, the culture of auctions was spread and continued on long past its fall and went on to be utilized by countries throughout Europe and beyond.
Auction culture was brought to America with the first Pilgrims and brought to the expanding colonies an easy means of selling land, crops, and farming equipment to one another. It remained a popular medium as the colonies gained their independence, with long auction lists spanning taverns across 1700s America. George Washington was considered an avid attendee of auctions, as were many of his peers. As the US grew and expanded, auctions remained a focal point in towns and cities. In the mid-1800s, following the Civil War, military colonels would sell off loot and surplus supplies from the campaigns. Since only Colonels could conduct these auctions, a tradition formed where some auctioneers would dress and be referred to as colonels. In 1906, the Jones’ National School of Auctioneering and Oratory was founded in Davenport, Iowa, to train and license professional auctioneers. Popularity waned during the 1930s, however, as the Great Depression hit the world and wouldn’t rebound until after World War 2 in the 1950s.
Auctions would see another transformation in the 1990s, as technology such as fax machines, phones, and better access to picture-taking became more readily available. Auctions burst onto the internet scene very early on, with Ebay being founded in 1995. The integration of technology allowed auctioneers to better streamline the process and expand their potential audience tenfold. While before, auctions were constricted to being in a physical building in a part of town, now people from across a region could see and participate in purchasing art, land, and other valuable objects.
While the mode of auctioning has changed a lot over the past several, the heart of the auction has always remained, especially in the rural and farming spheres. Auctions have become a lot more than a means to purchase or sell an item: it was an event that brought people together. Whether family or friends, it presented a time for the community to gather, share drinks, and catch up with each other again. It was a time of interpersonal connection, which has become a point of worry with the transition from in-person to online.
This is an area where DPA Auctions stands firmly in keeping the familial community aspect alive. We strive to stand out as a friendly and familial resource in the auctioning industry. Coupled with blunt honesty and a genuine desire to help, our representatives want to help you ensure your auction is successful and will work with you in every aspect of the process. For us, its more than an auction: it’s about forming that lasting relationship.