Going Once, Going Twice, Sold! My First Auction

I went to an action this weekend with my dad.  I will first tell you that auctions are in my blood.  You bet on your life that you will find my father and grandfather at auctions, rummage sales, and antique stores every weekend and some weekdays.  It never fails.  Since these activities were the only way I could bond with my father as a child I have developed a love of antiquing and rummage sailing.  However, I had never been to an auction and I desperately wanted to go after seeing an episode of Sarah’s House on HGTV where she got amazing furniture she restored at rock bottom prices. 

This particular auction didn’t have any furniture but it did have fast talking men yelling out numbers.  Also, the bar opened at 11:00 am so I figured it was a win win situation.  The auction was put on by Bronk Auctions and all images below are from their webpage.  There were several items that I thought were amazing such as this Baker’s Cocoa shipping crate (It would be an interesting piece to use as side table with tons of bonus storage), the yellow cracker tin on the left (for the spare bedroom to add a touch of vintage), and the unique Tom Moore cigar jar (on the left hand side and second in). 

I decided what item I wanted the most (the cigar jar) and held out for that, because my budget was exactly $23.00.  If the price was right for the other items (ie under $15.00) I would have jumped at them, BUT they went for way over that. 

I can tell you that nothing gets your heart pumping like bidding on an item!  I bowed out at $17.50 against two other people for the cigar jar, but then impulsively jumped back in at $22.50 to seal the deal.  I just couldn’t let it get away!  It was a victorious feeling taking home my jar, and very sentimental. Here is my brand-new-vintage cigar jar:

Continuing on the theme of sentimentality I wanted to know the history of a jar like this and looked to the internet to help me find my way.  It turns out that the internet failed me.  I could only find old Tom Moore cigar boxes/humidors and it doesn’t appear that this jar is a humidor because it is not big enough to hold cigars and the thingie (technical term, I know) that keeps the moisture in.  The hubs thinks it may be a display for the cigars.  We couldn’t find anything about where the factory was located, beyond in Minneapolis, MN, what happened to the company, or anything about Tom Moore.  It is a mystery not even Wikipedia could solve!

Check back in for the fate of the jar and where it ended up in our house.  Any ideas?