"Ours is a family business. I make a point of knowing everyone, where they live, where their kids go to camp. I always stop to say good morning. After an auction, I talk to customers, give them a pat on the back. We give a lot in service,” says Dick Withington, shown here comfortably seated.
:He holds New Hampshire Auctioneer's License #1 and has been hailed as the greatest showman to ever wield a gavel, but Richard W. Withington Sr is not resting on his laurels.
He celebrated his 89th birthday on March 31 by making more plans. Last week, on April 12–13, Withington Auction, Inc, began its 48th season of specialty doll auctions and has six more cataloged dolls sales this year.
On Sunday, April 29, Withington and colleagues Larry and Marcia Leizure will host the annual meeting of the New Hampshire Auctioneers Association, which Withington helped found in 1954. The auctioneer turned dealer was also instrumental in forming the New Hampshire Antique Dealers Association, whose main event, the New Hampshire Dealers' Show, turns 50 in August. Withington plans to exhibit for the second year at NHADA's 3rd Annual Blue Ribbon Antiques Show on June 2.
"Dick was a very young man then," another NHADA founder, Hebron, N.H., dealer Howard Oedel recalls of their first meeting. "I was teaching and had a little seasonal shop. Dick came up at the end of every summer and auctioned everything off, about $2,000 worth. He was spry and full of jokes, just the way he is now."
Dick Withington arrived in style with auction manager Dan Hingston at his 2,000th auction in 1989.
This summer, Withington plans to redesign his Hillsborough antiques shop, already one of the biggest in the state, by creating a series of gallery displays that will be visible to motorists from the crossroads of Routes 9 and 31. Adjacent to the childhood home of President Franklin Pierce (1804–1869), Withington's rambling showplace consists of a chock-full Federal house and a filled-to-the-rafters barn across the street.
Withington Antiques — not to be confused with the Maine enterprise run by his son Bob Withington and daughter-in-law Debbie — opened in 2002. Charmingly old-school, the shop features the sorts of things that for many years made attendance at Withington's Americana auctions mandatory.
The old floorboards sag under the weight of wing chairs, highboys, corner cupboards, clocks of all sizes and shapes, drop leaf tables, candlestands, glazed double-door secretary desks, painted blanket boxes, chairs in sets and singles, gilded looking glasses, and brass and iron fireplace equipment.
Visitors will also find plenty of stoneware, Bennington pottery, Staffordshire, Chinese Export porcelain, pewter, early American glass and bottles, tinware, hearth iron and the occasional weathervane. Shoppers can spend $10 or $10,000.
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