Ed Stoudt purchased this 1932 Auburn Convertible Roadster in the 1970s and had it fully restored. A buyer in Massachusetts snapped it up for $39,000, the sale’s top lot.
Review by Greg Smith, Photos Courtesy Wiederseim Associates
PHOENIXVILLE, PENN. – The collection of Carol and Ed Stoudt, owners of Stoudt’s Black Angus Restaurant, Brewery and Antique Mall in Adamstown, Penn., was offered in 266 lots on July 24 at Wiederseim Associates, Inc.
Carol Stoudt was an icon in the brewing world, called the first female brewer since prohibition in the United States when she started crafting beers in 1986. Two years later her Gold Lager won the silver medal at the 1988 Great American Beer Festival and her little haunt in Adamstown had been a fixture in the area ever since.
“It was a cutting edge microbrewery before anyone thought of those,” auctioneer Ted Wiederseim said.
Under the five-figure sums of the cars, this German eight-day clock sold the next highest at $3,437. It featured elaborate carving with full-figured caryatids.
Attached to the brewery was a restaurant and an antiques mall, the latter falling under the purview of her husband, Ed.
Wiederseim remembers going to Stoudt’s every year for their Oktoberfest celebrations.
“Ed put on lederhosen, they had a pig over the spit, and he would sit in this big alpine rocking chair and hold court. There was a band, the beer was flowing and a good time was had by all,” he said.
Much of the material for the sale came from the restaurant and beer hall, though some also came from the Stoudts’ personal collection. The couple has sold the complex and their Pennsylvania house, moving closer to family in Vermont.
A detail image of the political memorabilia presentation case reveals a selection of the buttons and ribbons within. The whole case sold for $3,437.
Lancaster-area buyers came out in force for the sale, wanting to buy things they had seen while dining or drinking at the restaurant and brewery.
“There were a lot of people bidding from the area,” the auctioneer said. “The area code 717, that’s Lancaster, told me where the buyers were coming from.”
A carved wood rooster carousel figure likely dated to the Nineteenth Century and sold for $2,750. “I’d been eyeing that up for 25 years,” Wiederseim said. It sold to a dealer local to the area. A carved carousel running horse with glass eyes and a repainted surface would go out at $2,520.
A German eight-day tall case clock featured exuberant carving in oak. It depicted grotesque masks and caryatids and sold for $3,437. Selling for the same price was a display case featuring political campaign buttons and ribbons.
“I’d been eyeing that up for 25 years,” auctioneer Ted Wiederseim said of this carved and painted carousel rooster. It had been in the Stoudt restaurant as a decoration and sold for $2,750 to the trade.
Among the architectural elements from the complex were a number of large chandeliers. A group of four slag glass French-style theater chandeliers, 31 inches diameter and 46 inches from bottom to the top of the stem, sold for $1,625.
Two antique cars formed the two top lots of the sale. A 1932 Auburn Convertible Roadster sold for $39,000 to a Massachusetts buyer. Ed had purchased the car in the 1970s and restored it. Behind at $11,400 was a 1937 Ford Woody wagon with a flathead V8 engine. The car needed some work but came with all of its original parts.
Wiederseim’s next sale will take place in September 10. All prices reported include buyer’s premium. For more information, www.wiederseim.com or 610-827-1910.
