Two Horse Drawn Hearses up for auction

[Jacob M. Fournier]

Thought this might be of interest to some of our members -

Two horse drawn hearses will be auctioned off this weekend (Nov.9) at Six Gun City (a western themed amusement park) in Jefferson, NH, along with the rest of their collection of horse drawn carriages (considered one of the largest and best in the eastern US), along with many of their historical tools and displays. The owners apparently feel that families these days don't visit to view the static historical displays, and are moving in a different direction.

Only one of the hearses is shown in the preview photos - I like the ability to swap the wheels with the sleigh runners for winter use.

I may attend, it's only about 20 minutes from my place. If I do, I will try to get some photos and report back with pricing.

Auction website

 

[Jacob M. Fournier]

Auction photos

Some photos from today's auction:

This hearse was the nicer of the two, and the one shown in the auction ad. I did not see a maker's tag on it. It was in extremely nice original condition. The only thing missing were the lamps. Note the interior ceiling detail, and the pull down shades.

 

[Jacob M. Fournier]

Horse Drawn Hearse No. 2

Here is the second hearse auctioned off. Solid, but missing it's glass, the curved rear doors, bier pins and decorative side rails. This one did have a builders tag - manufactured by the George Brownell Co., New Bedford, Mass.

My goal in attending was to only buy lunch, and only leave with photos for the website. Unfortunately that was short lived (Why did I get a bidder's number?) and hearse number two is now in my yard.

 

[Darlene Daniels]

congratulations on your new purchase. would be very interested in prices realized if you dont mind sharing that information either in a post or private message.

 

[Darren Bedford]

Jacob

Was the big wooden box beside the hearse a casket crate ?

That would have been cool if it was.

Darren

 

[Jacob M. Fournier]

Jacob
Was the big wooden box beside the hearse a casket crate ?
That would have been cool if it was.

Darren

Darren - They did have it marked as a rough box. I was so wound up that I bought the hearse, I didn't even pay attention to what it sold for, as it was the next lot sold.

congratulations on your new purchase. would be very interested in prices realized if you dont mind sharing that information either in a post or private message.

Darlene - I fully intend to reveal the prices, as I think it's helpful to the hobby, so that rough values are known, whether someone is buying or selling. That being said, I'm being kind of self serving in not revealing pricing yet, as I don't really have the resources to do it justice (plus I don't own any horses), and I don't want to influence any potential negotiations.