E. S. Eldridge Auctioneer is your place for antiques

Connor Linskey, The Chronicle, Willimantic, Conn.
·2 min read

Jan. 3—WILLIMANTIC — If you are in the mood for some cool antiques, look no further than E. S. Eldridge Auctioneer.

They offer a variety of unique items to customers. This includes the contents of home estates, which produce a variety of items ranging from toy collections to furniture. The business also does book auctions, selling mostly newer books on military collectibles as well as other topics.

Owner Ernie Eldridge has run the business with the help of his wife Anita Sebestyen since 1975.

Prior to that, the couple worked as floor runners for Frank Clark Auctioneers. While working there they also did accounting for the company.

Antiquing is more than a job for Eldridge and Sebestyen, it's their pastime.

For Eldridge, it was the thrill of the hunt that inspired him to become an auctioneer.

" It's not necessarily always about the money, it's having some neat stuff to sell," he said.

Sebestyen's grandmother was into antiques and always brought Sebestyen to auctions in Brimfield, Mass.

" She collected odd pieces of silver and things like that," Sebestyen said. " And out of all the grandchildren, I was the only one that she ever took to the auctions."

One of the couple's favorite things to collect are artifacts from RMS Titanic.

One of their favorite pieces from the famous ship is a deck chair that washed up on the shore of Nova Scotia.

Their Titanic collection also includes a brass rosette from one of the ship's salons.

Both Eldridge and Sebestyen were part of the 1996 expedition to raise a piece of the Titanic's hull.

Another one of the couple's favorite items to collect is old cars.

Their collection includes a 1909 IHC Highwheeler, a 1929 Model A Roadster and a 1929 AA truck.

Sebestyen also loves to collect antique teddy bears.

One of the couple's favorite pieces in their collection is a statue of President Theodore Roosevelt on his horse.

This item is the only one of its kind known to exist to this day.

" They only made three of them for his 100th birthday," Eldridge said.

The couple sells their products at 7:00 p.m. on Monday evenings.

These auctions take place at their auction gallery at 90 S Park Street in Willimantic. The couple also sells their items at various auctions throughout the state.

Their inventory can be found on auctionzip. com by entering Auctioneer ID #2823.

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