Bear in mind the thrill of a Christmas morning at simply 3 or 4 years of age? The best way the magic within the air hung so heavy it felt as if one was swimming in it—as if the stairway from bed room to front room was a waterslide awaiting its rider and promising a shock splash ending positive to trigger sheer delight. What in the event you had the chance to relive that temporary second in time once more—to expertise that harmless and youthful thrill of childhood enthusiasm as an grownup of 40, 50, 60 years of age? Chances are high, it will take rather a lot to recreate it—resembling, say, 5 or so buildings stocked with classic toys, maybe?
Final September, on the Mecum public sale of Elmer’s Auto and Toy Museum in Fountain Metropolis, Wisconsin, one fortunate bidder was transported again to essentially the most thrilling Christmas morning her wealthy and enduring reminiscence holds when she came across one in all her most treasured childhood toys among the many public sale gadgets. Miraculously, it wasn’t only a lookalike or perhaps a carbon copy of the toy she used to personal—it was the precise trike that after sat beneath her tree on Christmas morning.
“I obtained it in 1954,” Jackie Schramm recalled. “I used to be 3 years previous.”
Courtesy of Mecum Auctions
Despite the fact that she was only a tiny tot, Schramm, initially from Tigerton, Wisconsin, remembers it prefer it was yesterday: shuffling down the steps Christmas morning to seek out the horse-shaped trike she would quickly identify “Little Blackie” parked beneath the tree, as if it was ready there patiently for its pint-sized jockey to take it for a spin.
Schramm’s dad and mom have been concerned in numerous equine pursuits, each as horse house owners and as common attendees {of professional} horse races. Their love of horses impressed the concept behind the reward.
“My dad would all the time maintain me up in his arms so I might see, and I all the time beloved watching the racing, so after I obtained this, this was actually a treasure.”
As soon as Schramm’s little legs grew lengthy sufficient to achieve the pedals, her mother and pop would take her exterior to experience it across the block within the heat spring and summer season months. At first, Schramm mentioned that Little Blackie stayed within the storage when not in use, however he quickly upgraded to a spot within the horse stables after the household offered one in all their horses and a spot within the barn opened up.
“My dad let me put it within the stall the place the horse was once with the opposite horses,” Schramm recalled. “I must tie it up each day and take it out, after which my dad made a little bit plaque that mentioned ‘Blackie’ on it.”
Courtesy of Mecum Auctions
Schramm’s childhood buddies Dori Packer and Cathy Hoffmann, who she stays shut with even at present, recall coming over to take turns using aboard the little trike, and each have been amazed when Schramm advised them she’d discovered her beloved toy on the Elmer’s public sale.
“In truth, they’re those that helped me confirm this,” Schramm defined. “I mentioned, hey, hear, I’m not shedding my thoughts right here, am I? That is it, proper? And so they mentioned, ‘Oh my gosh. How did this occur?’”
That’s the huge thriller: how did Little Blackie find yourself at Elmer’s Auto and Toy Museum? Schramm can’t be certain, however she thinks it’s probably her dad and mom took the little horse-shaped trike to the annual automotive present and swap meet in Iola, Wisconsin, to promote it after Schramm reached maturity.
“My dad and mom would go to that present and swap meet on a regular basis,” Schramm mentioned, including that she would additionally attend recurrently along with her personal group of buddies, and later, along with her husband, Mark. As a pair, Jackie and Mark Schramm would attend the present with any one of many basic vehicles that they’ve owned all through the years, and it’s well-known that Elmer and Bernadette Duellman have been additionally devoted attendees of the Iola automotive present and swap meet, hardly lacking a yr. Schramm mentioned she and Mark would typically cease to speak with the Duellmans, as they have been variety and attention-grabbing folks with a wealth of hobby-focused data.
“We all the time talked to Elmer and Bernadette, and I by no means knew that that they had this (toy). All these years, and right here it’s up at his museum, which we have been all the time going to take a drive over and see the museum, and we by no means obtained there.”
Picture Courtesy of Mecum Auctions, Inc.
Elmer handed in 2019, and whereas his household spent the following a number of years working the museum with out him, the time ultimately got here to promote the gathering. With hundreds of toys, pedal vehicles and full-sized basic and collector vehicles comprising Elmer’s assortment, the household selected Mecum Auctions to tackle the problem of providing a big portion of the gadgets at public sale. Schramm, an avid follower and fan of the Mecum model, obtained an e-mail selling the occasion, and he or she mentioned she was surprised.
“I assumed, oh my god, we by no means went there. So, when my husband got here house, I mentioned, hey! We’ve obtained to go over there. They’re going to have an public sale.”
As their plans to attend the public sale obtained underway, Schramm hopped on-line to flick thru a few of the listings.
“I used to be sitting right here, and all the sudden, I came across my little toy, and I simply sat right here in awe. I couldn’t imagine what I used to be seeing. I used to be in shock, like, that’s my toy! There have been a number of photos on there, and I went by each one I don’t know what number of instances. And I used to be like, my god, that’s mine.”
Schramm mentioned she acknowledged the toy as her personal as a result of a really particular restore she remembered her dad acting on the horse after a very tough fall, one which despatched each her and the horse rolling head over heels after the entrance wheel grew to become lodged in a crack within the sidewalk. Earlier than lengthy, she and her husband have been on their option to the museum upfront of the public sale to see the toy in individual.
Courtesy of Mecum Auctions
Schramm mentioned that she, her husband and members of the Duellman household all spent hours wanting by the buildings looking for Little Blackie with no luck, till lastly, she noticed it on her third lap across the final constructing on the Duellman property. “I screamed out, I discovered it! And all people got here working. I mentioned there it’s, that’s it.”
Quickly, public sale week arrived, and Schramm and her husband have been prepared with a weeklong reservation at a close-by lodge. They spent each day searching the numerous gadgets out there for bids and socializing with workers and different prospects. Schramm mentioned it appeared as if all people had heard bits of their serendipitous story and that every one of them have been hungry for extra.
“They actually appeared to roll out the pink carpet for me,” she mentioned, noting that Dana Mecum, president and founder of Mecum Auctions, and son Frank, Vice President of Consignments, stopped by to speak along with her personally and signed her public sale pamphlet. She mentioned the shuttle bus drivers all offered their private cell numbers in case she wanted to make any particular journeys, and that everybody from the bidders assistants to the photographers, the workplace workers and past have been variety and accommodating in a means she’s not often ever encountered in skilled settings.
“And it wasn’t simply me,” she mentioned. “All people I noticed work together with Mecum’s folks, they handled all of them so courteous.”
Courtesy of Mecum Auctions
Schramm additionally met a Mecum fan from Marshfield, Wisconsin, who insisted on chipping in towards the ultimate hammer worth of Little Blackie if Schramm proved profitable in her efforts to win it.
“He mentioned, ‘I’m right here to be sure you take that house. I need to enable you financially with this,’” Schramm defined. “I mentioned, you don’t have to try this, however he insisted, and after I efficiently obtained the bid, he came to visit and gave me $200. I attempted to provide it again to him however he mentioned, ‘Please don’t offend me; I’m right here. I need to do that.’”
After getting Little Blackie house, the Schramms discovered a brief spot for him out of their storage, however Schramm mentioned that quickly, he’ll have a particular spot of their rec room. She’s additionally already made preparations for Little Blackie for when she’s known as to fulfill her maker.
“I wished to ensure that if one thing occurred to me that my son would take it, as a result of he remembered it possibly on the age of about 4 years previous—my son remembers it within the storage, as a child,” she defined. “I needed to have a little bit household assembly, as I known as it, and I wished to ensure that they might take that when one thing occurs to me right here, after I move away. They sort of checked out each other, however my grandson, who’s 13, popped up and was like, ‘Grandma, that was actually yours?’ And I mentioned sure, and also you’re going to must take that when one thing occurs to your mother and pop. ‘Oh, no drawback,’ he goes. So, all the things obtained cleared there, so I’m at peace now that it’ll keep within the household as an heirloom, hopefully.”
After practically 50 years aside, Little Blackie is lastly again house the place he belongs, and if Schramm has it her means, that’s precisely the place he’s going to remain any longer.
This story first appeared in Mecum Magazine, revealed by Mecum Auctions, the world chief in collector automotive, classic and vintage bikes, and street artwork gross sales, and is used with permission. For extra info on Mecum, go to mecum.com.
You Might Additionally Like:
The Story Behind the Fabulous Elmer’s Auto & Toy Museum Collection
Beep-Beep! Rare Road Runner Pedal Car Sells for $59,000
American Pickers’ Star Mike Wolfe’s Collection Heads to Auction
