Bonnie wrote to tell us “In the Press today there was a nice article on Billy Ackerman and his business. In Sundays Gazette, there was a picture of Nancy Masbruch Olinger about her new job. So we have celerity status in both papers.”
Here is Nancy’s blurb and picture:
Camp Fire USA Iowana Council named Amy Geiger as executive director and Nancy Olinger (see photo) as program development director. For the past 19 years, Geiger has designed and implemented development programs for area not-for-profits. Olinger comes with a community relations background of nearly 30 years with NFPs.
And here is Bill’s article from the Press Citizen:
Ackerman Antiques and Estate Services going strong after 43 years
Bill Ackerman’s fascination with collecting antiques started in junior high school.
His first love? Fruit jars.
“I don’t know how I got into that, but it intrigued me,” he said. “My son even took to it later when he was in elementary school. He literally learned to read by looking at a fruit jar book.”
Eventually, Ackerman ended up with so many antiques and other old items that he had to sell some of them. That was 43 years ago. Today, Ackerman Antiques and Estate Services is going strong and Ackerman has made a name for himself as a knowledgeable source when it comes to selling estates and buying antiques.
In the beginning, the business was just buying and selling, but in more recent years, Ackerman said he’s asked frequently to do appraisals for banks, attorneys and trust departments. He still has a barn full of antiques that he sells, but it’s by appointment only.
Up to five times a year, Ackerman also holds three-day estate sales at clients’ homes, charging them 20 percent of the proceeds. When someone dies or moves, families call Ackerman to go into the home and price items. The public is then invited to a weekend estate sale. Ackerman gets the word out beforehand. His wife does the cashiering, and his friends man the sales floor.
“It really works out well,” he said.
About two weeks ago, Ackerman held a three-day sale at the estate of a doctor who had died. About 1,000 people showed up, he said. On Friday night alone, there was a line of about 150 people waiting to get in the door. “There was no end to that line,” he said. “People just kept coming.”
The sales are a lot of fun, especially because he never knows what items people come for, he said. One of the most bizarre things he’s seen was at a sale last year, when the two first people in the door made a beeline for the same thing: Old children’s toys. The showcase was empty in about 30 seconds, he said.
“It was like ‘grabfest,'” he said. “I was just sitting there thinking, ‘This is exactly what I want to see: Two people after the same thing, both of them buying it frantically.'”
When sisters Carolyn and Anna Boerner decided to move out of the Iowa City home their parents built in the 1930s and into Oaknoll Retirement Residence last July, they called Ackerman. Many of their antiques belonged to their grandmother and dated back to the late 1800s. Ackerman told them which items to keep because of their value, which ones to pass on to historical societies and which to sell on their estate sale.
“It was helpful because some things we didn’t even know what they were,” said Carolyn Boerner.
On the day of their sale, people lined up as many as five hours early, she said.
Now, she said, “We’re just glad it’s over and done.”
Over the years, Ackerman has observed “generation shifts” in the eras people tend to gravitate toward with respect to the antiques they buy. A couple years ago, for example, items from the 1910s to 1920s were popular. Now, 1930s to 1940s is the in-demand era. The reason is people buy antiques that are familiar to them, he said.
“If they grew up with 1940s or 1950s furniture in their house, that’s what they’re going to relate to,” he said. “They’re not going to relate to something in the Victorian era. Old is not always more valuable.”
And Ackerman’s favorite era? The late 1800s until about 1920. It’s not when he grew up, but it was what was popular when he first started going to antique auctions.
“The turn of the century,” he said. “The golden oak era, where you could order out of a catalog.”
Reach Tara Bannow at tbannow@press-citizen.com or 887-5418.
Ackerman Antiques and Estate Services
Owner: Bill Ackerman.
Location: 814 Newton Road, Iowa City (by appointment only).
Opened: 1969.