No furphy: the treasures hiding in country sheds
Treasures from Australia’s past lying hidden in sheds around the country are now being hunted by collectors with a fresh appreciation of the worth of local memorabilia.
”People often have a lot of obsolete stuff in their sheds,” said John Wade of The Australiana Society, and editor of the magazine Australiana. But ”there are things around that are historically or artistically important”.
He said a lot of these items come up at country auctions.
One such auction is due to take place on February 18 in the NSW Riverina town of Hay, with more than 800 lots being sold off from the farm of a man who collected Australiana for more than 50 years.
There are many old vehicles among the collection at Hay. Photo: Supplied
Among the items to be auctioned are a Furphy water cart, Kangaroo Oil bottles, an old buggy, vintage vehicles such as a 1947/53 Chev 2/3 tonne truck, a 1965 Valiant AP6 sedan and Ford and Chev blitz wagons.
Furphy carts became well known during the WWI in military camps as, positioned by latrine areas away from the watchful eye of officers, they became the original water coolers where soldiers would swap gossip. One 1930s Furphy tank auctioned at the beginning of February in Echuca fetched a record $26,000, when bought by a specialist collector.
Stock and station agent Ian Macleod, of Ian Macleod Real Estate, said the Hay auction was likely to attract buyers from all over NSW, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.
“I would think the items will fetch $50,000 to $100,000,” he said. “There’s so many things here, it’s quite incredible, from a Kangaroo Oil company bottle to the water cart, cars, bikes, records, cast ironware, even an old pinball machine.
The auction is tipped fetch up to $100,000 for the entire collection. Photo: Supplied
“These items all become more valuable as they became rarer, and prices go up. Some of these items for auction haven’t been seen by many people as the collector was a fairly private person.”
That collector was roo-shooter Paul Wooding, who died five years ago, aged 67. His widow Sintra, 70, who also worked as a roo-shooter, is now selling off the entire collection as she prepares to move from the farm into a retirement village in Queensland’s Moreton Bay region.
“Our shed as well as our house was full of the things he collected,” Mrs Wooding said. “We have antiques everywhere. I know some of it is quite rare and valuable.
“One of the Kangaroo Oil bottles I’ve been told is worth around $20,000, but I think you’d only get that if you auctioned it in the city. Out here, people will pay less. But I’m moving from a six-bedroom house out here to a two-bedroom unit, so I have to sell it. I can’t take it all with me.”
An old cigarette vending machine and a collection of old electric kettles. Photo: Supplied
Mr Wooding came from England to Australia when he was nine years old, and lived in Melbourne. The couple married in 1966, and he started collecting Australiana from that day on. He’d regularly visit auction houses himself, and attend auctions and sale yards to find treasures of the past.
They moved to the farm in Hay in 1999. “He just loved old things,” Mrs Wooding said. “He displayed them around the house and in the shed but we’d only allow friends and family to see it. He loved everything about the country.”
As well as the selection of vehicles and spare parts for cars and trucks, there are camp ovens, blacksmiths’ tools, wagon wheels, horse-drawn ploughs, a cigarette-vending machine, old tricycles and petrol bowsers.
Certainly collectors are always interested in great memorabilia, said Australiana’s John Wade.
He cites the huge interest in the series of auctions set to be held for businessman Trevor Kennedy’s 10,000-item collection, which is said to be worth about $30 million.
The first auction from that collection will take place on February 21 in Sydney for 226 lots of Moorcroft and Australian pottery and porcelain.
“There’s a lot of Australiana around and people do love it.”
