Years ago Balster Implement & Parts Company was the go to place in Scotch Grove, Iowa, to buy farm implements, lamps, perfume, ice cream, snow shovels, even cars and fuel. After the family closed the store the items stayed locked up in six buildings, like time capsules, waiting to reveal stories of the past.

 

Seven weeks ago, Mike Shultz of Shultz Auctioneers arrived in the village to prepare the contents of the six buildings for the estate auction of the year. When they opened the doors what they found were remnants of time gone by. The storage buildings contained items half a century old and still brand new. Vintage signs from the 1920s and shovels from the 1940s, some still in their original packaging were among threshing machine teeth, grain binder belts (made of canvas), wood bushings and cans of oil for Model Ts.

 

Shultz says they found American-made bolts for the farm equipment "that held America together." The auction items filled 18 tractor trailers as they were moved off site to be sorted and organized. The items will be sold in the largest auction the Minnesota based company has ever hosted.

 

The Balster family definitely has ended an era themselves. The family officially closed their business in July after 137 years of business. People said of their business, "if you can’t get it at Balster’s you can’t get it." The auction will be held on Thursday, September 15, 2011. More auction information.