Brownsville businessman to auction off more than 100 vintage clocks
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Scott Bowman holds a pocket watch that he got from his friend, artist Frank Melega, at his office in Brownsville recently.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
A pocket watch that is part of Scott Bowman’s collection at his office in Brownsville
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Scott Bowman winds up one of this clocks at his office in Brownsville recently.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Scott Bowman holds an old whiskey bottle that was made in West Brownsville and will be sold at auction.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Shown are just a few of the 100 antique clocks in Scott Bowman’s collection that will be sold at auction at the Washington County Fairgrounds Saturday.
It was an old grandfather clock passed down through the family for generations that got Scott Bowman involved in collecting antique clocks. The old clock that once belonged to his great-grandfather eventually made it into his hands via an arrangement that had the oldest child in each generation inherit the venerable timepiece.
“I got the clock around 1980,” said Bowman, an insurance and real estate businessman who sold his Brownsville-based insurance agency in October. “I keep it in my home, and it still works and chimes, although I had it repaired once.”
Through the years, Bowman collected more than 100 clocks as well as antique prints, maps, bottles, postcards, furniture and blueprints. Most of these are now packed and waiting in the 1840s red brick building he used as his business office for the Joe R. Pyle Auction Service to come and pick them up. From the building, itself an antique Bowman still owns, they’ll be transported in three large trucks to the Washington County Fairgrounds, where they will be auctioned off beginning at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
“It’s not easy,” Bowman, 79, answered when asked how he felt about letting go of the collection he amassed over nearly five decades. “But I was at the point where I knew if I wanted to sell the building, I wouldn’t want to keep the clocks.”
Actually, it was Bowman’s wife, Melinda, who bought the first clock in the collection when the couple attended an auction years ago. “I just had to get another one at that time because I just couldn’t let her outdo me,” he said.
And thus the collection was born with additional purchases made mostly at auctions, but some on the internet as well. As the collection grew, they graced the nooks and crannies, shelves and tables of his office, but Bowman said he’d never wind up more than two at a time because any more than that would have driven his secretary crazy with their ticking, chiming and bonging. Now that the auction is just around the corner, the businessman who said he won’t consider himself retired until all of his collection is sold might take some consolation in the fact that he’s keeping five of his favorite clocks at his home.
While Bowman said he’ll attend the auction, he won’t answer questions about items in the collection but simply stick to the sidelines and leave descriptions to the auctioneer.
Potential buyers will be able to examine the antiques starting at 8 a.m. the morning of the auction when registration begins. In addition to the clocks, they’ll find everything from vintage furniture used at Bowman’s office to old milk, soda pop and whiskey bottles, including an old bottle of rye bottled at the Sam Thompson Distillery across the river from his office in West Brownsville.
Born and raised in Brownsville, Bowman left town in 1958 to attend college at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, where he studied business. After spending three years in the Army, he lived in Chicago where he worked for Kodak, including a stint with the Kodak Pavilion at the 1965 New York World’s Fair. He moved back home to Southwestern Pennsylvania when he got a phone call from his father, Whyndham, who said he was planning to sell the insurance business he ran from an office in Brownsville’s Union Station .
“When he asked if I’d like to take over the business, I told him I’d have to talk to my wife to see if she wanted to move to Brownsville.” he said. After Melinda agreed, Bowman ran his father’s business from a rented space in the former train station until he purchased, the following year, the 1840s building on Market Street.
While the upcoming auction will take place the Washington County Fairgrounds, bidders also have a chance to get involved in the bidding process online. Bids are now being accepted over the internet, and those interested can view the items at www.joerpyleauctions.com.
“All of the items in the 542 lots will be displayed at the fairgrounds,” said Alan Heldreth, general manager and auctioneer. “All are of high quality, cleaned and well cared for, and we expect the response to be very active. Mr. Bowman is a very careful buyer and he now wants someone else to care for the items a new home.”
Heldreth said the auctioneers average about 85 sales an hour and expects the auction to last at least six hours. Some of the clocks will be auctioned off first, but bidders can expect to see a mix of various items afterward to keep everyone interested.
For more information, phone 304-592-6000 or visit website www.joerpyleauctions.com.