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Cedar Point

Cedar Point amusement park auctions historical items

Cedar Point
This restored American LaFrance steam fire pumper built in 1904 brought $120,000. Gray’s Auctioneers image

SANDUSKY, Ohio (AP) – An Ohio amusement park that will celebrate its 150th anniversary next year auctioned a collection of historical items it had amassed over the years, including an arcade game from the 1930s and a horse-drawn steam pumping engine. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.

Many of the items from Cedar Point had been on display for decades at the amusement park’s Town Hall Museum, but the items don’t have ties to the park itself or fit into its plans to renovate the museum, said spokesman Tony Clark.

An American LaFrance steam fire pumper built in 1904 brought $120,000 from an anonymous phone bidder at the auction Monday, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. Cedar Point restored the engine in 1971. (Prices do not include the buyer’s premium.)

A Cleveland-area man who bought a coin-operated game called Grandmother’s Predictions Machine for $21,000 said it had a special connection to his family.

Cedar Point
This coin-op fortune teller sold for $21,000. Gray’s Auctioneers image.

Rich Gent said the arcade game, dating back from 1929 to 1932, was built by a company once owned by his great-grandfather’s brother.

“We thought it was important to get this piece of family history,” he said. “This is pretty exciting.”

Among the other items sold were a replica Star Trek Starfleet Command captain’s chair, a few park benches and a full-size apothecary display from a store in Crestline.

The counter that originally sat inside the Charles E. Trory’s Drug Store will be put on display at a museum in Crawford County.

Auctioneer Deba Gray said there was high interest because of the connection to Cedar Point and everyone would love to “own a piece of their childhood.”

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AP-WF-11-19-19 2137GMT

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