Quote:
Originally Posted by mzwelch07  Recently saw a program on the History Channel titled "The Black Blizzard" and penny auctions were mentioned on them.
Since the banks and government are not looking out for us...MAYBE we need to start looking out for each other! LOL 
I found the article online~ Want to experience a penny auction?
The Great Depression plus harsh drought conditions were hard on farmers in the 1920s and early 1930s. Many could not make enough money to pay the mortgage. As a result, banks would foreclose on the property. They would then sell the farms at public auctions.
Farmers resented the foreclosures. When they would hear about an upcoming auction, they would gather on the day of the auction and make it clear to officials and potential bidders that bids from outside the farm community were not welcome. "When the bidding commenced, someone in the crowd would start it off at fifteen cents or so, and it rarely got beyond a few dollars before the bidding stopped and the auctioneer would close the sale. If anyone in the farmyard might be so ignorant of what was going on as to put in a serious bid, a suitably burly man would be likely to step up and put a hand on his shoulder with the words, 'That bid's a little high, ain't it?'"
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I also want to add that the farm owners were able to buy back their property for what their neighbors had bought it for. if it was 15 cents...that was what they paid!
