Bristol Zoo (Closed) Bristol Zoo historical items for auction
- Thread starter polarbear
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Strathmorezoo
Well-Known Member
According to the ITV news, the auction made over £100,000.
I can remember when 'spares' of those old 1940-60's era plastic Cage labels were just lying around in the old animal prep and staff areas.! Now today one set fetched over £700 and with the extra 25% charge that's nearer £900 to pay. Some of the prices seemed a bit crazy but good revenue for the zoo.
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Yes I noticed that one. I guess genuine antiquity fetches the highest prices. The bust of Alfred was done in 1949 apparently so I presume the sign was a lot older.
GeeZee
Well-Known Member
I agree, I wonder why that is the case? The auction got a lot of publicity so I’m not suprised, I did bid on a few things but had no luck. It goes to show how much people loved Bristol Zoo.
I do think some of the bigger items perhaps could have been kept in the gardens like the old railings etc, but regardless - I’m a bit gutted I didn’t win anything but maybe one day they’ll pop up somewhere else who knows.
Pretty much every item sold for considerably higher than it was valued, some of the door handles sold for £1000s when they were valued at £80
£3200 for the finger plates / door handles from the aquarium doors. I was amazed by that. I wonder if any other zoos in need of money, (Paignton?) will be encouraged to do the same?Pretty much every item sold for considerably higher than it was valued, some of the door handles sold for £1000s when they were valued at £80
I can scarcely believe the prices that things went for, especially considering that the general feeling was that the zoo was just getting rid of a bunch of old items in storage. I'm really curious who bought so many expensive pieces of memorabilia as the numbers being tossed around are vast sums.
Possible reasons for the high prices; 1.it was a very long established and much loved city zoo. 2. The zoo is still high profile as there is ongoing controversy and legal issues surrounding the proposed sale of the site for development. 3. sales of zoo memorabilia like this are rare as you said earlier. 4. Online auction effect? Just a few ideas.
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GeeZee
Well-Known Member
I do hope it encourages other zoos to do the same, overall it made £160k, incredible. I guess if nothing else, it’s better than these things ending up binned/ruined/vandalised etc, I’m sure they all went to a good home, it proves though that despite the cost of living crisis there are people who have vast amounts of money, I suspect some of the items were probably purchased by the same person, £1000s for door handles etc.
GeeZee
Well-Known Member
To be fair, thinking about it, Edinburgh had a giraffe auction a couple of years ago and that was quite successful too.
On another historic note; the framed photo of the Gorilla Samson caught in midair chestbeating, is an enlarged version of a longer shot photo of which I have a copy. It was taken from the far end of the cage. The visiting female 'Lomie' from London Zoo is the focus of his attention and she is visible in the original, climbing on the grille front of the cage.
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GeeZee
Well-Known Member
Bristol Zoo Bench auction to follow on Monday, each bench is estimated around £100-150 if yesterdays is any clue no doubt they will each sell for potentially several times that.
Anyone know if this was all the benches in the entire park? I presume some of the larger items are being kept for the “gardens” such as the bear post ?
Anyone know if this was all the benches in the entire park? I presume some of the larger items are being kept for the “gardens” such as the bear post ?
They might keep a few of them for posterity but we won't know until the site opens again in some form. I'm sure the bear post will stay. I also wonder if the 'spanish' grille sections from the old gorilla cage that were sold were unused spares they still had, or if the ones that were re-used decoratively in the gardens as a bridge and pergola are still in situ.
ZooNews2024
Well-Known Member
When did zoo 'memorabilia' start to make such stupid prices?
Bits and pieces could be found in second-hand book-shops for a few shillings, pennies even.
Maybe it is all down to 'Bangers and Cash' and Drew Pritchard? - continually talking up prices on saturation TV?
As good a theory as any
although these prices are so much higher than one usually sees - even nowadays - that I think the involvement of two or three wealthy individuals from the local area *must* have pushed prices up steeply.Certainly I can't imagine a large number of people being likely to have paid over the odds in such a fashion.
I would agree with that.