Vintage items from early Tamaqua were up for grabs Saturday at the estate liquidation auction of a man once called Tamaqua's historian.

Paul Frederick Scherer, 99, of 9 North Lehigh St. died Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013.Scherer's home and multiple collections hit the auction block during a seven-hour sale that closed part of the first block of North Lehigh Street to provide space for bidders.A small but enthusiastic crowd of neighbors, collectors, genealogists, antiques dealers and representatives of the Tamaqua Historical Society kept the bidding brisk.Items included early Tamaqua and Mauch Chunk photographs, postcards, pinbacks, documents, railroad and mining memorabilia, plus furniture and even early videotapes."This stuff isn't around. You just don't see it," said Dean Arner of Dean A. Arner Auctioneers, New Ringgold.Scherer had been a chemist at Atlas Power Company and many of the items originated from his background in chemicals, including industry magazines, test tubes and hardware.Scherer, a painter and author, also self-published many pamphlets on Tamaqua history. His stories were largely based on earlier writings of Tamaqua historian Sam Beard, along with articles in the Tamaqua Evening Courier, and Scherer's lifelong experiences and remembrances of his family.Over one dozen of his paintings, including many early Tamaqua scenes, sold for $85 to $100. Box lots of early Tamaqua photos sold for anywhere from $35 to well over $300.Postcard albums fetched $275 to $300 each; three sets of barrister bookcases stored in the attic brought about $300 each.A set of early 1900s Schoenhut jointed toy circus animals brought $475. Many early Tamaqua High School yearbooks sold for $5 each.Pieces of antique furniture from the Scherer family were bought by Tamaqua residents. For example, a set of Victorian parlor chairs sold for $150. A walnut, oval marble top parlor table brought $160, and a signed Austria porcelain tankard pitcher fetched $50.Scherer's Victorian house in original condition, part of a duplex, was put up for sale, with conditions and terms outlined by attorney Jeffrey P. Bowe. The gavel hit at $20,400. The top bidder was a family of four from New Jersey.The sale, however, is pending approval by kin, per instructions outlined in Scherer's last will and testament.Scherer was son of the late Frederick William and Jennie (Beddall) Scherer.The 1931 graduate of Tamaqua High had been active with the Tamaqua Stamp Club, Tamaqua Art League, Tamaqua and Schuylkill County Historical societies, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge 802, New Ringgold and Scott Encampment No. 132, Tamaqua.