Massive 85-year collection will be sold August 26-30 in an on-site estate sale in Lawrenceville, Ga.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – An astounding single-owner lifetime collection of art glass, perfume bottles, banquet lamps, Dresden figurines, pickle castors and thousands of other items, many of them rare and all fresh to the market, will be sold August 26th-30th at a massive estate sale in the recently deceased collector’s residence at 1120 Henry Terrace in Lawrenceville, near Atlanta.

Mary Haugk (1921-2015) began collecting as an eight-year-old child in 1929, the year of the stock market crash, with dolls, doll furniture and accessories, children’s sized furniture, tea sets and china. Remarkably, nearly all these items (except her dolls, many of which have been lost to time) will be in the sale. Mary bought and collected her entire life, rarely parting with anything.

 

In addition to what’s named above, also sold will be New England pressed glass, bookmarks and letter openers, costume and Victorian-era jewelry (to include cameos), large and unique pieces of saw-tooth pattern glass, brides’ baskets (some in cranberry), Victorian furniture, wrought-iron furniture, and even the gorgeous cabinets that hold the many pieces that are proudly displayed.

 

There is a good amount of Baccarat in the sale, and three cabinets contain nothing but perfume bottles (many are French). Lovely creations by Moser, Lalique, Loetz, Mount Washington and Amberina will also be offered. The cabinets are mostly antique Vernis Martin-style vitrines.

 

“Mother collected throughout her whole life and only stopped buying a short time before her death,” said Mrs Haugk’s daughter, Bonnie. “But she didn’t stop because of failing health or because she ran out of energy or money. She stopped because there was no more room to put anything. The basement, both floors of the house and the attic and garage are all jam-packed.”

 

The estate sale promises to be a veritable treasure hunt for collectors looking to start or add to their own collections. All items will be priced as marked, with the prices dropping as each day passes. Times all five days will be 10-5, Eastern time, with no online bidding, phone bidding or left (absentee) bidding. This is an estate sale, not an auction, so attending in person is imperative.

 

The sale is being conducted by Peachtree Battle Estate Sales in Atlanta, a firm with 16 years’ of hands-on experience in high-end antiques and estate liquidations. “Going through, sorting and pricing the thousands of items in Ms. Haugk’s collection was a challenge, but it was exhilarating, too,” said Christy Ahlers of Peachtree Battle Estate Sales. “Every item is a beautiful treasure.”

 

Prior to her passing, Mary Haugk had been a resident of Lawrenceville since 1994. She was born in Clay Hill, Pa., on Halloween night in 1921, and grew up there and in Greencastle, Pa. During World War II, she took a job in Hagerstown, Md., as a telephone operator. For the next 38 years she worked for the phone company in various capacities in Maryland, New Jersey and Illinois.

 

While in her 20s she got bitten by the collecting bug, zeroing in on glass initially. She loved New England pressed glass and often took trips to New England, to seek out and purchase new pieces. Once, while at a glass museum in Maine, she started describing her collection to the curator, who told her, “From the sound of it, you have more in your collection than we have in our museum.”

 

Ms. Haugk would buy from dealers, retailers, flea markets, auction houses – anywhere that might have that next great piece. Two of her favorite haunts were Scott’s Antique Market, a monthly show in Atlanta (they’d call her ahead of time and alert her to anything new or interesting), and the Goodwill store in Lawrenceville (but only on Tuesdays, for the 20 percent senior discount).

 

Later in life, Mary developed macular degeneration, which didn’t curb her buying habits one bit. “She could tell if a glass piece was genuine or a reproduction, whether it was old or new, and if it had great value or little value, just by the feel of it,” her daughter Bonnie said. In that regard, she could have been known as “the glass whisperer,” but she already had a nickname: “Cranberry Mary,” for her lifelong love and appreciation for cranberry glass, which is highly collectible.

 

Lawrenceville is in Gwinnett County, Ga., and is located north and east of Atlanta, not far off Interstate 85. Henry Terrace is off Lawrenceville Highway and is in the Cramac Plantation subdivision. Buyers are encouraged to arrive at the prescribed start time of 10 a.m. each day, and early birds will have to wait. Hundreds of people are expected on the sale’s first day, August 26.

 

Peachtree Battle Estate Sales is a family-owned business and one of Atlanta’s leading estate liquidation firms. It is part of The Ahlers Group, comprised of four retail locations and a full-service auction gallery. The firm specializes in on-site estate, moving and downsizing sales at the home; estate buy-outs; and off-site sales conducted at the company's gallery at 700 Miami Circle.

 

To learn more about Peachtree Battle Estate Sales, and to view hundreds of photos of items that will be sold in the August 26-30 estate sale in Lawrenceville, visit www.atlantaestatesales.com. Their phone number is (404) 272-5861; their e-mail address is christy@atlantaestatesales.com.