The Auctioneers

Invite Argle or Farrell Cole in for a chat and you might find yourself getting more than you bargained for. Or, you may find yourself a bargain.

“Chatting” is the rapid-fire banter auctioneers use to encourage bidding, and Argle (pronounced Ar-gel) and his son, Farrell, of Mena, Ark., have 86 years’ combined experience in the profession.

Now 88, Argle first became fascinated with the art of chatting when he was “just a big old kid hauling cattle.” To pass time at cattle auctions, he found himself mimicking the twang-like rap of the stockyard—as in “bid-a-half-a-dollar-now-a-dollar-and-a-dollar-and-a-half...” His innate talent for chatting soon caught the attention of a Texas cattle rancher who invited him to regularly auction off the livestock he brought up from Texas.

“We used to cruise up and down Main Street on Saturdays and I’d get on a (bull) horn to advertise an auction,” Argle recalls of his beginnings. That’s a far cry from the electronic advertising he has recently employed on his website, which makes it easier for customers to find out what’s in store for coming auctions.

Argle and son also aren’t hawking cattle anymore. Instead, their offerings consist of farm and estate sales held at the homes of their clients, with a hefty average of 25 to 40 auctions held annually. The Coles have seen their share of exotic—or, at least unexpected—goods pass under the gavel.

“We’ve sold everything from a small airplane to $61,000 worth of farming equipment to $50,000 worth of dump trucks and road machinery for the county,” notes Argle.

One of the most memorable sales for Farrell came in the form of “a bunch of rocks”—700 pallets stacked with slabs of marble and slate, to be precise. “We knew we were going to do all right when the first pallet brought $100,” the younger Cole remarks.

The pair can’t remember a time that one of their customers was dissatisfied with a purchase. “If something has a broke place, we make sure the bidders know it has a broke place,” Argle remarks, noting that they sell such items “as is.”

The integrity of the Coles—who have a long history of sealing deals with handshakes instead of contracts—is a big reason buyers keep coming back. “We’ve made a lot of friends over the years,” says Farrell, adding that he and his father have a regular following of people who never miss one of their sales.

In addition to area antique dealers, regulars include a number of retirees who, says Farrell, “enjoy getting out just to socialize.” The Coles enjoy their people-oriented business, but both agree that auctioneering is hard, physical labor—work the son didn’t take to automatically. Farrell started out helping behind the scenes, but when Argle was recovering from eye surgery some 30 years ago, Farrell was thrust into the limelight.

He was terrified the first day, and “lost his bids” as he frantically craned his neck to keep track of who was bidding what amount. He says it took another 15 years to get over his stage fright, but now he wouldn’t trade his job for anything—and welcomes anyone to come by an auction for a little chat.

Just remember your wallet.

Margaret Dornaus is a regular American Profile contributor.

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