A series of auctions of the Shea’s Gas Station Museum in Springfield, Illinois, began Saturday, according to the State Journal-Register newspaper.
The gas-station museum’s longtime owner, Bill Shea, died at age 91 in December 2013. The Shea family requested offers for the museum, but apparently had no takers.
Shea’s son, Bill Shea Jr., said it was sad to see some of the more cherished items sold Saturday, but auctioning off the items was his father’s wish. Money made from the auctions will be divvied out to the family.
“This was something he wanted to do before he died,” Shea Jr. said.
One of the top-selling items was a silver 1952 Airstream Cruiser trailer that went for $6,000 to John McLean of Edwardsville, Illinois. Most of the auction Saturday was designed to liquidate the inventory of Shea’s camper-top business.
The newspaper produced this video from Saturday’s auction.
Another auction on-site will be at 10 a.m. Nov. 21 to sell the land, gas pumps and Route 66 signs. An online auction for Route 66 memorabilia is set for Nov. 11-21 here.
Bill Shea, a veteran of the D-Day invasion in World War II, started in the gas-station business in 1946. He owned Marathon and Texaco stations in Springfield. Later in life, Shea converted a Marathon station on Route 66 into a museum filled with gas-station items and other memorabilia. Shea greeted thousands of Route 66 travelers from dozens of countries over the years.
Shea was inducted into the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame in 1993. Dec. 30, 2011, was declared Bill Shea Day in Springfield in honor of his 90th birthday.
(Image capture of video from Saturday’s auction)