Sanford stands tall at an onsite auction in September 1984 in his hometown of Harleysville, Penn.

This is the story of two brothers and a box.

When auctioneer Sanford Alderfer of Sanford Alderfer Auction & Appraisal began his auction company 50 years ago, he wanted to stand out from the other auctioneers, so he had a friend make him a wooden box to stand on when calling auctions. About 12 inches high and 28 inches across, the box is a simple thing: plywood that has been stained and varnished to a golden-honey sheen. Over the years, new versions of the box have been built, all to the same specs. “Me, standing on my box, was my signature,” he says.

Together with his younger brother, Harold Alderfer, Sanford can look back on a lifetime working in the community, having built a business that is going strong into the second generation with Sanford’s son, Sandy, and son-in-law, Vernon Martin, now at the reins. The one company has grown into the umbrella of Sanford Alderfer Companies, which comprises three services: Sanford Alderfer Auction & Appraisal, Sanford Alderfer Real Estate and Sanford Alderfer Moving & Storage.

Sanford’s box is more than just a box, though. It is a fitting metaphor for the spiritual foundation Sanford and Harold have lived their lives by and built their business around. The company’s motto, appropriately, is “Ethically and creatively guiding people through their maze of property in transition.”

Sandy and Sanford Alderfer stand in front of their auction center, which last year celebrated its 20th anniversary in this location.

A deeply spiritual man grounded in his faith, Sanford learned strong Christian values from his parents, as the second youngest of eight children growing up in a Mennonite family in the small town of Harleysville, Penn. “I never made a promise I couldn’t deliver on,” Sanford said, adding that he once heard it said that “half right is all wrong.” He adopted that as his personal creed, and it has never steered him wrong. “What remains constant is integrity. Integrity is not bestowed upon you, it’s earned.”

The Delaware Valley MEDA, a chapter of the Mennonite Economic Development Associates, recently conducted a dinner gala to recognize the contributions Sanford and Harold have made to the community. Fittingly titled “Two Brothers and a Good Box To Stand On,” the sold-out event took place November 19, attended by more than 150 people.

To celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary, an open house will take place at the auction center Wednesday, December 9, where the public is welcome to come by for refreshments from 4 to 7 pm.

At age 86, Sanford is “retired” but still calls auctions every Thursday. He also keeps a busy schedule with volunteer work several days a week and hunting with Sandy at least once a week in deer season.

Sanford, shown inside the auction gallery, is well known for his hats and his auctioneering box. While the box’s construction is simple, it has ably served its purpose, as well as adding a level of showmanship. It is also a metaphor for the man who has enjoyed living a “simple life†and stayed true to his Christian values, making sure to treat customers in his business fairly and ethically.

Graduating from eighth grade at age 12, Sanford worked on his family’s farm and knew early on that he wanted to be an auctioneer, ever since he attended his first country auction with his parents. “Looking through the farm journal, seeing a picture of an auctioneer surrounded by the crowd, I saw myself in the middle of the crowd,” he said. His parents envisioned him in the business world, and at age 17, Sanford began selling meats for Louis Burk Meats.

He began as the 16th highest salesperson, but within six years, he was number one in sales and made all his collections, minus $49.

He met and married his wife, Evelyn, in 1945. While still working for Louis Burk Meats earning $15 a week, Sanford began running benefit auctions on the side, for fun, for churches and community groups. Friends encouraged him to pursue his childhood dream, and after more than a decade in the business world, Sanford sold his first piece of real estate in August 1959. In December of that year, he attended auctioneering school in Mason City, Iowa, and conducted his first personal property auction on February 8, 1960, while still working his day job until he got his business off the ground. A month later, he officially resigned from meat selling and became a full-time auctioneer.

The first year of business, Sanford conducted 27 auctions, 54 the following year and in 1962, Harold joined the business, starting out part-time, but it quickly became evident that the two brothers made a good team. “We needed each other,” Sanford said, explaining he had the risk-taking and leadership skills, while Harold provided the operational, communication and customer service skills. “I knew I wanted to work with my brother, so one day at an auction, I decided to take a little break. Harold sold a card table and chairs, and the rest is history.”

Starting out, Sanford made sure to have his auctions have set starting times and “showmanship before salesmanship.” He and Harold also made sure to focus on the details with informative but punchy ads and to tell the customer “what you are doing and how you hope to make it happen.” Harold, who does not look the part but speaks Pennsylvania Dutch, recalls one auction where two men were talking in Pennsylvania Dutch and Harold overheard them say, “Those Alderfer brothers put so much detail in their ads, they even advertise Vaseline jars.” That particular auction featured a collection of pressed glass, including vaseline examples.

Marking the August 1987 opening of the Fairgrounds Road building, this group portrait shows, from left, Vernon Martin, Harold Alderfer, Sandy Alderfer and Sanford Alderfer.

Harold’s favorite part of the business was setting up the displays, while Sanford preferred to get down to the business of selling. Harold’s favorite auction memory was years ago at an onsite auction that took place outside at a homestead, following a wet, rainy spring. Furniture was set up outside for better viewing and to reduce foot traffic into the house.

A couch had been put outside with the two front legs on a stone driveway while the back legs rested on the grass. Two women sat down on the couch during the auction, and the couch legs immediately sank into the ground so the women tumbled back. “All you saw were four legs up in the air. Both Sanford and I were on the auction block, selling at the same time,” Harold remembered. “Now, when Sanford gets the giggles, I try to stay the course and keep on selling. But not this time; we both just started laughing and couldn’t stop!”

Both cite the people they encountered over the years as one of the most meaningful parts of the business. Harold said, “It was the people who made it fun †the people who hired us, the people who worked for us and the people who bought from us.” Sanford has a story about virtually every auction he has conducted over the years. He vividly remembers an auction in the early days where a family of 12 children had lost both parents and Sanford had to sell their land, home and all their personal property, and they thanked him for the job he did. “I’ll never forget how grateful they were,” he said.

In this day, where specialized auction houses are commonplace, Alderfer Auction has always excelled at being a generalist. “I sold everything,” Sanford says, recalling auctions where he would liquidate companies †lock, stock and barrel. He might sell the land and building and then the next day, sell off all the machinery and then personal property. Growing his auction business into a set of companies that handles real estate sales and moving and storage was a natural progression to offer customers turnkey service.

The Next Generation

“It was showmanship,†Sanford says of his getting on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle that was on view in the auction center’s front office before it was sold in September of this year.

Sanford’s son, Sandy, the only one of his four children to join the family business, went to auctioneering school in 1973, but pursued a career as a trucker for ten years before returning to the fold in 1983. Today, he is the company’s chief executive officer, but jokes that he still answers to his father. Sanford’s son-in-law, Vernon Martin, was actually the first of the second generation to join the auction center and has worked there for more than 30 years and now holds the title of company president.

Sandy says the most important lessons he has learned from his father are “his values and his way of treating people, which is one of our core business values that you treat people as you want to be treated … and listen to what their needs are.”

Sandy began at the company when his uncle Harold still worked here (he retired in 2002) as well as after his brother-in-law, Vernon, had started. “We were basically a four-staff auction and real estate company, doing what needed to be done. We basically started in the field with setup, he [Sanford] was the primary auctioneer. The calls came to him. We made sure we did what he promised.”

The concept of auctioneering has not changed, but the concepts of value and certainly how auctions are conducted have changed over the years with the online bidding component, Sandy says. With 50 weekly auctions a year, quarterly fine and decorative arts auctions and various specialty sales, Alderfer Auction has grown from a small community-based auction house to a serious player in a global marketplace.

This oil portrait of Sanford Alderfer and his wife, Evelyn, hangs in pride of place in the lobby of the Alderfer Auction Center and was painted by Ellen Qiongzhao of Goddess Art & Antique Gallery in Philadelphia. The artist befriended Evelyn through visits to the auction center and donated the painting in September in memory of Evelyn, who died in March of this year. Evelyn and Sanford were married in 1945.

“The world became flat real quick,” Sandy says. “Our buyers are buying around the country, we have to focus on where we put our information. All of a sudden, it’s an information-driven marketplace rather than a product-driven marketplace.”

Sanford is quick to share credit for the company’s success, saying he built the company’s foundation, but in this high-tech age, he credits his son and son-in-law for building the company into the firm that it is now.

“I have so many people to be grateful to. Sanford Alderfer Companies is what people have blessed me with. I’m just as excited about the company today as I was 50 years ago. There is no better company than the employees representing it †the people are the company,” Sanford said.

“Fifty years is an accomplishment and I couldn’t have done it without the help of many and the Lord’s blessing. I just didn’t want to be an auctioneer, I wanted to be a servant.”

In his 50 years of service to his community, it is safe to say Sanford Alderfer has done all that and more, all the while building a family legacy that he can be proud of and that is going strong into the second generation.

Alderfer Auction is at 501 Fairgrounds Road. For more information, www.AlderferAuction.com or 215-393-3023.