A lifetime collection of antique dolls, toys and memorabilia will go on the auction block after Winter Haven landmark Sherman’s Antiques has closed its doors for good.
Owners Jerry Sherman, 65, and his partner decided to lock the doors of Sherman’s Antiques, 1103 6th St. NW, on June 25. Thousands of remaining items in their storefront are being auctioned online by Freedom Auctions ending 10 a.m. July 23. Potential interested buyers can walk through the store for previews on July 21 and 22, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“I don’t think we’ll be able to be here, it will be hard to watch,” Sherman said. “This feels like our second home.”
Sherman’s Antiques has been open seven days a week in Winter Haven for roughly 16 years, Sherman said. Visitors could explore three floors of antique and vintage toys, furniture, artwork and memorabilia, including a 1,200-square-food Doll Hospital on the second floor.
“We do have a very wide variety of stuff,” he said. “We’ve always done that and been very eclectic in our items.”
Sherman said multiple factors have led to the couple’s decision to permanently close shop after roughly 26-years of business in Polk County, but he declined to get into specifics.
“It’s not always a choice,” he said.
Decades of collecting in Lake Alfred and Winter Haven
Sherman is a Michigan native who started his career as a psychiatric social worker, but always had a passion for collecting antique dolls.
“I look at them as little pieces of sculpture. They were made by artists,” he said. “Back then, the factories made the head and sent all the pieces to cottage industry artists to put together at home, piece them together, then ship them back to be sold.”
Sherman and his partner “got sick of the snow” and moved from Michigan to Winter Haven around 2000. Each had owned an antique store in Michigan, and they consolidated their stock and moved it all to Florida. They rented a building in Lake Alfred and opened Sherman’s Antiques and Doll Services.
“We’ve restored dolls, figurines, carousel animals over the years,” Sherman said.
The second floor of the Winter Haven shop remained a dedicated doll hospital until its close, Sherman said. There, he worked as a doctor of sorts, diligently restringing, repairing and breathing new life into antique and vintage dolls, often handed down from generation to generation.
A sewing room contains troves of vintage dolls, children and adult clothing, including fur coats, alongside sewing machines by Singer and Kenmore. Sherman said he kept the vintage clothes to source materials to match older dolls’ clothes, repairing or remaking outfits with skills taught to him by his grandmother.
The next cubicle contains dolls in various stages of repair, some merely needing new clothes. Sherman admits he ran out of time for them. In another section, he has spare parts from eyes to full bodies, wigs, paint, almost anything one could think of for a doll.
Thousands of items up for auction next week
The main floor of Sherman’s Antiques has always contained a wide variety of antiques and vintage items. Rows of hardwood bookcases, tables, shelving and desks contain something for every collector.
Stepping inside, many customers have found the sheer collection and variety of items overwhelming over the years, Sherman said. Others walk around the perimeter of the store, but miss aisles that are now clearly marked on the floor with duct-tape arrows.
There’s a piece of jardiniere pottery featuring stylized dolphins that once would have held potted ferns or flowers next to a decorative glass kerosine lamp that has never been electrified. Nearby, a pair of German porcelain piano baby figurines sit on a chair looking like they are ready to cause mischief.
Tucked in the front corner of the shop are various collectible household wares and items, including popular and bright-colored Fiesta dinnerware. Next to it is a cabinet of German porcelain figurines that look like they’ve stepped out of the late 1800s.
Following the perimeter, a set of various cups is tucked inside a standard Wooten Desk, a mid-1800s wooden desk that unfolds to be a complete workspace. Hidden among the items are pieces of Polk County’s history. In a back area on the ground floor, a large solid wood desk runs along the length of the wall. Sherman said it’s originally from the Lake Alfred Hotel, before the piece was taken in by the neighboring U.S. Post Office. It served as the checkout for the post office for many years, he said, before finding its way into his collection.
Everything from the doll table sets to the wall-length desk are up for auction as noted by bright green stickers with a lot number, which will be visible during previews on July 21 and 22.
“It’s emotional at this point,” Sherman said. “But it’s got to be done.”
The online auction is open through 10 a.m. July 23 on Freedom Auctions’ website at freedomauctions.hibid.com.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Winter Haven landmark antique dealer auctions off rare collectibles
Reporting by Sara-Megan Walsh, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Sara-Megan Walsh, Lakeland Ledger | USA TODAY Network
