Cleaning It Out

Charles Brockman’s House

originally published June 20, 2007

In an old house on Hill Street, a team of would-be archivists has been laboring for three muggy, hot weeks under the direction of former mayor Gwen O’Looney to clean up what’s left from the home lives of two generations of unrivaled pack-rats. This Saturday, June 23, they’ll open a sale of its remaining contents - still an incredible amount of stuff - to the public in what could be one of the greatest one-house rummage sales Athens has seen in quite some time.

The house at 336 Hill St. formerly belonged to Charles Brockman, Jr., who died May 11 at the age of 84. A lover of history, Brockman is said to have represented the fifth generation of his family to live in the house, which was either built or bought by his grandfather, C.L. Pitner, probably in the late 1800s. Brockman never married or had children, but his companion of more than 20 years, Marion Coleman, describes him as a “free spirit.” Says Coleman, “He loved people and he loved to be around people. He liked to tell jokes.” What’s more, she says, “The best way to describe him - he was a walking encyclopedia.”

His house, in turn, is like a museum. During a visit this week, for instance, old military helmets sat on top of bookshelves containing unknown treasures in an upstairs room. Across the room, a table sat filled with old lamps, fans, radios and a typewriter. Elsewhere in the house, clean clothes not worn in decades sat piled up, still in their paper packages from the laundry. An example: While this writer and his publisher admired an old wedding dress hanging on the wall, O’Looney grabbed their attention by shouting, “But look at this: 13 pairs of men’s pajamas that have never been worn. And they’re beautiful pajamas!” She was right; the pajamas were fantastic. “You oughtta see the the ties,” she said. “And the socks… they’re beautiful!”

As of Wednesday evening, O’Looney and company were still uncovering items they’d not yet found. A handwritten note discovered that evening inside a plastic bag of bow ties gives an indication of Brockman’s sense of organization in the house, and a clue as to why he (and his mother, apparently) kept so many things. “Put into this bag Aug. 23, 1985,” it reads. “Old ties (bad, wholed ones [sic]), from top of newer dresser in downstairs bedroom. These ought to be discarded. One good bow tie included, however.”

According to one friend helping clean the house and ready some of its goods for the estate sale, “He just never threw anything away. We have receipts for crackers and coca-colas.” The same friend says he found at least 2,000 video tapes of various TV shows. When the team started its work in late May, the house was nearly full of newspapers. “You had to go through the newspaper walls to get to anything,” he says, “and then you had to dig through the newspapers to find it.”

Says O’Looney, “You end up respecting the history so much!” Most of the house’s historically significant antiques, books and papers have been removed for safekeeping, but shoppers at the estate sale will still find much to astound. Although not all of the house’s contents will be for sale, there will be furniture, clothes, books, records (mostly classical; Brockman loved opera), appliances, kitchenwares, military gear (mostly 20th-century), knickknacks, and more. On Friday, June 22, from 4 p.m. until dark, customers can pay $10 to preview the sale and reserve items for purchase. The sale begins at 8 a.m. on Saturday.

Ben Emanuel

ben@flagpole.com