Saturday, March 30, 2013

Weapons of War?

I like to check in at the local auction house every now and again in the faint hope that I might find a bargain, word on the street is that it's pretty dodgy, but even so I have managed to find the odd thing from time to time. My principle entertainment is the glimpse into the past that is placed before my startled gaze; the colonial past of the North-East of Scotland is well documented, but every sale has a riot of Zulu spears, tribal masks and knobkerries, fishing rods and regimental luggage. This month the offerings are even more bloodthirsty than usual, I boggled slightly at the deactivated machine guns, but the full-size Nazi flag (estimated at £140.00-£180.00) was rather startling even to one as cynical as me. It begs two questions, firstly, was there once a secret Nazi cell somewhere in the Howe O' The Mearns (there is always quite a lot of low-grade WW2 loot in the auction), and secondly, who on earth is going to buy it? It's almost worth going to the auction to find out.