All aboard for nostalgia clearance
By Katherine Nichols
Advertiser Staff Writer
In the market for a popcorn cart? If not, then perhaps a champagne fountain is on your must-have list.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
Those items, as well as thousands of others from the cruise ships Independence and Patriot, will be up for sale today and tomorrow at the bankruptcy auction of American Classic Voyages.
The auction block is awash with memorabilia as cruise-line items go on sale starting today. The live auction is tomorrow.
The court-ordered auction of all of American Classic's equipment and memorabilia marks a symbolic end to years of Hawai'i's only locally based interisland cruise line, which filed for bankruptcy last October and abruptly shut down, leaving 1,100 workers adrift and its cruise ships idled in port.
But if you're looking for a vintage photo of the Independence or a shot glass with the ship's logo, or maybe a T-shirt, go early. Items will be sold individually only during the inspection periods today and tomorrow.
When the live auction begins at 10 a.m. tomorrow, small items like aloha wear, koa pens and china will be sold only by "case lot."
"We're talking about mass quantities," said Marty McClain, president of McClain Auctions.
The auction offerings will include office machines, artwork and dock equipment.
The good news is there are no minimum bids or upset prices. Said McClain: "We intend to sell everything."
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