HIGH NOON’S WESTERN AMERICANA WEEKEND FALLS NOTHING SHORT OF SPECTACULAR Phoenix, AZ – Billed as the largest and most important celebration of all that represents the rich history and heritage of the American Old West, High Noon’s Western Americana weekend celebration, hel
News-Antique.com - Feb 08,2008 - Phoenix, AZ – Billed as the largest and most important celebration of all that represents the rich history and heritage of the American Old West, High Noon’s Western Americana weekend celebration, held in Phoenix on January 25th, 26th and 27th of this year, fell nothing short of it’s spectacular reputation. For three solid days, High Noon of Los Angeles transformed the Phoenix Convention Center into a magical place where thousands of people came to relive the mystery, the magic and history of the Old West.
Upon walking in to the impressive lobby of the Convention Center, visitors were immediately embraced by a virtual Hollywood set created specifically for the Friday evening fundraising gala for the Phoenix Art Museum whimsically called High Noon After Dark. (Proceeds went to benefit the Phoenix Art Museum’s Western Art Acquisition Fund).Hundreds of people paying upwards of $85 per person spent the evening dining inside the High Noon Saloon, listening and dancing to live music and having their pictures taken alongside Nellybelle II and Trigger’s Revenge from the Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Museum in Branson, MO. The most important event of this evening however was the exclusive opportunity to shop the over 200 exhibitors at the High Noon Western Americana Show and Sale which would not open to the general public until Saturday morning. Attendees also had the opportunity to privately preview the over 400 items that would come on the block Saturday evening at the world-renowned High Noon Western Americana Auction.
Saturday morning found a line of anxious shoppers from across the country wrapped around the outside of the Convention Center waiting for the doors to open to the largest Western Americana show and sale in the country. The massive exhibit hall came alive with the energy of the Old West as aisle after aisle was filled with the finest in art, antiques, jewelry, clothing, saddles & spurs – anything and everything representative of this magical time in US history was on display. In an era when specialty and trade shows are struggling to maintain attendance, High Noon’s 2008 Western Americana Show experienced its largest attendance in its 18 years with several thousand attendees over two-days, filling the convention center — a testament to the power of and passion for the genre.
AND ON SATURDAY EVENING, THE MUCH ANTICIPATED WESTERN AMERICANA AUCTION witnessed spirited bidding from a packed audience who competed with determined telephone and internet bidders for some 420 lots of the finest in art, cowboy, western, Hollywood and American Indian artifacts - earning in excess of $2.3 million! For almost two decades, High Noon’s auctions have been setting records and bringing to the block the most coveted items representing our Western heritage.
The Cowboy, Western and Charro winners —
The big winner of the evening was the much anticipated Edward H. Bohlin “Machris” saddle ensemble with matching Spurs & Gunbelt. This circa 1940 sterling silver and gold pictorial saddle outfit originally sold in 1941 for approximately $1,300. Flash forward just some 67
