PANAMA CITY, Fla. – A pair of prominent Florida estates comprising hundreds of quality items in many categories, plus select merchandise from other consignors, will be sold at auction on Saturday, April 25th , by The Specialists of the South, Inc., in the firm's gallery located at 544 East 6th Street in Panama City. The auction will get underway promptly at 8 a.m. Central time.

Headlining the auction will be the estates of Albert and Audrey Holman of Fort Walton Beach (Danish style furniture, genuine and costume jewelry, firearms and more) and Albert and Mary Ann Cantu of Panama City, which includes items from Mr. Cantu's worldwide travels, plus his extensive collection of CB and ham radio equipment.

Both estates have in common two things: military service and international travel. Mr. Holman was a bomber pilot in World War II and later Vietnam and was shot down and rescued in both wars. He passed away last year. Mr. Cantu was in the Air Force for 30 years, retiring as a Chief Master Sergeant in 1977. He died in 2011. Items from both estates were purchased worldwide.

All of the Holmans' Danish style Modern furniture (Stanley, Broyhill, etc.) will be sold, to include a lovely dining room grouping that consists of a table, chairs, buffet and china cabinet. The bedroom furniture is also vintage Danish Modern. Other furniture will include a small carved camphor chest, a headboard with side cabinets and light bridge, a slat bench, three chairs, and wicker and glass end tables.

Additional room items will include an entertainment center (with Sony, Garrard and Pioneer speakers) and carved screens. The firearms will feature an FN rifle with quick-release scope, a Remington model 1903 30-06 bolt-action rifle with Weaver KV scope, a .50 caliber muzzle-loader black powder rifle, an MEC shotgun shell reloader and a Savage Arm 12-gauge pump rifle. Other sportsmen’s related items will include gun cabinets, a deer head and antler trophies.

The Holmans enjoyed vacationing on cruise ships, and when they did they often bought jewelry items in the various ports-of-call. In addition, their travels to the Southwestern U.S. produced turquoise pieces, bolos and other items also in the auction. Silver jewelry will also be sold, as will a good bit of costume jewelry.

Also sold will be Southwestern belt buckles and hat bands, perfume carved bookends, a barometer, camera equipment (including movie and slide projectors), Oriental garden seats and planters, ceramic umbrella stands, brass and silverplate flatware to include a silverplate tea service in the Daffodil pattern, Noritake pattern Silverdale china, cut and pressed glass, English Prinknash, perfume bottles and ladies' handbags.

The list continues with metal female head sculptures, carved Oriental artwork, miniature musical instruments (framed), an Asian “zither” (a stringed instrument) and an ethnic floor drum. All that was just described is from the Holman estate. The Cantu estate is also intriguing, as much for its variety as for its quality. Albert Cantu gathered antique items from England, Japan and Thailand.

The Cantu estate will feature Coca-Cola collectibles, a Lorus Mickey Mouse watch, a George VI and Queen Elizabeth commemorative glass plate and basket, wood carvings (including elephants and figurals), papier mache bunnies, kids' tea sets, a Western Electric oak wall phone, signed Russian nesting dolls, Frozen Charlotte doll heads, a figural camel seat and wooden golf clubs.

Also from the Cantu estate will be an Angle oil lamp with two burners angling out the sides; children’s books by Louisa May Alcott (Rose In Bloom from 1938, Under the Lilacs from 1934 and Little Men from 1940); a book titled Motor's Auto Repair Manual for cars 1935-1951, including some exotic makes and models; and a 1956 Spanish Evinrude boat service manual.

Primitives will include sad irons, a spinning wheel, old tins, cast-iron cookware and vintage kitchen utensils. Also offered will be English ceramics (to include an invalid feeder collection that features two World War I Red Cross examples), pitcher and bowl sets, a lovely Bohemian Kralik Martele rose bowl and vase, Carnival glass, cruet sets, Nippon, McCoy, a Lusterware tea set and metal Indian bookends.

Artwork will feature an Oriental stone lobster and pheasant, while clocks will include a cuckoo clock, a grandfather clock, an anniversary clock, a gingerbread clock and a Napoleon Hat clock. Also sold will be an antique Corona portable typewriter (patented in 1904 and 1910) and an 1858 geography tome containing multiple maps, engravings of costumes and other related material.

Mr. Cantu was an enthusiastic CB and ham radio operator, and many of the items he bought over the years relating to the hobby will all come up for bid. These include CB radios, vintage microphones and others items by makers such as Sony, Canon, Cherokee, Uniden, K Eagle, Cobra, Johnson, MaCo, Radio Shack and RCA, plus a Ranger Communications base station.

The items from other consignors are just as intriguing, an example being a “featherie” golf ball, possibly dating to the 1600s and consisting of tightly packed goose feathers stitched into a horse or cowhide sphere. Other items will include a Gustave Keller (Paris, France) travel valise with appointments and button high-top baby's shoes.

Also sold will be a beautiful and large Wedgwood heart, Haviland Limoges Bleu-du-Roi ground service plates, china sets and other items. Additional items will feature Civil War battlefield hardware, mini-balls, shot and projectiles, cannon balls, shark's teeth, Nancy (Shirley Temple look-alike doll), Tyco and 1050's three-piece Marx train sets, rocks and minerals.

For those unable to attend the auction, internet bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com and Invaluable.com. Phone and absentee (left) bids will also be accepted. Previews will be held by appointment and on auction day, April 25th, from 7-8 a.m. To schedule an appointment, you may call 850-785-257. A buyer’s premium will be applied to all purchases. All sales are final.

The Specialists of the South, Inc., has been serving the Panama City community for over 30 years. The firm specializes in a broad range of services, to include estate auctions, furniture refurbishing, interior decoration, personal property appraisals and business liquidation services. It has been named the Small Business of the Month by the Bay County Chamber of Commerce.

The Specialists of the South, Inc., is always accepting quality consignments for future sales. To consign an item, estate or collection, you may call them at (850) 785-2577, or you may e-mail them at contact@sospcfl.com. To learn more, or to register for the April 25th auction, you may log on to either of the two websites: www.SpecialistsoftheSouth.com or www.PanamaCityAuctions.com.

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