Three Years After Tragedy, Manion’s Auction is Back On Top

Kansas City, Ks - On May 4th of 2003, powerful storms devastated several sections of the Kansas City Metropolitan area. Hundreds of homes were destroyed by this natural disaster; but ironically, Manion’s International Auction House was the only business affected.

“It was like entering another dimension,” says Manion’s Representative John Conway. “You come in Monday morning to the place where you’ve worked for the last 20 years, and it’s gone…flattened.”

Almost every structure above ground was destroyed; luckily the majority of rare artifacts consigned to the auction were stored in an underground section of the facility. Monday morning Manion’s workers were back on the clock, carefully picking through the rubble and beginning basic demolition.

“We paid our employees the entire time we were out of business,” says Conway. “We all had to pull together and do what needed to be done to get back up and going.

The telephones soon returned, followed by the website. In a matter of weeks, the describers and photographers temporarily set up shop in a large mobile trailer. Typewriter keys and camera shutters hummed along with hammers and saws throughout the reconstruction. The mail trucks resumed their daily treks.

“The odds were against us,” Remembers Conway.

Today, Manion’s is as good as new - new facilities, new equipment, and most recently, new ownership. Jody Tucker acquired the company from Ron Manion in 2005, and he’s taking the company in a different direction.

“We’ll be doing a lot more in ‘06 – attending more shows, hosting events, and we’ve introduced free membership and shipping,” Conway elaborates. We’re getting a lot of new consignment, and selling more than ever, It’s an exciting time be working with Manion’s.”

Manion’s International Auction House has brokered the sale of historic collectibles and antiquities, specializing in Militaria, since 1970. Visit www.manions.com or call 913.299.6692 for more information.