Thank You for Being Part of This 50-Year Journey
It’s hard to believe: this year marks fifty years since I started RR Auction.
Back in 1976, I was a kid in Boston with a love of collecting, and no real sense of where it would all lead. My grandfather offered me $1,800 to start a small business; he never asked questions, and never asked for his money back, he just believed in me. That belief set everything in motion.
My one-man operation selling baseball memorabilia and modest autographs grew slowly. I spent the first ten years working out of my parents’ basement, manually hand-typing catalogs every month and mailing them out myself. I persevered, caring about doing things the right way, learning as I went, and treating people well.
Carla, my wife at the time, was always there to help. In 1986, I hired Bill White as our first team member, and forty years later he’s still with the company today. In 1996, Elizebeth Otto joined the consignment department, and she’s still here, too. I’m proud of the people who have stood by this company, and equally proud of my children and other family members who have worked here over the years, including my son Bobby, who now serves as our COO; watching him help lead the business has meant a great deal to me.
As years passed we became respected as specialists in documents and manuscripts. Since 1976, we’ve handled pieces spanning the full stretch of written history…from Earhart to Einstein, from Henry VIII to Henry David Thoreau, from Beethoven to Babe Ruth. At the heart of it all are the handwritten letters and manuscripts, which represent a personal connection that has always been the foundation of this company.
Over the years, we’ve handled some remarkable pieces in space exploration. We’ve directly represented several moonwalkers—Dave Scott from Apollo 15, Alan Bean, Charlie Duke, the last man on the moon Gene Cernan, and others. Their space-flown hardware and mission-used artifacts have been a meaningful part of our story, and I never take for granted the trust that these astronauts placed in us.
In technology, our history closely parallels that of Apple: we both started in 1976. In recent years, we’ve handled Apple documents, contracts, and some remarkable hardware that date back to the tech giant’s earliest days, including Steve Jobs’ personal Apple-1 prototype, and Apple Check Number One, the first check the company ever issued. Helping tell that sensational story has been a privilege.
American history has always been at our core, and Revolutionary War-era material from the Founding Fathers remains a cornerstone of what we offer. We’ve been proud to present material from signers of the Declaration of Independence, including Button Gwinnett, one of the most elusive and sought-after names in American history. The nation’s 250th anniversary, alongside RR Auction’s own 50-year history, serves as a reminder of why preserving these documents matters, and why we take this responsibility seriously.
We’ve been honored to represent many delightfully unexpected items as well! We sold the $28 million seat on Jeff Bezos’s first Blue Origin flight; we handled Jim Sanborn’s Kryptos archive, tied to one of the great modern code-breaking puzzles; and we revealed and sold a previously unknown JFK film taken in Dealey Plaza. These certainly aren’t the kinds of things I ever dreamed of selling while typing catalogs in my parents’ basement, but they’ve become pivotal parts of our story nonetheless
But the moments that stay with me aren’t the headlines and high-ticket items; they’re the moments when we’ve helped people change their lives, when the outcome of a consignor’s item has made a sincere difference for them, very often exceeding their financial expectations. RR Auction has always been about people. Consignors. Buyers. Referrals. And, of course, the staff who have worked hard behind the scenes—none of this would be possible without them.
Through it all, I think about my grandfather’s gesture, the quiet belief he showed when he trusted and believed in me with that $1,800. Half a century later, everything we’ve built has come from that same sense of belief. People believed in what we were doing—they gave us a chance, and they sent others our way. For that, we are forever grateful.
With gratitude,
BOB EATON
FOUNDER,
RR AUCTION
