Walter Winchell Memorabilia Sold : Auctions: Many seem more interested in the stars he covered than in the famed gossip columnist.

It is said that famed gossip columnist Walter Winchell could make a star or snuff out a career with the stroke of his pen.

But at an auction of the journalist’s memorabilia in Hollywood Wednesday, it became apparent that in the end, the allure of the stars has outlived the star-maker.

The auction room wasn’t quite full at the auction house of Butterfield & Butterfield when bidding began simultaneously in San Francisco and Los Angeles. On the auction block were more than 40,000 letters, radio scripts and photographs collected by Winchell during the nearly five decades he ruled Hollywood with a newspaper column and microphone--a man who was as hated in some circles as he was feared in others.

But it was the items related to Winchell’s celebrity subjects--rather than the journalist’s personal effects--that garnered the most attention. It seemed that many who attended the auction were more interested in the golden age Winchell represented than in the man himself.

Winchell died in 1972, but the materials were recently consigned for auction by his granddaughter.

Doris Harris paid the highest price of the day when she bid $10,000 for a letter in which “Gone With the Wind” author Margaret Mitchell corrected an item written about her in Winchell’s column. Another bidder paid $6,000 for a single-spaced letter sent from Hotel Ambos Mundos in Havana, in which Ernest Hemingway writes that his publisher believes his current novel has “F. to A. (“A Farewell to Arms”) beat.”

The prices and interest level had been expected--even though some collectors said they’d seen larger turnouts for other celebrity auctions.

“There’s been a lot of interest from book collectors, autograph collectors, anybody interested in a bygone era,” said Butterfield & Butterfield spokeswoman Laura Smissaert, who said the nearly two-hour auction yielded $140,000. “Winchell was one of the most influential people in the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s.”

Gary Milan said he had come to the auction not because he was a fan of Winchell but because he wanted to add to his collection of celebrity memorabilia. Among his acquisitions: a $700 file that included a letter from former President Richard Nixon about a dentist.

“I think the letter is going to go on the wall of my office,” said Milan--a dentist.

But there were some who were drawn by Winchell.

George J. Houle, a dealer who bought 30 items at the auction, including letters written to Winchell by composer Irving Berlin, remembered his days as a child when Winchell’s radio-worn greeting “Good Morning Mr. and Mrs. America” sent electricity through the air.

“He was very important in his day, but today he’s somewhat forgotten,” Houle said. “No one really collects Winchell. They collect the people around him.”

Winchell’s loss of stature is not surprising, said author Neal Gabler, who is currently writing a book about the culture and evolution of gossip in America, in which Winchell was a key player.

“Winchell would understand perfectly,” said Gabler, who bought bound copies of Winchell’s columns from the New York Daily Mirror and radio broadcast scripts that were offered at the auction. “Winchell could make or break celebrities. But he was also (an example) of how fleeting fame is.”