Yorty Mementos Put on Auction Block

You could see it in the way Samuel W. Yorty vigorously pumped the hand of then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan, blurting something as the camera snapped that apparently had a young Nancy Reagan in stitches.

Or in how he strummed the banjo so quickly--in a photo from “The Tonight Show” during the 1960s--that Jimmy Stewart, Phyllis Diller and a boyish-looking Johnny Carson struggled to keep up with their instruments in an impromptu concert.

Or--in yet another of the scores of photographs stored for years in his Studio City home before he died in June--how Yorty firmly gripped Carl Sagan’s hand while the astronomer stared timidly into the lens.

Say what you want about Yorty’s politics, the man had presence.

For that reason, about 150 people gathered in a Radisson Hotel ballroom Saturday in Sherman Oaks to take part in an auction of Yorty’s photos, furniture and hundreds of other personal belongings.

The four-hour event gave the prospective buyers a chance to purchase household and office items--from old record players to a statuette from Africa--collected by Yorty when he ran the city from 1961 to 1973.

They also got a glimpse of how the lifelong politician lived behind closed doors before he died of a stroke at 88.

Given that opportunity, some at the auction took cheap shots at the aesthetic sensibilities of the liberal Democrat-turned-hard-line-Republican, who was famous for taking cheap shots at his political enemies.

“Where did they put all the good stuff?” quipped Burt Greenberg of Woodland Hills, surveying a pile of old books, bronze figurines and stereo equipment up for auction. “I’ve seen better stuff at the Goodwill.”

But it’s unlikely that the local Goodwill has an autographed photograph of President Harry S. Truman. It was auctioned for $425. And there was the hand-carved Alaskan totem pole. It sold for $500.

Yorty’s widow, Valery, placed those and a roomful of other collectibles up for bid through Amber Auctioneers to help pay outstanding bills and as a way to start life anew after her husband’s death.

“All of these things are hard to give up, especially the pictures of him, but you can’t live in the past,” Valery Yorty said. “A lot of these things have historical value for the city.”

Lisa David, who grew up in Los Angeles strongly disliking Yorty’s sometimes boorish mayoral style but found herself drawn to the auction anyway, was mindful of the history represented by the items before her.

Before the bidding began, David, who lives in Sherman Oaks, scrutinized a set of china dinner plates sitting next to photos of Yorty with celebrities and diplomats from all over the world. Irish President Eamon De Valera, Vice President Hubert Humphrey and congressman Sam Rayburn were among those pictured in the photos. So was Zsa Zsa Gabor.

“You can’t help but wonder who was served on those dishes,” she said. “I’m sure he entertained foreign and state dignitaries all of the time. I’m also curious to know who presented the dishes to him.”

But history or no, when it comes to dishes, they need to match. When the auctioneer turned to them, David did not bid. “I could not see them in my house,” she said.

The dishes, bordered with a lattice-like design, sold for $125.

Other pieces of Yorty furniture and memorabilia shared similar fates after being cooed over by audience members.

A Waterford crystal vase--which Amber Auctioneers said would go for several hundred dollars in a store--sold for $100. A 15-jewel clock presented by the city of Los Angeles and originally estimated at $10,000 received no bids, even after the auctioneer lowered his asking price to $1,000.

“People, you cannot get these things at Pic ‘N Save,” he said. The audience laughed.

The reluctance of others at the auction to bid high allowed Allan Erdy of Sherman Oaks to walk away with a solid walnut desk used by Yorty when he was both a congressman and mayor.

After bids remained low, Erdy bought the desk for $1,200.

“You try to buy one of these at a store and you will pay $3,000 at least,” he said, fingering a desk drawer that still had Yorty’s old City Hall office directory inside. “You can’t get a better price for this kind of history.”