A fiddle believed to have been owned by country music legend Roy Acuff is currently up for auction–but not at a specialty auction house or as part of a curated collection, as fans might expect.
The Kansas City Star reports that the fiddle is being auctioned by charitable organization Goodwill, who received the instrument as an anonymous donation at their Western Missouri and Eastern Kansas location. The online auction can be accessed at shopgoodwill.com. As of Thursday afternoon, bidding was topping $8000. The auction is open until 11 p.m. Central time Saturday.
The fiddle was handmade by Evart Acuff, Roy Acuff’s uncle, in August 1945 in Maryville, Tennessee, and the auction includes copies of paperwork verifying its authenticity–including correspondence between a previous owner and the Acuff family. The auction listing suggests that the original paperwork may be obtainable at the museum where the appraisal was completed.
The question on everyone’s mind, of course, is how did such a rare artifact find its way to Goodwill? Gary Rains, who runs Goodwill’s e-commerce program in Kansas City, told the Star: “We recognized right away that it was something special,” adding, “We have no information on the owner. They just donated it and moved on.”
Acuff died in 1992 at age 89. He was the first living inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and was best known for hits such as “Wabash Cannonball and “Tennessee Waltz.”
Artists in the Country Music Hall of Fame
This Article Was Originally Posted at www.TasteofCountry.com
