Everything must go: Indians join auctioned goods from Pratt's Barn

KINGSPORT — An era ended earlier this year with the closing of Pratt's Barn Restaurant but echoes of the five-decade family business resonated Saturday with an echo of décor and kitchen items changing hands.Some of the auctioned items will remain less than a mile away.Pratt's owner Tom Pratt and son Jonathan watched during the five-hour pre-bid viewing and auction as folks looked over antique signs, kitchen equipment, menu chalkboards, stuffed and mounted deer and buffalo heads, neon signs and the restaurant's Back Porch dining nook.The site began as a concrete foundry and then a souvenir shop, feed store and roadside restaurant named Honest John's along Highway 11 and run by John and Mabel Barker, Jonathan Pratt said as he looked around the emptying building.The basement, which still houses Pratt's Hams for a few more months, belied its history Saturday with a selection of freight scales and an old NCR cash register among the items for auction.By 1970 Jonathan's grandparents, Frank and Edna Pratt, had bought the Barker's restaurant, expanded the building with more dining and kitchen space as Pratt's Barn. A year later, Jonathan's parents, Tom and Chris took over the business and ran it with Jonathan until it closed in June.Big John and companyThree items drew much of the attention from Saturday's auction crowdAs he oversaw bidder registration and director folks to a snack bar before they began planning their bidding, auctioneer Kimball Sterling pointed to the life-sized wooden Indian that greeted many a Pratt's Barn customer before dinner since the 1970s.Chief Pontiac's origins were as a sales display at the old Baines Pontiac dealership in Kingsport in the 1920s and 1930s, Sterling said. Another dealer bought Baines and was bought out in the 1950s."(Tom Pratt's) father got that that and took it down to the mill downtown," Sterling said. "It's a very interesting piece."Pontiac was interesting enough to sell for $2,400 Saturday.Jupiter, Florida businessman John Hendricks, who owns a home in Colonial Heights, came to Saturday's auction ready to buy several items to include a memorial to Pratt's Barn when he reopens the Ocean Quest Miniature Golf and Driving Range as Rocky Top Miniature Golf in 2025.Two of those items were for Big John and his original head — $11,000 for Big John and $1,010 for the head."I just drove from Dothan, Alabama just for this auction and I'm now very excited to own the 40-foot Indian landmark and keep it in Kingsport," said Hendricks. "It'll be fantastic."Sterling said another warehouse auction will happen online with notification posted at https://www.auctionauction.com.Cleaning out the atticJonathan said he and the family discovered an attic above the restaurant that he didn't know existed until they began preparing to close this year. That and another storage warehouse provided more memories."Thank the lord for search engines that you can use through your camera because I've had to take pictures of 'what is this' and look for items that are like it. There's 50-plus years of stuff that wasn't being utilized when I got here.Two 1960s-vintage Coca Cola machines that dispensed glass bottles shared wall space with a 50-cents-an-pack cigarette vending machine, A selection of freight scales and an old NCR cash register from the feed store business added to the history behind Saturday's auction."I've been going through this property and another property we use for storage," said Jonathan, "and the relics and the antiques, it's been a journey."More modern computer register terminals still flashed Pratt's Barn screensavers, Saturday and a 1980s vintage Pratt's Gourmet Ice Crean Sign was propped against the railing of the Back Porch dining area. Two rows of 19 total maple dining chairs occupied another wall, and dining table light fixtures made from galvanized tin funnels also went for sale.Swinging doors to the kitchen area also found buyers, and even the restroom doors went to auction."Those are the last things going today," Sterling told the crowd.Legacy"The hams are going to live on," said Jonathan of Pratt's honey glazed spiral-sliced hams – a regional favorite for decades. "Food City is doing it here for now. They couldn't get their facility done in time for this holiday season so they they're using our space."As for the Pratt's barbecue recipe, "that's still in my pocket," Jonathan said."I was a diabetic and (Tom) found a sugar-free mix for me," Jonathan recalled of the ice cream. "You couldn't get that around here.""It's mixed feelings, but I've had enough time to let it settle out a little bit," said Tom Pratt. "We had a good run, 53 years.""It's emotional but, when I get to go out with my dad to eat, we have a good time and there's little to no stress and it makes it worthwhile," said Jonathan.