Auction chant (also known as "bid calling", "the auction cry", "the cattle rattle", or simply "Auctioneering") is a rhythmic repetition of numbers and "filler words" spoken by an auctioneer in the process of conducting an auction. The auction chant is a repetition of two numbers at a time which indicate the monetary amount involved with the sale of an item. The first number is the amount of money which is currently being offered by a bidder for a given item to the chant. It serves as a thinking point for both the auctioneer and the bidders. Typical filler words, which are taught at schools of auctioneering, are "dollar bid", "now", and "will ya' give me?". The typically taught chant for beginning auctioneers using the following pattern: "One dollar bid, now two, now two, will ya' give me two? Two dollar bid, now three, now three, will ya' give me three?", and continues in this fashion until a winning bid is received, usually by saying "Going once, going twice, sold!" or "Going, going, gone!", followed by announcing the winning bid. Slurring filler words to make multi-part filler word phrases is a key element, giving the illusion that the auctioneer is talking fast, and thus creating more excitement and bidding anxiety among the bidding crowd. Once an auctioneer becomes experienced in the auction profession, they usually develop their own style with regards to unique filler words, unique rhythm, and variable speed of delivering the chant. Many chants are accompanied by the unique yelling of a ringman, who is an assistant to the auctioneer in the "auction ring". Ringmen are professionals who are often auctioneers themselves. They assist in spotting bids and communicating essential information back to the auctioneer. Typically automobile auctioneers at dealer only auctions, and livestock auctioneers are known for their high speed chants. Auctioneers also can participate in "competitions" which crown regional and world champion auctioneers based on their chants, which is common in the auto & livestock auction industry, but not limited to them. Ringmen can also compete in competitions. The National Auctioneers Association as well as state specific Auctioneer Associations hold annual Auctioneer "bid calling competitions". These organizations also hold Ringmen competitions. The auction chant is the focus of the 1956 hit song "The Auctioneer" by Leroy Van Dyke.
Famous quotes containing the words auction and/or chant:
“The white American man makes the white American woman maybe not superfluous but just a little kind of decoration. Not really important to turning around the wheels of the state. Well the black American woman has never been able to feel that way. No black American man at any time in our history in the United States has been able to feel that he didn’t need that black woman right against him, shoulder to shoulder—in that cotton field, on the auction block, in the ghetto, wherever.”
—Maya Angelou (b. 1928)
“Pan’s Syrinx was a girl indeed,
Though now she’s turned into a reed;
From that dear reed Pan’s pipe does come,
A pipe that strikes Apollo dumb;
Nor flute, nor lute, nor gittern can
So chant it, as the pipe of Pan;”
—John Lyly (1553–1606)