Flower Auction

This is the coolest thing.  In the Westland Museum Dad and I learned about how the farmers in this area first started auctioning off their products to buyers in order to eliminate monopolies and keep prices fair in an open market.  There was an old-school auction wheel thingy at the museum that still worked, with buzzers at each chair.  Buyers would sit with their thumbs on the buzzers as the products were brought out.  The auctioneer would say what the lowest price was going to be, and then the long hand would swing counterclockwise around the wheel, starting from a high price and moving to a low price.  The first buyer to buzz in would get the lot, and the trick was to push the button before anyone else did, but at the last possible second so you wouldn't pay more than you wanted to.

The long needle would swing counter-clockwise, which was
totally counter-intuitive to me, since auctions I think of start
with the lowest price and work up.  This system takes a lot
less time, since each batch is claimed with one push of a button

Dad and Hans.  Chatting like men do.

Since my number is 44 (see on the desk), if I
buzzed in first, number 44 of the green circles
in the middle of the wheel would light up.

This morning, we saw the modern version of this style of auction in the huge flower auction in Naaldwijk.  Things are digital now, but it works on the same principle.

Fascinating.