Auctioneers – Mullins (SC) High School

This would be a particularly good post to try reading out loud. Just make sure you do that at about ten times your normal speed….

Mullins is a town in South Carolina’s Low Country (which is really just a fancy way of saying “flat and swampy”). Interestingly, the town only dates back to 1872 (and with the area originally being settled in the 1600s). Currently, it has about 4,700 people.

Right on the North Carolina border, the area around Mullins is know for tobacco. In fact, Mullins was once the largest market for tobacco in the world. And that’s where those auctioneers come in….

If you’re not from around those parts (I actually am), you probably don’t know that that’s how tobacco is sold. Basically, tobacco farmers bring their crop to town, putting it in a warehouse where buyers can check it out. It’s then the job of the auctioneer to get the best price for each lot.

So, it seemed pretty natural – to the townsfolk at least – to use those auctioneers as a mascot. I’m not sure when that decision was made, but the high school itself dates back to 1923. I also know that that’s the time when Mullins instituted their tobacco festival, so the two might very well have coincided.

The old high school burned in 1976, with a new one being built about a mile and a half outside the center of town. The school is about 80% Black, with the town being 70% so. Sadly, about 100% of the students are economically disadvantaged.

Looks like somebody’s got an oil leak

“Auctioneers” is often shortened to “Aucs.” Hard to tell, but it looks like they also use an Indian chief as a mascot. 

To be honest, there’s not a lot out there on the mascot or the school. I’d say almost half of my search results were actual auction houses, typically selling non-tobacco items and often located nowhere close to Mullins.

Like Cork, Ireland, for example