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Solid investment: Old CBGB awning is auctioned off for $30,000

Written by
Andrew Frisicano
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An iconic piece of punk history—the CBGB awning—was sold at a Sotheby's auction for $30,000 last weekend. The sign wasn't the original—which went missing in the '80s, supposedly lifted by members of the band Jodie Foster's Army—but this one hung in front of the club from 1988 to 2003, roughly. The third iteration of the CBGB sign resides at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Former manager Drew Bushong tells Sotheby's the story of how he came across the artifact:

It was my day off and I was drunk at Mars Bar, the beautiful, nasty dive bar that was nearby. I think it was about 2004. I walked over to CB’s to see if anyone was around and there was this box in the dumpsters outside. I had seen it before above Hilly’s desk for a year or so. I remember thinking, “Why is this in the trash?” I woke up the next morning – shoes on, I was rather hung over – and the box with the awning in it was sitting in my bed. I learned later that it was in Hilly’s office because one of the interns was supposed to put stamps on it to send to the Cleveland Hall of Fame and it just never got there. I’ve had it under my bed ever since.

All in all a pretty solid investment, we'd say.

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