Iconic “Live Poultry, Fresh Killed” Sign Goes to Auction

On Aug. 26, the iconic “Live Poultry, Fresh Killed” sign that greeted customers at Mayflower Poultry in Cambridge, MA for more than 75 years will be up for grabs to the highest bidder, the Cambridge Chronicle reports.

The 7-ft.-tall yellow chicken sign will be auctioned off by the Paul E. Saperstein Co., with both on-site and online bidding available. If the $2,500 deposit that’s required to bid is any indication, the sign will fetch a pretty penny.

The article says it has been decades since live chickens actually roamed the back rooms of the historic building, but there are some locals who remember those days. On the Chronicle’s Facebook page, Larry White wrote, “[I] remember the smell of sawdust and the chickens clucking. If you were lucky, you got to watch the process happen.”

Mayflower’s owner, Jim Gould, will donate 10 percent of the auction’s proceeds to a local nonprofit called Food For Free. Likewise, the auctioneer will direct 20 percent of his commission to the charity.

For more information about the auction, visit pesco.com.

Read more at the Cambridge Chronicle.