Chicago's Dinkel's Bakery Sign Hits Auction Block Starting At $5,000

Chicago IL

23 May, 2022

5:51 PM

Description

CHICAGO — Less than a month after another iconic Chicago eatery's sign was auctioned off for nearly $33,000 on the same day a neon Chop Suey landmark went for nearly half as much, the vertical neon sign that hangs outside of a long-time neighborhood bakery has hit the auction block. Dinkel's Bakery, which closed last month after 100 years in business, is auctioning off its famous neon sign that hangs outside of the Lincoln Avenue bakeshop. Donley Auction Services in Union will auction off the neon sign that simply reads "Dinkel's" on June 4 and has the sign listed with a starting bid of $5,000, according to the auction site. Donley Auction Services estimates the sign could sell for as much as $10,000 to $20,000, according to the auction lot. The owner of the Union-based auction house did not immediately return a message to Patch seeking comment about the beloved bakery's sign. Dinkel's was opened in 1922 by Joseph Dinkel, who opened the business after immigrating from Bavaria, according to the auction website. The bakery moved to its current location in 1932, according to the auction site and its current owner, Norman Dinkel, Jr., took over the business and operated it until it closed last month. Norman Dinkel, Jr., who is 79, announced in early April that the bakery would close and told Block Club Chicago that the bakery sold more than 5,000 doughnuts the day after he announced the business would close. "It's never a good time to close, so I've got a lot of mixed emotions," Dinkel told Block Club Chicago. "It's a very traumatic day for me personally, for my staff and my customers. No one wants to see this, but it's time." The Dinkel's sign auction will come about a month after Chloe Mandel, the wife of Smashing Pumpkins' frontman Billy Corgan, purchased the sign that hung outside of Orange Garden for $17,000. The sign, which was also neon and prominently included the words "Chop Suey", was a long-time favorite of Corgan, who once jokingly told his wife he wanted the sign for his birthday, Mandel told Patch. The sign went in the same auction that the sign that hung outside of Chicago Joe's restaurant and bar sold for $32,400. "My heart was set on it," Mandel told Patch about purchasing the sign. "I was pretty sure (I'd get it). Unless someone was going to blow me out of the water, my heart was set on it and once we started bidding, I think it was pretty clear." The Dinkel's sign is one of four Chicago-area business and restaurant signs that Donley Auction Services has up for bid. And as was the case with Corgan's love of the Orange House Chop Suey, nostalgia often goes into why people feel like they need to own a sign outside of a familiar business.