Seven decades of memories were bought and sold under auctioneers' patter at Wonderland Gardens last night. A horde of nostalgia seekers and bargain hunters bid on the mundane and the exotic.

Some just hung around to mark the closing of a local landmark.

Diane Sauchuk had celebrated her sister's wedding reception here and mourned at wakes of her son and parents.

"I'm upset with the city and just (want) to pick up a couple of mementoes," she said. "It's hard, but I thought Id like to come and take one last look around."

Operator Chuck Jones, and his father before him, ran the popular banquet hall and restaurant since 1929. It was host to big bands and hard-rock acts, to wedding receptions, political rallies and dances by the dozen.

But the city assumed ownership of Wonderland Dec. 31 after Jones and city council failed to agree on terms of a lease renewal.

"A lot of people are looking for deals, but I'm here for the memories," Sauchuk said.

Items included stage lighting systems; eight bottles of prune juice; a five-metre-tall, fully decorated Christmas tree; hundreds of plates, bowls, coffee cups and saucers; enormous jars filled with pickles; patio furniture; dozens of full salt-and-pepper shakers; a rusty reel-type pushmower; two illuminated snowmen; Riverview Restaurant and Bar signs; industrial-sized garbage bins and bric-a-brac by the boxful.

Todd Arthur bid on a large wreath for the exterior of his home and wasn't there for the nostalgic pieces. "Nahhh, I have no use for it."

A three-head milkshake mixer went for $250. Cup-and-saucer sets sold for 50 cents. A huge orange salad spinner drew $75.

Restaurateurs scanned the aisles for kitchen stock, while others lingered over the more sentimental items.

The backstage door, an ordinary-looking wooden door all performers would have used, was expected to draw lots of interest.

"Oddball things like that have some historic value," auctioneer Kingsley Gardner said.

Three mirror balls drew heavy bidding.

There was a framed photo of Burton Cummings in his slim, 1986 days: "To Wonderland. Thanks for everything."

A signed Roy Orbison photo included a ticket to his dinner show.

Randy Calhoun had his eye on a Deep Purple concert photo. "Signatures are worth money," he said.

Mark and Carol Crinklaw were interested in the same piece. "We're eyeballing the Deep Purple because we came to that concert in the '70s," she said, returning to her high school days as she recalled the event. "It was just a moving, seething crowd."

The couple owns three generations of memories: Her parents danced here in the 1940s. Mark Crinklaw swam in the adjacent pool when he was seven. Their children have attended receptions and graduation banquets here.

She said she hopes London appreciates what it had and lost.

Gardner said a "steady stream" of people, more than the usual number, inspected the items all day before the auction.

The city hasn't decided what it will do with the property.