THURMONT, MD.- On Monday, October 13th, Mosby & Co., will conduct an on-site auction of the entire collection of antiques, relics and amusements displayed over an 81-year period at the Historic Cozy Village Restaurant in Thurmont, Maryland. A section within the sprawling restaurant that housed much of the collection was known as the “Camp David Museum,” in reference to the establishment’s geographic location en route to the US Presidential country residence.

“The Historic Cozy Village Restaurant had more than its fair share of celebrity visitors over the years,” said Keith Spurgeon, owner of Mosby & Co. “The town of Thurmont is the gateway to the Catoctin Mountains, and the restaurant became known as a place where US Presidents, Secret Service agents, diplomats and other dignitaries would stop for a bite on their way to Camp David [known during FDR’s White House tenure as Shangri-La].”

The restaurant’s history dates back to 1933, when its founder, Wilbur Freeze, opened a small counter-style lunch spot to accommodate tourists who pitched their tents or rented cabins from him on the same site. Over the decades to follow, Cozy Village expanded several times over, evolving into a sizable complex whose comfortable hotel rooms are named after Presidents, members of the press and foreign delegations.

Camp Cozy, as the hotel, restaurant and camping compound was collectively known, thrived under the ownership of the Freeze family, but in June the decision was made to close down the business and sell the property. The restaurant’s entire collection of antiques will be offered to the public at the Columbus Day on-site auction.

Furniture and fixtures include several monumental pieces. An impressive 15ft oak back bar has leaded-glass canopies and onion-finial, circular-glass display cases built in at each end. An English Edwardian mahogany office front consists of a paneled door with matching windowed sections at either side. All three sections retain their original acid-etched windows with Art Nouveau-style banding. Seating is led by a set of four classic Arts & Crafts oak pub chairs decorated with bronzed bas-relief faces, each depicting a different hooded monk.

More than a dozen antique stained-glass windows will be up for bid. Perhaps the most interesting are three that originally were installed at a Pennsylvania candy store. The largest of the trio measures 99 by 45 inches and advertises “Sweetland Confectionary.” All date to around 1910. A beautiful stained-glass ceiling that was custom-made for the restaurant’s bar area consists of many sections that combine to form a colorful panoramic scene of lady acrobats on flying trapezes.

Another glass highlight is the pair of fine hanging apothecary globes dated 1891. Each of the globes is an inverted teardrop form suspended within a handsome iron casing on a chain.

Among the more amusing auction inclusions is a window trade stimulator consisting of man automaton standing at an oak podium. His eyes, eyebrows and head move as his hands lift any of 10 different advertising signs for passersby to observe.

“The last time I saw a trade stimulator of this type at auction [May 2012], it sold for $12,500. That particular one was restored, but the one we will be auctioning is in its original state and in need of restoration,” said Spurgeon.

A folk-art treasure with great local history is an architectural doghouse that was built around 1910 by a Thurmont resident and Freeze family friend named Stiles. “We know from Freeze family history that Mr. Stiles built the dog house as a wedding present for his wife – she must have been very fond of her dog, as this is quite a work of art.” The painstakingly crafted doghouse is 80 inches long and retains its original tin roof, front porch and overhang. It has two faux chimneys, paned windows and even a rooftop TV antenna, which would have been added to the structure much later on.

The largest item in the Cozy Village collection is an actual B & O Railroad caboose whose interior was accessible through a restaurant doorway. Made around 1925, it is a Model I-5, from the last class of wood-bodied cabooses produced in America.

The collection offers a vast assortment of general antiques, curiosities and mementos from celebrities and politicians who visited the Historic Cozy Village Restaurant en route to, or returning from, Camp David. Examples include a baseball autographed in 1954 by Ted Williams, and a fishing bobber that was owned and used by Franklin D. Roosevelt at Shangri-La. The bobber was a gift to the Freeze family from a White House press officer of the Roosevelt era.

The Monday, Oct. 13 auction will take place at Historic Cozy Village, 103 Frederick Rd., Thurmont, MD 21788. The start time is 2 p.m. Eastern time, with a preview from 9 a.m. till 1 p.m. Approximately 100 lots will be available to on-site, absentee, phone and online bidders (via LiveAuctioneers.com), but the remainder of the auction will not be accessible to Internet bidders.

Purchases made at the auction must be removed at the time of purchase. Buyers of larger items may make arrangements for later removal using their own choice of shipper.

For additional information, to leave an absentee bid or to arrange for a phone line on auction day, call Keith Spurgeon at 240-629-8139 or email keith@mosbyauctions.com. Visit Mosby & Co. online at www.mosbyauctions.com. View the 100 lots available to Internet bidders at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.