Fourth of July auctions are not as popular as they once were, but there is at least one tomorrow out in central Pennsylvania that tops its predecessors, thanks to its theme: Patriotism and Americana.

The sale by Cindy Fenton will begin at 10 a.m. on Route 11/15, midway between Maryville and Duncannon in Perry County north of Harrisburg. It will offer such items as a Statue of Liberty clock, a tin Uncle Sam on high wire, and a chrome smoking stand of the Statue of Liberty.

The roughly 320 lots in the sale come from a former antiques dealer from Chambersburg, Terry Lefler, who began collecting patriotic material in the 1980s, and who was with Fenton earlier this week to set up the sale. He recalled that the first item he bought was a poster depicting a woman dressed in bunting as Lady Liberty and at its top the invocation: "Sow the Seeds of Victory!"

"I really liked it, my wife liked it, we had it framed and put in the family room and I would see it every night," he said in a telephone interview. "And I started looking for other stuff."

The poster, one of dozens in the sale, including works by Howard Chandler and James Montgomery Flagg, should now bring about $400, Lefler said. Another one promoting OshKosh B'Gosh overalls and showing Uncle Sam wearing them should bring up to $1,000, Lefler hopes.

The most important item in the sale is a 34-star U.S. flag that flew during the Civil War. "We're thinking it will go for $2,000 to $5,000," said Fenton, the daughter of an antiques dealer and an auctioneer herself since 1994.

The chrome smoking stand of the Statue of Liberty should bring $800 to $1,000. Dated to the late 1930s, it has its original lighter and is in working order. "Nobody smokes anymore," Fenton acknowledged, "but they do collect political items."

Another top item is an early-20th-century Roseville pottery pitcher with six mugs that should bring $700 to $800.

Lefler is liquidating the collection because he has retired from the antiques business, and his children are not interested in the items. He went to Fenton because she helped liquidate his antiques inventory several years ago. "She puts on a good sale," he said.

One of the top pieces in tomorrow's sale, a patriotic dress with blue blouse and red-and-white-striped skirt that was made for the 1892-93 Columbian Exposition and is expected to bring about $500, will be particularly hard to overlook. "I hope to wear it on auction day," she said. "It's a cool piece."

Preview is from 9 a.m. to sale time at the sale site, six miles north of I-81 exit 65 and next to Leonard's Oak World. For more information, call 717-957-9399, or for photos and catalog printout, go to www.cindyfentonauctioneer.net.

More July Fourth activity. Traditional July Fourth sales are scheduled at several other locations west of Philadelphia, distinguished in some cases by promising to charge no buyer's premium - a fee that can add 10 percent or more to the winning bid.

One sale offering that incentive is Haar's Auction in Dillsburg, southwest of Harrisburg, where, at 9 a.m., Doug and Vicky Hardy Auctioneers will start a sale featuring a variety of antiques, collectibles, tools, and farm and industrial equipment. The sale is advertised as charging no buyer's premium.

The farm and industrial equipment includes a John Deere model F-525 rear-turn power mower in good condition; a Coleman Powermate 5,000W generator; floor jacks (they can be surprisingly useful at times); and miscellaneous hand, power and garden tools. Collectibles include Roseville, Fiestaware, Hummels and Goebel figurines; political pins; milk bottles; and stoneware crocks.

Furniture includes reproduction pieces, antique oak pieces, leaded-glass windows, and church pews. Preview is from 7:30 a.m. to sale time at the sale site, 185 Logan Rd. (Route 15). For more information, call 717-432-3779 or go to www.haars.com.

Closer to Philadelphia, beginning at 8 a.m. in Ephrata, the Farmersville Auction Inc. will hold its annual Independence Day antique-and-collectible auction featuring 500 lots of furniture and about 1,000 lots of "smalls," a category that includes collectibles and other easy-to-carry items. The buyer's premium also will be waived there. The auction site is at 33 N. Farmersville Rd., three miles east of Brownstown on Route 222. For more information, call 717-354-5095.

At 9 a.m. in Quarryville, on Route 222 southeast of Lancaster, Auction Center will conduct a large furniture, craft, and quilts auction beginning with about 100 quilts and quilt tops (consignors identified upon request). Furniture, to be sold beginning at noon, will include new and reconditioned mattress sets, porch furniture, and Adirondack chairs. Craft items include purple martin houses, birdhouses, bird feeders, and concrete and white-pine items.

The auction also will feature various equestrian tack from a Main Line consignor, including about 30 English and Western new and used saddles, pads, lead ropes and halters. Also offered will be plants, including perennials, annuals, shrubs and trees; tools including garden hose, Fiberglas shovels, and post-hole diggers, and wheelbarrows - and a variety of groceries.

The auction house is at 3164 White Oak Rd., about three miles east of its intersection with Route 222. For more information, call 717-687-7018. For further online information about all three sales, go to AuctionZip.com and consult the listings of sales on July 4. Details and some pictures are usually posted two days before sale day.

Contact David Iams at daiams@comcast.net.