An American Woman Auctioneer in Shanghai (Sometimes)

choi

John Grossmann, A Pioneering Auction Company Shows the Way to China. New York Times, Sept 5, 2013.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/0 ... eps-innovating.html
(Deb Weidenhamer "has even taken her gavel to China, where she has mastered enough Mandarin to handle auction chants and where she is creating a new channel for Western companies to introduce products into the vast Chinese market;" her commission in 1995 (the first year) and this year: $150,000 and $135 million, respectively--"Typically our commission is about one-third of the sale price")

Note:
(a) world’s oldest profession
(i) auction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auction
(section 1 History: recorded as early as 500 BC)
(ii) Tom Head, Prostitution; An illustrated history and timeline. About.com, undated
http://civilliberty.about.com/od ... of-Prostitution.htm
(18th Century BCE: Code of Hammurabi Refers to Prostitution)
(b)  
(i) The German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) surname Grossmann is "from [the German adjective, which was written  groß] gross ‘large’ (see Gross) + Mann ‘man.’"
(ii) The German surname Weidenhamer/Weidenhammer is from the name of "a place called Weidenhain near Torgau."
(iii) German English dictionary:
* weide (noun feminine; plural: weiden): "willow"
* hain (noun masculine): "grove"
(iv) Torgau
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torgau