• Sasha Goldstein
• Jerry Manock

Here's your chance to nab some memorabilia from Silicon Valley's heyday.

Burlington resident Jerry Manock is auctioning off some of the stuff he collected while working as an Apple design engineer under the tutelage of one Steve Jobs. 

While that Jobs guy gets all the credit for building Apple into the tech behemoth it is today, Manock was hired as a consultant in February 1977 to help design the Apple II computer. The young engineer agreed to get the work done by April 1977, in time for the West Coast Computer Faire.

Manock could have become Apple's sixth employee. Instead, he opted to work on contract. He and Jobs signed a deal that guaranteed $1,800 for the job — which, at the time, sounded great to Manock. That contract, with Jobs' signature in blue ink, is among the 18 lots he's put up for sale. Starting bid: $5,000.

Manock eventually became the 246th Apple employee and left in 1984. He moved to Burlington, where he runs a consulting firm and teaches integrated product design at the University of Vermont.

In recent years, Manock had invested in an overseas company and had hoped the proceeds would "give my three grandchildren a boost in their educational budget," he explained. But the company went belly-up over a dispute with the Irish government, and Manock and other investors were left holding the bag.

So he got in touch with RR Auction. Online bidding opened March 5 and runs through Thursday, March 12. Among the items are contracts, some vintage Apple shirts, beach towels, posters, plaques and Manock's original 1983 Macintosh 128K computer, adorned with a plaque that reads, "In Appreciation: Jerry Manock." That piece would set you back at least $2,500.

"The items in the auction were out of sight, in storage," Manock said in an email. "When sold, they will remain out of sight. Not having access to them does not bother me as any financial benefit will be passed on to my children and grandchildren — which makes me very happy. 

"And," he continued, "the memories of how they were obtained remain fresh. So, no regrets!"