Mr. Ed's Updates

No posts.

Home

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Note:

This is Page-2 of this blog. If you came here first, please click on the link above to go to Page-1

I took this picture of the old Hower House in Akron, Ohio back in 2004 during the wintertime at around 2:30 am. Why was I there at that time? That's another story all together.

Total Pageviews

THIS BLOG WAS MADE IN THE U.S.A.

Hello! I'm Mr. Ed

About Me

Mr. Ed

View my complete profile

Blog Page-2 Created: 2-25-2020

Last Updated: 9-27-2020

Chuck Connors' Personal Pen and Pencil from his desk ~

I keep them in a plastic case.

Chuck signed a lot of autographs with this pen.

The Pen's Inscription Reads:

"Talent is God given - be humble

Fame is man given - be careful

Conceit is self given - "BEWARE"

Chuck Connors "

The pencil is inscribed, "Chuck Connors, Oak Tree Country Club".

Items from Chuck Connors' Desk ~

Items that were originally from the personal desk of Chuck Connors.

His personized writing stationary.

Envelopes for his stationary. His address is listed as 338 South Reeves Drive, Beverly Hills, Ca. 90212.

Walk of Fame Cards. He would sigh these and hand them out to fans.

These business card size pictures Chuck would sign for fans that he met.

His memo pad had the slogan: "Go Dodgers".

Chuck Connors' personal ruler with his name and the year 1972.

Lucas McCain's Leather Gloves ~

Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain in the 1960s western TV series, "The Rifleman". In many of the show's episodes, he was seen wearing his leather gloves.

My personal collection.

One of the last pictures taken of Chuck Connors.

Elvis' Sunglasses ~

These are a part of my personal collection.

1955 Cadillac Hearse/Ambulance ~

I bought this car back in 1967 from a local used car dealer. This was one huge mother trucker.

I was in a band and we called ourselves, "The Hearsement". The idea was to have a hearse and an old Cadillac limosine and arrive in a funeral possession. The hearse would carry the band equipment and the band members would ride in the limo. Cool huh?

The price on the car was $500. Try to get one for that today. This one even came with it's original stretcher in back.

THE HEARSEMEN-NEW YEARS EVE-1966,WORKERS CONVENTION HALL ~

This is my old band, The Hearsemen" back in 1966 at the Worker's Convention Hall on New Years Eve 1966-1967.We were hired to play at their New Years Eve Party. It was a Union Hall and the stage was in the basement. I am standing in the back as the drummer.

The Plaque ~

We were known as "The Plaque" first before we changed the name. This was back in 1965 at a teen girl's birthday party that we played at. It was a backyard party and we were set up in the garage. Again, I'm on the drums.

And while we're talking about some of the "stranger" cars that I have owned ~

I bought this old mail jeep back in 1995 as an extra vehicle to drive to work. I got it in Canton, Ohio from a guy who services all the Stark County mail vehicles. He buys a few and sells them after fixing them up. I paid $750 for it. I wanted one of these for years because the sterring was on the right side.

I drove this little gem for nine years. I had absolutely no trouble at all with it.

The body was built by Chrysler/Jeep. The engine was General Motors and the transmission was something else. But that was the factory setup at that time. It was a Jeep but only 2-wheel drive but got through the snow great. It had a six cylinder engine and automatic transmission.

December 16, 1995: The postal Jeep only had one seat when I bought it. I got another seat the same shape at a junk yard and then bought seat covers and the seats looked the same. It had a great heater but no radio so I bought an AM-FM with CD player and put in. Also, I painted the dashboard to look woodgrain.

On the outside, I painted the Jeep red, white and blue and installed fog lights. It was a snappy little cruiser.

I also put on a spare tire rack on back and after these pictures were taken, I installed a roof rack. This was not a freeway vehicle because of the short wheelbase. But for city streets and country roads and even highways it was great. I drove it to and frm work every day. During one winter, we had a huge blizzard and ton of snow. My wife and I went out at 1:30 am and drove around town. The streets were still covered with about six inches of snow and the little Jeep got through it all perfectly. This was truly a fun car to drive. Passengers thought it weird to sit on the left side but they got used to it. I would love to get another one of these.

I installed a stereo am-fm with a cassette deck. (That was the thing then).

I managed to find a passenger seat at a junkyard that matched the shape of the driver's seat perfectly. Once I bought seat covers and put them on, no one could tell that the seats didn't match.

I also installed fog lights. I was ready for anything.

And if you were wondering about the car parked next to the Jeep ~

It was a 1981 Dodge Mirada that I bought in 1994.

This was also a really good car. It's one of the few Dodges that I have owned. It was a V-8, (don't remember the c.i.), with an automatic transmission. I bought it from a local dealer and drove it around four years then sold it to my daughter's then boyfriend.

ME AT IWO JIMA STATUE, WASHINGTON DC, JULY 1964 ~

You don't really get an idea of just how big this thing is until you stand by it. WOW!

Our Trip To Washington DC in 1964 ~

In 1964 I was 13-years old. My parents wanted to go to Washington DC to see President Kennedy's grave at Arlington Cemetery. This was July, only 8-months after he had been assassinated in Dallas, Texas. So we went on the trip from Akron, Ohio to Washington DC.

As there were still threats of violence going on in Washington, dad, who was a gun collector, took his .44 Magnum western style Peacemaker revolver in his cowboy holster for protection. The first night that we were there and got a motel room, as dad carried the gun into the room over his shoulder, another motel tenant saw him and called the police.

The cops got there and after dad told them he brought it only for protection in the event we would need it, the officers wanted to see it and they got a real kick out of the style of the gun. Then they actually handed dad their guns for him to check out. He talked to these two cops for well over an hour telling them he collected guns and how he reloaded all his own ammo and such. The cops finally left after wishing us a fun vacation and they were all smiles. No where near how it would have played out today.

Dad and his Packards ~

My father was a Packard lover. He bought a 1950 Series 2300 sedan, a 1953 Clipper and a 1958 Hawk. This picture is of dad with his 1950 Packard 2300 at a motel cabins somewhere on vacation in 1950 right after buying the car new.

I wanted a 1950 Packard 2300 just like dad had. That was the car he had when I was born in 1951. I finally found one in Wooster, Ohio in 1991. I thought it ironic that he bought his in 1951 and I bought mine in 1991 exactly 40 years later. The cool part was dad was 41-years old when he bought his and I was 41-years old when I bought mine. Weird huh?

I can't find the picture of dad's 1953 Packard Clipper right now, but here was his 1958 Packard Hawk.

1958 was the last production year for Packard. They were actually owned by Studebacker at t hat time. Being a Packard lover, he had to have the last year of the car. In 1964 he traded it in on a 1964 Chrysler Newport. He had owned Chryslers before he could afford Packards.

Peter and Gertrude Selzer ~ ~

Peter and Gertrude Selzer was my ancestors. They lived in Akron, Ohio at the years years of the 1900s. Selzer Ave. in Akron was named for the Selzer clan. This is their wedding picture and the picture of their 50th anniversary..

Peter and Gertrude had entered a contest in 1930 and had won this 1930 Ford Model A Sedan. They had to have their picture taken with they "free" car.

And speaking of old cars, here's more pictures of my 1930 Chevrolet sedan ~

In the garage.

Original Mohair interior with horsehair stuffing.

I love the old wooden steering wheel. You need a big one to steer this car.

Coming out of the garage.

Sitting in the driveway.

Left home to run a couple of errands.

I stopped first at GoJo Industries to see some old friends that I used to work with.

Next I stopped at Tallmadge Cemetery to do a little research since it was such a nice day.

We finally got home.

It's been a long day. Time for the old girl to go back into hibernation for awhile. Good Night!

Me with the Chevy at our old house. April 29, 2003.

My wife on the same day.

My Robot B-9 ready to go for a spin. He always has to drive. That really pisses me off. But you don't mess with anyone who has steel hooks for hands.

Flag Bunting on Front Porch ~

I have always loved flag bunting on colonial homes. I figure that it really brings out the American style plus it's patriotic.

I have always wanted to put some up on our house but I was unwilling to shell out $40 to $60 for a single bunting. I would need two anyway and that is just too expensive.

I was shopping a few weeks ago at, of all places, Aldis, and found that they had bunting for a mere $3.59. So I finally bought two of my buntings. I put them up and was pleased with the results.

I also bought two sets of solar string lights at Harbor Freight so I used one of them with the bunting. At night it shines the bunting slightly.

The following pictures were taken on September 25, 2020. The flag is at half staff in honor of the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bater Ginsburg. She was a democrat. But my flag is lowered for anyone that deserves it. I believe Ginsburg deserved it. Anyway, here's the pictures.

Flagpole in our front yard.

We can get a good view of the pole from the bay windows in our living room.

I put the bunting on the front porch railing.

I also put a light string across the bunting and down the railing. The lights are solar activated.

The buntings are small but can be seen from the road in front of our property.

At Night ~

At night the bunting shows up with the string lights.

The flagpole has an electric floodlight.

We also have another string of these lights around the side of the house.

Dune Buggies ~

On July 30, 1979 I was driving through Canton, Ohio and came across this place and had to get a picture of it. This guy had a dune buggy shop behind his house where he built dune buggies. A neat occupation if you can make it pay. And it looks like this guy did.

Ax and Ball ~

This is my medevil ax and ball. These pieces are original. I bought them back in the 1980s from a guy who traveled to Mexico five times a year and brought back stuff to sell. The ax weighs in at around 20-mounds while the spiked ball is more like 60-pounds. The ax blade has slight chipping damage that shows it was used in battle. The spiked ball would not be something I would want to be hit in the head with. But more over, I can't see someone swinging this heavy piece too many times. The men back then must have been built like a locomotive.This pair today hangs over a window in my den.

Army Football ~

This is one of the prized pieces in my collection. Back in 1972, while stationed at Fort Dix, New Jersey while in the U.S. Army, to cut the boredom, a bunch of us guys would go across the street to an open field and play football games all afternoon. Col. Berarre, Who I drove for, gave me this old football that he had kept from the Korean War. It still was aired up and made from actual pigskin. He said that a bunch of the guys in his officer's club used to play ball with it. We used it for well over the last year that I was in the service. Two days before my discharge in March of 1973, Our "team" gave me the ball to take home. They had inscribed it and all of them signed it for me. The names are getting faded but can still be read. The inscription reads; 1972, U.S. Army, Co. A-6-2, Fort Dix, NJ. I wouldn't sell this ball for any price. This ball is in a display cabinet in my den today.

Military Hand Grenade ~

Another item from my Army days is this hand grenade. To have something to do, several of us guys would snatch hand grenades and drain the gun powder and made this collectibles.We would pull the pins out and shape them into peace signs and put them back it. Then we painted them red, white and blue. We only made about five of them when we got caught bu our captain and told to stop. But it was cool that he left us keep the ones we made.

Guns ~

Another picture of my John Wayne rifle from page-1.

My Henry 44.40 lever action rifle.

My Scofield .44 caliber revolver. This was Jesse James' favorite gun and the pistol that Bob Ford used to kill James with. Bob actually used Jesse's own gun to kill him.

Sidney ~

This is Sidney. Back in 1968, I helped move some boxes across town for the Summit County Historical Society. I knew the director at the time. Because I used my car to move the items, he wanted to pay me but couldn't use the society's money. I told him I didn't want money. I had had my eye on a human skull. I wanted one with an arrow head stuck in it. But all of those were on display and he couldn't get me one. However, in the skulls that they had in storage at the time was one that had jaw damage from a musket ball. It's name was Sidney. But had no last name. It's a skull of a soldier from the war of 1812 that was in his 30s when he died. Research indicated that he had been shot in the jaw by a musket ball and, with his jaw shattered, probably wondered around the battle field until he dropped dead from his wound. It was estimated that he was born around 1787. Sidney has been with me now for 52-years. He even spent a year in my room at Fort Dix. The darkness of the bone shows that Sidney was buried at one time. He was probably dug up in a research program. He's become a friend and rests today in a case in my den. I wouldn't part with him for anything.

Here's Sidney on August 15, 2001. He's always smiling. He's a happy guy.

Mounted Deer Head ~

This is a little interesting. My father was a deer hunter. On one of his deer hunts in 1962, he shot this fellow but it took off running. Dad felt bad because he knew he hit it and he did not want to have an animal suffering. He tracked it but there was no blood trail, just foot prints. Had he actually hit the deer or not? He wondered. He trailed it for close to a mile through the woods and was about to give up when he spotted the dead deer across a foot path. He approached it and found it was dead, but no blood anywhere. After inspection, dad found no bullet wound. Very strange. He carted the deer out of the woods and drove it to Brookville, Pa. to the meat processing place. After telling his story to the butcher, the man looked the deer over and finally explained to dad what had happened. Dad did hit the deer. But the bullet entered it's upper nose just below the eyes and came out the other side. The deer began running. This wound had shattered the bones in the deer's nose and cut off it's airway. A deer does not breath through it's mouth so as it ran, it couldn't breath and finally dropped dead. Because of the wound location, there was no bleeding. Had the bullet not broke the bones, the deer would have survived. But he didn't and to prove that fact, his head is on my den wall.

Ice Cream Set ~

My grandmother was born in 1889. While she was going to high school in Akron, Ohio back in 1905 and 1906, she would stop everyday at an ice cream parlor in Akron. In 1912, (the year the Titanic sank), she was going somewhere and passed the ice cream parlor and found out it was closing down. They were going to sell off it's furnishings. She asked about the table and chairs she had always sat at and the price would be $10.00. She saved for a week and bought the pieces. She had these on her windowed in back porch for many years. When grandma died in the late 1980s, my sister got the table and chairs and stored them in her garage. I had been told the story from grandma back in the 1960s. I had no idea my sister had the set. I had not even thought about them for years. Around 2008, my sister was moving and sold her house and I was helping her. I pulled a sheet off of something in her garage and BAM! There it was. Grandma's old ice cream set. My sister told me to take it. She would have no room for it in her new place. So, now the wood and iron set is at my bar in the basement. I'm really happy to have it after all these years.

Me in my den chillin' ~

Yes, I wear a hat indoors. You never know when a ceiling tile will let go and I only have eight hairs left on my head and I don't want them messed up.

When I met Michaell Landon ~

Back in 1962, the cast of the popular TV show, "Bonanza" came to Akron for the All American Soap Box Derby. Only three actors came, Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker and Michael Landon. Pernell Roberts was unable to attend because of other commitments in California.

I was set on meeting these guys. They were staying at the old Mayflower Hotel on Main Street in downtown. So I set up camp early in the morning on the sidewalk in front of the hotel. I knew they had to come out sooner or later.

As i stood there for about two hours I wondered if they may be using the rear door. After around four hours, a limousine pulled to the curb. Okay, they must be coming out now. But when the door was opened to the car, all three stepped out. They were just getting there.

They were all in regular clothing and, since I was the only fan standing there, they actually walked up to me. I remember they were all pretty tall but Dan Blocker was huge. He had really big hands. But all three had big smiles. We talked for a few minutes about things in general. They had to go in but Michael Landon was thirsty and asked me if there was anywhere close he could get a pop. I said that Scott's was just across the street and they had a lunch counter. He wanted to go over there and I volunteered to go with him. We walked across the street and only two young girls knew who he was. He signed a notebook for one and the other girl's purse. That's all she had with her.

We got into Scott's and everyone knew him and came up. Mike signed around 20 autographs and talked to a few people. We both got Cokes and drank them and then returned to the hotel. I told him I wished I had brought a camera. He said that the next day the cast members had to ride in the parade on Main Street downtown. He told me to be there with a camera and call out to him and he would look my way and smile and wave.

The next day my mother wanted to go with me. She loved Michael Landon. So we took the bus downtown and joined the parade crowd. As Mike's car approached, mom got her camera ready and when he was right in front of us I yelled, "Hay Mike! Over here!" He looked and smiled and waved then someone on the other side of the street yelled and he turned to them and waved. When we got the picture back from the developers, we found that mom had been a little late getting the snapshot. We got the back of Michael Landon's head. But, at least, we shared a couple of Cokes at Scott's. It had been a great day. It's funny, after that I watched Bonanza and got a funny feeling every time I watched Michael Landon go into the saloon and have a drink. I would think to myself, "Been there, done that!"

This was the old camera that mom used to get the picture of Michael Landow.

Yes! It's on a shelf in my den.

More of My Army Days ~

In our Company Area this was our weapon's room. It was stocked full with M-16 rifles and ammo boxes. This was in late 1972 at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

And yes! I got me one.

My Stagecoach ~

While growing up I was a big western fan. I loved everything cowboy. My biggest interests other than the guns were the old towns and the stagecoaches. Back in the early 1960s, a new minister came to our church. As always, dad got to be really good friends with the minister. His name was Rev. St. Clare. He was also a western fan. So he and I got along really good even though I was around 12-years old at the time. One thing that Rev. St. Clare had that I admired was a large scale stagecoach model over his fireplace. I would look over every detail close up. I had always thought of this model. Years later, in the late 1970s. I found a large scale model kit and built it. Then I made a showcase for it and now it sits on top of one of my display cases in my...you guessed it, den! Every time I see it, I think back to Rev. St. Clare. He was the best minister we ever had. A little more about him will follow later on.

Old Medicine Bottles ~

In one of the display cases in my den is my collection of old medicine bottles and a few medical instruments.

Most of these bottles date back to around the Civil War. And the cool thing is the medicine is still in them. Some are pills and others are liquid. It's really strange to me that corks would last this long and preserve the contents for well over 150 years.

I have a pill crusher and a drug store bowl and other medical items from the 1800s. The little bottle of white stuff is dated to around 1880. I won't tell you what's in it.

The thermomitor dates to the 1870s also and was inserted into the...ah, well, let's just say that while your temp. was being taken, you were not able to sit down.

1870s embalming serine used by undertakers.

A Few More Guns ~

My old .44 caliber Walker Colt revolver. One of the heaviest handguns I have ever held.

Rifles top to bottom: My John Wayne .44-Magnum again. My Henry rifle and my Winchester Lever action 30.30. This gun dates to 1892 and is the last of the octagon barrel. It really shoots nice.

Pistols top to bottom: My ax flintlock. Used in medevil times in England, mostly at the castles by guards, this is a black powder flintlock long pistol that, once you fired the single shot, it had a battle ax attached to start swinging at the enemy's heads. The flintlock in the middle is a .65 caliber flintlock used mostly by pirates. It dates to around 1780/1790. The stock and brass fittings is the only original parts. The barrel and lock system is newer. The bottom pistol is a .44 caliber flintlock and I think that, possibly, it was a set of two dueling pistols at one time. It's highly carved stock and barrel looks like an old dueling pistol.

Me shooting my .22 bolt action behind our house in Cook Forest back in 1958 ~

I was 7-years old in this picture.

Here I am in 1962 shooting my Winchester lever action 25.20 at our house in Cook Forest. This was my favorite gun. Higher power than a .22 but light enough not to kick very much. I was 11-years old here.

More On Guns ~

I have shot and owned guns my entire life. I do not hunt but have always enjoyed target shooting. My dad was a deer hunter and I have no problem with hunters. I just never cared to do it.

My main interest has always been antique firearms. I collect them as was said before. Back in the late 1970s, I had a good friend by the name of Don Goodwin. I'm hoping Don may see this and drop me an e-mail. It would be great to hear from him.

Back on July 14, 1979, My brother-in-law and I went to Don's farm in Edenburg, Ohio to do some black powder shooting. Here are some of the pictures from that day.

We got there in my old 1965 Chevy Suburban panel truck. This was a great old truck that I drove for over 12-years. It had a factory automatic transmission and a 292 6-cylinder engine. In this picture, we were getting the guns ready.

Don's farm was really nice. There were several outbuildings and a large wooded area with a small creek running through it.

This was me shooting my Civil War era .44 caliber black powder revolver.

This was Don trying out my revolver.

My .44 revolver.

My brother-in-law took a few shots as well.

I took a few more shots.

Don putting the firing cap on the Kentucky rifle.

Don had never fired black powder before. But he always liked a big boom and kick so he really enjoyed these guns.

After firing the revolver for awhile, we switched over to my Kentucky Long Rifle. I had made this gun myself and liked to load it up heavy. It is a .44 caliber also. I used a powder loader to measure out the black powder that would go down the barrel. You were only supposed to fill the loader once for each shot. However, we all liked the extra kick and big explosion. So I would fill the loader six times and dump that amount of powder into the gun. Then ram a ball down. When the gun went off, it was a hell of a kick and BOOM! Don loved it.

Don shooting the rifle with six loads of powder.

This is the rifle we shot that day. I built both this rifle and the Kentucky pistol. The rifle is a .44 caliber and the pistol is a .50 caliber.

This is the brass loader that we used. This I would fill six times for the rifle.

After awhile with the rifle, Don went back to the pistol. He said there weas a tree that he didn't get along with and now it was time to do something about it.

He shot the tree three times but it didn't even faze it. If that tree is still there today, those three lead balls must still be in it.

This is my little black powder, "Snake Eyes" derringer. It a double barrel with a revolving firing pin. It was used mostly by gamblers. It is .32 caliber and the flat top barrel could be placed up under the top of the gambling table if your partner was cheating. This was another gun that I built.

Don shooting the Snake-Eyes derringer.

We had a great time that day.

A couple of funny things about the times at Don's farm.

On the trip shown above, we had been shooting for most of the day using several different guns. Don wanted to shoot the Kentucky rifle again and found it laying on the picnic table. Figuring it to be unloaded, he proceeded to fill the barrel with the standard six loads of powder. Then he packed a ball . But I had already loaded it and then was called to the panel truck for a break and a soda.

So, unknown to Don, he was going to fire this gun off with twelve powder loads and two balls. I guess never shooting these guns before, he did not understand why the ramrod didn't go as far down the barrel.

Anyway, when he took the shot, the gun hit him in the face and he dropped it on the ground. The kick was horrendous and so was the explosion. Don thought he had broke his nose. But it was only cut. The gun itself was unhurt. I swear, that rifle could take anything.

On the next trip to Don's farm, I took some other guns along. Two were shotguns. One a 12-gauge and the other a 10-gauge. Don shot both but really liked the 12-gauge. I had brought along a box of clay skeets so Don shot off a whole box of 12-gauge shells all by himself. The next day his right shoulder was all black and blue and very painful. It took almost a week to clear up. But he still wanted to shoot that gun some more.

The Famous Stairs of L.A. ~

Los Angeles, California has a lot of tourists spots and attractions. One of these is an old cement staircase. Most people who pass by today has no idea how important this set of stairs is.

Back in the 1930s, Hollywood used these stairs for a number of film productions. Two of the films were shorts. One by the 3-Stooges delivering ice to a home and another by Laurel & Hardy delivering a piano.

The really cool thing is that these stairs still exist today.

The 3-Stooges were ice men when they came across the staircase.

In the film, Cury had fallen asleep while using a block of ice for a pillow.

Laurel & Hardy had to deliver a piano up these stairs.

Here's Those Famed Stairs Today ~

When passing here today, tourists can stand where two of America's greatest comedy teams once stood.

Look Inside John Wayne's House in California ~

CELEBRITY STYLE

John Wayne's house in Newport Beach, California—though it occupies a splendid setting at the water's edge facing Balboa Island—is simple and unpretentious

By Sam Burchell

Photography by Fritz Taggart

All of the following photos were taken in the 1970s while John Wayne was living there.

Simple and unpretentious, there was nothing about Wayne’s house to suggest that it was the private world of a superstar and an American legend. A gilt-bronze Buddha stood before a stone fireplace wall amid contemporary paintings in the living room. On the Chinese table, a broncobuster and pony express rider by Harry Jackson added western elements.

The design of Wayne’s house embodied his direct and personal style. In the dining room, a Baccarat chandelier was reflected in the mirrored wall above a Nepalese deity.

A hallway lined with photographs, including one at lower left with Fay Wray as mascot for a charity football team of Hollywood’s leading men in the 1930s.

Wayne liked to call his bayside view, seen here from the master bedroom, “not a scene, but a ‘moving picture.’”

Wayne’s “50 Years of Hard Work Wall” displayed honors and plaques from his career; the Oscar is for Best Actor, which Wayne won in 1969 for his work in True Grit.

Duke sits at the desk in his den.

Our Basement Door ~

This is my wife's windmill. Also, my wife had the basement door barred so I can't escape.

Living "Off the Grid" ~

Why is it that, almost every time you see someone living on an off-the-grid homestead, it's a junkyard? Why can't "off-the-grid" folks clean their yards?

Think About This One ~

The Bones Family ~

The Bones' are a typical American family with some bad habits. Mr. Bones smokes a lot. But it does not affect his lungs. He hasn't got any.

I got these little skeletons years ago but couldn't do very much with them as they were solid and couldn't be posed. So we used them for Halloween decorations for a few years.

Then awhile back, I decided to made the Bones Family and had to saw the joints in their legs and arms so I could pose them. This sounds easy enough, but it really wasn't. Once I cut the legs and arms apart, every time I glued them, they would fall apart before the glue could dry. But after several days of propping the glued pieces in place while drying, it finally worked.

I then built the coffin and the bench from balsa wood. The hats and cane are from dollhouse items that I had and Beulah's hair is actually a cotton ball that I stretched out.

Their a fine looking family.

He sits on his coffin waiting to use it.

Mr. Bones is a two pack a day smoker.

Once a week, Mr. Bones puts on his best hat and takes his family that consists of his wife Beulah Bones and his adult son, Bobby Bones and they take the bus downtown. They just like to get out of the mausoleum once in awhile.

Beulah takes her purse and Mr. Bones has his favorite cane.

Bobby Bones wears the hat that Theodore Roosevelt gave him when he did some work for the former president.

Beulah likes to go to town once a week to get her hair done.

When Beulah gets her hair done, Mr. Bones thinks she's sexy...in a boney kind of way.

The Covid Caper ~

When the Coronavirus broke out and we had to start wearing masks, I thought it would be cool as I could now rob a bank. But with the Covid-19 I wanted to be safe so I had the perfect plan. I called the bank and told them that this was a robbery and I wanted them to give me all the money. I told them to put the money in bags and leave it outside the door. But when I got there, there was no bags. I couldn't go in because the door was locked. So I went home. I swear, some people simply can not follow instructions.

Always wanting to be different, I found this face mask at the Dollar Tree store. I like it because I can smoke with it on as the dinosaurs mouth opens. Plus it brings out my manliness.

Appliance Flat Dolly ~

For a long time I have needed a flat dolly but, for some strange reason, I never got one. Probably because I am lazy. Anyway, I needed one recently and decided to make one. I have a bunch of old, old kitchen cabinet doors made from oak. So I used one for the base and attached heavy duty casters to it. This thing is so strong that I can move a refrigerator with it. So you can make stuff to use from old junk around the house.

Me and My Model Cars ~

I collect scale model cars and trucks in 1:24th and 1:16th scale. When I collect something, I really like to get "into" the hobby and the cars as these following photos show.

With my 1948 Ford pickup truck.

Sitting in my 1966 Cadillac hearse.

Me in a bloody bullet riddled gangster death car. It's a 1934 Ford sedan.

The seat and door were all sticky.

Posing with Bigfoot.

And here I am with the Ghostbuster's hearse.

My Video Closet ~

Since 1980, I have collected video tapes and, at one time had a large room in the basement dedicated to them. The room was packed with over 4,000 video tapes. Once we turned to DVDs, I bought a machine that transfered video tapes to DVDs. I copied all the videos over to DVDs. With the discs, I could store them in a much smaller area. This was nice because I had a large closet in the living room that I installed shelving in and put the DVDs in there. Now I don't have to go down the basement for a movie or TV show. There are right there in the living room.

In this closet, there are over 4,000 movies, 24,000 TV show episodes and over 3,000 documentaries and concerts, all on DVDs.

My HO Scale Model Train Layout ~

For a few year back in 1999 and before, I owned a gift and hobby store at Quaker Square Mall in downtown Akron, Ohio. I had a large inventory of model trains in all gauges. I sold new and vintage train and accessories. I had this scale model HO train layout in the shop and it ran for the 12-hours everyday that I was open.

This entire layout was made on an old door. It measured around 3 1/2 feet by 7 feet. These photos were taken in 1999 using a Polariod 10-second camera. These cameras didn't take the best pictures and they were lousy with close-ups.

There was a complete downtown area plus the train yards.

I used to get so many positive remarks about the layout.

The kids loved it. Train layouts are getting fewer as young people are not so interested in model building these days. So young kids don't get a chance to actually see a real train layout too often anymore.

Some parents asked me if it would be okay if their young ones would stay at my store while they shopped at the ladies stores for awhile as the kids were so thrilled to watch the trains run.

I never had problems with the kids. They would just stand around and watch the trains on their never-ending journey around the little table.

1948 Tucker Torpedo in Akron, Ohio ~

Back around 1980, I attended the Father's Day car show at Stan Hywet Hall just about every year. One of the cars that showed up each year was a 1948 Tucker Torpedo in it's original waltz blue color. The owner lived in Bath Township, not far from Stan Hywet and would drive the car to the showing each year. He was an avid Tucker collector.

These photos I took one year when the car was there. It was the only vehicle displayed with it's own white plastic chain barrier around it.

This car was shipped to California for the filming of the movie, Tucker and his Car, starring Jeff Bridges. During the filming of one scene in the movie, the Tucker's one front fender was damaged during an accident on wet payment. The production company had to pay for the repairs. This car was in absolute mint condition.

1967. Polsky's Department Store Soap Box Dirby Car ~

Me sitting in the car with my band members standing around it.

In the summer of 1967, I was in a band called The Plaque, This was my first band out of three. My second band was The Hearsemen. I had named that band The Plaque also but then changed the name. Anyway, back in that summer I was given an old Soap Box Derby car from a friend of mine who had raced it at the derby one year in the early 1960s. I don't think he won but that wasn't the point. He raced and that was.

The car was in his garage and his dad wanted it gone to make some room in there so he gave the car to me. It sat in my garage for a few months and, one day we pulled it out to get a picture of the band with the car.

Later that year, to have something to do, my cousin and I took the car down to Uhler Hill which was an old brick paved street in Akron, Ohio that was about 25 blocks long and straight down hill. At each intersection, it leveled out and then dropped downhill again. My cousin and I had wanted to find out how fast this little car would go down that hill. At the bottom the street curves sharply to the left. For some strange reason, we never thought about the intersections between each block going down. Probably because we were stupid. We were around 15 years old then.

I got in the car and my cousin gave me a push at the top of the hill and off I went. This derby car was made out of thin plywood and paper machey. (However you spell it). Needless to say, it was a rough ride on the paving bricks and the speed got to somewhere around 30-40 MPH. At around 50-MPH I was getting close to the bottom of the hill where it curves and I started to push on the brake pedal. The brake was simply a wooden pedal connected with a steel cable to a block of wood in the rear and the brake pad was an old shoe heel that was nailed onto the block of wood. As soon as the heel hit the bricks at that speed, it was ripped off. Now there were NO brakes at all. So when I started around the curve, I simply rubbed the curb until I slowed enough to run off into the grass and finally stopped. That was a hell of a ride for sure. Had the Soap Box Derby been held on Uhler Hill, I probably would have won. As far as all the intersections, I was so lucky that no cars were coming out of the side streets. The only car I saw was a guy driving up the hill. I can only imagine what he thought when he say this idiot speeding down the hill past him in a Soap Box Derby car. Geez! What we did when we were young and dumb.

Me racing down a friend's driveway in my Soap Box Derby car.

A closer look. I wished I still had that thing. It would be worth a small fortune today.

Our son's Collection ~

Our son, who is now in his 40s, got his collecting interests from me. He collects antique and vintage toys and has made a nice business out of it over the internet. These next two pictures shows his basement at his house. This is his Toy Room.

He has thousands of items and it has gotten so much that the Toy Room can not hold it all. His living room and dinning room are full and so is the stair hallway. Even his kitchen is covered with the stuff. Actually, the bathroom is the only room in his house with no toys. But you never know ~

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

To see more of my junk, click this link ~

Watermark theme. Powered by Blogger.