America made should it stay in the usa

[dnc1]

It's a big world out there and someone is collecting/preserving/saving everything somewhere. Back in the 1800s all the early millionaires were sending buyers all over the world to buy art, antique furniture etc. and shipping it back to the trophy homes. Much of that art might not have survived WWI and WWII if it had stayed in Europe.
On a personal note a few years back I was looking up my great uncle who who served in the 28th Signal Corp, 4th Infantry Division in France and was gassed in 1918. Imagine my surprise when his uniform turns up in a collection on a Militaria Forum. I had grown up hearing stories about Uncle Roy in Cheyenne Wyoming but never got to meet him. But now I'm friends with the owner of his uniform, a biology professor in Amsterdam, Netherlands who collects American WW1 Uniforms form the 4th Division. Uncle Roys uniform is safe and didn't end up in a landfill somewhere. I was able to learn a lot more about my family history.
View attachment 469257

And my son a few years ago dressed for Halloween in WW1 equipment I've rescued over the years from going to a landfill. Work a few years (or 26 in my case) at a transfer station or landfill and you'll get a new perspective on preservation and stuff, the history of lives and culture. Just last week a player piano and 150 rolls from the 1910s and 1920s were dumped. And San Francisco is only a 170 year old city. All my vintage bikes are rescued. I've lost track of all the museums I've donated historic items to, including letters from Winston Churchill, Neville Chamberlain and Albert Einstein from the 1920-1940s. They were written to the president of Columbia University, Nicholas Murry Butler.Who knows how they ended up at a dump in San Francisco???
View attachment 469258

Best to all,
Gary

My middle name is Neville, and my surname is Chamberlain. The middle name came as the choice of my paternal grandfather, I think we were distantly related.
Amazing what people will throw away!

 

[bulldog1935]

Is that Rochester anything to do with the bicycle company of the same name?

same city, but looks like two different company names

you might like this - even though I have a few '30s Pfluegers, older Shakespeares and the odd Rochester in my collection, what I mostly collect (and fish) are between-the-wars Redditch fly reels made JW Young & Sons
http://bulldog1935.u.yuku.com/
I have a hobby business making some of these old reels work in left-hand wind.

 

[Joe Buffardi]

Neat!

 

[2jakes]

Jake, if you had a Meek 44, it's $5000+/-
the Trutta copy for about $400 is a pretty good deal.

Found some interesting information here:

O.R.C.A. online
From 2008:
************************************************************
"...there are three versions of the Meek 44.

1st Model: flat back, dog leg handle (6 - 7K)

2nd Model: flat back, straight handle (5 - 6K)

3rd Model: Raised back (4 -5K)

Prices depending on condition with no issues.”
***********************************************************

Btw:
I don’t know much on the subject except for this
avatar which looks familiar on that site.

 

[2jakes]

It's a big world out there and someone is collecting/preserving/saving everything somewhere. Back in the 1800s all the early millionaires were sending buyers all over the world to buy art, antique furniture etc. and shipping it back to the trophy homes. Much of that art might not have survived WWI and WWII if it had stayed in Europe.
On a personal note a few years back I was looking up my great uncle who who served in the 28th Signal Corp, 4th Infantry Division in France and was gassed in 1918. Imagine my surprise when his uniform turns up in a collection on a Militaria Forum. I had grown up hearing stories about Uncle Roy in Cheyenne Wyoming but never got to meet him. But now I'm friends with the owner of his uniform, a biology professor in Amsterdam, Netherlands who collects American WW1 Uniforms form the 4th Division. Uncle Roys uniform is safe and didn't end up in a landfill somewhere. I was able to learn a lot more about my family history.
View attachment 469257

And my son a few years ago dressed for Halloween in WW1 equipment I've rescued over the years from going to a landfill. Work a few years (or 26 in my case) at a transfer station or landfill and you'll get a new perspective on preservation and stuff, the history of lives and culture. Just last week a player piano and 150 rolls from the 1910s and 1920s were dumped. And San Francisco is only a 170 year old city. All my vintage bikes are rescued. I've lost track of all the museums I've donated historic items to, including letters from Winston Churchill, Neville Chamberlain and Albert Einstein from the 1920-1940s. They were written to the president of Columbia University, Nicholas Murry Butler.Who knows how they ended up at a dump in San Francisco???
View attachment 469258

Best to all,
Gary

Thoroughly enjoyed reading your post.
Also Buffardi and bulldog 1935.

Hope there’s more from all of you guys!

Thanks!

 

[bulldog1935]

I've written a couple of articles for ORCA publication, but quit posting on their forum when they began requiring sign off with surnames.
Here's one of two forums where I'm a hero - check out my sticky essays.
http://fiberglassflyrodders.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=4
I had a growing collection and thriving hobby business when several of these allied forums were on yuku:
http://bulldog1935.u.yuku.com/

 

[bobcycles]

Ever since the end of WW2, Japan has had an ongoing fascination with all things American.
The first dose was the military wear that occupying US soldiers wore in post-WW2 Japan.
I first became aware when I signed up to a forum that caters to vintage US leather jackets.

Likewise after the war, American jeans began to be imported and tailored for Japanese
customers.
In the 60s, Japanese companies bought the vintage looms that Levis’s, Wrangler, and
other American companies sold off. The Levi plant where I grew up, shut down
and moved out of the USA.
There’s something about American jeans with the inside labels that read “Made In Mexico”
or some other foreign place. Like riding a repo bicycle!

Love the Japanese and their fascination with our culture and appreciation for it.

I actually quit bicycle collecting in the early 80's ....sold off everything to a well known old school local collector..(you would laugh at how cheap in 83' my small collections went for!)
and then went off the deep end with Mid Century moderne furniture, vintage clothes, appliances, kitch and the like...mostly 30's-50's products...some 60s
The Japanese would gobble that stuff up and loved it....especially vintage Hawaiin shirts!
They rule!
In fact....they used to put vintage AMERICAN buyers to shame with a stronger passion for "our stuff" and deeper pockets.
I've also sold restored Ballooners to museums and private collectors in Japan over the years.

 

[IngoMike]

 

[bulldog1935]

when it comes to bikes, though, the Japanese have a particular soft spot for the French Constructeurs.
http://grandbois.jp/gallery/

 

[MaxGlide]

Speaking for the Vancouver, Canada contingent, we see nothing wrong with your lovely bikes cruising the streets and bikeways of our lovely city. See you all at Iron Ranch in September.... MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!