Chapter 183
6/13/2008
Ch 183 Collectors? Don't collect too much stuff
Al Rosenblum's (far left) Garage June 2008
[owned Granny's Kitchen- made plenty of dough selling donuts to Walmarts]
What is it about collectors? SAM sponsored a field trip with 24 volunteers for a thoroughly enjoyable outing to Alan Rosenblum and George Staley’s car collections in Utica and Norwich.
What I came away with, beyond being overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the collections of hundreds of beautifully care for and restored vehicles, is the wonderment of why? These people are so intense in this passion. I mean, I’ve always been a “car-guy” but even if I all of a sudden won the lottery, I seriously doubt I’d have the where-with-all to go out and assemble my own particular collection.
Sure, I’d first buy a great modern Ferrari- I don’t even know which one. It’d probably take me a year to decide. Then maybe a Porsche, throw in a Viper for good measure and maybe the odd AC Shelby Cobra, but I think I’d run out of ambition to go much further.
George Staley was very impressive. We didn’t meet him at the Norwich Museum but I read his bio afterward. I’ve driven through his Staley Dairy farm home of DeRuyter numerous times as it is a point along the way from Albany to my old home in Cortland. What I hadn’t realized was that he began as a carburetor mechanic. He trained at Wendover Air Field (as Dad had) and worked on the Enola Gay’s B-29 fuel system to ensure her engines wouldn’t quit on the bombing run over Hiroshima that ended World War II. [see the photos he took at the Smithsonian] It was apparently Georges successful post war business of aircraft engine maintenance that both fueled his passion for mechanics as well as provided the income necessary to achieve the largest Franklin (Syracuse made) collection in the world.
It would be very difficult to describe the beauty of these cars without boring you with various numerical details. When you look at a car, you might say, “It speaks for itself”. But, there is so much more behind it. How did it come to be in the first instance? How did it regain it’s life and what drives a man to expend such an effort to accomplish that goal?