WWII pilots packed footlocker for sale on EBay

[Lynn Allen]

That is a nice auction, I bet it goes for over 3K...

[P51Mstg]

Went for $2050..... I'm sure Lynn knows where it went... I understand that the buyer didn't want to see it all get broken up.... I'll bet money that it all ends up in a museum intact....

Mark H

[lmritger]

Actually, I don't... I did drop the seller a line asking if it might be possible to get scans of some of the docs, but she politely demurred, saying it wouldn't be fair to the bidders. I didn't press it.

2K is a lot of coin, but that's an amazing, AMAZING collection... basically a man's life in a box, remaining intact for 68 years after his death in combat, essentially untouched since it was packed up by his fellow squadronmates after his loss. That's astounding.

Cheers,

Lynn

[Lynn Allen]

Actually, I don't... I did drop the seller a line asking if it might be possible to get scans of some of the docs, but she politely demurred, saying it wouldn't be fair to the bidders. I didn't press it.

2K is a lot of coin, but that's an amazing, AMAZING collection... basically a man's life in a box, remaining intact for 68 years after his death in combat, essentially untouched since it was packed up by his fellow squadronmates after his loss. That's astounding.

Cheers,

Lynn

The other Lynn...

[p51]

You used to find these 'vet on a box' groupings all the time. I've bought and sold several over the years. The last one was a 101st AB footlocker filled with stuff. I paid a family dumping on the curb as garbage about twenty bucks and wound up selling it for well into 4-figures...

The sad comment is that we put monetary worth before the historical value.

No, you WANT there to be a cash value, and a high one at that. Otherwise, it goes to a landfill like so many such footlockers in years past when nobody thought anything WW2 US had any value.
Many people don't know that US stuff carried very little value to collectors until just recently. US stuff was what you collected when you couldn't afford German stuff, and everyone looked down upon US WW2 collectors as the stuff used to be very common up until the 90s.

[Cherrybomber13]

Many people don't know that US stuff carried very little value to collectors until just recently. US stuff was what you collected when you couldn't afford German stuff, and everyone looked down upon US WW2 collectors as the stuff used to be very common up until the 90s.

I have to agree with you on that one...

[The Inspector]

Went for $2050..... I'm sure Lynn knows where it went... I understand that the buyer didn't want to see it all get broken up.... I'll bet money that it all ends up in a museum intact....

Mark H

And if it gets donated to a museum, there's a better than even chance in a few years or after a change of command,it gets tossed into a dumpster and off to the landfill, seen it happen more than once.

[p51]

And if it gets donated to a museum, there's a better than even chance in a few years or after a change of command,it gets tossed into a dumpster and off to the landfill, seen it happen more than once.

Me, too. I recently found an amazing amount of stuff in the dumpster of a museum once, really amazing WW2 paperwork and the like. Lots of WW2 weapons TMs and stuff like that. It was worth hundreds of bucks, but the museum thought it worthless paper and they laughed when I asked if I could reach in there and grab it. Thank goodness I found it right before it started raining. It's the only dumpster dive I ever did.

[Wildchild]

And if it gets donated to a museum, there's a better than even chance in a few years or after a change of command,it gets tossed into a dumpster and off to the landfill, seen it happen more than once.

Me, too. I recently found an amazing amount of stuff in the dumpster of a museum once, really amazing WW2 paperwork and the like. Lots of WW2 weapons TMs and stuff like that. It was worth hundreds of bucks, but the museum thought it worthless paper and they laughed when I asked if I could reach in there and grab it. Thank goodness I found it right before it started raining. It's the only dumpster dive I ever did.

500$ Dumpster Dive?

[P51Mstg]

With me it can get LOANED to a MUSEUM.... Donations are pretty much out of the question for a number of reasons (you mentioned one)....

Mark H

[p51]

500$ Dumpster Dive?

More like about 700, from what I later sold and the value of the best stuff I kept. I wasn't a dive as such, more like leaning way into it while standing outside.
All the while, the museum people were laughing at me for what one person called, "rummaging through the trash just for some old manuals that aren't of any value to anyone"...
Yeah, and people like that are in charge of managing historical items at museums all over the place. And people wonder why I'm adamant that I'll never donate anything to a museum.

[lmritger]

500$ Dumpster Dive?

More like about 700, from what I later sold and the value of the best stuff I kept. I wasn't a dive as such, more like leaning way into it while standing outside.
All the while, the museum people were laughing at me for what one person called, "rummaging through the trash just for some old manuals that aren't of any value to anyone"...
Yeah, and people like that are in charge of managing historical items at museums all over the place. And people wonder why I'm adamant that I'll never donate anything to a museum.

You definitely did the right thing. And as noble as we'd all like to think museums are, they cost money to run, and increasingly often, outsiders with business experience but zero knowledge (and worse, zero INTEREST!) of history and conservation techniques are being brought in with an eye more on the bottom line than on the messages being conveyed by the museum and it's collection. In other instances, when museum leadership changes, sometimes there is a shake-up and a re-evaluation of the museum's mission and message... and all too frequently, it turns into a complete sh|+show through some misguided, top-down effort from the new administration to "leave their mark" on the organization. Witness the furor which erupted at the NASM with the Enola Gay display back in the 90s, or the USAFM boss having their ultra-rare Bf 109G-10 (an actual II./JG 52 survivor) repainted as a JG 300 aircraft as it was "more representative of the opponents of the 8th AF", or the recent fracas up at the EAA Museum; I'm sure there are others which I'm either forgetting or haven't heard about.

In an environment like that, who can blame you for not wanting to donate outright? Who would? I know I wouldn't.

Lynn

[Scott Rose]

Speaking of manuals. We have a project that has been on the back burner for years (and definitely needs a cosmetic overhaul) called the Military Technical Manual Online Library Initiative. It's been pretty stagnant since 2006 but if I can get some new submissions then I will rehab it and get it more active. I have a couple of dozen manuals waiting to be scanned but haven't had the time. If you have a manual and a scanner how about preserving some history and scanning it in. These files will be free of course as is all the information on the site.

[carlisle1926]

With me it can get LOANED to a MUSEUM.... Donations are pretty much out of the question for a number of reasons (you mentioned one)....

Mark H

That is what I'm hoping to do with this huge box full of photos, letters, and other amazing tid bits of history that I have on Tom Bullington and Rufus Lackland. Both of these men lost their lives in the war and I want to make sure the collection stays complete. I'm still trying to collect some more photos from the guy that I got the box from. He has found even more! I'm going so far as to make a really neat display cabinet out of old plane parts so that when I find a museum to loan it to, it will be a turn key display.
I'm only interested in preservation of the items that I have, but I have to agree with those that say that this stuff having an increasing dollar value might help more artifacts stay out of the dumpsters.

[tinbender2]

Speaking of manuals. We have a project that has been on the back burner for years (and definitely needs a cosmetic overhaul) called the Military Technical Manual Online Library Initiative. It's been pretty stagnant since 2006 but if I can get some new submissions then I will rehab it and get it more active. I have a couple of dozen manuals waiting to be scanned but haven't had the time. If you have a manual and a scanner how about preserving some history and scanning it in. These files will be free of course as is all the information on the site.

Would it be considered heresy, if I separated the pages from the spine on WW2 aircraft identification manuals, to scan the pages?