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Thread Number: 36712
I Have Some automaticwasher.org History To Share |
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Post# 546300 9/28/2011 at 09:32 (4,601 days old) by Unimatic1140  (Minneapolis) |
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Questions have been brought up more than once regarding the history of automaticwasher.org and its membership.
The true history starts with a People Magazine story about Chuck (Laundromat here on aw) back around 1980. We will have to record that history from the guys who know more about that. At some point I would like to make a special page on the history of the club and the website. So anyways, lets step back all the way to 1997. The very first wash-in occurred in Boston in July of '97, I attended that first wash-in and talk of the internet was non existant for something like this, at least as of yet. There were probably 8 or so of us there, we thought it was a huge gathering, LOL. At that point I had recently discovered the Aberdeen Farm. I had invited everyone to come to Minneapolis and take a drive to South Dakota to experience this wonderland of vintage appliances on the prarie. We planned for the trip three months later. As the guys arrived we had our first Minneapolis Wash-in that evening and then got up at 6am and made the 6 hour trek west. Robert (syndets2000) had brought his HUGE and now vintage VHS-Camcorder and filmed the entire event. A big thank you goes out to Robert as now 14 years later we can relive this wonderful experience and have a record of our history. I have two videos to share. I have better equipment and software now and was able to digitize these VHS video into as clear as possible recording. YouTube has also come along ways in allowing us to share such large video files. The first video is of the wash in and this is ready to go. I'm still working on the farm video, which hopefully will be done soon. This first video is of the evening wash-in before our early morning trip to the Farm. I was living with my now x-partner at that time. I had about 14 or so machines in my collection. You'll see many of my washers running, you'll hear some playful ribbing (it was all in good fun) and the excitement of the prospect of going to the farm. I was able to digitize the video in high definition. On YouTube you can set the video quality by selecting the setting as shown in the image below. For those with high speed broadband you can select 720p or 1080p. At 1080p you can full screen the video and it is still quite clear! CLICK HERE TO GO TO Unimatic1140's LINK 
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| Post# 546301 , Reply# 1 9/28/2011 at 09:35 (4,601 days old) by macboy91si (Frankfort, KY) | ||
Fascinating | ||
| Post# 546303 , Reply# 2 9/28/2011 at 09:39 (4,601 days old) by A440 () | ||
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This was so much fun Robert! I watched it last night. Amazing how your collection has grown over the years! Thanks for posting this! Brent | ||
| Post# 546305 , Reply# 3 9/28/2011 at 09:50 (4,601 days old) by amyswasher () | ||
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This is neat history It great to see the evolution of AW.org. Thanks Robert!!! | ||
| Post# 546306 , Reply# 4 9/28/2011 at 09:50 (4,601 days old) by thelaundrylab (Hampshire UK) | ||
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Post# 546324 , Reply# 5 9/28/2011 at 11:47 (4,600 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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Awesome
video Robert!! I see some familiar machines and familiar faces too. Great document for the history of this club.
Hass, American washers still are much bigger than European machines. Actually I think some of the modern ones are even bigger than the classics. I think a trip to the other side of the pond is in order! lol | ||
| Post# 546328 , Reply# 6 9/28/2011 at 12:04 (4,600 days old) by thelaundrylab (Hampshire UK) | ||
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Hehe Louis, reading back my message, I did sound pretty blond, so excuse the last message I wrote lol. Would love to go to the other side of the pond. Maybe one day, once we've all got to know each other properly, still trying to figure out who is who. Plus covering the expenses it's a bit poor at the moment, so in the mean time i'll have to keep dreaming until that day comes :) lol
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Post# 546330 , Reply# 7 9/28/2011 at 12:18 (4,600 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O ) |
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Post# 546332 , Reply# 8 9/28/2011 at 12:32 (4,600 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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Hass | ||
| Post# 546339 , Reply# 9 9/28/2011 at 13:51 (4,600 days old) by mrb627 (Buford, GA) | ||
Wow! | ||
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Post# 546345 , Reply# 11 9/28/2011 at 14:37 (4,600 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis) |
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Can't get over how everyone looks so young. I'll admit up only to 24 lol. :-) Frigidaire ***heart*** Hoover
The Aberdeen Farm Video is going up to YouTube now, it's only 2.5gb lol. Its over an hour long. It should be ready hopefully tonight! Stay tuned. | ||
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Post# 546351 , Reply# 13 9/28/2011 at 15:35 (4,600 days old) by ricky5050 (Durham Britain) |
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Thanks!
I watched your great video and it's was great to see where it all started, I joined about 2002 looking for advice on my new purchase (bendix lt) as I was renovating my first home, Automatic washer .org has become a website I visit daily, a source of endless information and enjoyment and a place where I have met several friends (although a lot not yet in the flesh!) its also a place where enjoying my hobby has felt perfectly normal and enjoyable ( it's like coming "out" again ! )
Thank you for all your hard work, I think it was Greg nunn ?? That sent my first help on my machine ( appologies if if was someone else but thank you anyway who ever you were ) Ps ( block your ears Fred), Robert you were very cute then and even more so now !!! Well done and thank you your work is appreciated and I know you may be a wee bit down now so just to let you know you're helping a great deal of people all over the world by bringing like minded people together with their love of old appliances . Here's to another 14 years!!! Love peace happiness Richard (ricky5050) | ||
| Post# 546354 , Reply# 14 9/28/2011 at 15:43 (4,600 days old) by macboy91si (Frankfort, KY) | ||
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The Early Days
I couldn't imagine what things would have been like for me if I had known about such a group 10-12 years ago. I like the VHS video, so cool to see things so early on. We look back now from a point of view of an established club, but back then nobody knew what it would become and what would happen, and I think the camera captures that freshness of things. I love old home movies for that reason, it's even more cool that it's AW.org's start essentially. I am REALLY looking forward to the Aberdeen video. I feel like I know a lot of these people when I watch and luckily I've had the real pleasure of meeting people through this site, which I really enjoy.
-Tim | ||
| Post# 546362 , Reply# 16 9/28/2011 at 17:26 (4,600 days old) by washernoob () | ||
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And just think... Fred was a 15 maybe 16 years old. :) Wish I had been into collecting longer! Would have joined this sight and vacuumland long before! | ||
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Post# 546372 , Reply# 17 9/28/2011 at 18:49 (4,600 days old) by kimball455 (Cape May, NJ) |
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| Post# 546381 , Reply# 18 9/28/2011 at 19:41 (4,600 days old) by whirlcool (Just North Of Houston, Texas) | ||
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I can't tell you how much money I have saved myself and others from what I have learned from the users of this website. Plus it is quite entertaining at times too. Everyone is so helpful! | ||
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Post# 546383 , Reply# 19 9/28/2011 at 19:50 (4,600 days old) by joelippard (Hickory) |
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Post# 546389 , Reply# 21 9/28/2011 at 20:30 (4,600 days old) by Jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers) |
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Wow | ||
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Post# 546399 , Reply# 22 9/28/2011 at 21:40 (4,600 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis) |
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Our Trek to the Aberdeen Farm...
Thank you so much everyone for your kind comments. I'm glad you are all enjoying these.
I believe I also set up a video camera during the 2001 convention and just let it roll during the start of the Convention. I'll have to see if I can find that VHS video as well. And the Farm Video is now ready, it took six hours to get it up to YouTube, but it's all there now. Enjoy... CLICK HERE TO GO TO Unimatic1140's LINK | ||
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Post# 546401 , Reply# 23 9/28/2011 at 21:46 (4,600 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie) |
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| Post# 546407 , Reply# 24 9/28/2011 at 23:03 (4,600 days old) by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
Great video! Must be really great for those who were actually there to relive it : D
I'm trying to remember when the first time I came across AW.ORG As I watched this video I found myself wondering what I was doing at the moment this was going on. (weird) I was probably at work as a telephone operator taking calls for GTE. I know I had AOL dial up in 1997 (LOL) | ||
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Post# 546411 , Reply# 25 9/29/2011 at 00:27 (4,600 days old) by Pulsator (Saint Joseph, MI) |
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| Post# 546419 , Reply# 26 9/29/2011 at 01:56 (4,600 days old) by alr2903 (TN) | ||
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Robert the Aberdeen Farm video was great to see, I have looked through the snapshots several times and always spot something new. Thank You for taking the time to upload this for everyone to enjoy. arthur | ||
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Post# 546421 , Reply# 27 9/29/2011 at 04:19 (4,600 days old) by chestermikeuk (Rainhill *Home of the RailwayTrials* Merseyside,UK) |
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Aberdeen Farm Classics
Great to see both vids and familiar faces, cant believe its all those years ago, I bet you could have spent a week & more on The Farm...
Would love to know how many machines in your collections guys came from the farm?? And Quotes From The Aberdeen Vid: Lol We Did Lasagne & Laundry Guardian Doggy of the Appliances Its a Beautiful Day for Collecting Washers And No Tornadoes I Do Not Need This Today We Need Water I`m Hungry & Thirsty Its The Only Way To Get Washers I Wanna Sack I`m Gonna Get A Sack I Got My Sack John Just Loves Those Maytags Oh, Look At That I`m Having That He`s Taking That Its Not Gonna Come Off Whose Humpy Bumpy 26 Machines - And They`re Gonna Fit On That?? I Need Another One Of Those Like a Hole in The head Can Everbody Push Can Everbody PLEEESSSE Push Its Like Giving Birth Our Stopping Distance will Be Considerably Reduced We got Them AND YOU DID ...Yay!!! And Robert The look on your face when you first put your prized washers on the Bobcat -you look terrified running along side in case they fell off...Lol - actually I would be as well!!! And a big thanks to Robert the Cameraman who managed to give us the Whole Picture and MORE!!! Ta... This post was last edited 09/29/2011 at 05:25 | ||
| Post# 546425 , Reply# 28 9/29/2011 at 06:33 (4,600 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii) | ||
Hey Robert,
Thanks for mentioning me as well as the March, 1989 anniversary issue of People Magazine article they came and wrote about my collection. I'm not really as well off as most here because they have more space and mechanical knowledge about appliances and can go pick up, have shipped and tare apart appliances to restore,rebuild,and use.I guess one can say I was just at the right place at the right time. What had actually happened was I went to visit a close friend,who is excentric? and collects lots of stuff including Halloween costumes, Lynn Williams, a writer at that time for the Baltimore Sunpapers,was there interviewing him and writing an article about his collecting. She claimed that his hobby was a bit off and just as I was entering his studio, he was saying to Lynn " You think my collecting is weird? you need to go see my friend, Chuck,this weekend because he collects washing machines and has dirty laundry parties every weekend right in his own apartment!" I walked in to bring him a lunch I got for us both and swapped phone numbers and addresses with Lynn. She came during the week and fell in love with my cat, Teddy who was a full black Manx that did many strange things like fetching, answering the phone, drinking out of the toilet and wrestling.I had received two gifts from John LeFever, A gorgeous 40 inch wide GE Americana electric range(1966) and a fabulous Westinghouse roaster with the base.I also had the Laundromat twins and an older Philco frig in the kitchen.There were different washers that went in the kitchen over the years there and I had numerous FRIGIDAIRE washers from 1954 to 1974. The one used most was the 1973 WC6. A 2 speed 1-18 in Harvest gold. The last time I saw it was back around '85 when John LeFever and I drove up to meet Jon Charles in Boston. Jon said that,when he saw me in PM, he took my picture from there and made it a dartboard because he thought he was the only washer collector. I was glad we met to resolve that and, Jon,you and everyone else here,especially Robert,should have been the ones in People. Anyway, Lynn was told by the editor of the Sun that he was not that impressed with my story. She said that she wanted to make a wajor on his decision and bet him a dinner at a restaurant in Baltimore's "Little Italy"that the response to the article would be unbelievable.On Christmas day of 1988, the Baltimore Sun had the article and my phone was ringing off the hook. I was offered so many washers that people there had in their basements, garages, backyards, barns and the like.Because of Lynn's bet, the article went to the subsidiaries across the country and around the world and kept coming up in different papers. I was getting calls from radio and tv stations and received a call from Dr. Bronwynn Jones who is a radiology Xray doctor at Johns Hopkins where I worked at that time.She was calling from Sydney Australia on her cell car phone! She and her husband were there on their way to the theatre and heard me on the radio! I was being interviewed live on one of their local news radio stations she just happened to be listening to. She said she almost had an accident when she heard me. She still to this day has a bd Whirlpool washer and dryer I sold her back in '82. I was scheduled for major brain surgery (experimental left temporolobectomy)the third week of April'89 and received a call on March 20th from Dallas ,Texas. A writer for People Magazine who was reading the article about my passion for appliances and wanted to fly up and see my works.He was so disbelieving,especially when he went into the spare bedroom full of different models and adds regarding them.So, he recorded our 4 hour visit and edited it. It was published in the March,1989 Anniversary Issue of people Magazine (collectors)where I was called " Amana for all seasons" and photoed popping out of a 50's Kitchen Aid top loading dishwasher. It wasn't long after that that my entire life fell apart.Lost my job,lost everything I owned and died a few times due to thyroid cancer.Not much has changed since and,even though the brain surgery was successful and is now a common procedure for epileptics who are candidates,my life is not that great now. I try to look at the bright side of things but am scheduled this following Monday for a visit to see my surgeon who is concerned about another growth on my right leg behind my shin.I was just there a few weeks ago because my cat scratched my right wrist while jumping out of my lap and swelled my hand up 5 times bigger. I was septic and had to be admitted and put on severe anti biodics. That visit lasted two weeks. Don't get me wrong guys and gals, let's face it, WHERE AM I NOW??? What? Hawaii??? What? way up in the mountains there?? What? off the grid?? What? paddle surfing? Yea, it sounds like paradise but,trust me folks, "It ain't all that!"I'm called a "Howley" every single day and treated like a white slave here. Everyone else who lives here smokes tobacco,drinks hard liquor and has sex with anything that can walk.Hens included! hippies seam to get drawn to our place and come in pennyless to try and stay a while. Al and I just got rid of 4 of them and 3 more showed up yesterday.They claim they want to "earn their stay" but get involved in those here who are useless but have money to pay for their stay here.Then, they just hang out, get stoned,use the bathroom facilities but never clean up after themselves and don't shower. they stink! The girls do not shave and have enough hair under their arms, on their legs and some even have beards and mustaches. You could make dredlocks on their armpits!We'll see waht happens. I filed a year ago this month for Social Security and in December,there's a trial I have to attend to see a judge and have him/her decide my eligeability.If so, I'll receive a check that will be retroactive from 9/4/10 to current. The decided amount is now $1650/month.If the judge decides (my lawyer is pretty sure they will now everything's documented)I'm eledgeable,the first check will be more than enough for me to put a nice downpayment on a house in Hilo Bay which is where I'd want to spend the rest of my time here. | ||
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Post# 546426 , Reply# 29 9/29/2011 at 06:58 (4,600 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut) |
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I so wish I had been here from the beginning How many of us have told you that we thought we were the only humans on the planet with passion for appliances? I myself was notorious in my own family for having a "fixation" with washing machines. It's like coming out all over again only better.
I first heard of the Aberdeen farm from a wonderful local appliance dealer, Andrew Page, 3rd generation proprietor of Page's Hardware and Appliance Store in Guilford CT. I have told Andrew that when I die, I'm leaving instructions to my executor/trix, to make sure some of my ashes are spread in his store. We were talking sometime in the late nineties about old appliances and Andrew said that he had heard that there was this farm somewhere in the Dakotas...
I believed him but heard nothing about it until I gave up AOL dial-up and manned up to high speed Internet and I think this was the result of my very first Google search. It was sort of like that dream we all had as children where we open a strange door and there, inside, is every candy (or young hottie, or 77 virgins, you get the idea) in the world and it's all yours.I keep praying that somewhere there's another similar appliance graveyard just waiting to be discovered.
Can't wait for the next convention. BTW, how did the Vacuum convention go? | ||
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Post# 546440 , Reply# 30 9/29/2011 at 09:14 (4,600 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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1.29 for a gallon of Amaco gas!?!
Jon only spent about 39 bucks to fill up that U-Haul on 10/5/1997! Amazing! Too bad she didn't give him a bag.... ;)
All kidding aside, loved the Farm video, and the fact that the group is at the point where there is true history to be reflected upon. A Facebook 'Timeline' feature would be pretty sweet. Glad to have found this fantastic group of people when I did. Great machines, great hunts, but most of all, great friends have been discovered. Ben | ||
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Post# 546442 , Reply# 31 9/29/2011 at 09:36 (4,600 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis) |
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Love your list of quotes Mike!!!! lol
I had so much fun reliving this video I can't even tell you. I want more now!!! It is interesting to note in that of all of the machines in my original/early collection I only have the Norge Time-Line left intact as it was. The house the video was taken in was my x-partners house, I've moved twice since then. The first convention was at my next house. By the time this Farm video was taken I had been there three times, it was the first time for everyone else. The only machine I took home from this 3rd haul was my turquoise WCI-58 Frigidaire Unimatic. All of the other machines you see being taken were brought back to Washington DC and Boston. Thanks Chuck for your story. We will have to organize all this stuff at some point for our "History Page" or what ever we decide to do. Ken I'm shocked to hear that you head of the Aberdeen Farm all the way out in Connecticut. | ||
| Post# 546447 , Reply# 32 9/29/2011 at 10:45 (4,599 days old) by cycla-fabric (New Jersey (Northern)) | ||
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Post# 546455 , Reply# 33 9/29/2011 at 12:52 (4,599 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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Post# 546457 , Reply# 34 9/29/2011 at 13:13 (4,599 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis) |
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Robert, I think you should mention the names of they guys who took that trip with you and are they all still with the club.
Hi Doug, the trip to the farm consisted of Jon Charles (Jetcone), John Lefever (Combo52), Robert Stokes (Syndets2000), Don Haggerty (I don't think he has a logon here) and me. Besides you getting the 1958 Unimatic, who took what in the end? I see Jon gets a control tower washer (dryer too?). Good question Louis, we only could fit my turquoise Unimatic, the rest of the room in the truck was taken up by John and Jon's haul. As for what they brought home they are going have to answer that themselves, I don't quite remember. I do know like you said Jon got his '57 Control Tower Unimatic that trip. I also thought it would be fun to share a few pictures from the very 1st wash-in, three months earlier back in July 1997. We spent a few days in Jon's Boston house and a couple of days at the Cape Cod beach house. This first picture is the washer boys washing and getting tan, just like we did this last July :-). Me, Jon, Don, Don's partner and John L in the background... 
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Post# 546458 , Reply# 35 9/29/2011 at 13:14 (4,599 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis) |
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Post# 546459 , Reply# 36 9/29/2011 at 13:15 (4,599 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis) |
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Post# 546460 , Reply# 37 9/29/2011 at 13:17 (4,599 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis) |
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| Post# 546472 , Reply# 38 9/29/2011 at 15:55 (4,599 days old) by AutowasherFreak () | ||
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Robert, what a difference in your basement from then to now! How long did it take you to redo your basement? Them some "big" agitators in Reply# 35, LOL. | ||
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Post# 546480 , Reply# 39 9/29/2011 at 16:48 (4,599 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!) |
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These are great - thanks for uploading them to share. A club history page would be awesome too - I have the issue of People with Chuck's article in it, I will try to get it scanned soon. I also have an article that appeared in our local paper, from the Baltimore paper around this same time about Chuck and his collection. My mother cut it out for me all those years ago :-)
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| Post# 546485 , Reply# 40 9/29/2011 at 19:02 (4,599 days old) by jamman_98 (Columbia, SC) | ||
Here are some comments from me I would have loved, loved loved to have been there at Aberdeen. It's just amazing what the place was. Thanks for sharing the video Robert. You know if that place existed today, I think there would be a swarm of AW.org folks there like ants to honey. I do hope that sometime in the future, there will be another AW.org convention. Having planned a statewide conference, I know first hand that a conference is hard work and takes lots of people (I'd volunteer my time to help for sure!!!) In the meantime though, AW.org is awesome thanks to Robert and all the people who contribute to it. I think a history page would be a wonderful thing and I know that there are people who've been around loner than me (member since 2005) that can help too.
Thanks Jamman_98 Joe | ||
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Post# 546512 , Reply# 42 9/29/2011 at 21:23 (4,599 days old) by Jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers) |
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What a strole down memory lane! Robert its been awhile since we saw this and thank you!!!!!
Robert Stokes how prescient of you for "documenting this for posterity"! Because we all look so HOT way back then!
No, kidding aside I must say, We were one determined bunch to get those machines out of there, that was REAL work!!
What I still have from there, well I have my original Control Tower and just this spring it got a new mechanism support which it needed since the Farm. Many parts are still in my parts drawer from those machines but the only full machine left is the Control Tower. Who said it here, that I wasn't out for Bendix then??! They were right, I didn't bring back one, and yet looking at the Vid again today I see many many Bendixii sitting there waiting neglected!
RobertS you captured the moment with those scans in silence across the fields, that is what hit me the most, the utter silence of the place, and all that history around us screaming out across the years.
I had a BLAST! And RobertUni-- I would swear on a stack of bibles TODAY that you and I skipped down that lane together, even though it looks like we are just running!
And to Chuck Dhiel- if I hadn't found you in People magazine and talked your head off for 3 hours when we first spoke--I would have never found John, & Tom & Michael, & Robert & Jeff & Cal & Don and a life! Thank you my friend,I am grateful and consider myself very lucky we met. Aloha.
It doesn't get better than walking into a field filled with your passion - believe me we were lucky!
jon
P.S. > oh and don't think for a minute Robert that we aren't still in DEEP- DEEP- COMPETITION Mister! This post was last edited 09/29/2011 at 22:18 | ||
| Post# 546668 , Reply# 44 9/30/2011 at 16:26 (4,598 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii) | ||
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Post# 546736 , Reply# 45 10/1/2011 at 07:44 (4,598 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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Wow, Robert, thank you for sharing the 'extended video' of the farm hunt here! I swear that I have had visions of that place - I actually dreamed of finding a place like the Aberdeen Farm with acres of vintage appliances (except I tend to dream in turquoise... LOL). I think everyone who sees this will spot at least three of their dream machines on the old farm grounds. Thanks for taking the time to post this!
Oh, and I love the Canada t-shirt you wore on the 10/5/97 segement! LOL | ||
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Post# 547004 , Reply# 47 10/3/2011 at 01:01 (4,596 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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| Post# 547023 , Reply# 48 10/3/2011 at 07:30 (4,596 days old) by kenmore700bill (Lodi NJ) | ||
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Post# 547354 , Reply# 49 10/4/2011 at 01:04 (4,595 days old) by pdub (Portland, Oregon) |
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Amazing History | ||
| Post# 547692 , Reply# 50 10/6/2011 at 00:41 (4,593 days old) by StrongEnough78 (California) | ||
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Post# 551150 , Reply# 52 10/21/2011 at 23:21 (4,577 days old) by RevvinKevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land) |
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